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	‚ “At nig)at when de work was all done an‘ de can‘les was out us ‚ d set ‚ un‘ de f Ire ex~ ‚ eat cracked nuts ~ an‘ taters • Us picked out de nuts wid horse-shoe nails en‘ baked de taters in ashes. Den Mammy would pour herse‘f ait‘ her old man a cup o‘ wine. Us never got none o‘ dat *less?n us be‘s sick. Den she‘d mess lt up wid wild cherry bark. It was bad den, but us gulped it down, anyhow.

‘SOld Granny used to sing a song to us what went lak dis:

‘Kinky head, whar—tore you skeered?
Old snake crawled off, ‘cause he‘s aSeared.
Pappy will smite ‚ im. on de back
Wid a great big club - ker whaek Ker whackZ‘

	“Aventine, where I was born an‘ bred, was acroSt Secon‘ Creek. It was a big plantation wid ‘bout a hund‘sd head o‘ folks

-t on lt • It was only one o ‚ de mar‘ s places ‚ ‚ cause he was one o‘ de riches‘ aïi‘ highes‘ quality gent‘men in de whole country. j~S tellin‘ you de trufe, us didn‘ b‘làng to no white trash. De marster was de Honorable Mister Gabriel Shields hisse‘f. ~ver‘body knowed ‘bout him. He married. a Surget.

	“Dem Surget s was pretty devilish ; for all dey was de riches‘ Thm‘ ly in de lan‘ • Dey was de out.-fightin‘ es ‚ ‚ out.cussin‘ es‘ ‚ fastes‘ ridin ‚ ‚ har‘ in‘ ‚ out-spendin ‚ t folks I ever seen. But LawdZ Lawdi Dey was gent‘men even in dey cups. De ladies was beautiful wid big black eyes an‘ sof‘ white han‘s, but dey was high strulig, too.

	“De marster had a town inension what‘s pictured in a lot o‘ books. It was called ‘Montebella. ‚ De big columns still stan‘ at de end ‘ Shields Lane. It burnt ‚ bout thirty years ago (1937).

“I, s part Injun. I amt got no Nigger nose an‘ my hair is

sunless ~
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