ew of 'em us Niggers ever got a
chance to eat, or rabbits neither. Dey made Niggers go out and hunt 'em
and de white folks et 'em. Our mouths would water for some of dat
'possum but it warn't often dey let us have none. I don't know nothin'
'bout no fishin' bein' done dem days. Yessum, slaves had deir own
gyardens, and dey better wuk 'em good if dey wanted any gyarden sass to
eat. Cookin' was done in dem big open fireplaces, mostly in pots and
thick iron skillets what had lids on 'em.

"Boys wore long blue striped shirts in summer and nothin' else a t'all.
Dem shirts was made jus' lak mother hubbards. Us wore de same thing in
winter only dem shirts was made new for winter. By summer dey had done
wore thin. When de weather got too cold, Marster give us old coats, what
grown folks had done most wore out, and us warn't none too warm den wid
de wind a-sailin' under our little old shirt tails. Our shoes was rough
old brogans what was hard as rocks, and us had to put rags inside 'em to
keep 'em from rubbin' de skin off our foots. Us didn't know what socks
and stockin's was dem.

"Marse Earl Strickland owned us. Miss Sarah was his old 'oman and dey
was sho' mighty good to deir slaves. White folks was heap better folks
den dan dey is now anyhow. Now-a-days dey will knock you up right now,
and won't be long 'bout it. I can't git up no ricollections 'bout 'em
havin' no chillun a t'all. Seems lak I know for sho' dey didn't have
none. Dey never had no fine house neither; jus' a plain common house wid
a chimbly at both ends.

"Oh, Lord! Marster never had no overseer; no car'iage driver neither;
didn't even have no car'iage yit. He did have a surrey what he hitched
mules to and driv for hisself. Warn't no hoss on dat plantation, nothin'
'cept mules.

"How big was dat plantation? Good Granny! it was so big I never did git
all de way over it, and dere must a been 15 or 20 slaves. Old Marster
got us up 'bout sunrise and fetched us in at sundown. He was all time
knockin' on his Niggers 'bout somepin. He 'lowed dey didn't do dis, or
dat, or somepin else right--he allus had to have some 'scuse to knock
'em 'round."

A little Negro boy, possibly five years old, came up to Anderson with a
peach in his hand and said: "Look, Uncle Anderson, C.T. done gimme dis
peach what he stole off dat dar wagon." The old man reached out his
hand. "Boy, you gimme dat peach," he commanded. "You knows I lak
peaches. Give it to me, I say. I do declar', ni