' Dat made us jus' shake all over and git mighty still
and quiet. De mens tried to run dem painters down, but dey never did
ketch one.

"One of de cabins was allus ha'nted atter some of de slaves got kilt in
it whilst dey was fightin'. Nobody never could live in dat cabin no more
atter dat widout ha'nts gittin' atter 'em. De wust of 'em was a 'oman
ha'nt what you could hear sweepin' up leaves in de yard and all dat time
you might be lookin' hard and not see a leaf move. In dat cabin you
could all time hear ha'nts movin' cheers and knockin' on de wall. Some
of dem ha'nts would p'int a gun in your face if you met 'em in de dark.
Dem ha'nts was too much for me.

"Our white folks was good as dey knowed how to be when us got sick. I
don't 'member dat dey ever had a doctor for de slaves, but dey give us
all kinds of home-brewed teas. Pinetops, mullein and fat light'ood
splinters was biled together and de tea was our cure for diff'unt
ailments. Scurvy grass tea mixed wid honey was good for stomach
troubles, but you sho' couldn't take much of it at a time. It was de
movin'est medicine! Round our necks us wore asafetida sacks tied on
strings soaked in turpentine. Dat was to keep diseases off of us.

"What does I 'member 'bout de war? Well, it was fit to fetch our
freedom. Marse Billy had a fine stallion. When de sojers was comin', he
sont Pappy to de woods wid dat stallion and some gold and told him not
to let dem yankees find 'em. Dat stallion kept squealin' 'til de yankees
found him, and dey tuk him and de gold too. Grandma was a churnin' away
out on de back porch and she had a ten dollar gold piece what she didn't
want dem sojers to steal, so she drapped it in de churn. Dem yankees
poured dat buttermilk out right dar on de porch floor and got grandma's
money. Marse Billy hid hisself in a den wid some more money and other
things and dey didn't find him. Dey tuk what dey wanted of what dey
found and give de rest to de slaves. Atter de sojers left, de Niggers
give it all back to Marster 'cause he had allus been so good to 'em.

"Us stayed on wid Marse Billy for sev'ral years atter de war. He paid us
$10 a month and he 'lowanced out de rations to us evvy week; most allus
on Monday 'cause Sundays us had 'nough company to eat it all at one
time. He give us three pounds of fat meat, a peck of meal, a peck of
flour, 25c worth of sugar, and a pound of coffee. Dat had to last a
whole week.

"I didn't take in nothin' 'bout Abraham