time and it took an extra good man to keep up with her when it came to
work.

"Children were not allowed to do much work, because their masters
desired them to have the chance to grow big and strong, and therefore
they had few opportunities to earn money of their own. I never did own
any money during slavery days, but I saw plenty of ten cent greenbacks
(shinplasters).

"White children and slave children played around the plantation together
but they were not allowed to fight. They had to be on friendly terms
with each other.

"What about our food? The biggest thing we had was buttermilk, some
sweet milk, and plenty of cornbread, hog meat, and peas. As a rule we
had wheat bread once a week, usually on Sunday. All kinds of fruits were
plentiful in their seasons. Each slave family was permitted to have
separate garden space, in fact, Old Boss insisted that they work their
own gardens, and they raised plenty of vegetables. Grown folks had
rabbits and 'possums but I never did get much 'quainted with them. We
fished in the cricks and rills 'round the plantation and brought in lots
of hornyheads and perch. You never saw any hornyheads? Why they is just
fish a little bigger and longer than minnows and they have little horns
on their heads. We caught a good many eels too; they look like snakes,
but folks call them eels. I wasn't much 'quainted with them fish they
brought from way down South; they called them mullets.

"The kitchen was a separate log house out in the back yard. The
fireplace, where the cooking was done, took up one end of the kitchen,
and there was a rack acrost it to hang the cook-pots on for biling.