“Lawsy~ I‘s recallin‘ de time when de big old houn‘ dog what fin‘ de run—away Niggers done die wid fits. Dat man Duncan, he say us gwina hoi‘ fim‘al rites over dat dog. He say us Niggers might better be‘s pow‘ful sad when us come to dat fun‘al.. ~n‘ dem Niggers was sad over de death o‘ dat poor old dog what had chased ‘em all over de country. Dey all stan‘ ‘roun‘ a-weepin‘ an‘ a-mournj~‘~ Ever‘ now an‘ den dey‘d put water on dey eyes an‘ play lak dey was a-weepln‘ bitter, bitter tears. ‘Poor old dog, she done died down dead an‘ ean‘4 kotch us no more. Poor old dog. Amen! De Lawd have mercyP

	“De Judge was a great an‘ for ‚~ ‚ tainment • He always had a house fui o‘ folks an‘ he sho‘ give ‘em de bee‘ o‘ food an‘ likker. Dey was a big room he kep‘ all polished up lak glass. Ever‘ now an‘ den he‘d th‘ow a big party an‘ ‘vite mos‘ ever‘body in Mississippi to come. Dey was ‘ Niggers 1x1 de quarters what could sing to beat de ban‘ ‚ an‘ de ~rudge would git ‘ein to sing for his party.

	“I ‘member how ‘cited I‘d git when one o‘ dem shindigs ‘ud c~e off. I sho‘ would strut den, De iiistls ‘ud dress me up an‘ I‘d. carry de likker an‘ drinks ‘rouit‘ ‘mongst de peoples. ‘Would you prefer dis here mint julip, Marst er? Or maybe you‘ d relish dis here special wine o‘ de Judge‘s. ‚ Dem white folks sho‘ could lap up dem drinks, too. De Judge had de bee‘ o‘ ever‘thing.

	“Dey was always a heap o‘ fresh meat in de meat house. De pantry fairly bu‘sted wid all kin‘ o‘ preserves an‘ sweetnin‘s. Lawdy2 I mean to tell you dem was de good deys.

	“I ‘member I used to hate ever‘ Wednesday. Dat was de day I had to polish de silver. Lawsyl It took me mos‘ all day. When I‘d
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