MISSOURI
IROULA]~EU~
EX~~SL~J~ STORIES
ROB~RTBRYANT	.. . Page 2.



	“A colored lady found me after three days and called rae and took me along. I stayed with her three weeks before nay mother found me. I like tà eat up everything dey had when I fii‘st got something to eat after bein‘ in de woods so long. We went from one ~lace to another and along about 2 o‘clock in de night you

S	would hea1~ something hit de house like hail. Den we had bo come out of dere and hit for de woods. We would ~.o to anothel‘ house ‘bout eight or nine miles away and I‘ll be switched if ‘dere would not be hail fallin‘ on dat house about 2 o‘clock in de mornin‘. It was them bushwhackers again. We kept runnin‘ for about three weeks. We would go to peoples‘ houses for food and some of dem would give us enough food to eat for two or three days.

	“I‘ll show you now how my mother hapoened to find me. One night we was in a old house and we didn‘t dare talk loud ‘cause we was afraid de soldiers would hear us. We was afraid to light a light. All at once my mother who was in one side of de room said: ‘I wish I could find my little boy.‘ Den de lady I was with s~.id: ‘I found a little boy playin‘ in de hole where de hogs wallowed. Corne over here and see if dis is your boy‘. So my mother come over and said: ‘I can‘t see him but. I sure can tell by puttin‘ my hand on his head‘ • So she put her hand on my hald and said: ‘Yes, dat‘s sure ‘nough my boy.