Then there was Corbin, the little white pony that belonged to all of the children together, and was saddled and bridled every fair day, and tied to the horse-rack, that the little girls might ride him whenever they chose; and ’twas no unusual sight to see two of them on him at once, cantering down the big road or through the grove.

And, besides all these amusements, Mammy or Aunt Milly or Aunt Edy, or some of the negroes, would tell them tales; and once in a while they would slip off and go to the quarters, to Aunt Nancy the tender’s cabin, and play with the little quarter children.  They particularly liked to go there about dark to hear the little negroes say their prayers.

Aunt Nancy would make them all kneel down in a row, and clasp their hands and shut their eyes:  then she would say, “Our Father, who art in heaven,” and all the little darkies together would repeat each petition after her; and if they didn’t all keep up, and come out together, she would give the delinquent a sharp cut with a long switch that she always kept near her.  So the prayer was very much interrupted by the little “nigs” telling on each other, calling out “Granny” (as they all called Aunt Nancy), “Jim didn’t say his ‘kingdom come.’”

“Yes I did, Granny; don’t yer b’lieve dat gal; I said jes’ much ’kingdom come’ ez she did.”

And presently Jim would retaliate by saying,

“Granny, Polly nuber sed nuf’n ’bout her ‘cruspusses.’”

“Lord-ee! jes’ lis’n at dat nigger,” Polly would say.  “Granny, don’t yer min’ ‘im; I sed furgib us cruspusses, jes’ ez plain ez anybody, and Ginny hyeard me; didn’t yer, Ginny?”

At these interruptions Aunt Nancy would stop to investigate the matter, and whoever was found in fault was punished with strict and impartial justice.

Another very interesting time to visit the quarters was in the morning before breakfast, to see Aunt Nancy give the little darkies their “vermifuge.”  She had great faith in the curative properties of a very nauseous vermifuge that she had made herself by stewing some kind of herbs in molasses, and every morning she would administer a teaspoonful of it to every child under her care; and she used to say,

“Ef’n hit want fur dat furmifuge, den marster wouldn’t hab all dem niggers w’at yer see hyear.”

Now, I don’t know about that; but I do know that the little darkies would rather have had fewer “niggers” and less “furmifuge;” for they acted shamefully every time they were called upon to take a dose.  In the first place, whenever Aunt Nancy appeared with the bottle and spoon, as many of the children as could get away would flee for their lives, and hide themselves behind the hen-coops and ash-barrels, and under the cabins, and anywhere they could conceal themselves.

But that precaution was utterly useless, for Aunt Nancy would make them all form in a line, and in that way would soon miss any absentees; but there were always volunteers to hunt out and run down and bring back the shirkers, who, besides having to take the vermifuge, would get a whipping into the bargain.