no slaves, but hired them of their masters to aid in cultivating the land, etc. A man by the name of Lines lived just over the line in Virginia, who owned more slaves than he could employ, therefore he hired them out, and the wages he received for their labor constituted his income, selling one occasionally to supply any deficiency. One of the women whom he thus robbed of the wages she earned, was a remarkably efficient house servant, by the name of Statie. Her master allowed her to hire herself out on condition that she paid him $10 per month, and also furnished clothing for her little daughter, Lila, at that time about seven years of age. The mother and daughter were both nearly white. Statie hired herself for a year to one of the above named northern farmers, whose principal business was market gardening, and while she lived in the family as house servant, she was allowed the privilege of keeping her little girl with her for several weeks at a time. The little girl was of a sunny temper, very pretty, and both active and intelligent for one of her age, and the family of Mr. Barbour, with whom they lived, became attached to both the child and her mother.
At the end of the year a hotel keeper in Washington, having heard of the superior qualification of Statie as a cook, offered her more wages, and as she was trying to lay by money to buy the freedom of her child, she went to live in Washington, and her child stayed on the plantation, some 10 miles off in Virginia. Statie was allowed to go home once in three months to see her child and pay her wages to her master. On one of these occasions she learned that a slave trader had been trying to buy Lila, and her master had gone so far as to set a time when he would answer as to terms of sale. Statie, though in great distress, had sufficient presence of mind to conceal her feelings, and talked cheerfully to L.
