A Narrow Escape
The boatman eyed the pair of black women suspiciously. "You just stand aside, you two; I'll attend to your case later." Inwardly the women trembled. They knew that their forged pass could not withstand close scrutiny. Harriet Tubman led young, terrified Tilly to the bow of the boat where no one else was standing. Then Harriet knelt, fixed her eyes on the water, and groaned a prayer.

"Oh, Lord! You've been with me in six troubles, don't desert me in the seventh!" She continued to pray as Tilly's panic mounted.

Finally the boatman came over and touched Harriet on the shoulder. Tilly thought the game was up. She would be returned to the South for a whipping and a forced marriage. Harriet would go to prison, or be burned at a stake--the death one friend predicted for her.

"You can come now and get your tickets," said the boatman. It was but one of many narrow escapes for Harriet Tubman.

Harriet was a conductor on the underground railroad. This meant she led runaway slaves to freedom in the northern states or Canada.

Prepared by Extreme Adversity
Had Harriet been kindly treated as a slave, she might not have become a conductor. Instead, vicious masters and mistresses forced her to perform tasks that were almost beyond human endurance.

One mistress who paid only a pittance for the hire of young Harriet, expected her to slave night and day. By day, she must clean and cook, and by night rock the little white baby so the mistress could sleep in peace. Should Harriet fall asleep and the baby cry, a lash was at hand. Scars on Harriet's neck proved that the whip was often employed. Needless to say, Harriet's body broke down, and she was returned to her owner, exhausted and starving. Her mother nursed her back to health. The hardship served a purpose. She learned to go without food and sleep when she must. This ability stood her in good stead in the long nights when she guided other slaves to freedom. Indeed, she insisted that slave owner cruelty served to prepare her for the rescues that made her name legendary.

When she recovered a little, her master rented her out to another brute who made her to lift and haul heavy burdens and flogged her if she failed. She grew strong. Later, brawny men marveled at her feats of strength. Once more, her body broke down, but she kept her powerful muscles. Years later, she saved a slave from capture by dragging him out of a sheriff's office and carrying him to safety against the resistance of a sheriff and deputies.

God with Her
Harriet would not have become a Moses to her people had not God been with her. Raised to fear him, she was at first a surly child, but she learned while young to call upon the Lord for help at any hour of the day and night.

Her need for divine assistance was great. When she was about thirteen, an overseer cracked her skull by flinging a two pound weight at a disobedient slave whom Harriet had refused to help tie up.

She fell into a stupor and wasted away almost to nothing. Once again her mother nursed her. As she lay on her bed, her master offered her for sale, assuring slavers that Harriet would be a real work horse once she recovered. No one would give much for her, even when she regained a little strength and was able to totter about. As a result of the blow, she suffered bouts of uncontrollable sleepiness until the end of her life. This sleepiness made her appear stupid. Behind the appearance of laziness and stupidity, however, was a keen mind, that prayed for her master: "Oh, dear Lord, change that man's heart and make him a Christian."