mother was a dark color."

The cottage faced the pine grove behind an old church. Pink ramblers
grew everywhere, and the sandy yard was neatly kept. Nancy's paralyzed
granddaughter-in-law hovered in the doorway, her long smooth braids
hanging over Indian-brown shoulders, a loose wrapper of dark blue denim
flowing around her tall unsteady figure. She was eager to taka part in
the conversation but hampered by a thick tongue induced, as Nancy put
it, "by a bad sore throat she ain't got over."

Nancy's recollections of plantation days were colored to a somber hue by
overwork, childbearing, poor food and long working hours.

"Master was a hard taskmaster," said Nancy. "My husband didn't live on
de same plantation where I was, de Jerrell places in Columbia County. He
never did have nuthin' to give me 'cause he never got nuthin'. He had to
come and ask my white folks for me. Dey had to carry passes everywhere
dey went, if dey didn't, dey'd git in trouble.

"I had to work hard, plow and go and split wood jus' like a man.
Sometimes dey whup me. Dey whup me bad, pull de cloes off down to de
wais'--my master did it, our folks didn' have overseer.

"We had to ask 'em to let us go to ohurch. Went to white folks church,
'tell de black folks get one of dere own. No'm I dunno how to read.
Never had no schools at all, didn' 'low us to pick up a piece paper and
look at it."

"Nancy, wasn't your mistress kind to you?"

"Mistis was sorta kin' to me, sometimes. But dey only give me meat and
bread, didn' give me nothin' good--I ain' gwine tell no story. I had a
heap to undergo wid. I had to scour at night at de Big House--two planks
one night, two more de nex'. De women peoples spun at night and reeled,
so many cuts a night. Us had to git up befo' daybreak be ready to go to
de fiel's.

"My master didn' have but three cullud people, dis yuh was what I stayed
wid, my young master, had not been long married and dus' de han's dey
give him when he marry was all he had.

"Didn' have no such house as dis," Nancy looked into the open door of
the comfortable octtage, "sometimes dey have a house built, it would be
daubed. Dus' one family, didn' no two families double up."

"But the children had a good time, didn't they? They played games?"

"Maybe dey did play ring games, I never had no time to see what games my
chillus play, I work so hard. Heap o' little chillun slep' on de flo'.
Never had no frolics neither, no ma'm, and didn' go to no