wo--three comforts as thick as my foot wid
carded wool inside! Dey didn't need no fireplaces!

De quarters was a little piece from de big house, and dey run along
both sides of de road dat go to de fields. All one-room log cabins,
but dey was good and warm, and every one had a little open shed at de
side whar we sleep in de summer to keep cool.

They was two or three wells at de quarters for water, and some good
springs in de branch at de back of de fields. You could ketch a fish
now and den in dat branch, but Young Master used to do his fishing in
White River, and take a nigger or two along to do de work at his camp.

It wasn't very fancy at de Big House, but it was mighty pretty jest de
same, wid de gray moss hanging from de big trees, and de cool green
grass all over de yard, and I can shet my old eyes and see it jest
like it was before de War come along and bust it up.

I can see old Master setting out under a big tree smoking one of his
long cheroots his tobacco nigger made by hand, and fanning hisself wid
his big wide hat another nigger platted out'n young inside corn shucks
for him, and I can hear him holler at a big bunch of white geeses
what's gitting in his flower beds and see 'em string off behind de old
gander towards de big road.

When de day begin to crack de whole plantation break out wid all kinds
of noises, and you could tell what going on by de kind of noise you
hear.

Come de daybreak you hear de guinea fowls start potracking down at de
edge of de woods lot, and den de roosters all start up 'round de barn
and de ducks finally wake up and jine in. You can smell de sow belly
frying down at the cabins in de "row", to go wid de hoecake and de
buttermilk.

Den purty soon de wind rise a little, and you can hear a old bell
donging way on some plantation a mile or two off, and den more bells
at other places and maybe a horn, and purty soon younder go old
Master's old ram horn wid a long toot and den some short toots, and
here come de overseer down de row of cabins, hollering right and left,
and picking de ham out'n his teeth wid a long shiny goose quill pick.

Bells and horns! Bells for dis and horns for dat! All we knowed was go
and come by de bells and horns!

Old ram horn blow to send us all to de field. We all line up, about
seventy-five field niggers, and go by de tool shed and git our hoes,
or maybe go hitch up de mules to de plows and lay de plows out on de
side so de overseer can see iffen