e as hard as he could. With an oath he would say, 'now don't you love
me?' 'Oh master, I will pray for you, I would cry, then he would 'cuss'
harder than ever.' He beat me until he was tired and quit. I crept out
of doors and throwed up blood; some days I was hardly able to creep.
With this beating I was laid up several weeks. Another time Mistress
McCaully got very angry. One day she beat me as bad as he did. She was a
woman who would get very mad in a minute. One day she began scolding and
said the kitchen wasn't kept clean. I told her the kitchen was kept as
clean as any kitchen in the place; she spoke very angry, and said she
didn't go by other folks but she had rules of her own. She soon ordered
me to come in to her. I went in as she ordered me; she met me with a
mule-rope, and ordered me to cross my hands. I crossed my hands and she
tied me to the bedstead. Here her husband said, 'my dear, now let me do
the fighting.' In her mad fit she said he shouldn't do it, and told him
to stand back and keep out of the way or I will give you the cowhide she
said to him. He then 'sot' down in a 'cheer' and looked like a man
condemned to be hung; then she whipped me with the cowhide until I sunk
to the floor. He then begged her to quit. He said to his wife she has
begged and begged and you have whipped her enough. She only raged 'wus;'
she turned the butt end of the cowhide and struck me five or six blows
over my head as hard as she could; she then throwed the cowhide down and
told a little girl to untie me. The little girl was not able to do it;
Mr. McCaully then untied me himself. Both times that I was beat the
blood run down from my head to my feet.

"They wouldn't give you anything to eat hardly. McCaully bore the name
of coming by free colored children without buying them, and selling them
afterwards. One boy on the place always said that he was free but had
been kidnapped from Arkansas. He could tell all about how he was
kidnapped, but could not find anybody to do anything for him, so he had
to content himself.

"McCaully bought me from a man by the name of Landers. While in Landers'
hands I had the rheumatism and was not able to work. He was afraid I was
going to die, or he would lose me, and I would not be of any service to
him, so he took and traded me off for a wagon. I was something better
when he traded me off; well enough to be about. My health remained bad
for about four years, and I never got my health until Moor