“Marse Alec growed all his corn on his Googer Crick plantation.  He planned for evvything us needed and dere warn’t but mighty little dat he didn’t have raised to take keer of our needs.  Lordy, didn’t I tell you what sort of shoes, holestock shoes is?  Dem was de shoes de ’omans wore and dey had extra pieces on de sides so us wouldn’t knock holes in ’em too quick.

“De fust time I ever seed Marse Alec to know who he was, I warn’t more’n 6 years old.  Uncle Stafford had went fishin’ and cotched de nicest mess of fish you ever seed.  He cleant ’em and put ’em in a pan of water, and told me to take ’em up to de big house to Marse Alec.  I was skeered when I went in de big house yard and axed, what looked lak a little boy, whar Marse Alec was, and I was wuss skeered when he said:  ’Dis is Marse Alec you is talkin’ to.  What you want?’ I tole him Uncle Stafford sont him de fishes and he told me:  ’Take ’em to de kitchen and tell ’Liza to cook ‘em for me.’  I sho ain’t never gwine to forgit dat.

“One day dey sont me wid a bucket of water to de field, and I had to go through de peach orchard.  I et so many peaches, I was ’most daid when I got back to de house.  Dey had to drench me down wid sweet milk, and from dat day to dis I ain’t never laked peaches.  From den on Marse Alec called me de ‘peach gal.’

“Marse Alec warn’t home much of de time, but when he was dar he used to walk down to de cabins and laugh and talk to his Niggers.  He used to sing a song for de slave chillun dat run somepin lak dis: 

  ’Walk light ladies
   De cake’s all dough,
   You needn’t mind de weather,
   If de wind don’t blow.’”

Georgia giggled when she came to the end of the stanza.  “Us didn’t know when he was a-singin’ dat tune to us chillun dat when us growed up us would be cake walkin’ to de same song.

“On Sundays, whenever Marse Alec was home, he done lots of readin’ out of a great big old book.  I didn’t know what it was, but he was pow’ful busy wid it.  He never had no parties or dancin’ dat I knows ’bout, but he was all time havin’ dem big ‘portant mens at his house talkin’ ’bout de business what tuk him off from home so much.  I used to see Lawyer Coombs dere heaps of times.  He was a big, fine lookin’ man.  Another big lawyer was all time comin’ dar too, but I done lost his name.  Marse Alec had so awful much sense in his haid dat folkses said it stunted his growin’.  Anyhow, long as he lived he warn’t no bigger dan a boy.

“When Uncle Harry’s and Aunt ’Liza’s daughter what was named ’Liza, got married he was in Washin’ton or some place lak dat.  He writ word to Marse Linton, his half-brother, to pervide a weddin’ for her.  I knows ’bout dat ’cause I et some of dat barbecue.  Dat’s all I ’members ’bout her weddin’.  I done forgot de name of de bridegroom.  He lived on some other plantation.  Aunt ’Liza had two gals and one boy.  He was named Allen.