9.	69


a mighty good teacher, but Lordy% hOW striek he was Dese here ch:Tllun don‘t know nothin‘ ‘bout school. Us went early in de rriorflifl‘, tuk our dinner in a bucket, and. never lert ‘tu four o‘ clock, and sometimes dat was ‘most nigh sundown. All day us

~	studied d~t blue back speller, and dat white teacher of ours sho‘ tuk de skin offen our backs if us didn‘t mind him. Dere warn‘t no fussin‘ and fightin ‚ and foolin ‚ ‚ round on de way home ‚ ‚ cause dat white teacher ‘lowed he had control of us ‘tu us got to our Mariimies‘ doors and if us didn‘t git for home in a hurry, it was jus‘ too bad for us when he tuk it out n us next day wid dat long hick‘ry switch.

	.	“Things is sho‘ diffunt now. Folks ain‘t good now as dey was den, but.dere Is. gwine to be a change. I ~ay not be here to see it, but it‘s a-commt ‘cause de Good Lord is done ‘sied (prow phesied) it, and it‘s got to be. God‘s sayin‘ is corain‘ to pass jus‘ as sho‘ as us is livin‘ and settin‘ in de shade of dis here tree.

	“Lordy, Misst low come you axes ‘bout colored folks‘es wed~din‘s? I was a-‘courtin‘ a little 14-year old gal named Lovie ~Ti1liams, but her Mammy runned me off and said she warn‘t gwine to let Lovie git married up wid nobody ‘tU she got big enough. I jus‘ bought dein licenses and watched for my chariot and den I stole dat gil right from under her Maxnmy‘s eyes. My Manmy knowed all ‘bout it and holped us git away. Us didn‘t have no time~±‘or no weddin‘. De best us could do was jus‘ to git ourseifs married up. Lovie‘s M~ramy raised de Old Ned, but us didn‘t keer den, ‘cause lt was too i~te for her to do nothin‘ to part us. Lovie was one of the bestest g~Is what ever lived. Us raised 12 chillun and I never had one speck