?"

"Why, it was only yisterday, Samson!"

"Dat was de woman, Jimmy. She was a chunky, heavy-sot woman, right purty
to look at, an' maybe fifty year ole. She was de nicest woman mos' ever
I see. She made me git off my mule an' ride in de wagon by her, an' take
a drink of her own applejack--she said she 'stilled it on her farm. She
said she knowed Judge Custis, an' asked me questions about Prencess
Anne, an' wanted me to work fur her some way. We was goin froo a pore,
pine country, a heap wuss dan Hardship, whar Marster Milburn come outen,
an' hadn't seen nobody on de road till we come to a run she said was
named de Tussocky branch, whar she got out of de wagon to water her
hoss. At dat place she come up to me an' says, 'Samson, I'll wrastle
you!' 'Go long,' says I, 'I kin't wrastle no woman like you.' 'You got
to,' she says, swearin' like a man, an' takin' holt of me jess like a
man wrastles. I felt ashamed, an' didn't know what to do, and, befo' I
could wink, Jimmy, dat woman had give me de trip an' shoved me wid a
blow like de kick of an ox, and was a-top of my back wid a knee like
iron pinnin' of me down."

"The awful huzzy of Pangymonum!"

"De fust idee I had was dat she was a man dressed up like a woman. I
started like lightnin' to jump up, an' my legs caught each oder; she had
carried de cord to tie me under her gown, an' clued it aroun' me in a
minute. As I run at her an' fell hard, she drew de runnin' knot tight
an' danced aroun' me like a fat witch, windin' me all up in de rope. De
sweat started from my head, I yelled an' fought an' fell agin, an', as I
laid with my tongue out like a calf in de butcher's cart, she whispered
to me, 'Maybe you're de las' nigger ole Patty Cannon'll ever tie!'

"At dat name I jess prayed to de Lord, but it was too late. She put me
in de cart an' gagged me so I couldn't say a word, and blood came outen
my mouth. I heard her talkin' to people as we passed by a town an' over
a bridge. Nobody looked in de cart whar I laid kivered over, till we
come to a ferry in de night, an' dar we passed over, and I heard her
talkin' to a man on dis side of de ferry. He come to de side of de wagon
an' peeped at me, layin' helpless dar, my eyes jess a-prayin' to
him--and he had an elegant eye in his head, Jimmy. He says softly to
hisself, 'Dis is no consignment, manifes'ly, to Isaac an' Jacob Cannon,'
an' he kivered me up again, an' the woman fetched me yer, put on de
irons, and shoved me into di