d four poster
teester bed. I kep' a fire burnin' in her room winter and summer. Night
times she would call me. 'Tom! Tom!' Sometimes I was so soun' asleep I
didn't answer. Den pop, she would hit me on de head wid her long stick.
Den I knowed hit was time to fire up her pipe. She smoked dat pipe a
pow'ful lot atter Marse Johnny died.

"Grown slaves made a little money, but I never got none 'til atter de
war. I didn't have no cause to want no money. Miss Annie, she give me
evvything I needed.

"Oh, but us had plenty of good things to eat on de Poore
plantation--meat and bread wid lots of turnips and 'tatoes. 'Bout once a
month dey give us lallyhoe. Dey calls dat 'lasses now. Us et our
breakfast and dinner out of wooden bowls. Under a long shed built next
to de kitchen was a long trough. At night dey crumbled cornbread in it,
and poured it full of buttermilk. Grown folks and chilluns all gathered
'roun' dat old trough and et out of it wid deir wooden spoons. No Ma'am,
dere warn't no fightin' 'roun' dat trough. Dey all knowed better'n dat.

"Us got 'possums and rabbits de best ways us could--cotch 'em in traps,
hit 'em wid rocks, and trailed 'em wid dogs. Us lakked 'possums baked
wid 'tatoes, but most of de rabbits was stewed wid dumplin's. All our
cookin' was done on big open fireplaces. Dey didn't fry nothin' dem
days; leastwise dey never give de slaves no fried victuals. Grown folks
seined for fish in Big Crick and Saluda River at night, 'cause dey
couldn't git away f'um field wuk in de day. Chillun cotch a heap of fish
wid hook and line. De river and crick bofe run thoo' Miss Annie's
plantation so us didn't have to ax for a pass evvy time us went a
fishin'. Us allus had to have a pass if us left de plantation for
anything or de patterollers was apt to git you and look out den, for you
was sho' to git a larrupin' if dey cotch you off f'um home widout no
pass.

"Dere warn't but one gyarden on de Poore plantation, and it was big
enough to feed all de white folks and slaves too. Two whole acres of dat
gyarden was sowed down in turnips.

"Chilluns didn't wear but one piece of clothes in summer; dat was a
shirt. In winter dey doubled up on us wid two shirts. I 'members how dem
shirt tails used to pop in de wind when us runned fast. Us chillun used
to tie up de 'bacco, what us stole f'um Miss Annie, in de under-arm part
of de long loose sleeves of our shirts. Us didn't git no shoes for our
foots, winter or summer, 'til u