Julius Lester

From "Louis", p. 33-4

Though the river had looked slow-moving from the bank, the current was deep and strong and threatened to send him along faster than he wanted to go. He tried rowing straight across, but the water simply pushed him downstream as if he and the boat were a stick. Rowing furiously, he discovered that if he could keep the boat at an angle, he would eventually reach the other side as the river carried the boat downstream.

It seemed to take the boat forever before it touched bottom on the other side, and the sun was up now. He was sure someone had seen him, but as he leaped from the boat and looked around, he saw no one. He scrambled up the embankment quickly and into the tall grasses at the top. He lay there for quite a while, breathing heavily. He supposed he was in free land. He didn't know what he had expected, but he thought something would be different. The grass, however, felt just like the grass on the plantation. Even if it did, he told himself, he had to be in free country. He had to be! If he wasn't, he didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't even know which way to go. All he had ever heard was "the big river." If that wasn't it, he was so lost that he would never find freedom.