tter while he told us he skeered us to keep
us from stayin' too long in de crick and gittin' drownded, but dat
didn't slow us up none 'bout playing in de swimmin' hole.

"Talkin' 'bout being skeered, dere was one time I was skeered I was
plumb ruint. Missy, dat was de time I stole somepin' and didn't even
know I was stealin'. A boy had come by our place dat day and axed me to
go to de shop on a neighbor's place wid him. Mistess 'lowed me to go,
and atter he had done got what he said he was sont atter, he said dat
now us would git us some apples. He was lots bigger dan me, and I jus'
s'posed his old marster had done told him he could git some apples out
of dat big old orchard. Missy, I jus' plumb filled my shirt and pockets
wid dem fine apples, and us was havin' de finest sort of time when de
overseer cotch us. He let me go, but dat big boy had to wuk seven long
months to pay for dat piece of foolishment. I sho didn't never go nowhar
else wid dat fellow, 'cause my good old mistess said he would git me in
a peck of trouble if I did, and I had done larn't dat our mistess was
allus right.

"Times has sho done changed lots since dem days; chillun warn't 'lowed
to run 'round den. When I went off to church on a Sunday, I knowed I had
to be back home not no later dan four o'clock. Now chillun jus' goes all
de time, whar-some-ever dey wants to go. Dey stays out most all night
sometimes, and deir mammies don't never know whar dey is half de time.
'Tain't right, Missy, folkses don't raise deir chillun right no more;
dey don't larn 'em to be 'bejient and don't go wid 'em to church to hear
de Word of de Lawd preached lak dey should ought to.

"Fore de war, colored folkses went to de same church wid deir white
folkses and listened to de white preacher. Slaves sot way back in de
meetin'-house or up in a gallery, but us could hear dem good old
sermons, and dem days dey preached some mighty powerful ones. All my
folkses jined de Baptist Church, and Dr. John Mell's father, Dr. Pat
Mell, baptized evvy one of 'em. Course I growed up to be a Baptist too
lak our own white folkses.

"Slaves had to wuk hard dem days, but dey had good times too. Our white
folkses looked atter us and seed dat us had what-some-ever us needed.
When talk come 'round 'bout havin' separate churches for slaves, our
white folkses give us deir old meetin'-house and built deyselfs a new
one, but for a long time atter dat it warn't nothin' to see white
folkses visitin