These I read with avidity.{129} I had a deep satisfaction in the thought, that the rascality of slaveholders was not concealed from the eyes of the world, and that I was not alone in abhorring the cruelty and brutality of slavery.

A still deeper train of thought was stirred.

I saw that there was _fear_, as well as _rage_, in the manner of speaking of the abolitionists.

The latter, therefore, I was compelled to regard as having some power in the country; and I felt that they might, possibly, succeed in their designs.

When I met with a slave to whom I deemed it safe to talk on the subject, I would impart to him so much of the mystery as I had been able to penetrate.