ed out of Wake County.

"Ole Dr. Jim McKee, who is dead an' gone, looked atter us when we wus
sick. He give us medicine an' kep us clean out better en people is
clean out now. Dr. John McKee at de City Hall is his son. Dey pays no
'tention to me now; guess dey has forgotten me.

"Did you say ghosts, Lawsy, no I neber seed one but our spirits is
always wonderin' aroun' eben before we dies. Spirits is wonderin'
eberywhere an' you has to look out for 'em.

"Witches is folks. I neber had a spell put on me by one, but I knowed a
woman once who had a spell put on 'er, an' it hurt her feet, but a ole
white man witch doctor helped take de spell off, but I think it wus de
Lord who took it off. I is a Christain an' I believes eberythin' is in
His han's.

"De people is worser now den dey was in slavery time. We need
patterollers right now. 'Twould stop some uv dis stealin' an' keep a
lot of folks out of de penetentiary. We need 'em right now.

"Slavery wus better for us den things is now in some cases. Niggers den
didn't have no responsibility, jest wurk, obey an' eat. Now dey got to
shuffle around an' live on jest what de white folks min' to give 'em.

"Slaves prayed for freedom. Den dey got it dey didn't know what to do
wid it. Dey wus turned out wid nowhere to go an' nothin' to live on.
Dey had no 'sperence in lookin' out for demselves an' nothin' to wurk
wid an' no lan'.

"Dey made me think of de crowd onetime who prayed for rain when it wus
dry in crap time. De rain fell in torrents an' kept fallin' till it was
'bout a flood. De rain frogs 'gin to holler an' callin' mo' rain an' it
rained an' rained. Den de raincrow got up in a high tree an' he holler
an' axed de Lord for rain. It rained till ebery little rack of cloud
dat come ober brought a big shower of large drops. De fiel's wus so wet
an' miry you could not go in 'em an' water wus standin' in de fiel's
middle of ebery row, while de ditches in de fiel's looked like little
rivers, dey wus so full of water. It begun to thunder agin in de
southwest, right whar we call de 'Chub hole' of de sky, whar so much
rain comes from an' de clouds growed blacker an' blacker back dere.

"Den one of de mens who had been prayin' for rain up an' said, 'I tell
you brothers if it don't quit rainin' eberything goin' to be washed
away.' Dey all looked at de black rain cloud in de west wid sor'ful
faces as if dey felt dey didn't know what use dey had for rain after
dey got it. Den one o