er his young marster. Dey lived
in Randolph, de county next ter Davidson whar me mammy an' de rest of de
chilluns, Alt, George, Harriet, Sarah, Mary an' de baby libed.

Both of de marsters wus good ter us, an' dar wus plenty ter eat an'
w'ar, an' right many jubilees. We ain't none of de dozen er so of us
eber got a whuppin', case we ain't desarved no whuppin'; why, dar wusn't
eben a cowhide whup anywhar on de place. We wucked in de fie'ls from
sunup ter sundown mos' o' de time, but we had a couple of hours at
dinner time ter swim or lay on de banks uv de little crick an' sleep.
Ober 'bout sundown marster let us go swim ag'in iff'en we wanted ter do
it.

De marster let us have some chickens, a shoat an' a gyarden, an' 'tater
patch, an' we had time off ter wuck 'em. In season we preserved our own
fruits fer de winter an' so we larned not ter be so heaby on de
marster's han's.

My daddy wus a fiddler, an' he sometimes played fer de dances at de
Cross Roads, a little village near de marster's place. All what ain't
been mean could go, but de mean ones can't, an' de rest o' us has ter
habe a pass ter keep de patterollers from gittin us.

Yes mam, we had our fun at de dances, co'n chuckin's, candy pullin's,
an' de gatherin's an' we sarbed de marster better by habin' our fun.

I'se seed a bunch o' slaves sold a heap of times an' I neber seed no
chains on nobody. Dey jist stood dem on de table front of de post office
at Cross Roads an' sol' 'em ter de one what bids de highes'.

We hyard a whisper 'bout some slaves bein' beat ter death, but I ain't
neber seed a slave git a lick of no kin', course atter de war I seed de
Ku Klux runnin' mean niggers.

Dar wus no marryin' on de plantation, iffen a nigger wants a 'oman he
has got ter buy her or git her marster's permit, den dey am married.

When one o' de slaves wus sick he had a doctor fast as lightnin', an'
when de died he wus set up wid one night. De marster would gibe de
mourners a drink o' wine mebbe, an' dey'd mo'n, an' shout, an' sing all
de night long, while de cop'se laid out on de coolin' board, which
'minds me of a tale.

Onct we wus settin' up wid a nigger, 'fore de war an' hit bein' a hot
night de wine wus drunk an' de mo'ners wus settin' front o' de do'
eatin' watermillons while de daid man laid on de coolin' board. Suddenly
one of de niggers looks back in at de do', an' de daid man am settin' up
on de coolin' board lookin right at him. De man what sees hit ho