permission to use his story in the freedman's book does not survive. but his reply to her suggests a question she apparently raised. child, it seems, had read somewhere that douglass had reconciled with his former enslaver thomas auld. was this true? no. douglass replied it was not. the story of an interview between us is newspaper story for which i in no way responsible, he wrote. any such meeting could fail to be awkward. he continued, but then douglass seemed to reconsider. still, i should be glad to see him, especially if i could do so simply by meeting him halfway wrote. then again, not. i do not. he continued. fancy making a journey to see a man who gave me so many reasons for wishing the greatest distance us. yet again, he reconsidered. i learned from my sister. still lives near me, master thomas, that he says he would be glad to see me. he wrote. then came an extraordinary promise he has, but to say so me by letter and his age and forgetting his past, i will make him a visit. what is going on? this letter? what had child written to prompt such