As soon as it became light
enough for me to see my surroundings I noticed that I was near a large
ship, and that this ship seemed to be unloading a cargo of pig iron.
I went at once to the vessel and asked the captain to permit me to
help unload the vessel in order to get money for food. The captain, a
white man, who seemed to be kind-hearted, consented. I worked long
enough to earn money for my breakfast, and it seems to me, as I
remember it now, to have been about the best breakfast that I have
ever eaten.
My work pleased the captain so well that he told me if I desired I
could continue working for a small amount per day. This I was very
glad to do. I continued working on this vessel for a number of days.
After buying food with the small wages I received there was not much
left to add on the amount I must get to pay my way to Hampton. In
order to economize in every way possible, so as to be sure to reach
Hampton in a reasonable time, I continued to sleep under the same
sidewalk that gave me shelter the first night I was in Richmond. Many
years after that the coloured citizens of Richmond very kindly
tendered me a reception at which there must have been two thousand
people present. This reception was held not far from the spot where I
slept the first night I spent in the city, and I must confess that my
mind was more upon the sidewalk that first gave me shelter than upon
the recognition, agreeable and cordial as it was.
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