lonesome; jus‘ got to stay here in dis bed, day in and day out. I‘se done wore out wid all de hard wuk I‘se had to do, and now Itse a aged ‘oman, done played out and sufferin‘ wid de high blood pressur‘. But I kin talk 8nd I does love to bring back dem good old days a-fore de war.“

	New8papers had been pasted on the wells of Nicey‘s room. In one corner an enclosed staircase was cut off from the rooni by a door at the head of the third step; the space underneath the stair was in use as a closet. The marble topped bureau, two double beds, a couple of small tables, and some old chairs were all of a period prior to the current cen~ tury. A pot of peas was perched on a pair of “firedogs“ over the coals of a wood fire in the open fireplace. On a bed of red coals a thick iron ~gan held a large pone or cornbread, and the tantalizing aroma of coffee drew attention to a steaiaing coffeepot on a trivet in one corner of the hearth. Nicey‘s daughter turned the bread over and said, “Missy, I jus‘ bet you ain‘t never seed nobody cookin‘ dis way. Us is got a stove back in de kitchen, but our somepin. t‘eat seems to taste better fixed dis ‘way; it brings back dem old days when us was chillun and all of us was at home wid manirny.“ Nicey grinned. “Missy,“ she said, “Annie ~ dat‘s dis gal of mine here - laughs at de way I laks dem old ways of livin‘ ‚ but