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irascibility remained very much in
evidence, but Francis continued to feel happy in the
company of this kind, if somewhat eccentric, man.
However, coping with the daily presence of Miss Williams
was proving to be a great trial, for the blind woman made
it plain that although Francis might be a clear favourite
of her employer, she viewed the Jamaican as little more
than an idle black boy who had absolutely no notion of
his own modest place in the greater scheme of things. She
continually attempted to exercise her authority over Francis,
and their rancour was generally uncivil and often bitter.
Johnson seemed reluctant to adjudicate, and he habitually
allowed Miss Williams to put her oar in and verbally abuse
his negro without any attempt on his part to intervene
and curb her demanding nature.
    Sadly, from the young boy's vantage point, the situation
grew steadily worse until finally he could tolerate no more
of this peevish woman. With a few pounds safely tucked
away in his pocket, and confident of his new-found status
as a free man, the negro exchanged his master's household
for that of a Mr Farran of Cheapside, an apothecary of
modest means, who employed Francis as his assistant. For
two years Francis lived with Mr Farran, but he soon understood
that he did not enjoy his duties as an apothecary's
assistant, finding the work both menial and taxing. During
this period Francis did not completely cut himself adrift
from his former master, and the young man still visited
Johnson, who continued to treat him with kindness and
warmth. His former master often suggested that the negro
join him for dinner, and the two formed an astonishing
spectacle as the doctor slipped a heavy arm around the
boy and lumbered his way to a tavern, clutching, in his
free hand, a vast oak stick that was six feet in length and
of such girth that even the massive hand of Johnson could
not completely circle it. Eventually, when Johnson saw that
Francis' unhappiness appeared to be incessant, he suggested
to the boy that he relinquish his duties as an apothecary's
assistant and return to live with him at his new lodgings
in Gough Square, for he worried about Francis' frail nature
and his susceptibility to illness. However, soon after his
return young Francis realised that the miserable Miss
Williams' tyrannical hold over domestic matters had not
abated and so, determined to make his own way in the
world, the sooty youngster resolved to run away to sea.
    On 7 June, 1758, sixteen-year-old Francis Barber enlisted
in the Royal Navy and was registered in the muster books
as 'L. M.' – which identified him as a 'landsman' or a
member of a ship's crew who was unfamiliar with the ways
of the sea. The young negro boarded The Golden Fleece ,
which was the tender ship for HMS Princess Royal , and a
few days later, on 10 June, the black boy was transferred
to HMS Princess Royal which lay at anchor at Sheerness.
When Johnson learned that young Francis had once again
abandoned his household, but this time run off to sea, he
was beside himself with anxiety for he was sure that the
boy must have been used wrongly in some vile manner.
Initially he feared that his negro may have been kidnapped
and pressed on board, or – worse still – disposed of at
auction in some coffee house or tavern and become the
metal-collared, human property of some conscienceless
brute and dispatched back to the West Indies. It was equally
possible that young Francis might have become an apprentice
to some cockney thief, and Johnson understood that
Spitalfields and Whitechapel markets were places where
one might buy a poor young child to train as a pickpocket,
or beggar, or prostitute, and so he spent many an hour
there questioning strangers about his Francis. His enquiries
led him to conclude that the sea was undoubtedly the new
'home' of young Francis, and although he now understood
that his servant had almost certainly volunteered, he worried
constantly about the fate of his boy. It caused him