driver, who would say as he put de whup to de back, '_Pray sir, pray
sir_!'

"I seed slaves sol' oft'ener dan you got fingers an' toes. You know I
tol' you dere was a sellin' block close to our sto'. Den plen'y niggers
had to be chained to a tree or post 'cause he would run 'way an' wouldn'
wuk.

"Dey would track de runways wid dogs an' sometimes a white scal'wag or
slacker wud be kotched dodgin' duty. I seed as many deserters as I see
corn stalks ober in dat fiel'. Dey would hide out in day time an' steal
at night.

"No'm I didn' learn to read an' write but my folks teached me to be
honest an' min' Old Miss an' Granny. Dey didn' want us to learn how to
go to de free country.

"We had a neighborhood chu'ch an bofe black an' white went to it. Dere
was a white preacher an' sometimes a nigger preacher would sit in de
pulpit wid him. De slaves set on one side of de aisle an' white folks on
de other. I allus liked preacher Williams Odem, an' his brudder Daniel,
de 'Slidin' Elder'.[FN: back slider] Dey come frum Ohio. Marse Bob Allen
was head steward. I' members lots of my fav'rite songs. Some of dem was,
_Am I born to Die_, _Alas and Did my Savior Bleed_, an' _Must I to de
Judgment be Brought_. The preacher would say 'Pull down de line and let
de spirit be a witnes, workin' fer faith in de future frum on high.'

"I seed de patyrollers every week. If de niggers didn' get a pass in
han' right frum one plan'ation to 'nother, dem patyrollers would git
you. Dey would be six an' twelve in a drove, an' day would git you if