ould be jes' running' off you
and sometimes you could smell one another.

"Dere wus a spring nearby an' when we would git to it we would fall down
an' drink fum de branch. De women would be plowin' an' hoein' grain an'
de spanish needles an' cockle burrs would be stickin' to dere dresses
fum dere knees to dere feet. Further down dere would be a man diggin' a
ditch. Every now an' den white folks would walk over to de ditch an' see
if it wus de same width all de way."

"You go off to see somebody at night--jes' like you an' me want to laff
an' talk--an' if dey ketch an' you ain't got no pass den dey gwine to
whup you. You be glad to git away too 'cause when dey hit you, you wus
hit. I wus down to ol' John Brady's place one night talkin' to a lady
an' ol' man Brady slipped up behin' me an' caught me in de collar an' he
say: "Whut you doin' over here?--I'm goin' to give you twenty-five
lashes" an' den he say to me: "come here". He wus jes' bout as tall as
I am an' when I got to 'im he say turn 'roun' and' I say to 'im dat I
ain't doin' nuthin' an' den he say: "dats whut I'm goin to whup you fer
'cause you ought to be home doin' sumpin'. 'Bout dat time when I stooped
over to take off my coat I caught 'im in his pants an' throwed 'im in a
puddle o' water an' den I lit out fer home. If you git home den dey
couldn't do nuthin' to you. He tried to chase me but he did'nt know de
way through de woods like I did an he fell in a gulley an' hurt his arm.
De next mornin' when I wus hitchin' up de boss man's horse I seed 'im
comin' an' I tol de boss dat he tried to whup me de night befo' an' den
de boss man say "did he have you?" I tol' 'im dat he did but dat I got
away. An' den de boss say: "He had you an' he did'nt have you--is dat
right?" Den he say "don't worry 'bout dat I can git you out of dat. If
he had you he shoulda whupped you an' dat woulda been his game but he
let you git away an' so dat wus yo' game." 'Bout dat time ol' man Brady
had done got dere an' he tol' de marster dat I wus on his place de night
befo' an' dat I got away an' when he tried to whup me an' de marster say
to him: "dat wus his game--if you had him you shoulda whupped 'im. Dats
de law. If you had whupped 'im dat woulda been yo' game, but you let 'im
git away an' so dat wus his game." Ol' man Brady's face turned so red
dat it looked like he wus gonna bus'.

"We worked in de fiel' every day an' way in de night we shucked an'
shelled corn. De cook done all d