forgit for a long time, but dat was de wussest drunk I ever was. Lord,
but I did love to follow my Daddy.

"Folkses warn't sick much in dem days lak dey is now, but now us don't
eat strong victuals no more. Us raked out hot ashes den and cooked good
old ashcakes what was a heap better for us dan dis bread us buys from de
stores now. Marster fed us plenty ashcake, fresh meat, and ash roasted
'taters, and dere warn't nobody what could out wuk us.

"A death was somepin what didn't happen often on our plantation, but
when somebody did die folkses would go from miles and miles around to
set up and pray all night to comfort de fambly of de daid. Dey never
made up de coffins 'til atter somebody died. Den dey measured de corpse
and made de coffin to fit de body. Dem coffins was lined wid black
calico and painted wid lampblack on de outside. Sometimes dey kivvered
de outside wid black calico lak de linin'. Coffins for white folkses was
jus' lak what dey had made up for deir slaves, and dey was all buried in
de same graveyard on deir own plantations.

"When de war was over dey closed de little one-room school what our good
Marster had kept in his back yard for his slaves, but out young Miss
Ellen larnt my sister right on 'til she got whar she could teach school.
Daddy fixed up a room onto our house for her school and she soon had it
full of chillun. Dey made me study too, and I sho did hate to have to go
to school to my own aister for she evermore did take evvy chance to lay
dat stick on me, but I s'pects she had a right tough time wid me. When
time come 'round to celebrate school commencement, I was one proud
little Nigger 'cause I never had been so dressed up in my life before.
I had on a red waist, white pants, and a good pair of shoes; but de
grandest thing of all 'bout dat outfit was dat Daddy let me wear his