done been
handed down to Marse Peter from more den six gran'pappys. Dey wuz cotton
an' 'bacca fields a mile wide; de wheat fields as far as yo' could see
wuz like a big sheet of green water, an' it took half hour to plow one
row of cawn, but dey wuz plenty of slaves to do de work. Mistah Sidney
Effort, Marse Peter's overseer, rode all over de fields every day,
cussin' an' crackin' his long blacksnake whip. He drove dem niggers like
dey wuz cattle, but Marse Peter wouldn' 'low no beatin' of his niggers.

Marse Peter had acres an' acres of woods dat wuz his huntin' 'zerve. Dey
wuz every kind of bird an' animal in dem woods in shootin' season. Dey
wuz snipes, pheasants, patridges, squirrels, rabbits, deers, an' foxes;
dey wuz even bears, an' dey wuz wolfs too dat would come an' catch de
sheeps at night.

Dey wuz always a crowd at Easy Acres huntin' ridin' dancin' an' havin' a
good time. Marse Peter's stables wuz full of hunters an' saddlers for
mens an' ladies. De ladies in dem days rode side saddles. Mis' Laura's
saddle wuz all studded wid sho nuff gol' tacks. De fringe wuz tipped wid
gol', an' de buckles on de bridle wuz solid gol'. When de ladies went to
ride dey wore long skirts of red, blue, an' green velvet, an' dey had
plumes on dey hats dat blew in de win'. Dey wouldn' be caught wearin'
britches an' ridin' straddle like de womens do dese days. In dem times
de women wuz ladies.

Marse Peter kept de bes' sideboa'd in Princess Anne County. His cut
glass decanters cos' near 'bout as much as Mis' Laura's diamon' ear
rings I's goin' tell yo' 'bout. De decanters wuz all set out on de
sideboard wid de glasses, an' de wine an' brandy wuz so ole dat one good
size dram would make yo' willin' to go to de jail house for sixty days.
Some of dat wine an' likker done been in dat cellar ever since Ole Marse
Caleb Hamilton's time, an' de done built Easy Acres befo' Mistah George
Washington done cut down his pappy's cherry tree. Dat likker done been
down in dat cellar so long dat yo' had to scrape de dus' off wid a
knife.

I wuz Marse Peter's main sideboa'd man. When he had shootin' company I
didn' do nothin' but shake drams. De mens would come in from de huntin'
field col' an' tired, an' Marse Peter would say: 'Hustle up, Hecter, fix
us a dram of so an' so.' Dat mean dat I wuz to mix de special dram dat
I done learned from my gran'pappy. So, I pours in a little of dis an' a
little of dat, den I shakes it 'twell it foams, den I f