te folkses 'round dar, us chillun never heared nothin' of
'em.

"I don't know just how many slaves Marse Billie had, but dey sho' was a
drove of 'em. Sometimes he had 'em all git together in de back yard at
de Big 'Ouse, and dey just filled up de yard.

"De overseer blowed a horn to wake 'em up just 'fore day, so as
everybody could cook, eat, and git out to de fields by sunrise. Dey quit
nigh sundown, in time for 'em to feed de stock, do de milkin', tend to
bringin' in de wood, and all sorts of other little jobs dat had to be
done 'fore it got too dark to see. Dey never wuz no work done at night
on our plantation.

"If any of Marse Billie's help wuz whipped, I never knowed nothin' 'bout
it. Dey used to say dat if any of 'em didn't work right de overseer
would take 'em to de workshop. Us chillun never did know what happened
when dey took 'em to de workshop. It wuz too fur away for us to hear
what happened dar. De workshop was a big lone shed off to itself, whar
dey had da blacksmith place, and whar harness wuz mended, and all sorts
of fixin' done to de tools and things.

"Us never heared of no jail. Marse Billie bossed his place and us never
knowed 'bout no trouble. De workshop wuz de nighest thing to a jail or a
court dat anybody on our plantation knowed anything 'bout. Us never seed
nobody in chains 'til long atter de War, when us wuz livin' in
Lexin'ton, and Mr. Jim Smith come through dar wid some colored folkses
all chained up, but us never did know how come dey wuz chained.

"No slave never runned away fron Marse Billie's plantation. Dey never
even wanted to try. Dey wuz always 'fraid dey might not be able to take
as good keer of deyselves as Marse Billie did for 'em, and dey didn't
know what would happen to 'em off de plantation.

"I heared 'em talkin' 'bout paterollers, but I never did see one.
Folkses said dey would git you and beat you if dey cotch you off de
plantation whar you b'longed 'thout no pass. If any of Marse Billie's
slaves got cotched by de paterollers, I never knowed nothin' 'bout it.

"I never heared of no trouble twixt de white folkses and dey colored
folkses. Grandma and ma never 'lowed us to go to no other cabins, and us
didn't hear 'bout no talk what wuz goin' on 'mongst de others. At night
ma always spinned and knit, and grandma, she sewed, makin' clo'es for us
chillun. Dey done it 'cause dey wanted to. Dey wuz workin' for deyselves
den. Dey won't made to work at night. On Sadday night,