Stayed on with the folks three years after the surrender.  They treated me good and gave me what I wanted.  Treated me nice—­very nice—­my white folks.

Then I went on down to Marshall—­way down in Texas.  There I worked for the high sheriff.  Drove his carriage for him and cleaned up around the yard.  I worked for him a whole year then I went back to Arkansas and then went up in Missouri.  Wasn’t there long before I got sick.  I was working for a woman who had a hotel.  She was good to me.  Mighty good she was.

Yes ma’am.  There has been lost chances I has had to do more than I has.  But I’s sort of satisfied.  There’s been lots of changes in Hot Springs since I come.  I used to know all the white folks and all the colored folks too.  Can’t do that today.  Place has got too big.

Joe Golden?  Yes, I does—­I knows Joe.  He used to have a butcher shop over on Malvern.  Quite a man, Joe was.  I hasn’t seen him in a long time.  How is he?  Pretty good?  That’s fine.

“I remembers Mc—­McLeod’s Happy Hollow.” (Hot Spring nearest approach to a Coney Island in the earlier days).  “I remembers that they used to have the old stage coach there what the James and Younger brothers held up.  Sort of broken down it was, but it was there.

Law, law, them was the times.  I’ll never forget when Allen Roane brought in the news.  Allen drove a sort of a hack.  He come on into town and he whipped up his horse and he run all over town telling about the hold-up.  Allen lived just next door to where I does now.”

Down the street passed a colored woman, her head held high.  Passing the porch where the aged negro man and the young white woman sat talking she paused and gave what was suspiciously like a sniff.  Fitzhugh grinned.  “She’s sanctified,” he explained.

“Did you ever hear of Tucky-Nubby?  He was an Indian.  Bob Hurley used to bring him to Hot Springs every year.  What medicine shows they used to have here.  Ain’t seen nothing like it lately, everybody knowed Tucky-Nubby.  Lots of those medicine shows—­free shows, used to come here.  But Bob Hurley and Tucky-Nubby was the most liked.

Yes, ma’am, I’m all alone now.  My sister married a man a long, long time ago.  She didn’t live but a couple of years.  I’s had four children.  One of them died when it was born.  One died when it was three.  One lived until it was seven.  One son he lived to be grown.  He went to the war.  Got as far as camp.  One day I got a word saying that he was sick.  I went but before I could get there he had died.  That left me alone.

What’s that?  Been married once?  I been married eleven times.  But it was ten times too many.  Besides they is all dead, so you might say that I’s been married only once.

Yes, ma’am.  Thank you ma’am.  The quarter will come in powerful handy.  When you tries to make out on $10 a month a little extra comes in powerful handy.  Thank you ma’am.  I enjoyed talking to you, ma’am.”