Old Miss was name Miss ’liza.  She skeered to stay by herself after old master died.  I was took to be her companion.  Every day she wanted me to bresh her long hair and bathe her feet in cool water; she said I was gentle and didn’t never hurt her.  One day I was a standing by the window and I seen smoke—­blue smoke a rising over beyond a woods.  I heerd cannons a-booming and axed her what was it.  She say:  “Run, Mittie, and hide yourself.  It’s the Yanks.  Theys coming at last, Oh lordy!” I was all incited (excited) and told her I didn’t want to hide, I wanted to see ’em.  “No” she say, right firm.  “Ain’t I always told you Yankees has horns on their heads?  They’ll get you.  Go on now, do like I tells you.”  So I runs out the room and went down by the big gate.  A high wall was there and a tree put its branches right over the top.  I clim up and hid under the leaves.  They was coming, all a marching.  The captain opened our big gate and marched them in.  A soldier seen me and said “Come on down here; I want to see you.”  I told him I would, if he would take off his hat and show me his horns.

The day freedom came, I was fishing with pappy.  My remembrance is sure good.  All a-suddent cannons commence a-booming, it seem like everywhere.  You know what that was, Miss?  It was the fall of Richmond.  Cannons was to roar every place when Richmond fell.  Pappy jumps up, throws his pole and everything, and grabs my hand, and starts flying towards the house.  “It’s victory,” he keep on saying.  “It’s freedom.  Now we’es gwine be free.”  I didn’t know what it all meant.

It seem like it tuck a long time fer freedom to come.  Everything jest kept on like it was.  We heard that lots of slaves was getting land and some mules to set up fer theirselves; I never knowed any what got land or mules nor nothing.

We all stayed right on the place till the Yankees came through.  They was looking for slaves what was staying on.  Now we was free and had to git off the plantation.  They packed us in their big amulance ... you say it wasn’t a amulance,—­what was it?  Well, then, their big covered army wagons, and tuck us to Little Rock.  Did you ever know where the old penitentiary was?  Well, right there is where the Yanks had a great big barracks.  All chilluns and growd womens was put there in tents.  Did you know that the fust real free school in Little Rock was opened by the govment for colored chullens?  Yes ma’am, and I went to it, right from the day we got there.

They took pappy and put him to work in the big commissary; it was on the corner of Second and Main Street.  He got $12.00 a month and all the grub we could eat.  Unh, Unh!  Didn’t we live good?  I sure got a good remembrance, honey.  Can’t you tell?  Yes, Ma’am.  They was plenty of other refugees living in them barracks, and the govment taking keer of all of ’em.