CHAPTER V ELIZA FINDS A REFUGE

 A lady and gentleman were sitting talking happily together in the drawing-room of the white house to which Eliza had gone. Suddenly their old black man-of-all-work put his head in at the door and said, 'Will missis come into the kitchen?'

 

The lady went. Presently¹ she called to her husband, 'I do wish you would come here a moment.'

 

He rose and went into the kitchen.

 

There lay Eliza on two kitchen chairs. Her poor feet were all cut and bleeding, and she had fainted quite away. The master of the house drew his breath short, and stood silent.

 

His wife and the cook were trying to bring Eliza round. The old man had Harry² on his knee, and was busy pulling off his shoes and stockings, to warm the little cold feet.

 

'Poor creature,' said the lady.

 

Suddenly Eliza opened her eyes. A dreadful³ look of pain came into her face. She sprang up saying, 'Oh, my Harry, have they got him?'

 

As soon as he heard her voice, Harry jumped from the old man's knee, and running to her side, put up his arms.

 

'Oh, he's here! he's here,' she said, kissing him. 'Oh, ma'am,' she went, on turning wildly to the lady of the house, 'do protect us, don't let them get him.'

 

'Nobody shall hurt you here, poor woman,' said the lady. 'You are safe; don't be afraid.'

 

'God bless you,' said Eliza, covering her face and sobbing⁴, while Harry, seeing her crying, tried to get into her lap to comfort her.

 

'You needn't be afraid of anything; we are friends here, poor woman. Tell me where you come from and what you want,' said the lady.

 

'I came from the other side of the river,' said Eliza.

 

'When?' said the gentleman, very much astonished.

 

'To-night.'

 

'How did you come?'

 

'I crossed on the ice.'

 

'Crossed on the ice!' exclaimed⁵ every one.

 

'Yes,' said Eliza slowly, 'I did. God helped me, and I crossed on the ice. They were close behind me—right behind, and there was no other way.'

 

'Law, missis,' said the old servant, 'the ice is all in broken up blocks, a-swinging up and down in the water.'

 

'I know it is. I know it,' said Eliza wildly. 'But I did it. I would'nt have thought I could—I didn't think I could get over, but I didn't care. I could but die if I didn't. And God helped me.'

 

'Were you a slave?' said the gentleman.

 

'Yes, sir.'

 

'Was your master unkind⁶ to you?'

 

'No, sir.'

 

'Was your mistress⁷ unkind to you?'

 

'No, sir—no. My mistress was always good to me.'

 

'What could make you leave a good home, then, and run away, and go through such danger?'

 

'They wanted to take my boy away from me—to sell him—to sell him down south, ma'am. To go all alone—a baby that had never been away from his mother in his life. I couldn't bear it. I took him, and ran away in the night. They chased⁸ me, they were coming down close behind me, and I heard 'em. I jumped right on to the ice. How I got across I don't know. The first I knew, a man was helping⁹ me up the bank.'

 

It was such a sad story, that the tears came into the eyes of everyone who heard her tell it.

 

'Where do you mean to go to, poor woman?' asked the lady.

 

'To Canada, if I only knew where that was. Is it very far off, is Canada'? said Eliza, looking up in a simple, trusting way, to the kind lady's face.

 

'Poor woman,' said she again.

 

'Is it a great way off?' asked Eliza.

 

'Yes,' said the lady of the house sadly, 'it is far away. But we will try to help you to get there.' Eliza wanted to go to Canada, because it belonged to the British. They did not allow any one to be made a slave there. George, too, was going to try to reach Canada.

 

'Wife,' said the gentleman, when they had gone back again into their own sitting-room¹⁰, 'we must get that poor woman away to-night. She is not safe here. I know some good people, far in the country, who will take care of her.'

 

So this kind gentleman got the carriage ready, and drove Eliza and her boy a long, long way, through the dark night, to a cottage far in the country. There he left her with a good man and his wife, who promised to be kind to her, and help her to go to Canada. He gave some money to the good man too, and told him to use it for Eliza.

1 presently   

adv.不久，一会儿；现在，目前

参考例句：

• I'll go to see your uncle presently.我一会儿就去看望你叔叔。
• He is presently living in New York.他目前住在纽约。

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

4 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

5 exclaimed   

vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊，惊叫，大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 unkind   

adj.不仁慈的，不和善的

参考例句：

• He was never unkind to her.他从未亏待过她。
• Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person.恶人有恶报。

7 mistress   

n.（文学用语）使男子为之倾倒的女人，女主人

参考例句：

• Does his wife know he has a mistress?他的妻子知道他有一个情妇吗？
• Is your mistress at home?你家女主人在家吗？

8 chased   

vt.追捕（chase的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。