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He summoned the captain, and requested him to put the colored boy into the ferry-boat, which was alongside ready to receive him. He was not disposed to interfere; but when Friend Hopper drew a volume from his pocket and read to him the laws applicable to the case, he became alarmed, and said the boy must be given up. Whereupon, Friend Hopper directed the child to go on deck, which he was ready enough to do; and the ferryman soon helped him on board the boat.
The Frenchman and his friends were very noisy and violent.
They attempted to throw Friend Hopper overboard; and there were so many of them, that they seemed likely to succeed in their efforts.
But he seized one of them fast by the coat; resolved to have company in the water, if he were compelled to take a plunge.
They struck his hand with their canes, and pulled the coat from his grasp.
Then he seized hold of another; and so the struggle continued for some minutes.
The ferryman, who was watching the conflict, contrived to bring his boat into a favorable position; and Friend Hopper suddenly let go the Frenchman's coat, and tumbled in.
When he returned to Philadelphia with the boy, he found the mother waiting at his house, in a state of intense anxiety.
The meeting between mother and son was joyful indeed; and Wagelma made them all laugh by his animated description of his friend's
Boston, J. P. Jewett and Company; Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington; London; Low and Company, 1854.
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