some of whut was lef'. Christmas time de slaves had dances. I could sho'
shuffle my feet. Shucks, folks doan dance like dat any more.

"When slaves was sick, dey went to de woods and got roots an' herbs ter
doctor 'em wid. If dey had runnin' off of de bowels, dey got red oak
barks an' boiled it an' made 'em drink it. It's de best thing right now
to cure runnin' off of de bowels. If young gals had pains in dey
stomachs dey made tea out'n gum bark and dat would bring 'em 'round.
When babies was born, dey had good midwives to wait on 'em. Dat was good
money.

"When Miss July got mar'ied dey had two cooks in de kitchen makin'
pound cake fer more'n a week, an' pies, an' chicken pie, an' dey killed
a hog. Dey had ever'body in de country savin' butter an' eggs fer a long
time. I didn' see de weddin' but de yard was full and we had ever'thing
to eat.

"My folks was rich. Marse Cassedy went to de War an' he was a big man
dere. He was gone a long time. Dey kep' tellin' us de Yankees was comin'
and Miss Fanny had her silver put in a bag and hid. Dey had de money put
in a wash pot and buried, an' dey ain't found dat money yet. Oh, dey had
_more_ money! Didn' I tell you dey was rich? No mam, dey wasn't po' when
war was over. Dey had ever'thing. When de Yankees come, dey carried off
all de meat in de smokehouse, an' de blanket an' quilts, an' every thing
dey wanted, dey he'ped deyse'ves. None of de slaves went wid' em.

"When Marse Cassedy come home he had de oberseer blow de horn 'bout ten
o'clock and tol' 'em all dey was freed. He said he'd work 'em fer wages,
an' nearly everyone of 'em stayed fer wages. I stayed wid Miss Mary
'bout ten years. Den I mar'ied. No, Jake an' me rid horse back an' went