time he kinda let up in his vig'lance. Den one night some o' de Choctaw
mens slipped in town an' stobbed[FN: stabbed] de man dey b'lieved had
kilt Big Sam. I 'members dat well.

"As I said b'fore, I growed up in de quarters. De houses was clean an'
snug. Us was better fed den dan I is now, an' warmer, too. Us had
blankets an' quilts filled wid home raised wool an' I jus' loved layin'
in de big fat feather bed a-hearin' de rain patter on de roof.

"All de little darkeys he'ped bring in wood. Den us swept de yards wid
brush brooms. Den sometimes us played together in de street what run de
length o' de quarters. Us th'owed horse-shoes, jumped poles, walked on
stilts, an' played marbles. Sometimes us made bows an' arrows. Us could
shoot 'em, too, jus lak de little Injuns.

"A heap of times old Granny would brush us hide wid a peach tree limb,
but us need it. Us stole aigs[FN: eggs] an' roasted 'em. She sho'
wouldn' stan' for no stealin' if she knowed it.

"Us wore lowell-cloth shirts. It was a coarse tow-sackin'. In winter us
had linsey-woolsey pants an' heavy cow-hide shoes. Dey was made in three
sizes--big, little, an' mejum[FN: medium]. Twant no right or lef'. Dey
was sorta club-shaped so us could wear 'em on either foot.

"I was a teasin', mis-che-vious chil' an' de overseer's little gal got
it in for me. He was a big, hard fisted Dutchman bent on gittin' riches.
He trained his pasty-faced gal to tattle on us Niggers. She got a heap
o' folks whipped. I knowed it, but I was hasty: One day she hit me wid a
stick an' I th'owed it back at her. 'Bout dat time up walked her pa. He
seen what I done, but he didn' see what she done to me. But it wouldn'