登陆注册
5264900000094

第94章 Chapter II. Boyhood Days(6)

Notwithstanding my success at Mrs. Ruffner's I did not give up the idea of going to the Hampton Institute. In the fall of 1872 I determined to make an effort to get there, although, as I have stated, I had no definite idea of the direction in which Hampton was, or of what it would cost to go there. I do not think that any one thoroughly sympathized with me in my ambition to go to Hampton unless it was my mother, and she was troubled with a grave fear that I was starting out on a "wild-goose chase." At any rate, I got only a half-hearted consent from her that I might start. The small amount of money that I had earned had been consumed by my stepfather and the remainder of the family, with the exception of a very few dollars, and so I had very little with which to buy clothes and pay my travelling expenses. My brother John helped me all that he could, but of course that was not a great deal, for his work was in the coal-mine, where he did not earn much, and most of what he did earn went in the direction of paying the household expenses.

Perhaps the thing that touched and pleased me most in connection with my starting for Hampton was the interest that many of the older coloured people took in the matter. They had spent the best days of their lives in slavery, and hardly expected to live to see the time when they would see a member of their race leave home to attend a boarding-school. Some of these older people would give me a nickel, others a quarter, or a handkerchief.

Finally the great day came, and I started for Hampton. I had only a small, cheap satchel that contained a few articles of clothing I could get. My mother at the time was rather weak and broken in health. I hardly expected to see her again, and thus our parting was all the more sad. She, however, was very brave through it all. At that time there were no through trains connecting that part of West Virginia with eastern Virginia. Trains ran only a portion of the way, and the remainder of the distance was travelled by stage-coaches.

The distance from Malden to Hampton is about five hundred miles.

I had not been away from home many hours before it began to grow painfully evident that I did not have enough money to pay my fair to Hampton. One experience I shall long remember. I had been travelling over the mountains most of the afternoon in an old-fashion stage-coach, when, late in the evening, the coach stopped for the night at a common, unpainted house called a hotel. All the other passengers except myself were whites. In my ignorance I supposed that the little hotel existed for the purpose of accommodating the passengers who travelled on the stage-coach. The difference that the colour of one's skin would make I had not thought anything about. After all the other passengers had been shown rooms and were getting ready for supper, I shyly presented myself before the man at the desk. It is true I had practically no money in my pocket with which to pay for bed or food, but I had hoped in some way to beg my way into the good graces of the landlord, for at that season in the mountains of Virginia the weather was cold, and I wanted to get indoors for the night. Without asking as to whether I had any money, the man at the desk firmly refused to even consider the matter of providing me with food or lodging. This was my first experience in finding out what the colour of my skin meant. In some way I managed to keep warm by walking about, and so got through the night. My whole soul was so bent upon reaching Hampton that I did not have time to cherish any bitterness toward the hotel-keeper.

By walking, begging rides both in wagons and in the cars, in some way, after a number of days, I reached the city of Richmond, Virginia, about eighty-two miles from Hampton. When I reached there, tired, hungry, and dirty, it was late in the night. I had never been in a large city, and this rather added to my misery.

When I reached Richmond, I was completely out of money. I had not a single acquaintance in the place, and, being unused to city ways, I did not know where to go. I applied at several places for lodging, but they all wanted money, and that was what I did not have. Knowing nothing else better to do, I walked the streets. In doing this I passed by many a food-stands where fried chicken and half-moon apple pies were piled high and made to present a most tempting appearance. At that time it seemed to me that I would have promised all that I expected to possess in the future to have gotten hold of one of those chicken legs or one of those pies. But I could not get either of these, nor anything else to eat.

I must have walked the streets till after midnight. At last I became so exhausted that I could walk no longer. I was tired, I was hungry, I was everything but discouraged. Just about the time when I reached extreme physical exhaustion, I came upon a portion of a street where the board sidewalk was considerably elevated. I waited for a few minutes, till I was sure that no passers-by could see me, and then crept under the sidewalk and lay for the night upon the ground, with my satchel of clothing for a pillow.

