'em. Nex' day us would rake dirt over 'em wid wooden rakes. Pa made de
rakes hisse'f. Dey had short wooden teef jus' right for to kivver de
seed. Folkses buys what dey uses now an' don't take up no time makin'
nothin' lak dat.

"In dem days 'roun' de house an' in de fiel' boys jus' wo' one piece of
clo'es. It wuz jus' a long shirt. Dey didn't know nothin' else den, but
I sho' would lak to see you try to make boys go 'roun' lookin' lak dat
now.

"Dey hired me out to Mr. Jack Weir's fambly when I wuz 'bout fo'teen
years old to do washin', ironin', an' cleanin' up de house, an' I wukked
for 'em 'til I married. Dey lemme eat all I wanted dere at de house an'
paid me in old clo'es, middlin' meat, sirup, 'tatoes, an' wheat flour,
but I never did git no money for pay. Not nary a cent.

"Us wukked mighty hard, but us had good times too. De bigges' fun us had
wuz at candy pullin's. Ma cooked de candy in de wash pot out in de yard.
Fust she poured in some home-made sirup, an' put in a heap of brown
sugar from de old sirup barrel an' den she biled it down to whar if you
drapped a little of it in cold water it got hard quick. It wuz ready den
to be poured out in greasy plates an' pans. Us greased our han's wid
lard to keep de candy from stickin' to 'em, an' soon as it got cool
enough de couples would start pullin' candy an' singin'. Dat's mighty
happy music, when you is singin' an' pullin' candy wid yo' bes' feller.
When de candy got too stiff an' hard to pull no mo', us started eatin',
an' it sho' would evermo' git away from dar in a hurry. You ain't nebber
seed no dancin', what is dancin', lessen you has watched a crowd dance
atter dey et de candy what dey done been pullin'.