d 'But de white folkses ain't et yet.' 'Go right on,' de
Yankees said, 'and give it to her, de best in de pot, and if dey's
anything left when she gets through, maybe us will let de white folkses
have some of it.'

"Dem brash mens strutted on through de kitchen into de house and dey
didn't see nobody else down stairs. Upstairs dey didn't even have de
manners to knock at Mist'ess' door. Dey just walked right on in whar my
sister, Lucy, wuz combin' Mist'ess' long pretty hair. They told Lucy she
wuz free now and not to do no more work for Mist'ess. Den all of 'em
grabbed dey big old rough hands into Mist'ess' hair, and dey made her
walk down stairs and out in de yard, and all de time dey wuz a-pullin'
and jerkin' at her long hair, tryin' to make her point out to 'em whar
Marse Billie had done had his horses and cattle hid out. Us chilluns wuz
a-cryin' and takin' on 'cause us loved Mist'ess and us didn't want
nobody to bother her. Dey made out like dey wuz goin' to kill her if she
didn't tell 'em what dey wanted to know, but atter a while dey let her
alone.

"Atter dey had told all de slaves dey could find on de place not to do
no more work, and to go help deyselves to anything dey wanted in de
smokehouse, and 'bout de Big 'Ouse and plantation, dey rode on off, and
us never seed no more of 'em. Atter de Yankees wuz done gone off Grandma
'gun to fuss: 'How, dem sojers wuz tellin' us what ain't so, 'cause
ain't nobody got no right to take what belongs to Marster and Mist'ess.'
And Ma jined in: 'Sho' it ain't no truf in what dem Yankees wuz
a-sayin', and us went right on living' just like us always done 'til
Marse Billie called us together and told us de war wuz over and us wuz
free to go whar us wanted to go, and us could charge wages for our work.

"When freedom comed my pa wanted us to move off right away over to Mr.
Smithies' place so our family could be together, but us stayed on wid
Marse Billie de rest of dat year. Den pa and ma moved to Lexin'ton, whar
pa digged walls and ditches and made right good pay. Ma took all four of
us chillun and run a good farm. Us got along fine.

"'Fore de War, all work stopped on de plantation for de funeral of a
slave. Grandma didn't think chillun ought to see funerals, so de first
one I ever seed, wuz when ma died two years atter de War wuz done over.
A jackleg colored preacher talked, but he didn't have sense 'nuff to
preach a sho' 'nuff sermon.

"Us heared a heap 'bout dem Ku Kl