and done took your sister!  Now I’m a-comin’ to take your husband!’ Talking to me like-dat in de broad open daytime!  I say:  ’No, you won’t!  No, you won’t!’ I commence a runnin’, cryin’ inside.  When I got home I thow myself on de bed shiverin’ and shakin’.  Twas no dinner done dat day.  When he come home dat night he tooken sick and never got up again.  He knock on de head of de bed jus’ like de knocks come at de door, when he want me to go to him!  He never lived but two weeks and went on to de judgment!

“One night dey was givin’ my husband toddy.  He drink some and wanted me to finish it.  I told him no, I ain’ drinkin’ after no sick folks ’cause it mean death.  His first cousin tooked it and drank it.  He was a fine looking man in two months he was gone too!

“My husband come to me in spirit any time I git worried up.  When I git in trouble he’ll come and stand over me wid his arms folded behind him.  He told me one night:  ’You must pray, Nancy.  You must pray!  Um gwine help, and de Lord gwine help you too.’  Missy, how you reckon he gwine help me if he dead?  I ask de Lord and beg him to take me too, beg him to please carry me home.”

Nancy was becoming more and more doleful, and to take her mind from the thought of her dead husband, she was asked about remedies.

“When us had de mumps mother git sardines and take de oil out and rub us jaws and dat cure us good.  Sassafax for measles, to run de numor (humor) out de blood.  When de fever gone, she would grease us wid grease from skin of meat.  Git fat light’ood, make fire, cut de skin off bacon meat, broil it over flame and let grease drip into a pan, den rub us all over for de rash.  Couldn’ wash us you see, ‘cep’ under de arms a little ‘cause water musn’ tech us.  For a sty in de eye we nused to say:  ’Sty!  Lie!’ You see dat call ’em a lie and dey go on off.  ’Um got a sty!  Sty!  Lie!’ When witches ride me I took a sifter.  An old lady told me de nex’ time dey come, ‘you put de sifter in de bed.’  I done dat and dey ain’ bother me since.  A basin of water under de bed is good too.”

Nancy had an experience with a gold digger.  He came to board, and had an inconvenient habit of staying up all night.  “I nused to have a old man stay here wid me.  One night I couldn’ lay down it was so cold, so I sit up and wrop in a blanket.  He say:  ’Nancy, see yonder!  In de corner of your yard is a pot of gold.’  Now I knows if you go and git de money what de dead done bury, you don’t see no peace, so I told him he couldn’ dig in my yard.  I made him move.  A ’oman say he went to stay wid her and when she got up one morning he had dug a hole in de yard big as a well, so she runned him off too.  He had all de implee-ments but he wouldn’ let nobody see him digging in de night.  Well Miss, I knowed dat gold was truly in my yard, because I got up one night and looked out dere, and a white ‘oman was standin’ right where de old man say twas gold pot.  I look at de white lady, a high white lady, and she kep’ her eye down in dat corner guardin’ de gold what she bury!  Den I seed her go on off thoo’ de gate and I knowed twas de spirit of de woman what bury it.”