March 9, 1855
In this speech, Burns tells of his arrest. “When I was going home one night I heard someone running behind me; presently a hand was put on my shoulder, and somebody said: “Stop, stop; you are the fellow who broke into a silversmith’s shop the other night.”
I assured the man that it was a mistake, but almost before I could speak I was lifted off my feet by six or seven others, and it was no use to resist. In the Court House, I waited some time, and as the silversmith did not come, I told them I wanted to go home to supper. A man then came to the door; he didn’t open it like an honest man would, but he kind of slowly opened it, and looked in. He said: ‘How do you do, Mr. Burns?’ and, I called him, as we do in Virginia, ‘master’…”…Then follows a description of Burn’s rendition, and eventual sale to McDaniel, of North Carolina, for $950, and then the purchase effected by Mr. Grimes.
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