rial come on; 'twuz April-cote, an' dee had me
in the cote-house, an' set me down in de cheer, wid de jury right
in front o' me, an' de jedge settin' up in he pulpit, lookin' mighty
aggrevated. Dat wuz de fus' time I 'gin to feel maybe I wuz sort o'
forgittin' things, I had done been thinkin' so much lately in jail 'bout
de ole doctor--dat's ole master--an' Marth' Ann, an' all de ole times
in Hanover, I wuz sort o' misty as I wuz settin' dyah in de cheer, an' I
jes heah sort o' buzzin' roun' me, an' I warn' altogether certified dat
I warn' back in ole Hanover. Den I heah 'em say dat de ole jedge
wuz tooken down an' wuz ixpected to die, an' dee ax me don' I want a
continuance. I don' know what dat mean, 'sep dee say I have to go back
to jail, an' sense I smell de fresh air I don' warn' do dat no mo'; so
I tell 'em, 'Nor; I ready to die.' An' den dee made me stan' up; an' dee
read dat long paper to me 'bout how I done murder P'laski; dee say I
had done whup him to death, an' had done shoot him, an' knock him in de
haid, an' kill him mo' ways 'n 'twould 'a' teck to kill him ef he had
been a cat. Lucindy wuz dyah. I had done had her gwine 'bout right smart
meckin' quiration for P'laski. At least she _say_ she had," he said,
with a sudden reservation, and a glance of some suspicion toward his
spouse. "An' dee wuz a whole parecel o' niggers stan'-in' roun' dyah,
black as buzzards roun' a ole hoss whar dyin'. An' don' you know, dat
Jim Sinkfiel' say he sutney hope dee would hang me, an' all jes 'cuz he
owe' me two dollars an' seventy-three cents, whar he ain' warn' pay me!"

"Did you not have counsel?" I inquired.

"Council?"

"Yes--a lawyer."

"Oh, nor, suh; dat is, I had council, but not a la'yar, edzactly," he
replied, with careful discrimination. "I had a some sort of a la'yer,
but not much of a one. I had ixpected ole Jedge Thomas to git me off;
'cuz he knowed me; he wuz a gent'man, like we is; but when he wuz tooken
sick so providential I wouldn' had no urrs; I lef' it to Gord. De jedge
ax me at de trial didn' I had no la'yar, and I tell him nor, not dyah;
an' he ax me didn' I had no money to get one; an' I er-spon' 'Nor, I
didn' had none,' although I had at dat time forty-three dollars an'
sixty-eight cents in a ole rag in my waistcoat linin', whar I had wid
me down in de sumac bushes, an' whar I thought I better hole on to, an'
'ain' made no mention on. So den de jedge ax me wouldn' I had a young
man dyah--a right