45 .~ shirts . Course ‚ all de time us gits han‘ -‘ins-downs from de folks In de Big House. . Us what was a-servin‘ in de Big E~ouse wore de marster‘s old dress suits. Now, dat was somep‘n‘! Mos‘ o‘ de tinie dey didn‘ fit — Iaa3rbe de pants hung a little loose an‘ de tails o‘ de coat hung a little long. ~e bein‘ de house boy, I used to look mighty sprucy when I put on my frock tail. “De mistis used to teach us de Bible on Sund‘ys an‘ us always had Sund‘y school. Us what lived in de Big House an‘ eiren some o‘ de fiel‘ han‘s was taught to read an‘ write by de white folks. “De fiel‘ han‘s sho‘ had a time wid dat man, Duncan. He was de overseer man out at de plantàtlon. Why, he‘d have dem poor Niggers so dey didu‘ know if dey was gwj.ne In circles or what. “One day I was out In de quarters when he brung back old man roe from runnin‘ away. Old roe was always a-runnin‘ away an‘ dat man Duncan put his höun‘ dogs on ‚ Im an‘ brwig ‚ im back. Dis time I‘ s speakin‘ ‘bout Marster Duncan put his han‘ on old roe‘s shoulder an‘ look him in de eye sorrowtul-lak. ‘50e‘ ‚ he say, ‚ I‘ s sho‘ pow‘ful tired o‘ huntin‘ you. I‘spect I‘s gwina have to git de inarster to sell you soxne‘r‘s else. ~Anotber marster gwina whup you in de groun‘ 1f he kétch you runnin‘ ‘way lak dis. I‘s sho sad for you if you gits soi‘ away. Us gwlna miss you t roun ‚ dis pl~r~tat ‘ Atter dat old Toe stayed close in an‘ dey warnt no more trouble out o‘ him. ~ “Dat big white man called Duncan, he seen dat de Niggers b‘have deyse‘ves right. Dey called him de ‘Boss Man. ‚ He always carried a big whup an ‚ when dem Niggers got sas sy ‚ dey got de whup ‚ orost dey hides. 2