surprise I ever had
was ready for us. Marster and Mist'ess had done 'lowed dat if I just had
to git married dey would do de best dey could for me. Out in de big
house yard was long tables just loaded down wid everything
good--chickens, barbecue, pies, and a great big weddin' cake, what my
good old Mist'ess done baked for me her own self, and den us just had de
bigges' sort of time a-dancin' and frolickin' atter us et all dat good
supper. Isaac's Pa said he owed him one more year 'cause he was just 19
when us got married, and all us got for dat whole year's wuk was a
little corn and one heifer.

"Old Marse Blackwell had done died and Miss Laura was a-beggin' my Pa to
come back and wuk for her, but he wouldn't go nowhar 'til atter Marse
Duncan Allen died, den he moved back to Georgie, down nigh de Jim Smith
place. Den Pa got a farm whar de stockade is now. Us wukked moughty hard
a-gittin' a start, and dat hard wuk made good crops and us raised most
all us needed to eat--veg'tables, hogs, cows, chickens, tukkeys, and
sech lak. In de fall atter us had done wukked so hard all thoo' crop
time, Pa let us have cornshuckin's. Us cooked for two or three days
'fore dem cornshuckin's 'cause dere was allus a big crowd to be fed.
When de big day come, fust thing us done was choose a gen'ral. He just
walked 'roun' de big piles of corn and led de singin'. Somehow, I can't
'member how dat song went, but it was all 'bout corn. De gen'ral started
de song slow and den got it to goin' faster and faster and de livelier
de song went de faster de shucks would fly, and de more often dey would
pass 'roun' de liquor. Soon as all de corn was shucked, us had de big
feast wid plenty of good coffee and toddy to go wid dem good victuals us
had done been cookin' up; dem chickens, all dat fresh killed hog meat
and a big spread of lightbread and pies and cakes. Dem was de good old
days, and dey don't have no sech grand times a helpin' each other, and
a-celebratin' de harvest time no more.

"Atter Isaac died, I wukked for diff'unt white folks, cookin' and
washin' 'til I married Alec Johnson. Dis time us just went to de
preacher for to git de knot tied and didn't have no big weddin'. I did
have on a nice white dress, but hit warn't nigh so pretty and fancy as
my fust weddin' dress. A few friends come 'roun' dat night and us handed
'em out a little cake and ice cream, but dere warn't no big supper.

"Bofe my husbands is done been daid and gone long ago, b