Twelve Years a Slave

by Solomon Northup

All the way from New-York, their anxiety to reach the circus seemed to grow more and more intense.

I wonder if “the circus” was code for the slave market.

“You’re not going to end them here,” he said, “unless you die very soon. I’ve thought this matter all over, and have come to a determination. There are more ways than one to manage this business, and a better and surer way than writing letters. I have a job or two on hand which can be completed by March or April. By that time I shall have a considerable sum of money, and then, Platt, I am going to Saratoga myself.”

Bass is such a generous man… what a selfless thing to do.