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[85]
and overtook them half a mile from the Schuylkill.
He accosted Mr. Ennells politely, and told him he had made a mistake in capturing William Bachelor; for he was a free man. Ennells drew a pistol from his pocket, and said, ‘We have had him before a magistrate, and proved to his satisfaction that the fellow is my slave.
I have got his certificate, and that is all that is required to authorize me to take him home.
I will blow your brains out if you say another word on the subject, or make any attempt to molest me.’
‘If thou wert not a coward, thou wouldst not try to intimidate me with a pistol,’ replied Isaac.
‘I do not believe thou hast the least intention of using it in any other way; but thou art much agitated, and may fire it accidentally; therefore I request thee not to point it toward me, but to turn it the other way. It is in vain for thee to think of taking this old man to Maryland.
If thou wilt not return to the city voluntarily, I will certainly have thee stopped at the bridge, where thou wilt be likely to be handled much more roughly than I am disposed to do.’
While this controversy was going on, poor William Bachelor was in the greatest anxiety of mind.
‘Oh, Master Hopper,’ he exclaimed, ‘Don't let them take me!
I am not a slave.
All the people in Philadelphia ’
Boston, J. P. Jewett and Company; Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington; London; Low and Company, 1854.
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