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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