ou tell me no lie, if marse gwine whip
Mary, tell me.' Sho's you born, if dat jack turn to de laft, de nigger
git de whippin', but if marse ain't makeup he mind to whip, dat jack
stand and quiver.

"You white folks jes' go through de woods and don't know nothin'. Iffen
you digs out splinters from de north side a old pine tree what been
struck by lightnin', and gits dem hot in a iron skillet and burns dem to
ashes, den you puts dem in a brown paper sack. Iffen de officers gits
you and you gwine have it 'fore de jedge, you gits de sack and goes
outdoors at midnight and hold de bag of ashes in you hand and look up
at de moon--but don't you open you mouth. Nex' mornin' git up early and
go to de courthouse and sprinkle dem ashes in de doorway and dat law
trouble, it gwine git tore up jes' like de lightnin' done tore up dat
tree.

"De shoestring root am powerful strong. Iffen you chews on it and spits
a ring round de person what you wants somethin' from, you gwine git it.
You can git more money or a job or most anythin' dat way. I had a black
cat bone, too, but it got away from me.

"I's got a big frame and used to weigh a hunerd pounds, but day tells me
I only weighs a hunerd now. Dis Louis Southern I lives with, he's de
youngest son of my grandson, who was de son of my youngest daughter. My
marse, he knowed Gen. Houston and I seed him many a time. I lost what
teeth I had a long time ago and in 1920 two more new teeth come through.
Dem teeth sho' did worry me and I's glad when dey went, too.

List of Transcriber's Corrections:

List of Illustrations: 285 (#290#)

Page 2: come (wooden dishes. Some de knives and forks was make out of
bone. Dey had beef and pork and turkey and #some# antelope.)

Page 4: bit (all through dat house. I takes de lantern and out in de
hall I goes. Right by de foot de stairs I seed a woman, #big# as life,
but she was thin and I seed right through her. She jes' walk on down dat
hall and pay me no mind. She make de sound)

Page 7: was that a (slavery, 'cause massa give me a sack of molasses
candy once and some biscuits once and that #was a# whole lot to me
then.)

Page 9: kepps (daren't tell them 'cept on the sly. That I done lots. I
tells 'em iffen they #keeps# prayin' the Lord will set 'em free. But
since them days I's done studied some and I preached all over Panola and
Harrison County and)

Page 18: bit (piles, one for de big house and de bigges' pile for de
slaves. When dey gi