ads de wagon and 'fore long massa see me and
him say, 'Gosh for hemlock! Boy, how comes you here?' I lets my face
slip a li'l, 'bout half a laugh. I says, 'I rides under dat canvas.' Dat
start him laughin' and he tells de people dat I'm a pat'otic nigger.
After dey all eats us niggers gits to eat. For once, I gits plenty pie
and cake.

"Us never have much joyments in slave time. Only when de corn ready for
huskin' all de neighbors comes dere and a whole big crowd am a-huskin'
and singin'. I can't 'member dem songs, 'cause I'm not much for singin'.
One go like dis:

"'Pull de husk, break de ear;
Whoa, I's got de red ear here.'

"When you finds de red ear, dat 'titles you to de prize, like kissin' de
gal or de drink of brandy or somethin'. Dey not 'nough red ears to suit
us.

"I'm thirteen year when surrender come. Massa don't call us to him like
other massas done. Him jus' go 'mongst de folks and say, 'Well, folks,
yous am free now and no longer my prop'ty, and yous 'titled to pay for
work. I 'member old Jerry sings, 'Free, free as de jaybird, free to flew
like de jaybird. Whew!'

"Some de cullud folks stays and some goes. Mostest dem stays and works
de land on shares. I stays till I'm eighteen year and den I works for a
farmer den for a blacksmith den some carpenter work and some
railroadin'. De fact am, I works at anything I could find to does. I
does dat most my life.

"It good for me to stay with Massa Hurt after freedom, 'cause den day
plenty trouble in every place. Dere am fightin' 'twixt white and cullud
folks over votin' and sich. Dey try 'lect my brudder to Congress one
time, but he not 'lect, 'cause de white man what am runnin' 'gainst him
gits a cullud preacher to run 'gainst dem both. Dat split de cullud
votes and de white man am 'lect. I votes like de white man say, couple
times, but after dat I stops votin'. It ain't right for me to vote 'less
I knows how and why. I larns to read and den starts votin' 'gain.

"After de war de Ku Klux am org'nize and dey makes de niggers plenty
trouble. Sometimes de niggers has it comin' to 'em and lots of times dey
am 'posed on. Dere a old, cullud man name George and he don't trouble
nobody, but one night de white caps--dat what dey called--comes to
George's place. Now, George know of some folks what am whupped for
no-cause, so he prepare for dem white caps. When dey gits to he house
George am in de loft. He tell dem he done nothin' wrong and for dem to
go 'wa