Rhoda of the Underground

by Florence Finch Kelly

“But he allowed her to be sold, father, and for such a purpose!”

He hesitated, considering a temptation. In his daughter’s present mood it would be easy to deepen this impulse of condemnation and so perhaps undermine her love for Delavan. But the next instant he told himself that it would not be fair. “The man has enough to answer for—let him at least have justice,” was his thought.

Rhoda felt his calm eyes upon her, but she would not meet them. “You must remember,” he was saying judicially, “that no man can be better than the system of which he is a part. It is quite possible that Delavan knew nothing of all this, except that his sister chose certain slaves as her share. I don’t know very much about him, but I think he’s decent enough to have protested if he had known of this woman’s fate. I also think it’s most unlikely it would have done any good if he had. And there it is, Rhoda! No matter how well-intentioned an individual slaveholder may be, he is likely to be swept along any minute by his system into its worst abominations. Our indictment must always be against the system, not against individuals.”

When Rhoda knelt at her bedside that night the look of scorn had faded from her countenance and in its place were tears. “Dear Father in Heaven,” she prayed, “do not let Thy punishment fall upon him. He knows not what he does. His eyes are so blinded that he cannot see how evil these things are. Do not punish him, do not let Thy vengeance fall upon him, until his eyes are opened and he sees that they are evil. And grant, O God, I beg of Thee, grant me this, that I may make amends to this poor creature for his wrong. If Thy vengeance is ripe and can be stayed no longer, let it fall upon my head. Let me bear his punishment. But grant me first that I may save her.”

The fugitive, whose name, Lear White, it was decided should be changed to Mary Ellen Dunstable, had been so unnerved by her sufferings that for several days she sorely needed Rhoda’s care and Dr. Ware’s medical attention. Rhoda would not permit her to go into the cellar hiding place, but made a bed for her in her own room and watched over her with every solicitude. A dust of powder over her light-colored face was enough to give her the appearance of a white girl of brunette complexion. Only a close observer would be likely to note that the whites of her eyes and the form of her nose gave a hint of negro origin.

“Father,” said Rhoda, when the girl had been two days in the house, “I can’t bear to think of sending Mary Ellen on in the usual way. She took such awful chances to escape from a horrible fate, and she came so near to death in that box, that it seems to me almost as if God had put her into my charge, and meant for me to make up to her for all that she has suffered. I feel as if I ought not to let her out of my hands until she is safe in Canada.”

“Well, what have you thought of doing? Have you a plan?”

“Yes. Mary Ellen looks so much like a white woman that I’m sure she and I could travel together, as two girl friends, and go to Cleveland by the canal. There I can put her on one of our friendly boats and the captain will take charge of her till she is safe on the ferry at Detroit.”

They talked the matter over at length, Rhoda dwelling upon the girl’s nervous condition, which had so lessened her self-reliance and her courage as to make doubtful the wisdom of sending her on alone by the ordinary methods. But another reason of equal strength in her own mind, although she did not mention it to her father, was her conviction that here was an opportunity to make atonement for what she felt to be her lover’s sin. Moreover, the girl clung to her with such implicit confidence in her power to shield and save that Rhoda’s heart rose high with a passion of resoluteness, like a mother’s for her threatened offspring.

It was finally decided that her plan should be carried out. The Female Anti-Slavery Society offered its little store of cash—pitifully small since the money panic of two months previous—to help defray Mary Ellen’s expenses. Several of the members donated material they had bought for their own winter wardrobes and helped Rhoda make it up into gowns for the fugitive.