A few days after the conversation between the overseer and mistress, I was informed by one of the slaves, who was a carpenter, that she had ordered that I should go to work at the trade with him.  This gave me great joy, as I was very anxious to know what they had decided to do with me.  I went to my new trade with great delight, and soon began to imagine what a famous carpenter I should make, and what I should say and do when I had learned the trade.  Everything seemed to run smoothly with me for about two months, when suddenly I was told one morning that I must go into the field to drop cotton seed, but I did not heed the call, as mistress was not at home, and I knew she had just put me to the trade, also that the overseer was trying to get mistress’ consent to have me work out in the field.

The next morning the overseer came into the carpenter’s shop and said, “Did I not order ye into the field, sir?” I answered, “Yes, sir.”  “Well, why did ye not go?” I answered, “Mistress has put me here to learn the trade.”  He said, “I will give ye trade.”  So he stripped me and gave me a severe whipping, and told me that that was the kind of trade I needed, and said he would give me many of them.  The next day I went into the field, and he put me to drop cotton seed, as I was too small to do anything else.  I would have made further resistance, but mistress was very far away from home, and I had already learned the lesson that father and mother could render me no help, so I thought submission to him the easiest for me.

When I had got through with the cotton seed, in about three weeks, I went back to the carpenter’s shop to work; so he came there and gave me another severe whipping, and said to me, “Ye want to learn the carpenter’s trade, but I will have ye to the trade of the field.”  But that was the last whipping he gave me, and the last of his whip.

A few days after my last whipping the slaves were ordered down into the swamp across the river to clear up new grounds, while the already cleared lands were too wet from rain that had fallen that night.  Of course I was among them to do my part; that is, while the men quartered up dry trees, which had been already felled in the winter, and rolled the logs together, the women, boys and girls piled the brushes on the logs and burned them.

We had to cross the river in a flat boat, which was too small to carry over all the slaves at once, so they had to make several trips.

Mr. Turner, the overseer, went across in the first flat; he did not ride down to the work place, but went on foot, while his horse, which was trained to stand alone without being hitched, was left at the landing place.  My cousin and I crossed in the last boat.  When we had got across we lingered behind the crowd at the landing; when they all were gone we went near the horse and saw the whip with which I was whipped a few days before fastened to the saddle.  I said to him, “Here is the whip old Turner