Iwasmadeacquaintedwithhiswifenotlessthanwithhimself。Theywerewellmatched，beingequallymeanandcruel。Iwasnow，forthefirsttimeduringaspaceofmorethansevenyears，madetofeelthepainfulgnawingsofhunger——asomethingwhichI
hadnotexperiencedbeforesinceIleftColonelLloyd’splantation。Itwenthardenoughwithmethen，whenIcouldlookbacktonoperiodatwhichIhadenjoyedasufficiency。ItwastenfoldharderafterlivinginMasterHugh’sfamily，whereIhadalwayshadenoughtoeat，andofthatwhichwasgood。IhavesaidMasterThomaswasameanman。
Hewasso。Nottogiveaslaveenoughtoeat，isregardedasthemostaggravateddevelopmentofmeannessevenamongslaveholders。Theruleis，nomatterhowcoarsethefood，onlylettherebeenoughofit。Thisisthetheory;andinthepartofMarylandfromwhichIcame，itisthegeneralpractice，——thoughtherearemanyexceptions。MasterThomasgaveusenoughofneithercoarsenorfinefood。Therewerefourslavesofusinthekitchen——mysisterEliza，myauntPriscilla，Henny，andmyself;andwewereal-
lowedlessthanahalfofabushelofcorn-mealperweek，andverylittleelse，eitherintheshapeofmeatorvegetables。Itwasnotenoughforustosubsistupon。Wewerethereforereducedtothewretchednecessityoflivingattheexpenseofourneighbors。Thiswedidbybeggingandstealing，whichevercamehandyinthetimeofneed，theonebeingconsideredaslegitimateastheother。Agreatmanytimeshavewepoorcreaturesbeennearlyperishingwithhunger，whenfoodinabundancelaymoulderinginthesafeandsmoke-house，andourpiousmistresswasawareofthefact;andyetthatmistressandherhusbandwouldkneeleverymorn-
ing，andpraythatGodwouldblesstheminbasketandstore！