tar had a whole
passal o' Niggers on his place. When any of 'em would git sick dey would
go to de woods an' git herbs an roots an' make tea for 'em to drink.
Hogweed an' May apples was de bes' things I knowed of. Sometimes old
Mistis doctored 'em herse'f. One time a bunch o' us chillun was playin'
in de woods an foun' some o' dem May apples. Us et a lot of 'em an' got
awful sick. Dey dosed us up on grease an' Samson snake root to clean us
out. An' it sho' done a good job. I'se been a-usin' dat snake root ever
since.

"De firs' thing dat I 'member hearin' 'bout de war was one day when
Marse George come in de house an' tell Miss Emmaline dat dey's gwine
have a bloody war. He say he feared all de slaves 'ud be took away. She
say if dat was true she feel lak jumpin' in de well. I hate to hear her
say dat, but from dat minute I started prayin' for freedom. All de res'
o' de women done de same.

"De war started pretty soon after dat an' all de men folks went off an'
lef' de plantation for de women an' de Niggers to run. Us seen de sojers
pass by mos' ever' day. Once de Yankees come an' stole a lot o' de
horses an' somp'in' t'eat. Dey even took de trunk full o' 'Federate
money dat was hid in de swamp. How dey foun' dat us never knowed.

"Marse George come home' bout two years after de war started an' married
Miss Martha Ann. Dey had always been sweethearts. Dey was promised 'fore
he lef'.

"Marse Lincoln an' Marse Jeff Davis is two I 'members 'bout. But,
Lawzee! Dat was a long time back. Us liked Marse Jeff Davis de bes' on
de place. Us even made up a song 'bout him, but, I 'clare 'fore
goodness, I can't even 'member de firs' line o' dat song. You see, when
I got 'ligion, I asked de Lawd to take all de other songs out o' my
head an' make room for his word.

"Since den it's de hardes' thing in de worl' for me to 'member de songs
us used to dance by. I do' member a few lak 'Shoo, Fly', 'Old Dan
Tucker', an' 'Run, Nigger, Run, de Pateroller Catch You.' I don' 'member
much o' de words. I does 'member a little o' 'Old Dan Tucker.' It went
dis way:

'Old Don Tucker was a mighty mean man,
He beat his wife wid a fryin' pan.
She hollered an' she cried, "I's gwineter go,
Dey's plenty o' men, won't beat me so."

'Git out o' de way, Old Dan Tucker,
You come too late to git yo' supper.

'Old Dan Tucker, he got drunk,
Fell in de fire, kicked up a chunk,
Red hot coal got down his shoe
Oh, Great Lawd, how de