'cause she warn't no bearin' 'oman, but dey was both mighty fond
of little folks. On Sunday mornin's mammy used to fix us all up nice and
clean and take us up to de big house for Marse Gerald to play wid. Dey
was good christian folks and tuk de mostest pains to larn us chillun how
to live right. Marster used to 'low as how he had done paid $500 for
Ca'line but he sho wouldn't sell her for no price.

"Evvything us needed was raised on dat plantation 'cept cotton. Nary a
stalk of cotton was growed dar, but jus' de same our clothes was made
out of cloth dat Mistess and my mammy wove out of thread us chillun
spun, and Mistess tuk a heap of pains makin' up our dresses. Durin' de
war evvybody had to wear homespun, but dere didn't nobody have no better
or prettier dresses den ours, 'cause Mistess knowed more'n anybody 'bout
dyein' cloth. When time come to make up a batch of clothes Mistess would
say, 'Ca'line holp me git up my things for dyein',' and us would fetch
dogwood bark, sumach, poison ivy, and sweetgum bark. That poison ivy
made the best black of anything us ever tried, and Mistess could dye the
prettiest sort of purple wid sweetgum bark. Cop'ras was used to keep de
colors from fadin', and she knowed so well how to handle it dat you
could wash cloth what she had dyed all day long and it wouldn't fade a
speck.

"Marster was too old to go to de war, so he had to stay home and he sho
seed dat us done our wuk raisin' somepin t'eat. He had us plant all our
cleared ground, and I sho has done some hard wuk down in dem old bottom
lands, plowin', hoein', pullin' corn and fodder, and I'se even cut
cordwood and split rails. Dem was hard times and evvybody had to wuk.

"Sometimes Marse Gerald would be away a week at a time when he went to
court at Jefferson, and de very last thing he said 'fore he driv off
allus was, 'Ca'line, you and de chillun take good care of Mistess.' He
most allus fetched us new shoes when he come back, 'cause he never kept
no shoemaker man on our place, and all our shoes was store-bought. Dey
was jus' brogans wid brass toes, but us felt powerful dressed up when us
got 'em on, 'specially when dey was new and de brass was bright and
shiny. Dere was nine of us chillun, four boys and five gals. Us gals had
plain cotton dresses made wid long sleeves and us wore big sunbonnets.
What would gals say now if dey had to wear dem sort of clothes and do
wuk lak what us done? Little boys didn't wear nothin' but long s