time--go home!" Whippoorwills flitted about
the woods in cotton picking time chattering about Jack marrying a widow.
He could not remember the story that goes with this. Oppossums were a
"sham faced" tribe who "sometimes wandered onto the wrong side of the
day and got caught." They never overcame this shame as long as they were
in captivity.

All bull rushes and tree stumps were to be carefully searched. One
might find his baby brother there at any time.

When Acie "got up some size" he was required to do small tasks, but the
master was not very exacting. There were the important tasks of
ferreting out the nests of stray hens, turkeys, guineas and geese. These
nests were robbed to prevent the fowls from hatching too far from the
hen house. Quite a number of these eggs got roasted in remote corners of
the plantation by the finders, who built fires and wrapped the eggs in
wet rags and covered them with ashes. When they were done a loud pop
announced that fact to the roaster. Potatoes were cooked in the same
manner and often without the rags. Consequently these two tasks were
never neglected by the slave children. Cotton picking was not a bad job
either--at least to the young.

Then there was the ride to the cotton house at the end of the day atop
the baskets and coarse burlap sheets filled with the day's pickings.
Acie's fondest ambition was to learn to manipulate the scales that told
him who had done a good day's work and who had not. His cousin Ed did
this envied task whenever the overseer could not find the time.

Many other things were grown here. Corn for the cattle and "roasting
ears," peanuts, tobacco and sugar cane. The cane was ground on the
plantation and converted into barrels of syrup and brown sugar. The cane
grinding season was always a gala one. There was always plenty of juice,
with the skimmings and fresh syrup for all. Other industries were the
blacksmith shop where horses and slaves were shod. The smoke houses
where scores of hogs and cows were prepared and hung for future use. The
sewing was presided over by the mistress. Clothing were made during the
summer and stored away for the cool winters. Young slave girls were kept
busy at knitting cotton and woolen stockings. Candles were made in the
"big house" kitchen and only for consumption by the household of the
master. Slaves used fat lightwood knots or their open fireplaces for
lighting purposes.

There was always plenty of everything to eat for t