our
acres.

All the niggers worked hard--de cotton pickers had to pick 200 pounds of
cotton a day and if a nigger didn't, Marse Frank would take de nigger to
the barn and beat him with a switch. He would tell de nigger to hollow
loud as he could and de nigger would do so. Then the old Mistress would
come in and say! "What are you doing Frank?" "Beating a nigger" would be
his answer. "You let him alone, he is my nigger" and both Marse Frank
and de whipped nigger would come out of the barn. We all loved Marse and
the Mistress. No, we wuz never whipped for stealing--we never stole
anything in dose days--much.

We sure froliked Saturday nights. Dat wuz our day to howl and we howled.
Our gals sure could dance and when we wuz thirsty we had lemonade and
whiskey. No sah! we never mixed [HW: no] whiskey with [HW: no]
water.--Dem dat wanted lemonade got it--de gals all liked it. Niggers
never got drunk those days--we wuz scared of the "Paddle-Rollers."
Um-m-h and swell music. A fiddle and a tin can and one nigger would beat
his hand on the can and another nigger would beat the strings on the
[HW: fiddle] [TR: 'can' marked out.] with broom straws. It wuz almos'
like a banjo. I remembers we sung "Little Liza Jane" and "Green Grows
the Willow Tree". De frolik broke up in de morning--about two
o'clock--and we all scattered to which ever way we wuz going.

We put on clean clothes on Sunday and go to church. We went to de white
church. Us niggars sat on one side and de white folks sat on the other.
We wuz baptized in de church--de "pool-room" wuz right in de church.

If we went visiting we had to have a pass. If nigger went out without a
pass de "Paddle-Rollers" would get him. De white folks were the
"Paddle-Rollers" and had masks on their faces. They looked like niggers
wid de devil in dere eyes. They used no paddles--nothing but straps--wid
de belt buckle fastened on.

Yes sah! I got paddled. Et happened dis way. I'se left home one Thursday
to see a gal on the Palmer plantation--five miles away. Some gal! No, I
didn't get a pass--de boss was so busy! Everything was fine until my
return trip. I wuz two miles out an' three miles to go. There come de
"Paddle-Rollers" I wuz not scared--only I couldn't move. They give me
thirty licks--I ran the rest of the way home. There was belt buckles all
over me. I ate my victuals off de porch railing. Some gal! Um-m-h. Was
worth that paddlin' to see that gal--would do it over again to see Mary