Dorothy was in great
anxiety about Mammy and Jenny lest they be kidnapped along the way.
Desperate characters were about who picked up negroes in the North and
sold them in the South. It was as common a matter as robbing a bank or
picking a pocket. We kept a close watch on Mammy and Jenny. In New York
we rode together in a carriage. But this was also made necessary by the
fact that negroes were not permitted to use the street cars.
The city now had half a million people; but I found the old places, like
Niblo's Garden, and again walked to Washington Square whither I had
taken my lonely way so many years before. Leaving our boy, Reverdy, with
Mammy and Jenny at the Astor House, Dorothy and I spent much time in
sightseeing.
Broadway was our particular delight. Though it was poorly paved, and
dimly lighted at night, it was a scene of great fascination. It was the
great promenade. Omnibuses, cabs, hacks, trucks rolled through it all
day long. There were footmen in livery; luxury was displayed in the
equipages. There were crowds of foreigners; and ragged boys and girls
who sold matches or newspapers. New York had the penny newspaper. We
looked out upon the street in the early morning, when the workers
streamed to their tasks. We saw it at breakfast time, when the bankers
hurried toward Wall Street, and the lawyers were going to court, or to
their offices in Nassau and Pine streets.
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