e did I want to see Old Mistus an' I
jes' cry an' say, 'yassum.' Den Marster say: 'Blackstone, hitch a mule
to dat wagon, an' take dat chile right back to her Old Mistus.' I tell
'em I can walk, but dey made me ride in de wagon, an' I sho' was glad I
was goin' back home.

"I seed Old Mistus 'fo' I got dar, an' jumped out of de wagon an' run to
'er. W'en she seed me, she jes' grabbed me, an' I thought she was a
laughin', but when I seed dat she was cryin', I tole 'er not to cry, dat
I warn't goin' to leave 'er no mo'.

"Mistus sho' was good to me, but she was good to all 'er niggers, an'
dey all loved 'er. Us allus had plenny of evvything, she made us wear
plenny of good warm clo'es, an' us wo'e flannel petticoats when hit was
cole weather. Chillun don't wear 'nuff clo'es dese days to keep 'em
warm, an nuffin' on deir legs. Hits a wonder dey doan' freeze.

"I diden' stay at de quarters with de udder niggers. Mistus kep' me in
de big 'ouse wid 'er, an' I slep' on a cotton mattress on de floor by de
side of 'er bed. She had a stick dat she used to punch me wid w'en she
wannid somepin' in de night, an' effen I was hard to wake, she sho'
could punch wid dat stick.

"Mistus diden' ever have us niggers whipped 'lessen it jes' had to be
done. An' if us chilluns was bad, fussin' an' fightin', Mistus would git
'er a stick, but us would jes' run an' hide, an' Mistus would forgit all
'bout it in jes' a little w'ile.

"Marster was dead, an' us had a overseer, but he was good to us jes'
lak' Mistus was. Hit was a big old plantation, wid lots of niggers. W'en
de overseer would try to larn de chilluns to plow an' dey diden' want to
larn, dey would jes' play 'roun'. Sometimes dey snuck off to de udder
side of de fiel' an' hunnid for lizards. Dey would hold a lizard's head
wid a stick, an' spit 'bacco juice in 'is mouf an' turn 'im loose. De
'bacco juice would make de lizard drunk, and he would run 'roun' an'
'roun'. Dey would cotch snakes, kill dem an' hang de skins on trees so
hit would rain an' dey wouldn't have to wuk in de fiel'.

"De quarters was built away f'um de big 'ouse. Dey was cabins made of
logs an' dey all had dey own gardens whar dey raised all kinds of
vegetables an' allus had plenny of hog meat. De cookin' was done on a
big fireplace an' in brick ovens. 'Taters was baked in de ashes, an' dey
sho' was good.

"Dey had big times huntin' an' fishin' w'en de wuk was over. Dey cotch
lots of 'possums, an' had big 'poss