“Mammy was a fiel’ han’.  She could plow an’ wuk in de fiel’s jes’ lak a man, an’ my pappy, he done de same.  Mammy, she hated house wuk—­lak me.  I jes natu’lly loves to be out runnin’ roun’ in de fiel’s an’ ’bout.  I neber lak’d to do wuk roun’ de house none t’all.

“We wo’ lowell clo’es an’ brass toed brogans.  Miss Margurite made our dresses an’ lak, an’ afte’ Aunt Harriet died, she done de cookin’ too fer all de slabes an’ de fambly.  She fix up dinner fer de fiel’ han’s, an’ I taken it to ’em.  Marse George had old powder horn he blowed mornin’s far to git de darkies up ‘fo day good, an’ dey come in ’bout sundown.

“We growed corn an’ taters an’ cotton plentiful, an’ we had gran’ orchids[FN:  orchids] an’ penders[FN:  peanuts].  Den, sheeps an’ hogs an’ cows an’ lak.

“Miss Margurite had a piany, a ‘cordian, a flutena, an’ a fiddle.  She could play a fiddle good as a man.  Law, I heerd many as three fiddles goin’ in dat house many a time, an’ I kin jes see her li’l old fair han’s now, playin’ jes as fast as lightnin’ a chune[FN:  tune] ’bout

[HW:  Song]

  ’My father he cried, my mother she cried,
  I wasn’ cut out fer de army. 
  O, Capt’in Gink, my hoss me think,
  But feed his hoss on co’n an’ beans
  An s’port de gals by any means! 
  ‘Cause I’m a Capt’in in de army.’

“All us chullun begged ter play dat an’ we all sing an’ dance—­great goodness!

“One song I ‘member mammy singin’: 

[HW:  Song]

  ’Let me nigh, by my cry,
  Give me Jesus. 
  You may have all dis world,
  But give me Jesus.’

“Singin’ an’ shoutin’, she had ’ligion all right.  She b’longed to Old Farrett back in Missouri.

“We didn’ git sick much, but mammy made yeller top tea[FN:  dog fennel] fer chills an’ fever an’ give us.  Den iffen it didn’ do no good, Miss Margurite called fer Dr. Hunt lak she done when her own chullun got sick.

“None of de darkies on dat place could read an’ write.  Guess Miss Helen an’ Miss Ann would’a learned me, but I was jes so bad an’ didn’ lak to set still no longer’n I had to.

“I seen plenty of darkies whupped.  Marse George buckled my mammy down an’ whupped her ’cause she run off.  Once when Marse George seen pappy stealin’ a bucket of ‘lasses an’ totin’ it to a gal on ’nother place, he whupped him but didn’ stake him down.  Pappy tol’ him to whup him but not to stake him—­he’d stan’ fer it wid’out de stakin’—­so I ’member he looked jes lak he was jumpin’ a rope an’ hollering’, ‘Pray Marser’, ever time de strop hit ’im.

“I heered ’bout some people whut nailed de darkies years[FN:  ears] to a tree an’ beat’ em but I neber seen none whupped dat way.

“I neber got no whuppins frum Marse George ‘cause he didn’ whup de chulluns none.  Li’l darky chullun played ’long wid white chullun.  Iffen de old house is still thar I ‘spec you kin fin’ mud cakes up under de house whut we made out’n eggs we stole frum de hen nests.  Den we milked jes anybody’s cows we could ketch, an’ churned it.  We’s all time in ter some mischief.