Heaven.' Ever'body ought-a know dat prayer."

(Note. In this Wolf River territory in Harrison County, where Uncle
Henri was born and raised, all the settlers were French Catholics, and
it was the scene of early Catholic missions.)

"I was rais' a Catholic, but when I come here twant no church an' I
joined de Baptis' an' was baptised. Now de white folks lemme go to dey
church. Dey aint no cullud church near 'nough so's I can go. I spec' its
all right. I figgers dat God is ever'where.

"My Mistis knowed how to read an' write. I don' know 'bout de Marster.
He could keep sto' anyway. Us all spoke French in dem days. I near 'bout
forgit all de songs us used to sing. Dey was all in French anyway, an'
when you don' speak no French for 'bout 60 years, you jus' forgit it.

"I'se knowed slaves to run away, an' I'se seen 'em whupped. I seen good
marsters an' mean ones. Dey was good slaves an' mean ones. But to tell
de truf, if dey tol' a slave to do anything, den he jus' better do it.

"I was big' nough in de Civil War to drive five yoke o' steers to Mobile
an' git grub to feed de wimmins an' chilluns. Some o' de mens was
a-fightin' an' some was a-runnin' an' hidin'. I was a slave an' I had to
do what dey tol' me. I carried grub into de swamp to men, but I never
knowed what dey was a-hidin' from."

(This may be explained by the fact that Uncle Henri was owned by and
lived in a settlement of French People, many of whom probably had no
convictions or feeling of loyalty, one way or the other, during the War
Between the States.)

"My old Marster had fo' sons, an' de younges' one went to de war an' was
killed.

"De Yankees come to Pass Christian, I was dere, an' seen 'em. Dey come
up de river an' tore up things as dey went along.

"I was 31 years old when I was set free. My Marster didn' tell us' bout
bein' free. De way I foun' it out, he started to whup me once an' de
young Marster up an' says, 'You aint got no right to whup him now, he's
free.' Den Marster turnt me loose.

"It was dem Carpetbaggers dat 'stroyed de country. Dey went an' turned
us loose, jus' lak a passel o' cattle, an' didn' show us nothin' or giv'
us nothin'. Dey was acres an' acres o' lan' not in use, an' lots o'
timber in dis country. Dey should-a give each one o' us a little farm
an' let us git out timber an' build houses. Dey ought to put a white
Marster over us, to show us an' make us work, only let us be free 'stead
o' slaves. I think dat would-a be