give us all us wanted. One of 'em put me up on his knee an' asked me if
I'd ever seen Marster wid any little bright 'roun' shiny things. (He
held his hand up wid his fingers in de shape of a dollar.) I, lak a
crazy little Nigger said, 'Sho', Marster draps 'em 'hind de
mantelpiece.' Den, if dey didn' tear dat mantel down an' git his money,
I's a son-of-a-gun!

"After de war was over my ma got some papers from de progo[FN: provost]
marshal. She come to de place an 'tol' de marster she want her chillun.
He say she can have all 'cept me. She say she want me, too, dat I was
her'n an' she was gwine a-git me. She went back an 'got some more papers
an' showed 'em to Marster Morgan. Den he lemme go.

"She come out to de house to git us. At firs' I was scared o' her,
'cause I didn' know who she was. She put me in her lap an' she mos' nigh
cried when she seen de back o' my head. Dey was awful sores where de
lice had been an' I had scratched 'em. (She sho' jumped Aunt Emmaline
'bout dat.) Us lef' dat day an' went right on to Tuscaloosa. My ma had
married again an' she an' him took turns 'bout carrying me when I got
tired. Us had to walk de whole seven miles.

"I went to school after dat an' learnt to read an' write. Us had white
Yankee teachers. I learnt to read de Bible well' nough an' den I quit.

"I was buried in de water lak de Savior. I's a real Baptis'. De Holy
Sperrit sho' come into my heart.

"I b'lieves in de Sperrit. I b'lieves all o' us when us dies is
sperrits. Us jus' hovers 'roun' in de sky a-ridin' on de clouds. Course,
some folks is born wid a cloud over dey faces. Dey can see things dat us