in de fire an' th'ow a broom 'cross de do' fer folks say dat 'twas a
sign of bad luck, an' a charm had to be worked fas' to keep sumpin'
terrible frum happenin', an' if a _big owl_ hollered, we wasn't 'lowed
to say one word.

"Fire was 'bout de hardes' thing fer us to keep. Dere wa'nt no matches
in dem days, an' we toted fire frum one plantation to 'nother when hit
burned out. We put live coals in pans or buckets an' toted it home.

"Sometimes we put heavy waddin' in a old gun an' shot hit out into a
brush heap an' then blowed the sparks' til de fire blazed. Ever'body had
flint rocks too, but few niggers could work 'em an' de ones dat could
allus had dat job to do.

"My gran'mammy come frum South Ca'lina an' libed fust at New Augusta,
Mississippi. She used to pick big Catawba leaves an' roll her dough in
'em an' bake hit in a log heap, pilin' ashes over hit. Some called hit
ash cakes an' hit sho' was good. Nothin' lak hit dese days--no sir.

"We had plen'y to eat--smoke sausage, beef, home made lard, an'--yes
sir, possum when we wanted hit.

"We didn' git any pay fer our work but we had plen'y to eat an' clo'es
to wear, our clo'es was coarse but good. Most of 'em was wove on de
looms an' our socks an' stockings was knitted by de wimmin. De white
folks though, dey wear linen an' fine silk clo'es fer de big times. We
made blankets--coverlets, too.

"We had 'bout 60 slaves on our place, an' if a nigger man on one
plantation fall in love wid a slave girl on 'nother place, dey jus' come