bies. If
the overseer thought they stayed too long he used to come in and whip
them out--out to the fields. But they was good to us, just the same.
We had plenty to wear and lots to eat and good cabins to live in. All
of them wasn't that way though.

I remember the women on the next plantation used to slip over and get
somthing to eat from us. The Woodfork colored folks was always well
took care of. Our white folks was good to us. During the week there
was somebody to cook for us. On Sunday all of them cooked in their
cabins and they had plenty. The women on the next plantation, even
when they was getting ready to have babies didn't seem to get enough
to eat. They used to slip off at night and come over to our place. The
Woodfork people never had to go nowhere for food. Our white folks
treated us real good.

Didn't make much difference when the war started rushing. We didn't
see any fighting. I told you the Yankees come thru twice----let me go
back a spell.

We had lots of barrels of Louisiana molasses. We could eat all we
wanted. When the barrels was empty, we children was let scrape them.
Lawsey, I used to get inside the barrel and scrape and scrape and
scrape until there wasn't any sweetness left.

We was allowed to do all sorts of other things too. Like there was
lots of pecans down in the swamps. The boys, and girls too for that
matter, was allowed to pick them and sell them to the river boats what
come along. The men was let cut cord wood and sell it to the boats.
Flat boats they was. There was regular stores on them. You could buy
gloves and hats and lots of things. They would burn the wood on the
boat and carry the nuts up North to sell. But me, I liked the sugar
barrel best.

When the Yankees come thru, I wasn't scared. I was too busy looking at
the bright buttons on their coats. I edged closer and closer. All they
did was laugh. But I kept looking at them. Until they went into the
smoke house. Then I turned loose and hollered. I hollored because I
thought they was going to take all Master's sirup. I didn't want that
to happen. No ma'am they didn't take nothing. Neither time they came.

After the war was over they took us down the river to The Bend. It was
near Vicksburg----an all day's ride. There they put us on a plantation
and took care of us. It was the most beautifulest place I ever see.
All the cabins was whitewashed good. The trees was big and the whole
place was just lovely. It was old man Jeff