Jeff Davis rides a gray, an' Lincoln rides a mule.'

I was mad anyway, so I hopped up an' sung dis one:

'Old Gen'l Pope had a shot gun,
Filled it full o' gum,
Killed 'em as dey come.

Called a Union band,
Make de Rebels un'erstan'
To leave de lan',
Submit to Abraham.'

"Old Mis' was a-standin' right b'hin' me. She grabbed up de broom an'
laid it on me. She made _me_ submit. I caught de feathers, don't you
forgit it.

"I didn' know it was wrong. I'd hear'd de Niggers sing it an' I didn'
know dey was a-singin' in dey sleeves. I didn' know nothin' 'bout Abe
Lincoln, but I hear'd he was a-tryin' to free de Niggers an' my mammy
say she want to be free.

"De young folks used to make up a heap o' songs, den. Dey'd
decompose[FN: compose] dey own songs an' sing' em. I never will forgit
one song dey sung when dey buried anybody. It made Old Marster, Mistis,
an' all of' em cry. Us chillun cried, too. It went like dis:

'My mother prayed in de wilderness,
In de wilderness,
In de wilderness.