baying dogs--"oh, glory, hallelujah--dat's de way dey done 'em! I'se
seed bare feets all cracked up wid de cold. We don't have no cold
weather now. Why, I'se seed big pine trees bust wide open--done froze,
and de niggers would be out in dat kind o' weather. But dey'd ruther do
dat dan stay and git beat to death. Many a night jes' 'bout dark, I'd be
a-settin' in my cabin wid my ole lady (dat was after I got older) and
see somebody prowlin' roun' in de bushes, and I'd know hit was some po'
nigger was hidin' and didn't had nuttin' to eat. My marster nuse to say,
'Harris, when you see somebody hongry, gi' 'im sumpin' to eat'. We
didn't never turn 'em down even when dey look so bad dey was right
scarey.

"No'm, I never was sold. Mr. Bob nuse to say, 'I got hogs, horses, mules
and cows to sell, but no niggers.' He had 'bout twenty slaves. De
biggest portion of 'em stayed on de farm.

"Lots o' folks did sell dey niggers, and sometimes dey'd take yo' chile
and go to Alabama or Virginia, and you wouldn't never see him no mo'.
Dey kept de dark ones together and de bright ones together. Hit didn't
make no diffunce 'bout families. Dey warn't no marryin' 'mongst de
niggers way back in time. De marsters wanted you to increase to give 'em
more niggers, but dey didn't had no marryin'. I had three wives and I
got my fourth one now. Dey all treated me good.

"Dat mixed-up color in niggers come from slav'ey times. Some de marsters
beat de slave women to make 'em give up to 'em.

"Dey talks a heap 'bout de niggers stealin'. Well, you know what was de
fust stealin' done? Hit was in Afriky, when de white folks stole de
niggers jes' like you'd go get a drove o' horses and sell 'em. Dey'd
bring a steamer down dere wid a red flag, 'cause dey knowed dem folks
liked red, and when dey see it dey'd follow it till dey got on de
steamer. Den when it was all full o' niggers dey'd bring 'em over here
and sell 'em.

"No'm I never was hired out to nobody in slav'ey times. Didn't I tole
you we didn't do no work? I never seed no money--not a nickel. De most
money I ever seed was when my boss buried some when de Yankees was.

"We nuse to have frolics and break-downs all de time--quiltin's and
finger-pickin's and dances and all sech as dat. Finger-pickin's was when
we'd pick de cotton off de seeds by hand. We'd spread it down in front
o' de fire place 'cause it was easier to pick when it was hot.

"Does I 'member de old songs? Hallelujah, I sho does!