Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1861-01-17

happy North where she wished so much to 20.
Inspired by the thought, she hastily caught up
the few clothes that belonged to her, and found
no difficulty in escaping unseen from her masters
house. She FASTENED first to the hut where her
parents lay asleep, but she was afraid to waken
them: so she stopped down and kissed the sill of
tho door over which they had passed, and then
fixing her eye upon the Star of the North, walked
bravely out into the unknown world in search of
freedom.
! II is not necessary that We should follow this
brave soul in her fight; il must be sufficient to
know that after many days of peril and suffering
she found what she had nobly sought. Kind
people took her in charge, and she was placed in
a house as cook, in a vast city whose mag
niiccnce and greatness infinitely exceeded all
she had ever imagined But she was free, she
received the wages she earned, she had no
master whose frown she feared, and she would
have been happy had not the thoughts of those
she had left be, ind her in bondage troubled her.
She had not only left father and mother, but a
brother and sister and the fear that they might
be sent South and sold grieved her sorely.
Juno found herself the possessor Of the in
credible sum of fifty dollars. 1t did not take her
long to determine what was the best use to
which this money could be put. She resigned
her place, and to the great dismay of the kind
friends who had assisted her. she suddenly dis
appeared; and few days after New Years,
when they had given up all expectations Of ever
| ei,o al tLa;r G. J1y
door, having as her companions her brother
and sister, whom she had gone after and brought
back with her into a land Of freedom.
Brave Juno. She had made a greater discov
cry than the man who invented railways. She
had discovered the road to liberty.
Her brother and sister properly disposed OF,
Juno again found place for herself but she did
not remain in IL until the holiday season; for she
had passengers to conduct now who could not
bear exposure to wintry weather; and, in mid
summer, the brave girl once more surprised her
good friends by coming to them at night after a
few weeks absence, with two more companions,
two trembling old creatures, gray-hcadcd and
wrink led .browed, whom she introduced, with as
much pride rs though they had been the greatest
pcrsonagcs in the world, as her father and
mother.
"Now, Juno, thou hast done enough. Thou
hast given freedom to thyself, to Thy brother and
sister. to thy father and mother. BE content.
Run no more risks, but enjoy the fruits OF thy
labor, TO which thou art so we'll entitled"
But Juno's black eye flashed with indignant
scorn, her nostrils dilated, aud she shook her
/ l.. a. =
the work to which she had now consecrated her.
scf. She had tasted the delights of freedom,
she had learned all the intricacics of the road
which led to il, she knew the perils she must en-
counter in travelling it, aud she could not rest
while any of her people were groanng in
bondage.
Now, | am half afraid to tell what this woman
has since accomplished, lest my story should moi
be believed. But this Is the solemn truth. Fifty
sx slaves she has safely conducted 10 the land o.
freedom, and sfty more she has aided to ellec
their escape. and not one Of them has been re
turned 60 bondage. And she is still engaged il
her perilous work. While YOU are enjoying your
holiday season, dancing upon soft carpets OF
listening to Christmas stories in cosy parlors
she Is treading her solitary way over frozer
stubble and through gloomy forests, to give hope
and freedom to the poor slave who has scarcel.
dared to dream of liberty.
Would you not esteem ii an honor and 1
privilege to see this heroic woman, to touch th'
hem of her poor garments, to talk with her, anc
learn from her own lips the story of her strang'
lifc'
But this YOU cannot do And why2 Becaus
the strange country in which she lives Is you
own country, and the heroic deeds she has per
formed are crimes in the eye of the law. Yo'
may lavish your sympathies and admiration oil
Florence Nightingale, and Grace Darling, an,
Elizabeth Fry, and other angelic women il
foreign lands, who have become famous b.
doing good to their fellow creatures. But thi
noble count woman of your own must perform
her heroic deeds in the dark, and live the life o
an outcast aud a vagrant, because 10 make he
known to the world would be to subject her t
Imprisonment and stripes, and every cruelty an
ndgnity that could be hesped upon a human
being.
The President, let US remember, has appointed
the fourth day of January TO be kept a day o
+ humiliation, fasting and prayer, that Heavel
may be cntrcated to forgive our sins as people
and restore to the nation the blessings of peac
and concord. Let those who are disposed Il
follow the recommendation Of Mr.. Buchanan, wh'
has proved one of the heaviest inActons tn
country has known, be humiated at the re
membrance of this woman's deeds; that to know
her and aid her ia a crime, and that peace an
concord can only be hoped for by making
covenant with her master and owner to surrcndo
her up TO his vengeance.
, rT- Bonner. of the New York Lfd1er. has 0