appen ter you ef'n you try ter
leave." I member one nite a Ku Klux Klan rode up ter our do'er. I tole
mah Missis sum body wuz at de do'er wantin' ter know whar mah Marster
wuz. She tole 'im he wuz d'ed en her son had gon' 'way dat mawnin'. He
hunted all thro de house, en up in de loft, en said whar ez de
niggers? Mah Missis tole i'm [TR: 'im] dey wuz down in de lettle
house. He went down dere, woke dem up, axed dem 'bout dere Marster en
den whup'd all ob dem. Ef de had de Ku Klux Klan now dere wouldin' be
so menny peeples on de kounty road en in de pen.

I useter drive up de cows en mah feet would be so cole en mah toes
cracked open en bleedin', en I'd be cryin' 'til I got almos' ter de
house den I'd wipe mah eyes on de bottom ob mah dress, so de Marster
wouldin' know dat I had bin cryin'. He'd say, "Frankie ain't you
cryin'?" I'd say, "No suh." "Ez you cole?" "Yes, sir." He would say
kum on en warm.

W'en de niggers wuz freed, all ob mah Missis slaves slipped 'way,
'cept me. One mawnin' she tole me ter go down en wake dem up, I went
down en knocked, no body said nuthin'. I pushed on de do'er--hit kum
op'n--en I fell in de room en hurt mah chin. I went back ter
Missis--en she sezs, "W'at ez de matter wid you?" I sezs, "Uncle John
en all ob dem ez gon'; I pushed on de do'er en fell in." She sezs you
know dey ez not gone, go back en git dem up. I had ter go back, but
dey wur'ent dere.

No, I don't member de sta'rs fallin'.

Mah Missis didunt gib me nuthin, cept mah clothes, en she put dem in a
carpet bag. Atter freedom mah mammy kum fum Lebanon en got me. Ah'll
neber fergit dat day--Oh Lawdy! I kin see her now. Mah ole Missis'
daughter-in-law had got a bunch ob switches ter whup me, I wuz
standin' in de do'er shakin' all ovuh, en de young Missis wuz tellin'
me ter git mah clothes off. I sezs, "I se'd a 'oman kum'g thro de
gate." Mah Missis sezs, "Dat ez Lucindia" en de young Missis hid de
switches. Mah mammy sezs I'se kum ter git mah chile. Mah Missis tole
her ter let me spend de nite wid her, den she'd send me ter de Court
House at 9 o'clock next mawnin'. So I stayed wid de Missis dat nite,
en she tole me ter alluz be a good girl, en don't let a man er boy
trip me. I didunt know w'at she mean but I allus membered w'at she
sai. I guess I wuz 'bout 12 y'ars ole w'en I lef' mah Missis en mah
mammy brought me ter Nashville en put me ter wuk. De mawnin' I lef'
mah Missis, I went ter de Court House en met mah mammy; de Co