Sometimes, in the intervals of my economical fever, I amused myself in making little collections in natural history; and she endeared herself extremely to me by the zeal with which she entered into all my pursuits. Birds, insects, beetles, spiders, reptiles, were all caught by her dexterity; and the tenderest plants and flowers were laid on my table as fresh as when they were pulled; so that Mr. P. and I were able to examine, at our leisure, all the natural productions of the island. In short, during more than a year and a half, this blameless and innocent girl, Nanina, continued high in my favour, and was treated more like a daughter than a slave. She really loved me, and her efforts to please me were most assiduous. But I had a temper which had never been controlled in youth, and which was still unmanageable. Caprice alone governed it, and I began to grow tired of poor Nanina. Perhaps she might have been sometimes rather too familiar in her manner, but if so, it was my own fault. Always in extremes, I now became dissatisfied with everything she said or did. If she appeared hurt at this unaccountable change of conduct, I was still more angry; and one day, that she threw herself at my feet, and with tears in her eyes remonstrated against some unjust accusation, I barbarously spurned her from my chair, and ordered her never more to enter my room. Alas! how quickly does the spirit of injustice grow; the next day I missed a favourite ring, and I accused her of stealing it!—Yes, I suspected poor Nanina, who had been invariably faithful, and whose principles I well knew had been proof against many far greater temptations.
I learned that Nanina had gone to confide her griefs to her mother; and as she did not return, I became so incensed at her for leaving me, as well as at her family for encouraging her to stay away, and I spoke of them with so much bitterness to the overseer, that he lost no opportunity of treating them with rigour. No attention, however, was paid to my positive orders for her return: she was not with her family; to all inquiries about her, they preserved a stubborn silence; and it was notorious that the unjust harshness of the overseer to them all was the effect of my resentment. Several weeks elapsed without any tidings of her, and irritated by what I considered her obstinacy, I determined to communicate the whole affair to Mr. P., in order that he might enforce obedience to my commands. I did so, and never shall I forget the horror and astonishment he expressed at my conduct. At first I was vexed and mortified by what he said, but when he calmly retraced to me all the circumstances of the case, contrasting my professed sensibility with my real inhumanity, and dwelling not only on the capricious extremes of my affection and hatred for Nanina, but on the accumulated cruelty of suspecting her without cause, of punishing her without proof, and of revenging my quarrel with her on the whole family, I sunk into his arms, I saw and acknowledged all my odious errors, and would have done anything to compensate the poor girl for my base injustice, if she could have been found.
All this took place in the beginning of summer; and in the middle of the hottest part of that season Mr. P. was obliged to go to Spanish Town, which was fifteen miles distant, about business. The day passed heavily, the sultry air oppressed me, there seemed to be an unusual stillness everywhere; the slaves even appeared to work in sullen silence, and I scarcely heard a sound but the buzz of some insect, or the angry chirp of the humming-birds as they quarrelled about the flowers at my window. My thoughts turned mournfully upon my late conduct, and upon the severe but just expostulations of my husband. They did indeed oppress my heart; and in some measure to relieve myself, I went in the afternoon to the school, but I found it locked and no creature near it. There was a mountain path near the Pimenta grove, where we used sometimes to walk late in the evening to enjoy the land breeze; and taking a book which happened to lie on the sofa, I strolled through the grove and ascended slowly from the valley. The hills in that country are covered with woods which never lose their verdure; and after musing for some time on a magnificent group of the stately cabbage-palm, the tall cedar, and the wide spreading mahogany, I sat down under their shade. At length I opened my book, and the very first thing I saw was my long lost ring! I quickly recollected that many weeks before I had put it in there to keep the place open, and I felt myself so shocked at my unworthy suspicions of Nanina, and so angry at myself, that I was quite overcome. But gradually the breeze revived me, and I burst into tears. At that moment,
When sunk by guilt in sad despair,
Repentance breathes her humble prayer,
I was startled by the sound of hurried footsteps, and Nanina herself appeared before me. She stopped, hesitated—then seized my hand and pressed it to her heart. “Oh! joy, joy,” said she. “Nanina thought never more see you, and now me search for you, and no find you in house.” I was painfully glad to see her—I hastily rose to take her home, and began to express my feelings, but she interrupted me and said in the most urgent tone, “This day me make escape, and run to tell mistress not to stay in home to-night—they all rise this night, and go everywhere for mischief, but first kill mistress, or make her slave.”
However startled by this alarming speech, I immediately proposed to return home to save my husband’s papers and to tell the servants to escape.
“No, no, no,—too late,—come with me, me put you safe, but no talky now,—come quick,—come silent.”
As we hurried along through the forest paths, I could not help saying, “Nanina, I was unjust to you—I accused you of stealing;—how comes it that you are so kind to one who has used you so cruelly?”
“That is what me learn from the book you gave me, and taught me to know—me never lose that book;—that book say, forgive your enemy, do good to him that persecute you. Yes, you call me teef, but you be killed dead if Nanina no come save you, and Nanina forget all but that you were once good mistress.” She grasped the hand I had laid on hers, as she said this, and I felt her tears drop on it. Oh what an exquisite moment! I besought her to let me send intelligence to meet Mr. P., but the faithful creature had already sent a trusty friend to warn him of the danger, and to assure him of my safety. She hurried me on—it was dark when we reached the river, and no canoe was to be seen; but we walked along its banks for some distance, when to my great surprise it suddenly disappeared. I then recollected hearing that in one spot the San Pedro river dipped under ground; and there Nanina had purposely brought me, that we might cross to the opposite bank, without the assistance of a boat. At last, after many hours’ walking, and when I was scarcely able to move, we arrived at one of the reed huts which the negroes inhabit. A man and woman received us;—they said some words to Nanina which I could not understand, but they looked good-naturedly at me, and laid their hands on their hearts.
Now that we were apparently in safety, and that we could venture to speak at ease, Nanina told me what had happened during the long time she was absent. The day on which, in vexation, she had gone to complain to her mother, she found a stranger in the hut. This was the famous Apakong; he was one of the descendants of the Maroons, who had formerly been so troublesome, and he fully inherited their fierce, discontented spirit. He had instigated the slaves in our neighbourhood to rise against their masters. My injustice to Nanina and her family was an additional pretext, and fearful that her mother might suffer her to return to me, and thus, perhaps, betray their plans, he took her away as a hostage, and till that day had watched her closely; but a general muster of the insurgents had happily given her an opportunity of escaping from his less vigilant wife.