sarvants, and all de little chillun, line 'em's up whar Marster's
cai'age gwine pass. And Marster stop dere in de lane and 'zamine us all
to see is us all right. He de bes' Marster in de world. I love his
grave!"

"Den he'd talk to de overseer. Dere was Emmanuel and Mr. DeLoach. He gib
'em a charge. Dey couldn't whup us or treat us mean."

"How many slaves did your Master have, Auntie?"

"Oh, I don't know 'xactly--over a thousand in all I reckon. He had
plantachuns clear over to Alabama. Marster wus a world manager! Lordy, I
luv my Marster. Dere wus 'bout seventy plower hands, and 'bout a hunnard
hoe hands."

"Did your master ever sell any of the slaves off his plantation?"

"No'm--not 'less dey did wrong. Three of 'em had chillun by de overseer,
Mr. Whitefield, and Marster put 'em on de block. No ma'm he wouldn't
tolerate dat. He say you keep de race pure. Lawdy, he made us lib right
in dem time."

"And what did he do to the overseer?"

"He sont him off--he sont him down to de low place."

"I guess you had plenty to eat in those good old days?"

"Oh, yes ma'm--dey's kill a hunnard hogs."

"And what kind of houses did you have?"

"Des like dis street--two rows facin' each odder, only dey wus log
houses."

"Did they have only one room?"

"Yas'm. But sometimes dey drap a shed room down if dere wus heap o'
chullun.'

"Did you have a good time at Christmas?"

"Oh yas'm. No matter where Marster wus--crost de water er ennywhere he
send us a barrel o' apples, and chestnuts--dey had chestnuts in dem
days--and boxes o' candy. He sont 'em to 'Manuel and Mr. DeLoach to gib
out."

"So your master would sometimes be across the water?"

"Lawdy, yas'm, he be dere somewhere in de back part o' de world. You see
he wus gov'nur. He knowed all de big people--Mr. Ben Tillman and all--he
was senetra."

"Auntie do you remember seeing any of the soldiers during the war?"

"Does I? Law honey! Dey come dere to de plantachun 'bout ten o'clock
after dey surrender. Oh and dey wus awful, some of 'em wid legs off or
arms off. De niggers took all de mules and put 'em down in de sand
field. Den dey took all de wimmens and put 'em in de chillun's house.
And dey lef' a guard dere to stand over 'em, and tell him not to git off
de foot. You know dey didn't want put no temptation in de way o' dem
soldiers."

"What kind of work did some of the slave women do?"

"Everything. I had a one-legged auntie--she was de seamster. She sew