- 6 -            44

 At this time a little girl, who lives with Alice, asked for a 
piece of bread. She got up and fed the child, then said: “Come
in dis here room. I wants to show you whar I burned my bed last
night tryin’ to kill de chinches: dey most eats me up evvy night.”
In the bedroom an oil lamp was burning. The bed and mattress show-
ed signs of fire. The mattress tick was split from head to foot 
and cotton spilling out on the floor. “Dat’s whar I sleep,” de-
clared Alice. The atmosphere of the bedroom was heavy with nauseous 
odors and the interviewer hastened to return to the front of the house
desiring to get out of range of the chinch-ridden bed. Before there
was time to resume conversation the terrier grabbed the bread from
the child’s hand and in retaliation the child bit the dog on the jaw 
and attempted to retrieve the bread. Alice snatched off her stocking
cap and beat at the dog with it. “Git out of here, Biddy. I done
told you and told you ‘bout eatin’ dat chile’s somepin ‘teat. I don’t
know why Miz. Woods gimme dis here dog no how, ‘cause she knows I 
can’t feed it and it’s jus’ plum starvin’. Go on out, I say.

“Lordy! Lady, dar’s one of dem chinches from my bed a-crawlin’ over
your pretty white dress. Ketch him quick, ‘fore he bites you.” Soon
the excitement was over and Alice resumed her story.

“Dey tuk mighty good care of slaves when dey got sick. Dey had to,
“cause slaves was propity and to let a slave die was to lose money.
Ole Miss, she looked atter de ‘omans and Ole Marster, he had de doctor