AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And as news of Louisiana secession spread throughout the parishes, there was sure to be more watchfulness and delays when it came to transporting men and women out of Louisiana, even outright refusal on the part of our supporters. This meant that the recruitment of “conductors”, the secret meetings, and the treacherous travel was sure to be tested further as ardent Southerners proved to the world they were ready to fight and die for the Confederacy and their self-proclaimed right to own slaves. For unlike many of our brothers in the North, we lived amidst wolves and snakes.
“They waiting.” I looked up and saw Jeb, ever the faithful friend, standing in the doorway of the den.
“All of them?”
“The ones you need.”
“That’s good enough,” I said. “I couldn’t risk telling Rozier the other day when he was here. The timing wasn’t right. Plus, I don’t trust that driver of his.”
“And you shouldn’t,” Jeb assured me. “A man with the shift in his eyes cain’t never be trusted.”
I pulled on a hat and an overcoat over my heavy work clothes and grabbed my rifle. Even though it was a relatively short ride to our destination, I wanted to be ready in case circumstances called for more pressing action.
The January night turned very cold by the time we reached a sturdy, old house which belonged to Abe Tyler, a small, but prosperous farmer who was nothing short of an angel. Abe had provided financial assistance to not only the movement, but to John Brown who led the raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, a year before. Abe funneled money to Brown through second and third parties, and always anonymously. Nevertheless, he sweated for weeks following the bloody assault, believing his name would somehow surface.
After dismounting in a far off grove, we paused to watch Abe’s place before making our way to an underground cellar which he had built specifically for our clandestine meetings. We tapped out the code and waited. Abe greeted us in silence and quickly latched the door once we were inside, and led us down a flight of stairs.
In the depths of the cellar were two other figures sitting around a makeshift table with a lantern on it – Eleanor Duncan, a school teacher and Zachary “Bull” Adams, an active member of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Boston who had volunteered to fight the cause from the field. Zach and Eleanor had been whispering heatedly amongst themselves and then stopped when they saw us.
“Please, come sit,” Abe said. “We were discussing next steps.”
“I take it you’ve all heard the news by now,” I said.
“Which news are you referring to?” Eleanor’s statement was nonchalant but her body language told a different story. Something was bothering her.
“Secession, of course,” I replied.
“Those bastards weren’t going to rest until they got what they wanted,” she said.
“Did you expect anything less?” Jeb asked.
“All those damn secessionists care about is money and their precious plantations,” Zach said.
“Surely you don’t expect us plantation owners to work for a living, now do you?” I asked, trying hard to lighten the mood.
Eleanor remained serious. “The city is beefing up the patrols. They’re even considering curfews.”
“We’re used to that,” Jeb said. “What’s your point?”
Zach looked around the table. “We’ll need new strategies if there is war.”
“Especially now that you’re leaving Louisiana,” Eleanor said. I looked at her but she averted her eyes as if to mask some secret resentment.
“Yes, it’s a sad state of affairs,” I said, looking at each of them. “This is why I called you here. I wanted to tell you in person.”
“We know why you couldn’t say anything earlier,” Zach said. “Although it was a shock to have to read about your intention in the newspaper.”
“Selling a plantation is a serious undertaking,” I said. “Particularly when the decision to sell is a personal one, something I hope you all can understand.”
“I’ve tried,” Eleanor said. “Without the plantation as one of our stations, it will be very difficult to get slaves out. Louisiana is going to be a new state with new rules and without you, we’ll need to change our tactics altogether.”
“We were going to have to do that anyway,” Jeb said to Eleanor with a slight edge to his voice.
“Yes, it will be difficult,” I said. “But rest assured, you’ll have my full support even after I’m gone.”
“We’ll have to reduce the amount of cargo we carry,” Zach said.
“Cargo?” Jeb looked like as if he would explode.
