my little nigger anyhow.'

"Dem old cord beds was a sight to look at, but dey slept good. Us
cyarded lint cotton into bats for mattresses and put 'em in a tick what
us tacked so it wouldn't git lumpy. Us never seed no iron springs dem
days. Dem cords, criss-crossed from one side of de bed to de other, was
our springs and us had keys to tighten 'em wid. If us didn't tighten 'em
evvy few days dem beds was apt to fall down wid us. De cheers was
homemade too and de easiest-settin' ones had bottoms made out of rye
splits. Dem oak-split cheers was all right, and sometimes us used cane
to bottom de cheers but evvybody laked to set in dem cheers what had
bottoms wove out of rye splits.

"Marster had one of dem old cotton gins what didn't have no engines. It
was wuked by mules. Dem old mules was hitched to a long pole what dey
pulled 'round and 'round to make de gin do its wuk. Dey had some gins in
dem days what had treadmills for de mules to walk in. Dem old treadmills
looked sorter lak stairs, but most of 'em was turned by long poles what
de mules pulled. You had to feed de cotton by hand to dem old gins and
you sho had to be keerful or you was gwine to lose a hand and maybe a
arm. You had to jump in dem old cotton presses and tread de cotton down
by hand. It tuk most all day long to gin two bales of cotton and if dere
was three bales to be ginned us had to wuk most all night to finish up.

"Dey mixed wool wid de lint cotton to spin thread to make cloth for our
winter clothes. Mammy wove a lot of dat cloth and de clothes made out of
it sho would keep out de cold. Most of our stockin's and socks was knit
at home, but now and den somebody would git hold of a sto-bought pair
for Sunday-go-to-meetin' wear.