either kaze us niggers done he'p Mis' Fanny
an' Mis' Virginia hide dat. We done toted it all down to de cottin gin
house an' hid it in de loose cotton piled on de floor. When dey couldn'
fin' nothin' a big sojer went up to Mis' Virginia who wuz standin' in de
hall. He look at her an' say: 'Yo's skeered of me, ain' yo'?'

Mis' Virginia ain' batted no eye yet. She tole him, "If I was gwine to
be skeered, I'd be skeered of somethin'. I sho ain' of no ugly, braggin'
Yankee."

De man tu'ned red an he say: "If you don' tell me where you done hide
dat silver I'se gwine to make' you skeered."

Mis' Virginia's chin went up higher. She set her mouf an' look at dat
sojer twell he drap his eyes. Den she tole him dat some folks done come
an' got de silver, dat dey done toted it off. She didn' tell him dat it
wuz us niggers dat done toted it down to de cotton gin house.

In dem days dey wuz peddlers gwine 'roun' de country sellin'
things. Dey toted big packs on dey backs filled wid everythin'
from needles an' thimbles to bed spreads an' fryin' pans. One day
a peddler stopped at Mis' Fanny's house. He was de uglies' man
I ever seed. He was tall an' bony wid black whiskers an' black
bushy hair an' curious eyes dat set way back in his head. Dey
was dark an' look like a dog's eyes after you done hit him. He
set down on de po'ch an' opened his pack, an' it was so hot an'
he looked so tired, dat Mis' Fanny give him er cool drink of milk
dat done been settin' in de spring house. All de time Mis' Fanny
was lookin' at de things in de pack an' buyin', de man kept up a
runnin' talk. He ask her how many niggers dey had; how many men
dey had fightin' on de 'Federate side, an' what wuz was she gwine do
if de niggers wuz was set free. Den he ask her if she knowed Mistah
Abraham Lincoln.

'Bout dat time Mis' Virginia come to de door an' heard what he said. She
blaze up like a lightwood fire an' told dat peddler dat dey didn't want
to know nothin' 'bout Mistah Lincoln; dat dey knowed too much already,
an' dat his name wuzn [HW correction: wasn't] 'lowed called in dat [HW
correction: her] house. Den she say he wuzn [HW correction: wasn't]
nothin' but a black debil messin' in other folks biznes' [HW correction:
business], an' dat she'd shoot him on sight if she had half a chance.

De man laughed. "Maybe he [HW correction: Mr. Lincoln] ain't so bad,' he
told her. Den he packed his pack an' went off down de road, an' Mis'
Virginia watched him 'til