were freed," Emmaline declared, "was that which my little
mistress Fannie would slip to me." This led her mother to say, "Miss
Fannie is so crazy about 'Em' I am going to give 'Em' to her for a
cook."

Besides working as a plow hand, Emmaline's mother assisted Aunt Celia
Travis in preparing the meals for the Harper family. Four or five pots
each containing a different kind of food hung over the fire along the
long fireplace. Just before dinner, the mistress would come in to
inspect the cooking. If the food in any of the pots was not cooked to
her satisfaction, she would sometimes lose her temper, remove her
slipper and strike the cook.

Slaves on the Harper plantation arose when the horn was sounded at four
o'clock and hurried to the fields, although they would sometimes have to
wait for daylight to dawn to see how to work. The overseer rode over the
plantation watching the slaves at work and keeping account of the amount
of work performed by each. Any who failed to complete their quota at the
close of the day were punished.

On the Harper plantation, a brush arbor was used for the slave's
church. The trees and underbrush were cleared away to provide a
sufficient space to accommodate the slaves and the trees evened off at a
good height and the brush and limbs piled on top to form a roof. In
rainy weather, of course, church services could not be held. Sometimes
the slaves would slip behind the trees beside the white folks' church
and listen to the singing and preaching. They would then go back to
their brush arbor church, and preach the same gospel and sing the same
songs they had heard in the white people's church.

Frolics were often given on the Harper plantation. They usually
consisted of dancing and banjo playing. Slaves from other plantations
sometimes attended, but it was necessary to secure a pass from their
master and mistress in order to do so. A prize was given to the person
who could "buck dance" the steadiest with a tumbler of water balanced on
the head. A cake or a quilt was often given as the prize.

A marriage ceremony was performed after both owners had given their
consent, when bride and groom did not belong to the same master. Often
neither owner would sell their slave to the other, in which case it was
necessary for the husband to be given a pass in order to visit his wife.

Slaves were given treatment by the doctor when they became ill, but if
the doctor stated that the slave was well enough t