m in de mill.

"He tells de runaway nigger 'bout de witch, but atter de nigger gits
hisself a butcher knife he ain't skeered no mo' an' he goes on ter de
mill.

"'Way in de night de nigger sees somethin', an' de whites o' his eyes
shines lak lamps. De things comes nearer an' nearer an' he sees dat hit
am a big black cat wid de savage notion o' eatin' him.

"De nigger swings his knife an' off comes one of de ole cat's feets.
She gives a awful screech an' goes outen de winder.

"De nex' mornin' de owner's wife am sick in de bed an' she' fuses ter
git up. De man tells her ter git up an' cook his breakfas', but she
'fuses ter stir.

"'You better git up, you lazy trollop', de man shouts an' wid dat he
drags de 'oman outen de bed. He am 'mazed when he sees dat her han' am
cut off, an' he yells fer de neighbors.

"When de neighbors gits dar dey makes a big bresh pile an' dey ties her
on hit an' burns her up. Atter dat de man had good luck, eben atter he
married ag'in."

Note: This witch story is a variant of _The Old Brownrigg
Mill_ by Doctor Richard Dillard.

N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 689
Subject: JULIUS NELSON
Story teller: Julius Nelson
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt

[Illustration: Julius Nelson]

JULIUS NELSON
Ex-Slave Story

An interview with Julius Nelson, 77 of State Prison,
Raleigh, N.C.

"I doan 'member no slavery, of course, so 'taint no use ter ax me no
questions. I does know dat my mammy wus named Ann an' my pappy wus
named Alex. Dey 'longed ter a Mr. Nelson in Anson County. Dere wus
'leben o' us youngins but dey am all daid now 'cept me.

"I doan reckon dat I is but roun' sebenty, case I wus jist five years
old at de close o' de war. What's dat, I'se sebenty seben? Lan' how de
time do fly!

"Anyhow I jist barely does 'member how de ho'n blowed 'fore de light o'
de day an' how we got up an' had our breakfast an' when de ho'n blowed
at sunrise we went ter de fiel's in a gallop. At dinner time de
plantation bell rung an' we'd fly fer home.

"One big fat nigger 'oman cooked de dinner fer us fifty er sixty slaves
an' in er hour or so we'd go back ter de fiel's fer mo' wuck. I sez us,
but I means dem what could wuck. I did pull weeds an' pick up apples,
an' dem things.

"Dese dinners hyar 'min's me o' de plantation dinners somehow. Maybe
case it am 'bout de same quantity.