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| 370 TEE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. thus removed, the young planter and his faithful servant were safely in the care for the city of Brotherly Love. Scarcely had they arrived on free soil when the rheumatism departed —the right arm was unsluug—the toothache was gone—the beardless face was uumnffled—the deaf heard and spoke—the blind saw—and the lame leaped as an hart, and in the presence of a few astonished friends of the slave, the facts of this unparalleled Underground Rail Road feat were fully established by the most unquestionable evidence. The constant strain and pressure on Elleu's nerves, however, had tried her severely, so much so, that for days afterwards, she was physically very much prostrated, although joy and gladness beamed from her eyes, which bespoke inexpressible delight within. Never can the writer forget the impression made by their arrival. Even now, after a lapse of nearly a quarter of a century, it is easy to picture them in a private room, surrounded by a few friends—Ellen in her fine suit of black, with her cloak and high-heeled boots, looking, in every respect, like a young gentleman; in an hour after having dropped her male attire, and assumed the habiliments of her sex the feminine only was visible in every line and feature of her structure. Her husband, William, was thoroughly colored, but was a man of marked natural abilities, of good manners, and full of pluck, and possessed of perceptive faculties very large. It was necessary, however, in those days, that they should seek a permanent residence, where their freedom would be more secure than iu Philadelphia; therefore they were advised to go to headquarters, directly to Boston. There they would be safe, it was supposed, as it had then been about a generation since a fugitive had been taken back from the old Bay State, arid through the incessant labors of William Lloyd Garrison, the great pioneer, and his faithful coadjutors,' it was conceded that another fugitive slave case could never be tolerated on the free soil of Massachusetts. So to Boston they went. On arriving, the warm hearts of abolitionists welcomed them heartily, and greeted and cheered them without let or hindrance. Thpy did not pretend to keep their coming a secret, or hide it under a bushel; the story of their escape was heralded broadcast over the country—North and South, and indeed over the civilized world. For two years or more, not the slightest fear was entertained that they were not just as safe in Boston as if they had gone to Canada. But the day the Fugitive Bill passed, even the bravest abolitionist began to fear that a fugitive slave was no longer safe anywhere under the stars and stripes, North or South, and that William and Ellen Craft were liable to ba captured at any moment by Georgia slave hunters. Many abolitionists counselled resistance to the death at all hazards. Instead of rnnning to Canada, fugitives generally armed themselves and thus said, " Give me liberty or give me death." |