ded
it. Some o' de Niggers was sho' 'nough bad. Dey used to take de
marster's horses out at night an' ride 'em down. One Nigger, Sam, got
dat mad at a mule for grabbin' at cotton he cut his tongue out. Course,
Marster whupped him, but when he went to look for 'im 'bout a hour
after, he foun' 'im soun' asleep. Said he ought to kill 'im, but he
didn'.

"When we was sick dey had a doctor for us jus' like dey done for
deyse'ves. Dey called 'im in to 'scribe for us. I was snake-bit when I
was eight year old. Dey used to be a medicine named 'lobelia.' De doctor
give me dat an' whiskey. My ma carried me up to de Big House ever'
mornin' an' lef' me, an' carried me home at night. Old Mis' 'ud watch
over me in de day time.

"My young marster tol' me dat when I got to be ten year old, I'd have a
snake coiled up on my liver. Dat scared me mos' to death 'til I was past
ten year old.

"Dey made all de Niggers' clo'es[FN: clothes] on de place. Homespun, dey
called it. Dey had spinnin' wheels an' cards an' looms at de Big House.
All de women spinned in de winter time.

"I never knowed what it was to wear more dan one garment, 'til I was
mos' grown. I never had a pair o' shoes o' my own. Old Mis' let me wear
her'n sometimes. Dey had shoes for de old folks, but not for de chillun.

"I got more whuppin's dan any other Nigger on de place, 'cause I was
mean like my mammy. Always a-fightin' an' scratchin' wid white an'
black. I was so bad Marster made me go look at de Niggers dey hung to
see what dey done to a Nigger dat harm a white man.

"I's gwine tell dis story on myse'f. De white chillun was a-singin' dis
song:

'Jeff Davis, long an' slim,
Whupped old Abe wid a hick'ry limb.

Jeff Davis is a wise man, Lincoln is a fool,
Jeff Davis rides a gray, an' Lincoln rides a mule.'

I was mad anyway, so I hopped up an' sung dis one:

'Old Gen'l Pope had a shot gun,
Filled it full o' gum,
Killed 'em as dey come.

Called a Union band,
Make de Rebels un'erstan'
To leave de lan',
Submit to Abraham.'

"Old Mis' was a-standin' right b'hin' me. She grabbed up de broom an'
laid it on me. She made _me_ submit. I caught de feathers, don't you
forgit it.

"I didn' know it was wrong. I'd hear'd de Niggers sing it an' I didn'
know dey was a-singin' in dey sleeves. I didn' know nothin' 'bout Abe
Lincoln, but I hear'd he was a-tryin' to free de Niggers an' my mammy
say she want to be free.

"De young folks used to ma