4.	0‘)
dat dey dn‘ hid ylt and ‚ bout dat t1n~ here cœie one of Mr. Torn Casteel ‚ a niggers just a flyln‘ on a rm.tle wid a letter to de white man. Mr. Tcm Casteel ‚ he had he place just u.p de ribber from us ‚ on de Island ‚ and when he gived de letter to de man en de r~n read it, he said de Yankees is comin‘ and he lit out for de ribber where de boat was wait in‘ for him and got ‚ way and dare was all dat loose cotton on de groun‘ and us was skeered to sit fire to de cotton den and ‚ bout dat t the de Yankees arive and say dont you thirn dat cotton and dey looked all ober de place and find de bales dat was hid in de woods and de next ~j~y dey cone and haul lt off and dey say us niggers can hab dat what de ties been cut on and my maniny, she set to work and likewise de odder women what de Yankees say can had de loose cotton and tie up aU dey can in bags and atter dat us sold it to de Yankees in Helena for a dollar a pou_n‘ and dat was all de money us had for a long tix~.

	~How‘~son~-ever us all lived good ‚ cause dere was heap of wild hogs an‘ ‘possums and sich and we had hid a heap or corn and us did tine. So~tin~a de war bo, dey would pass on de ribber—~.dat i s de Yankee boata..~-‘and us would hide ‚ hind de tree s sud bushes and see dem pass. We wouldn‘ t let dem see us though ‘cause we thought dey would shoot. Heap en heap er tinma sojera would come by us place0 Then de Yankees ud come dey would ax my marI!ny, ‘Aunt Mary, is you seen any Se~ceah today‘?t and manany, she ud say ‘Naw ~ eben iffen she had seen sons of us r~ns, Ixit when our sojera ud cone and say, ‘Aunt Mary, I s you seen ary Yankee ‚ round here re cent?‘ she ud allus tell dem de tru.f, Dey was a lxtnch of us sojers, dat is de Con.. fedrits, what used to stay ‘round in de cominity constant, dat we knowed, but dey allus had to be on de dodge ‚ cause dere was so many more Yankees dan dem.