Free At Last: A Story of the Underground Railroad, Part 2
Cynthia Collins sits quietly in her parlor while her daughter Mary runs screaming into the room because her little brother Frank wants her to kiss a frog. Cynthia tells Frank:
Frank drawls, “Yes, Mother,” and reluctantly obeys.
As Mary and her sister Elizabeth discuss the tardiness of their tutor Mr. Fairbanks, Cynthia defends him, saying that he is the most educated man in the county: “Your father happens to have a very high regard for Milton Fairbanks.”
Immediately Mr. Fairbanks makes a grand entrance. Learning that Frank is outside depositing a frog, he launches into a lecture on herpetology, before announcing that his topic for the day is astronomy. Mr. Fairbanks pointedly tells Granny Ann that he and the children will be outside that evening to discuss astronomy.
In the next scene, Cynthia entertains her friends Josie, Ruth, and Dora. Dora tells about Phillis and Essie, her two slaves who have run away. She says that the reason they ran away is that their overseer just wasn’t working them hard enough. Granny Ann serves her mistress and her guests.
Dora explains that her husband has offered a reward and that slave catcher Elias Craig has gone after them. The ladies discuss the fact that Americans were once slaves of the British and then Cynthia reminds them of the upcoming Fourth of July celebration she and Mr. Collins will be hosting.
That night Mr. Fairbanks and his three pupils gather on the front lawn to discuss astronomy. In the shadows Granny Ann and her daughter Mariah fold laundry. Mariah is the slave who was beaten by the overseer earlier that day because she defended her son who was also beaten. Mr. Fairbanks uses the lesson to give Granny Ann and Mariah clues about how to follow the North Star to Ohio.
During the lesson, Willie walks behind the students and saunters slowly over to his mother. When Mary asks what is wrong with him, Elizabeth tells her that he got a beating that morning for breaking a hoe. Frank tells them that Willie didn’t break the hoe, but that he broke it himself.
Meanwhile, far away in Cincinnati, abolitionist Margaret Miller lights the lantern by her window as a signal to runaway slaves that they are welcome there. Soon Dora’s slaves Phillis and Essie arrive at the home of Margaret, her husband Lewis, and their children. They are accompanied by Danny Baker, a conductor on the underground railroad. Phillis and Essie are dressed in mourning clothes and veils so they will not be recognized as slaves.
Phillis, Essie, and the Millers sing “Oft in the Chilly Night,” which ends with the chorus:
Oft in the chilly night,
Though slavery’s chain has bound me,
Kneel I, and feel the might
Of God’s right arm around me.
The next day, when it is time for Phillis and Essie to go farther, Margaret Miller flours their faces to prevent them from being recognized under their mourning veils. Soon Adelaide Walker, another abolitionist, comes to escort the girls to their next safe house.
Elias Craig and two other slave catchers appear on a Cincinnati street, discussing their trade.
Elias Craig and his partners pass Phillis and Essie on the street before the girls arrive safely at the home of Jed and Miriam Phillips. Knowing that Elias Craig is close by frightens the Phillips and the runaways. Jed and Miriam quickly hide the girls.
Elias Craig and his partners arrive at the Miller home, looking for Phillis and Essie. Craig interrogates the Miller’s daughter Margaret before the three split up to search. When they leave the room, Lewis Miller sends his older son away, saying “Jake, you know what to do.”
Craig and the other slave catchers come back into the room, having searched in vain. One of the slave catchers remembers the two women in mourning clothes that they saw on the street. Elias Craig assures them that they were white just before he notices spilled flour on the floor. Craig storms out in anger with the other slave catchers close behind. The threesome head toward the Phillips home.
When the door closes, the Millers begin to pray.
When Felicity Phillips sees Elias Craig coming up the alley near her home, she bursts inside to warn her family.
Jed Phillips quickly grabs his banjo and encourages his family to sing and dance with him as he begins “Oh, Susanna.” When the slave catchers arrive, Jed encourages them to join in the family fun.
While the Phillips family distracts the slave catchers, young Jake Miller and Adelaide Walker appear at the exterior door to the cellar and whisk Phillis and Essie away to safety.
Craig and his accomplices find the cellar door, struggle to open it, shine a lantern inside, and find it empty. Craig exits in anger along with his fellow slave catchers. Jed Phillips tells them: “Come again, gentlemen, but next time, please knock before entering.”
Jed and his family return to singing: “Oh, Susanna.”
The children who performed Free at Last last weekend learned about people who were complacent and people who were brave. They learned about people who were blind and people who could see.
I encourage you to avoid twaddle in your homeschool. Celebrate your freedom to share the stories of history and the lives of brave men and women with your children. First and foremost, share with them the story of our brave Savior.
Therefore, since we have
so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who has endured
such hostility by sinners against Himself,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3