scared an' doctored
me up. She put soot on de cut to make it stop bleedin'. Nex' day she
made me promise to tell de marster dat I hurt my head when I fell out o'
de door dat night he whip Uncle Sim for stealin' a hog. Now I was asleep
dat night, but when he asked me I said, 'Aunt Emmaline say tell you I
hurt my head fallin' out de door de night you whip Uncle Sim.' Den he
say, 'Is dat de truf?' I say, 'Naw sir.' He took Aunt Emmaline down to
de gear house an' wore her out. He wouldn' tell off on me. He jus' tol'
her dat she had no bus'ness a-lettin' me stay up so late dat I seen him
do de whippin'.

"My pa was named George Clemens. Us was all owned by Marster Morgan
Clemens. Master Hardy, his daddy, had give us to him when he 'vided out
wid de res' o' his chillun. (Marster Morgan was a settled man. He went
'roun' by hisse'f mos' o' de time. He never did marry.)

"My pa went to de war wid Marster Morgan an' he never come back. I don't
'member much 'bout 'em goin', but after dey lef' I 'member de Blue Coats
a-comin'. Dey tore de smoke house down an' made a big fire an' cooked
all de meat dey could hol'. All us Niggers had a good time, 'cause, dey
give us all us wanted. One of 'em put me up on his knee an' asked me if
I'd ever seen Marster wid any little bright 'roun' shiny things. (He
held his hand up wid his fingers in de shape of a dollar.) I, lak a
crazy little Nigger said, 'Sho', Marster draps 'em 'hind de
mantelpiece.' Den, if dey didn' tear dat mantel down an' git his money,
I's a son-of-a-gun!

"After de war was over my ma got some papers from de progo[FN: provost]
marshal. She come to de place an 'tol' de marster she want her chillun.
He say she can have all 'cept me. She say she want me, too, dat I was
her'n an' she was gwine a-git me. She went back an 'got some more papers
an' showed 'em to Marster Morgan. Den he lemme go.

"She come out to de house to git us. At firs' I was scared o' her,
'cause I didn' know who she was. She put me in her lap an' she mos' nigh
cried when she seen de back o' my head. Dey was awful sores where de
lice had been an' I had scratched 'em. (She sho' jumped Aunt Emmaline
'bout dat.) Us lef' dat day an' went right on to Tuscaloosa. My ma had
married again an' she an' him took turns 'bout carrying me when I got
tired. Us had to walk de whole seven miles.

"I went to school after dat an' learnt to read an' write. Us had white
Yankee teachers. I learnt to read de Bible well' nough an'