“Us white folks was good to us . Dey warnt always a-beatin‘ an‘ a-knocicin‘ us ‘roun‘ . De truf is you couldn‘ fin‘ a scar on nary one o‘ us. ‘Course, son~tirzes dey whup us ‚ but d ey didn‘ gash us lak some o‘ de old rrarsters did dey Niggers.

	“When Old Marster died t didn‘ know nothin‘ ‘bout him bein‘ sick. He took a cramp coliciii de night an‘ was dead ‘fore mornin‘. I hear somebody a-cryiri‘ at de Big House an‘ Granny tol‘ us dat Old Marster done die in de night. Dey had a big fun~al an‘ ~àll de folks come. De men carried him to de graveyard by de church. Dey didn‘ have no hearses dem days. Twant far to de graveyard so dey jus‘ toted de coffin to whar dey buried ‘im. Dey put flowers in cups an‘ vases on de grave, so‘s dey wouldn‘ wilt.

	“Us was all sorry when Old Marster died. I cried ‘cause I s aid ‚ ‚ Now us won ‚ git no mo re c andy.‘ ~ He us ed t o b ring us o andy when he went to town. Us‘d be lookin‘ for ‘im when he come home. He‘d say, ‘Whar‘~ all my little Niggers?‘ Den us‘d come a-runnin‘ an‘ he‘d han‘ it to us out-a his saddle bags. It was mos‘ly good stic~k candy.

	“I ‘members de paterollers. Whenever de cullud folks would 8lip off an‘ have dey frolics dout gittin‘ a ~.ss from Old Marster~ de paterollers would come. Lots-a time dey‘d come while us was a~ dancin‘ an‘ a~havin‘ a big time. Dem patero].lers would swarm in de room lak a lot o‘ bees. Fore anybody knowed it, dey‘d begin grabbing at d e mens • If dey didn‘ • have d ey pass wid ‚ em dey took ‚ em down in de woods an‘ ~iup ‘em for runnin‘ off wid out asking dey white folks.
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