n'?' I says, 'Break de balk.' He say, 'Well, yous got everything
else broke. We'll see 'bout de balk later.'

Massa has de daughter, Mary, and she want to marry Bud Jackson, but
massa am 'gainst it. Bud am gwine to de army and dat give dis boy work,
'cause I de messenger boy for him and Missy Mary. Dey keeps company
unbeknownst and I carry de notes. I puts de paper in de hollow stump.
Once I's sho' I's kotched. Dere am de massa and he say, 'Where you been,
nigger?' I's sho' skeert and I says, 'I's lookin' for de squirrels.' So
massa goes 'way and when I tells you I's left, it ain't de proper word
for to 'splain, 'cause I's flew from here.' I tells Missy Mary and she
say, 'You sho' am de Lawd's chosen nigger.'

"De 'federate soldiers comes and dey takes de rations, but de massa has
dug de pit in de pasture and buried lots of de rations, so de soldiers
don't find so much. De clostest battle was Atlanta, more dan 25 mile
'way.

"When de war come over, Bud Jackson he come home. De massa welcome him,
to de sprise of everybody, and when Bud say he want to marry Missy Mary,
massa say, 'I guesses you has earnt her.'

"When freedom am here, massa call all us together and tells us 'bout de
difference 'tween freedom and hustlin' for ourselves and dependin' on
someone else. Most of de slaves stays, and massa pays them for de work,
and I stays till I's 21 year old, and I gits $7.00 de month and de
clothes and de house and all I kin eat. De massa have died 'fore dat,
and dere am powerful sorrow. Missy Mary and Massa Bud has de plantation
den, and dey don't want me to go to Texas. But dey goes on de visit and
while dey gone I takes de train for Robinson County, what am in Texas.

"I works at de pavin' work and at de hostlin' work and I works on de
hosses. Den I works for de Santa Fe railroad, handlin' freight, and I
works till 'bout three year ago, when I gits too old for to work no
more.

"But I tells you 'bout de visit back to de old plantation. I been gone
near 40 year and I 'cides to go back, so I reaches de house and dere am
Missy Mary peelin' apples on de back gallery. She looks at me, and she
say, 'I got whippin' waiting for yous, 'cause you run off without
tellin' us.' Dere wasn't no more peelin' dat day, 'cause we sits and
talks 'bout de old times and de old massa. Dere sho' am de tears in dis
nigger's eyes. Den we talks 'bout de nigger messenger I was, and we
laughs a little. All day long we talks a little, and laughs