Ex~..slave Stories	P~ge Two	55
(Texas)






am red land, and de other in tray land, half sand an1 half black dirt.

	“Us slaves live in pole houses and soime in split Ioß houses, with two rooms, one for to sleep in and one for to cook in. Day ~ iV) glass windows, jus‘ holes in de walls. Dere w~s j~ck beds to sleep On, made out of poles. Dey has four legs and ain‘t nail to de wp,lls.

	“Old Massa he care for he hands purty well ‚ considerin‘ everything. in ginnin‘ tune he ‘low de women to pick up cotton froit de ground and m~Ice ix~attresses and quilts. He ±nake some cloth and ~buy some, A. woman weave all de time and when öe shickle jump out on de floor I picks it up. I used to could ~it socks and I Was Jes‘ a li‘l. boy then, but I keep ~v~rything in twembr~ce.

	“Dey have some school and de chilIen l~rnt re~din‘ and wrjtin‘ ‚ and nenners and behavicur, too. Sometime dey gît de brok&.down white rtmn to be teacher. But us dtdntt know much and lt taken ten years or more after freedom to ~it de black men de qualification way he could handle th1rt~s.

	0On~ time us boys ~it some watermillions out in de bresh and hit ~em or drap ~ to break 1em open. Dere come massa and cotch as riot workint, but catin‘ he watermillions, He tell my daddy to whip me. But lots of times when us sposed to mind de calves, us a~n out catin‘ watermillions in de bresh, Den de calves git out and rna~sa se~ dein ruz~ and cotch us.

tiold mas s ~. was kind and~ ~o od ‚ though. He have part lai ity ‚ bout him,

and wouldn‘t whip nobody without de c~use. He whip with de long, keen switch and it did.n‘t brulsede back, but sho1 did sting. ~Yhen he git real mad, he pull up you shirt a~d whip on de bare hide . One time he whipp in ‚ me and I