ermixing his findings with philosophy,
poetry and prognostications.

"It's a funny thing how folks always want to know about the War. The war
weren't so great as folks suppose. Sometimes you didn't knowed it was
goin' on. It was the endin' of it that made the difference. That's when
we all wakes up that somethin' had happened. Oh, we knowed what was
goin' on in it all the time, 'cause old man Gudlow went to the post
office every day and we knowed. We had papers in them days jus' like
now.

"But the War didn't change nothin'. We saw guns and we saw soldiers, and
one member of master's family, Colmin Gudlow, was gone
fightin'--somewhere. But he didn't get shot no place but one--that was
in the big toe. Then there was neighbors went off to fight. Some of 'em
didn't want to go. They was took away (conscription). I'm thinkin' lots
of 'em pretended to want to go as soon as they had to go.

"The ranch went on jus' like it always had before the war. Church went
on. Old Mew Johnson, the preacher, seen to it church went on. The kids
didn't know War was happenin'. They played marbles, see-saw and rode. I
had old Buster, a ox, and he took me about plenty good as a horse.
Nothin' was different. We got layed-onto(whipped) time on time, but
gen'rally life was good--just as good as a sweet potato. The only misery
I had was when a black spider bit me on the ear. It swelled up my head
and stuff came out. I was plenty sick and Dr. Brennen, he took good care
of me. The whites always took good care of people when they was sick.
Hospitals couldn't do no better for you today.... Yes, maybe it was a
black widow spider, but we called it the 'devil biter'.

"Sometimes someone would come 'long and try to get us to run up North
and be free. We used to laugh at that. There wasn't no reason to =run=
up North. All we had to do was to =walk=, but walk =South=, and we'd be
free as soon as we crossed the Rio Grande. In Mexico you could be free.
They didn't care what color you was, black, white, yellow or blue.
Hundreds of slaves did go to Mexico and got on all right. We would hear
about 'em and how they was goin' to be Mexicans. They brought up their
children to speak only Mexican.

"Me and my father and five brothers and sisters weren't goin' to Mexico.
I went there after the war for a while and then I looked 'round and
decided to get back. So I come back to San Antonio and I got a job
through Colonel Breckenridge with the waterworks. I was handli