ot of
de bed dey put a plank to hold de straw and keep de little 'uns from
fallin' out.

"What did us have to eat? Lordy mussy! Mist'ess! us had everything.
Summertime dere wuz beans, cabbage, squashes, irish 'tatoes, roas'en
ears, 'matoes, cucumbers, cornbread, and fat meat, but de Nigger boys,
dey wuz plum fools 'bout hog head. In winter dey et sweet 'tatoes,
collards, turnips and sich, but I et lak de white folkses. I sho does
lak 'possums and rabbits. Yessum, some of de slaves had gyardens, some
of 'em sholy did.

"No'm, us Niggers never wore no clothes in summer, I means us little
'uns. In de winter us wore cotton clothes, but us went barefoots. My
uncle Sam and some of de other Niggers went 'bout wid dey foots popped
open from de cold. Marster had 110 slaves on his plantation.

"Mist'ess wuz good to me. Pa begged her to buy me, 'cause she wuz his
young Mist'ess and he knowed she would be good to me, but Marster wuz
real cruel. He'd beat his hoss down on his knees and he kilt one of 'em.
He whupped de Niggers when dey didn't do right. Niggers is lak dis; dey
wuz brought to dis here land wild as bucks, and dey is lak chicken
roosters in a pen. You just have to make 'em 'have deyselves. Its lak
dat now; if dey'd 'have deyselves, white folkses would let 'em be.

"Dere warn't no jails in dem days. Dey had a gyuard house what dey
whupped 'em in, and Mondays and Tuesdays wuz set aside for de whuppin's,
when de Niggers what had done wrong got so many lashes, 'cordin' to what
devilment dey had been doin'. De overseer didn't do de whuppin',
Marster done dat. Dem patterrollers wuz sompin else. Mankind! If dey
ketched a Nigger out atter dark widout no pass dey'd most nigh tear de
hide offen his back.

"I'll tell you what dat overseer done one night. Some enemy of Marster's
sot fire to de big frame house whar him and Mist'ess and de chillun
lived. De overseer seed it burnin', and run and clam up de tree what wuz
close to de house, went in de window and got Marster's two little gals
out dat burnin' house 'fore you could say scat. Dat sho fixed de
overseer wid old Marster. Atter dat Marster give him a nice house to
live in but Marster's fine old house sho wuz burnt to de ground.

"De cyarriage driver wuz uncle Sam. He drove de chillun to school, tuk
Marster and Mist'ess to church, and done de wuk 'round de house; such
as, totin' in wood, keepin' de yards and waitin' on de cook. No'm us
slaves didn't go to church; de Nigge