oard and hit dis pore little chile 'cross de
head and kilt her right dar. Den he told his slaves to take her and
throw her in de river. Her ma begged and prayed, but he didn't pay her
no 'tention; he made 'em throw de chile in.

"One of de slaves married a young gal, and dey put her in de "Big House"
to wuk. One day Mistess jumped on her 'bout something and de gal hit her
back. Mistess said she wuz goin' to have Marster put her in de stock and
beat her when he come home. When de gal went to de field and told her
husband 'bout it, he told her whar to go and stay 'til he got dar. Dat
night he took his supper to her. He carried her to a cave and hauled
pine straw and put in dar for her to sleep on. He fixed dat cave up just
lak a house for her, put a stove in dar and run de pipe out through de
ground into a swamp. Everybody always wondered how he fixed dat pipe,
course dey didn't cook on it 'til night when nobody could see de smoke.
He ceiled de house wid pine logs, made beds and tables out of pine
poles, and dey lived in dis cave seven years. Durin' dis time, dey had
three chillun. Nobody wuz wid her when dese chillun wuz born but her
husband. He waited on her wid each chile. De chillun didn't wear no
clothes 'cept a piece tied 'round deir waists. Dey wuz just as hairy as
wild people, and dey wuz wild. When dey come out of dat cave dey would
run everytime dey seed a pusson.

"De seven years she lived in de cave, diffunt folks helped keep 'em in
food. Her husband would take it to a certain place and she would go and
git it. People had passed over dis cave ever so many times, but nobody
knowed dese folks wuz livin' dar. Our Marster didn't know whar she wuz,
and it wuz freedom 'fore she come out of dat cave for good.

"Us lived in a long house dat had a flat top and little rooms made like
mule stalls, just big enough for you to git in and sleep. Dey warn't no
floors in dese rooms and neither no beds. Us made beds out of dry grass,
but us had cover 'cause de real old people, who couldn't do nothin'
else, made plenty of it. Nobody warn't 'lowed to have fires, and if dey
wuz caught wid any dat meant a beatin'. Some would burn charcoal and
take de coals to deir rooms to help warm 'em. Every pusson had a tin
pan, tin cup, and a spoon. Everybody couldn't eat at one time, us had
'bout four different sets. Nobody had a stove to cook on, everybody
cooked on fire places and used skillets and pots. To boil us hung pots
on racks over