rooms on de fust flo' and a loft up 'bove whar de boys most
genially slep' and de gals slep' downstairs. I don't 'member nothin'
t'all 'bout what us done 'cept scrap lak chilluns will do.

"Oh! I ain't forgot 'bout dem beds. Dey used cords for springs, and de
cords run f'um head to foot; den dey wove 'em 'cross de bed 'til dey
looked lak checks. Wheat straw wuz sewed up in ticks for mattresses.
When you rolled 'round on one of dem straw mattresses, de straw crackled
and sounded lak rain. No Ma'am, I don't know nothin' t'all 'bout my
gran'pa and gran'ma.

"I wuz de reg'lar water boy, and I plowed some too. 'Course dere wuz so
many on dat plantation it tuk more'n one boy to tote de water. Money?
dis Nigger couldn't git no money in dem days.

"Us sho' had plenty somepin' t'eat, sich as meat, and cornbread, and
good old wheat bread what wuz made out of seconds. Dere wuz lots of
peas, corn, cabbage, Irish 'tatoes, sweet 'tatoes, and chickens,
sometimes. Yes Ma'am, sometimes. I laks coffee, but us Niggers didn't
have much coffee. Dat wuz for de white folkses at de big house. Cookin'
wuz done in de fireplace in great big spiders. Some of de biggest of de
spiders wuz called ovens. Dey put coals of fire underneath and more
coals on top of de lid. Ma baked bread and 'taters in de ashes. In
winter she put de dough in a collard leaf so it wouldn't burn. In summer
green corn shucks wuz wrapped 'round de dough 'stid of collard leaves.
All de fish and 'possums and rabbits us had wuz cotch right dar on Old
Marster's place, 'cause if one of our Niggers got cotch offen our place
hit wuz jes' too bad. I sho' does love 'possum, and us had lots of 'em,
'cause my brudder used to ketch 'em by de wholesale wid a dog he had,
and dat same dog wuz a powerful good rabbit hound too.

"Us had pretty good clothes most all de year 'round. In summer, shirts,
and pants wuz made out of coarse cotton cloth. Sometimes de pants wuz
dyed gray. Winter time us had better clothes made out of yarn and us
allus had good Sunday clothes. 'Course I wuz jes' a plow boy den and
now I done forgot lots 'bout how things looked. Our shoes wuz jes'
common brogans, no diff'unt on Sunday, 'ceppin' de Nigger boys what wuz
shinin' up to de gals cleaned up deir shoes dat day.

"Our Marster wuz Mr. Mordecai Ed'ards. Well, he wuz pretty good--not too
good. He tried to make you do right, but if you didn't he would give you
a good brushin'. Miss Martha, Old Marster's old 'oman