t on rye
or oatstraw. Pillows was stuffed wid hay what had a little cotton mixed
in it sometimes. Atter a long day of wuk in de fields, nobody bothered
'bout what was inside dem pillows. Dey slept mighty good lak dey was.
Dey fixed planks to slide across de inside of de holes dey cut out for
windows. De doors swung on pegs what tuk de place of de iron hinges dey
uses dese days. Dem old stack chimblies was made out of sticks and red
mud.

"De fireplaces was a heap bigger dan dey has now, for all de cookin' was
done in open fireplaces den. 'Taters and cornpone was roasted in de
ashes and most of de other victuals was biled in de big old pots what
swung on cranes over de coals. Dey had long-handled fryin' pans and
heavy iron skillets wid big, thick, tight-fittin' lids, and ovens of all
sizes to bake in. All of dem things was used right dar in de fireplace.
Dere never was no better tastin' somepin t'eat dan dat cooked in dem old
cook-things in open fireplaces.

"Chillun never had no wuk to do. Dey jus' et and frolicked around
gittin' into evvything dey could find. Dey never got no lickin's 'less
dey was mighty bad, 'cause our Marster said he warn't gwine to 'low no
beatin' on his Niggers 'cept what he done his own self, and dat was
pow'ful little. In hot weather chillun played on de crick and de best
game of all was to play lak it was big meetin' time. White chillun loved
to play dar too wid de little slave chillun. Us would have make-believe
preachin' and baptizin' and de way us would sing was a sight. One of dem
songs us chillun loved de best went lak dis:

'Why does you thirst
By de livin' stream?
And den pine away
And den go to die.

'Why does you search
For all dese earthly things?
When you all can
Drink at de livin' spring,
And den can live.'

"When us started playin' lak us was baptizin' 'em, us th'owed all us
could ketch right in de crick, clothes and all, and ducked 'em. Whilst
us was doin' dat, us was singin':

'Git on board, git on board
For de land of many mansions,
Same old train dat carried
My Mammy to de Promised Land.'

"One day our Marster hid in de trees and watched us 'cause Mist'ess had
done been fussin' down 'bout chillun all comin' in soaked to de hide. He
waited 'til he seed all de preachin' and baptizin', den he hollered for
us to stop and he tuk de ones what was doin' all de baptizin' and made
'em pray and sing, den he ducked 'em good in de water an