‚ ~ Page 3. 163 The first work she did was waltinglu the housea Betore she could read her,,I~lStreSS taught her the letters on the newspapers and what they spelled so she could bring them thepapers they wanted. lier mother worked In the field: she drove steers and could do a].]. kinds of ~ farxj~ work and was the best meat cutter on the plantation. She was a good spinner too, and was req,uired to spin a broach of “woolspinnlng“ every night. All the ~~rc w~nen had to spin, but Aunt Adeline said her mother wa~ specially good In spinning wool and “that kind of spinning was powerful s1ow“~ Thinking a mcgnent ‚ she added: “Arid my mother was one of the best dyers anywhere ‘round, and I was too. I did make the most ~o]~rs by mixing up ai]. kinds of bark and leaves. I recollect the prettiest sort of a lilac color I made with maple barkandpineba,~~k, not, the outside pine bark, but that little thin skin that grows right down next to the tree — it was pretty, that color was.“ Aunt Adeline thinks they ~vere more fortunate than any other litti. slaves she knew because their4rster had a little store right there where he would give them candyeverynowand then • bright pretty sticks of candy. She ~ members one time he gave them candy In little tin cups, and how proud of those cups they were. He never gave them money, but out of the store they could get what money bought so they were ~iappy. But they had to have whippings ‚ t um, •\4 good er bad we got them ~hippings with a long cowbl de kept jest fer that . They whipped us to make us grow better, I reckon“. ~ ~ ~ Although they got whippings a-plenty they were ne~ver separated b7 sale. “No main, my white folks nemr believed In selling their niggers“, said Aunt Adeline ‚ and related an incident provins this. “I recollect once my oldest brother done sœiething Marster didn‘t like an‘ h. got mighty mad with him an‘ sai d ‚ Gus ‚ I ‘ni goin ‚ ter sell ‚ I am ‚ t a-goin ‚ to keep you no longer‘. Mi st~re es spoke up ri ght qui ck and said : ‘No you am ‚ t a~goin‘ t o sell Qua, \jreither, he‘s nuesed and looked after all our oldest chiUun, and he‘s goin‘ ~\ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~