Nearly all night I could hear the tramp of feet over my head. The next morning I found myself somewhat refreshed, but I was extremely hungry, because it had been a long time since I had had sufficient food. As soon as it became light enough for me to see my surroundings I noticed that I was near a large ship, and that this ship seemed to be unloading a cargo of pig iron. I went at once to the vessel and asked the captain to permit me to help unload the vessel in order to get money for food. The captain, a white man, who seemed to be kind-hearted, consented. I worked long enough to earn money for my breakfast, and it seems to me, as I remember it now, to have been about the best breakfast that I have ever eaten.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 农技:农苑总是新天地

    农技:农苑总是新天地

    稻是我国古代最重要的粮食作物之一。我国是亚洲稻的原产地之一,其驯化和栽培的历史,至少已有7000年。我国古代在稻的栽培技术方面有很多经验,如火耕水耨、轮作和套种等,成为世界栽培水稻的起源中心,并且推广至东亚近邻国家。此外,先民对稻资源的利用处于世界先进行列。
  • 颠覆:鬼才卡兰尼克与他的Uber帝国

    颠覆:鬼才卡兰尼克与他的Uber帝国

    本书主要围绕Uber创始人特拉维斯卡兰尼克早年的两次创业失败经历和成功创建Uber等事迹展开叙述,重点着墨于Uber这一热门话题,探讨其诞生和发展、运营模式、营销案例,以及Uber在美国、中国甚至世界的扩张、影响等方面。
  • 生态与环境

    生态与环境

    《生态与环境》介绍了关于自然生态和环境的常识,帮助读者更好的认识到保护生态环境的重要性以及我们可以做些什么来保护环境。其内容包括什么是可持续发展、你知道多少世界环境纪念日、什么叫环境问题、什么是环境保护、什么是大气污染、著名的大气污染事件有哪些等。
  • 阮阮不软

    阮阮不软

    顾城:“这辈子你只能是我的,要是谁敢跟我抢,我就弄死他。”木槿年:“我想陪你作诗看景,为你画地为牢。”一个是高冷霸气的总裁,一个是温润如玉的谦谦君子,这两个人掐在一起,让生活原本平静的阮阮开始头疼了……
  • 王者荣耀之WG战神联盟

    王者荣耀之WG战神联盟

    (本书致曾经的王者荣耀) 一支以梦想为信仰的战队:不忘初心、方得始终是他们的口号!不到最后一刻决不放弃是他们的精神!看战神联盟的王者荣耀职业联赛之战,以梦想为巅峰打出属于他们的战神王朝!看月辰与星怡的甜蜜爱情故事!
  • 走近苏东坡

    走近苏东坡

    这是著名作家李国文研读苏东坡的诗文及所处时代背景后写出的感悟性文字。作者围绕苏东坡的性格、命运以及他在文学上的成就,深入到苏东坡的精神世界,用洗练的文字,多角度地、十分睿智地为我们描叙了一个鲜活的苏东坡。更难能可贵的是,作者以深刻的思想,犀利的笔触,鞭笞了当下社会生活中的一些不良习气,可以起到警世的作用。《走近苏东坡》,极富思想性、知识性和文学性,是近些年来不可多得的优秀之作。
  • 仙家路囧

    仙家路囧

    六界传闻,冥界的小公主是个花容月貌秀外慧中的仙子,仙界的太子是个仪表翩翩仙姿飘逸的上神,这二人的联姻,可以说是金玉良缘天作之合。没想到,当呆萌的冥瑶瑶与妖孽的白狐苏第一次相遇——某狐狸指着面前仙子大惊失色:“你就是冥界的小公主?”为什么她的仙身还是个六岁小孩子?这让某妖孽瞬间无从下口。某兔子点点头礼貌地回:“断袖哥哥好~”断……断袖?他差点从云端摔下来。“是谁教你的!”“他们都这么说的。”“那他们有没有教你,你应该怎么称呼我?”“没有……”“叫夫君!”就这样,原本嚷嚷着退婚的某狐狸,从此过上了陪萌妻打怪升级,慢慢长大的日子。真香!
  • 超神学院之奥特曼

    超神学院之奥特曼

    叶洛因为一个无限奥特曼系统穿越到了奥特曼世界用了十万年时间拥有了比肩神秘四奥的实力,在最后与宇宙最强大帝卡拉法尔大帝对战时引爆了自身,最后穿越到了超神学院世界且看一代奥特战神如何在超神学院世界搅动风云。PS:作者新人不要认真认真你就输了此书为无敌文
  • 第十九层地域

    第十九层地域

    七月七日,七点零七分零七秒,水陆空三栖飞船!情!惊!奇!险!万花岛,玄幻体验夏令营,三十个青年男女。突然遭遇前所未有过的变故!刹那间,物非人非,世界颠倒,记忆丧失!不同地域,生存困难,人心变幻,情海无边无际,哪个能够不湿身游上岸?内有祸水,一手策划造成?出门之时,兴高采烈!回家之路,如此艰难!另类体验,一样人生!QQ群:650177230
  • 天庭紧急电话

    天庭紧急电话

    在星月会所当实习生的江锋,做梦也想不到,他会成为制衡三界的使者。每天都有天上的神仙打电话给他,让他去处理紧急事件。