ld say as he went in, "In de name of de Fader and of de Son and de
Holy Gos wat you want?" Then the Bible would be put in the corner where
the person thought he had seen the witch, as it was generally believed
that if this were done the witch could not stay. When they could not get
the Bible they used red pepper and salt pounded together and scattered
in the room, but in this case they generally felt the effects of it more
than the witch, for when they went to bed it made them cough all night.
When I was a little boy my mother sent me into the cabin room for
something, and as I got in I saw something black and white, but did not
stop to see what it was, and running out said there was a witch in the
room. But father, having been born in Africa, did not believe in such
things, so he called me a fool and whipped me and the witch got scared
and ran out the door. It turned out to be our own black and white cat
that we children played with every day. Although it proved to be the
cat, and father did not believe in witches, still I held the idea that
there were such things, for I thought the majority of the people
believed it, and that they ought to know more than could one man.
Sometime after I was free, in travelling from Columbia to Camden, a
distance of about thirty-two miles, night overtook me when about half
way there; it was very dark and rainy, and as I approached a creek I saw
a great number of lights of those witches opening and shutting. I did
not know what to do and thought of turning back, but when I looked
behind I saw some witches in the distance, so I said, "If I turn back
those will meet me and I shall be in as much danger as if I go on", and
I thought of what some of my fellow negroes had said about their
leading men into ponds and creeks. There was a creek just ahead, so I
concluded that I should be drowned that night; however, I went on, as I
saw no chance of turning back. When I came near the creek one of the
witches flew into my face. I jumped back and grasped it, but it proved
to be one of those lightning bugs, and I thought that if all the witches
were like that one, I should not be in any great danger from them.

THE DEATH OF CYRUS AND STEPNEY.

Old Col. Dick Singleton had several state places as I have mentioned. In
the South, the rich men who had a great deal of money bought all the
plantations they could get and obtained them very cheap. The Colonel had
some ten or twenty places and had slaves sett