dat money, sech as
hats and pants and shoes and dresses.

"We'd git up early every day in de year, rain or shine, hot or cold. A
slave blowed de horn and dere no danger of you not wakin' up when dat
blowed long and loud. He climb up on a platform 'bout ten feet tall to
blow dat bugle. We'd work till noon and eat in de shade and rest 'bout a
hour or a little more iffen it hot, but only a hour if it cold. You is
allus tired when you makes de day like dat on de plantation and you
can't play all night like de young folks does now. But us lucky, 'cause
Massa Cole don't whip us. De man what have a place next ours, he sho'
whip he slaves. He have de cat-o-nine tails of rawhide leather platted
round a piece of wood for a handle. De wood 'bout ten inches long and de
leather braided on past de stock quite a piece, and 'bout a foot from
dat all de strips tied in a knot and sprangle out, and makes de tassle.
Dis am call de cracker and it am what split de hide. Some folks call dem
bullwhips, 'stead of cat-o-nine tails. De first thing dat man do when he
buy a slave, am give him de whippin'. He call it puttin' de fear of Gawd
in him.

"Massa Cola 'low us read de Bible. He awful good 'bout dat. Most de
slaveowners wouldn't 'low no sech. Uncle Dan he read to us and on Sunday
we could go to church. De preacher baptize de slaves in de river. Dat
de good, old-time 'ligion, and us all go to shoutin' and has a good
time. Dis gen'ration too dig'fied to have de old-time 'ligion.

"When baptizin' comes off, it almost like goin' to de circus. People
come from all over and dey all singin' songs and everybody take dere
lunch and have de good time. Massa Cole went one time and den he git
sick, and next summer he die. Missy Cole, she moves to Huntsville, in
Alabama. But she leave me on de plantation, 'cause I'm big and stout
den. She takes my mother to cook and dat de last time I ever seed my
mother. Missy Cole buys de fine house in Huntsville my mother tells me
to be good and do all de overseer tells me. I told her goodbye and she
never did git to come back to see me, and I never seed her and my
brother and sister 'gain. I don't know whether dey am sold or not.

"I thinks to myself, dat Mr. Anderson, de overseer, he'll give me dat
cat-o-nine tails de first chance he gits, but makes up my mind he won't
git de chance, 'cause I's gwine run off de first chance I gits. I didn't
know how to git out of dere, but I's gwine north where dere ain't no
sla