l sudden
And I 'lieve he's up and gone.

(Chorus)

'Old massa run away
And us darkies stay at home.
It mus' be now dat Kingdom's comin'
And de year of Jubilee.

'He look up de river and he seed dat smoke
Where de Lincoln gunboats lay.
He big 'nuff and he old 'nuff and he orter know better,
But he gone and run away.

'Now dat overseer want to give trouble
And trot us 'round a spell,
But we lock him up in de smokehouse cellar,
With de key done throwed in de well.'

"Right after dat I start to be boy what run mail from camp to camp for
de sojers. One time I capture by a bunch of deserters what was hidin' in
de woods 'long Pacolet River. Dey didn't hurt me, though, but dey mos'
scare me to death. Dey parole me and turn me loose.

"All four my young massas go to de war, all but Elias. He too old.
Smith, he kilt at Manassas Junction. Nathan he git he finger shot at de
first round at Fort Sumter. But when Billy was wounded at Howard Gap in
North Carolina and dey brung him home with he jaw split open, I so mad I
could have kilt all de Yankees. I say I be happy iffen I could kill me
jes' one Yankee. I hated dem 'cause dey hurt my white people. Billy was
disfigure awful when he jaw split and he teeth all shine through he
cheek.

"After war was over, old massa call us up and told us we free but he
'vise not leave de place till de crop was through. Us all stay. Den us
select us homes and move to it. Us folks move to Sam Littlejohn's, north
of Thickettty Creek, where us stay two year. Den us move back to Billy
Lipscomb, de young massa, and stay dere two more year. I's right smart
good banjo picker in dem day. I kin 'member one dem songs jes' as good
today as when I pick it. Dat was:

'Early in de mornin'
Don't you hear de dogs a-barkin'?
Bow, wow, wow!

(Chorus)

'Hush, hush, boys
Don't make a noise,
Massa's fast a-sleepin'.
Run to de barnyard
Wake up de boys
Let's have banjo pickin.'.

'Early in de mornin'
Don't you hear dem roosters crowin'?
Cock-a-doodle-do.

"I come in contac' with de Klu Klux. Us lef' de plantation in '65 or '66
and by '68 us was havin' sich a awful time with de Klu Klux. First time
dey come to my mamma's house at midnight and claim dey sojers done come
back from de dead. Dey all dress up in sheets and make up like spirit.
Dey groan 'round and say dey been kilt wrongly and come back for
justice. One man, he look jus' like ordinary