t I got when anybody died. He
was a friend of mine. He had had a lot of soldiering before and fought
in the Indian War.

"Well, the Battle of Marshall broke the back of the Texas Cavalry. We
began straggling back towards New Orleans, and by that time the War was
over. The soldiers began to scatter. They was a sorry-lookin' bunch of
lost sheep. They didn't know where to go, but most of 'em ended up
pretty close to the towns they started from. They was like homing
pigeons, with only the instinct to go home and, yet, most of them had no
homes to go to.

"No, sir, I never went into books. I used to handle a big dictionary
three times a day, but it was only to put it on a chair so my young
master could sit up higher at the table. I never went to school. I
learned to talk pretty good by associating with my masters in their big
house.

"We lived on a ranch of about 1,000 acres close to the Jackson County
line in Victoria County, about 125 miles from San Antonio. Just before
the war ended they sold the ranch, slaves and all, and the family, not
away fighting, moved to Galveston. Of course, my father and me wasn't
sold with the other blacks, because we was away at war. My mother was
drowned years before when I was a little boy. I only remember her after
she was dead. I can take you to the spot in the river today where she
was drowned. She drowned herself. I never knew the reason behind it, but
it was said she started to lose her mind and preferred death to that."

At this point in the old Negro's narrative the sound of someone singing
was heard. A moment later the door to the house slammed shut and in
accompaniment to the tread of feet in the kitchen came this song:

"I sing because I'm happy,
And I sing because I'm free--
His eyes is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me."

The singer glanced in the bedroom and the song ended with both
embarrassment and anger:

"Father! Why didn't you say you had callers?"

It was not long, however, before the singer, Mrs. Maggie Jackson,
daughter-in-law of old Martin Jackson, joined in the conversation.

"The master's name was usually adopted by a slave after he was set free.
This was done more because it was the logical thing to do and the
easiest way to be identified than it was through affection for the
master. Also, the government seemed to be in a almighty hurry to have us
get names. We had to register as someone, so we could be citizens. Well,
I got to thinking a