n, wid cullud folks, an' white
people, too. De Kloo Kluxes was out nights. I hear'd tell 'bout 'em
whuppin' people. But dey never bothered me.

"Dey was speakers gwine aroun', tellin' de Niggers what dey was gwine
a-git. Dey never got nothin' to my knowledge, 'cept de gov'ment let 'em
homestead lan'. My ma homesteaded a place close to Enterprise, Scott
County, but she got mad an' lef' it like she always done.

"She was a-gittin' long in years afore she got 'ligion. (She was good to
me after dat.) She couldn' learn de Lawd's Prayer, but she used to pray,
'Our Father, which are in Heaven; Hallowed be Thy name. Thy mercy, Lawd,
You've showed to others; That mercy show to me. Amen.' She went to res'
in it, too.

"I went to Enterprise, den to Meridian, nussin' (wet-nussin' when I
could) an' workin' out. I never worked in de fiel', if I could he'p it.
(Old Mis' hired me out as a nuss firs' when I was eight year old.)

"When I come to Meridian, I cut loose. I's tellin' de truf! I's a woman,
but I's a prodigal. I used to be a old drunkard. My white folks kep'
tellin' me if I got locked up one more time dey wouldn' pay my fine. But
dey done it ag'in an' ag'in.

"De Niggers called me 'Devil.' I was a devil 'til I got 'ligion. I warnt
baptized 'til 1887. Den I foun' peace. I had a vision. I tol' it to a
white lady an' she say, 'Susie, dat's 'ligion a-callin' you.' (But you
know, honey, white folks' 'ligion aint like Niggers' 'ligion. I know a
woman dat couldn' 'member de Lawd's Prayer, an' she got 'ligion out o'
prayin', 'January, February, March'.) I didn' join de church 'til 1891,
after I had a secon' vision. I's a member in good standin' now. I done
put all my badness b'hin' me, 'cept my temper. I even got dat under more
control.

"I didn' used to be scared o' cunjers. I's scared now, 'cause I had it
done to me. I want to bed well an' healthy an' de nex' nornin' I couldn'
git up atall. I's tellin de truf. A cullud man done it. He was a
crippled man, an' mean as he could be. I was good to him, too. He tol'
me' bout it, hisse'f:

"'He went to de graveyard an' got some o' de meanes' dirt he could fin'
(I don't know how he knowed which was de meanes' grave) an' put it under
my doorsill.' He sho' fix' me. I ask him how come he done it to me an' I
been so good to him. He smile kinda tickle-lak an' say, 'It's a good
thing you was good to me, 'cause, if you hadn' a-been you'd a-been dead
an' in yo' grave by now.'

"I aint got