bracelet; dey even took de ruby ear rings out of her ears an' de gol'
comb out of her hair.

I done quit peepin' in de window an' wuz standin' 'side de house when de
Yankees come out in de yard wid all de stuff dey wuz totin' off. Marse
Frank wuz still settin' on de po'ch [HW correction: porch] floor wid his
han's tied an' couldn' do nothin'. 'Bout dat time I seed de bee gums in
de side yard. Dey wuz a whole line of gums. Little as I wuz I had a
notion. I run an' got me a long stick an' tu'ned over every one of dem
gums. Den I stirred dem bees up wid dat stick 'twell [HW correction:
'till] dey wuz so mad I could smell de pizen. An' bees! you ain't never
seed de like of bees. Dey wuz swarmin' all over de place. Dey sailed
into dem Yankees like bullets, each one madder den de other. Dey lit on
dem ho'ses 'twell [HW correction: till] dey looked like dey wuz live [HW
correction: alive] wid varmints. De ho'ses broke dey bridles an' tore
down de palin's an' lit out down de road. But dey [HW correction: dar]
runnin' wuzn' nothin' to what dem Yankees done. Dey bust out cussin',
but what did a bee keer about cuss words! Dey lit on dem blue coats an'
every time dey lit dey stuck in a pizen sting. De Yankee's forgot all
about de meat an' things dey done stole; dey took off down de road on er
[HW correction: a] run, passin' de horses. De bees was right after dem
in a long line. Dey'd zoom an' zip, an' zoom an' zip, an' every time
dey'd zip a Yankee would yell.

When dey'd gone Mis' Mary Jane untied Marse Frank. Den dey took all de
silver, meat an' things de Yankees lef' behin' an' buried it so if dey
come back dey couldn' fin' it.

Den day called ma an' said:

'Ida Lee, if you hadn't tu'ned [HW correction: turned] over dem bee gums
dem Yankees would have toted off near 'bout everythin' fine we got. We
want to give you somethin' you can keep so' you'll always remember dis
day, an' how you run de Yankees away.'

Den Mis' Mary Jane took a plain gold ring off her finger an' put it on
mine. An' I been wearin' it ever since.

N. C. District: No. 2 [320276]
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 402
Subject: Ex-Slave Story
Person Interviewed: Martha Allen
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt

[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 7 1937"]

[HW: good short sketch]

EX-SLAVE STORY

An interview with Martha Allen, 78, of 1318 South Person Street,
Raleigh.

I wuz borned in Craven County