"De overseers was made to un'erstan' to be 'siderate of us. Work went on
all de week lak dat. Dey got off from de fiel's early on Satu'd'y
evenin's, washed up an' done what dey wanted to. Some went huntin' or
fishin', some fiddled an' danced an' sung, while de others jus' lazed
roun' de cabins. Marse had two of de slaves jus' to be fiddlers. Dey
played for us an' kep' things perked up. How us could swing, an'
step-'bout by dat old fiddle music always a-goin' on. Den old Marster
come 'roun' wid his kin'ly smile an' jov'al sp'rits. When things went
wrong he always knowed a way. He knowed how to comfort you in trouble.

"Now, I was a gardner or yard boy. Dat was my part as a slave. I he'ped
keep de yard pretty an' clean, de grass cut, an' de flowers' tended to
an' cut. I taken dat work' cause I lak's pretty flowers. I laks to buil'
frames for 'em to run on an' to train 'em to win' 'roun'. I could monkey
wid 'em all de time.

"When folks started a-comin' through talkin' 'bout a-freein' us an'
a-givin' us lan' an' stuff, it didn' take wid Marster's slaves. Us didn'
want nothin' to come 'long to take us away from him. Dem a tellin' de
Niggers dey'd git lan' an' cattle an' de lak of dat was all foolis'ness,
nohow. Us was a-livin' in plenty an' peace.

"De war broke out spite o' how Marster's Niggers felt. When I seen my
white folks leave for war, I cried myself sick, an' all de res' did too.
Den de Yankees come through a-takin' de country. Old Marster refugeed us
to Virginny. I can't say if de lan' was his'n, but he had a place for us
to stay at. I know us raised 'nough food stuff for all de slaves.
Marster took care o' us dere 'til de war ended.

"Den he come to camp late one evenin' an tol' us dat us was free as he