After all the other
passengers had been shown rooms and were getting ready for supper, I
shyly presented myself before the man at the desk. It is true I had
practically no money in my pocket with which to pay for bed or food,
but I had hoped in some way to beg my way into the good graces of the
landlord, for at that season in the mountains of Virginia the weather
was cold, and I wanted to get indoors for the night. Without asking
as to whether I had any money, the man at the desk firmly refused to
even consider the matter of providing me with food or lodging. This
was my first experience in finding out what the colour of my skin
meant. In some way I managed to keep warm by walking about, and so
got through the night. My whole soul was so bent upon reaching
Hampton that I did not have time to cherish any bitterness toward the
hotel-keeper.
By walking, begging rides both in wagons and in the cars, in some
way, after a number of days, I reached the city of Richmond, Virginia,
about eighty-two miles from Hampton. When I reached there, tired,
hungry, and dirty, it was late in the night. I had never been in a
large city, and this rather added to my misery. When I reached
Richmond, I was completely out of money. I had not a single
acquaintance in the place, and, being unused to city ways, I did not
know where to go.
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