ollin' 'roun' like ants. We was
havin' a time now. White folks too. When a slave died, dere was a to-do
over dat, hollerin' an' singin'. More fuss dan a little--'Well, sich a
one has passed out an we gwine to de grave to 'tend de fun'ral; we will
talk about Sister Sallie.' De niggers would be jumpin' as high as a cow
er mule.

"A song we used to sing was" [HW: Sang]

'Come on Chariot an' Take Her Home, Take Her Home,
Here Come Chariot, les' ride,
Come on les' ride, Come on les' ride.'

"Yessum we believed ha'nts would be at de grave yard. I didn' pay no'
tention to dem tho', for I know de evil spirit is dere. Iffen you don't
believe it, let one of 'em slap you. I ain't seed one, but I'se heard
'em. I seed someone, dey said was a ghos', but it got 'way quick.

"When we got sick de doctor come at once, and Mistiss was right dere to
see we was cared fer. A doctor lived on our place. If you grunt he was
right dere. We had castor oil an' pills an' turpentine an' quinine when
needful, an' herbs was used. I can fin' dat stuff now what we used when
I was a boy.

[HW: Superstition]

"Some of us wore brass rings on our fingers to keep off croup. Really
good--_good now_. See mine?

"Yessum I knows all 'bout when Yankees come. Dey got us out'er de
swamp. I was layin' down by a white oak tree 'sleep, an' when I woke up
an' looked up an' saw nothin' but blue, blue, I said, 'Yonder is my
Boss's fine male hoss, Alfred. He 'tended dat horse hisself.' He took it
to heart, an' he didn' live long afte' de Blue Coats took Alfred.

"Peace was declared to us fust in January in Alabamy, but not in
Miss'sippi 'til Grant come back, May 8th.

"I ain't seen my boss since dem Yankees took me 'way. I was seven miles
down in de swamp when I was tuk. I wouldn' of tol' him goodbye. I jes
wouldn' of lef' him. No sir, I couldn' have lef' my good boss. He tol'
me dem Yankees was comin' to take me off. I never wanted to see him
'cause I would have went back 'cause he pertected me an' loved me.

"Like dis week, I lef' de crowd. One day, Cap'in Bob McDaniel came by,
an' asked me if I wanted to mek fires an' wuk 'round de house. I said,
'I'd like to see de town whar you want me to go, an' den I come to West
Point. It wa'nt nothin' but cotton rows--lot of old shabby shanties,
with jes one brick sto', an' it b'longed to Ben Robertson, an' I
hope[FN: helped] build all de sto'es in West Point since den.

"I seed de KuKlux. We would be workin