The anti-slavery force of this scene is a remarkable combination of the sentimental and the surreal. When the gang of slaves is caught unsheltered in a snowstorm, the driver arranges to save some of them at least from perishing in the cold by helping a lynch mob burn a woman who has been accused of practicing witchcraft. "They fastened her to a post; they brought wood and piled it about her; they applied the torch while she shrieked and pleaded and strained her two young daughters to her breast; and our brute, with a heart solely for business, lashed us into position and warmed us into life and commercial value by the same fire which took away the innocent life of that poor harmless mother. That was the sort of master we had."
The Barrett Collection, UVA PS1308 .A1 1889