? 3G
so long I has to keep it ~wropped. I‘se often heard my mammy wa~ reddsh-lookin‘ wid 1ou~, straight, black hair. Her pa was a full blooded Choctaw an‘ mighty nigh as young as she was. I‘se been ].‘ dat nobody *dast meddle wid her. She didn‘ do much talkin‘,

but she sho‘; was a good ~rker. !~r pappy had Injun blood, too, but his hair was kinky.

	“De Choctaws lived all ‘roun‘ Secon‘ Creek. Some ~f had cabins lak settled folks. I eau ‘aember dey las‘ chief. He was a tall pow‘ fui ~ built man named ‚ Big 8am. ‚ What he said was de law, ‘cause he was de boss o‘ de whole tribe. One rainy night he was kilt in a salOon down in ‘Natchez Under de Hill. ‚ De Injuns weht Wild wid rage an ‚ grief • Dey sting an ‚ wailed an‘ done a heap o ‚ low mutt in‘. De sheriff kep‘ a steady watch on ‚ em, ‘cause he was afeared dey wo~ild do somethin‘ rash. After a long time he kinda let up In his vig‘lance. Den one night some o‘ de Choctaw mens slipped in town an‘ *stobbed de man dey b‘lleved had kilt Big Sam. I ‘members dat weil.

	“As I said b‘fore, I growed up in de quarters. De houses was clean an‘ snug. Us was better ted den dan I is now, an‘ warmer, too. Us had blankets an‘ quilts filled wid home raised wool an‘ I jus‘ loved layin‘ in de big 1~at feather bed a-hearin‘ de rain patter on de
roof.	.

	“Ail de little darkeys h~‘ped bring in wood. Den us swept de yards wid. brush brooms. Den sometimes us played together in de street what run de length o‘ de quarters. Us th‘owed horse~~~shoes, jumped poles ‚ walked on stilts ‚ an~ played marbles. Sometimes us made bows an‘ arrows. Us could shoot ‚ em, too ‚ jus lak de little Inj une.


~wrapped
~da~ed
*stabbed