Ex-~slave Stories	?a~e Two
	(Texas)		2







dat old Brazos River done changeits course up ‘bove d.c bend, and move to de west.

	‘II marries 1~ancy Cl~rk in 1879, but no chilluns. Dere plenty deer arid bears and wild turkeys and antelopes here den. ?Dey‘s sho1 fine eatin‘ 2r~d wish t couid stick a tooth in one now~ I~s seed fifty antelope at. a waterin‘ hole.

	“Dere plenty Indians, too. De Ran~er~ had de tifle ke~oin‘ dein beck. De~r corne In br~ht of de ~noon and steals and kills ds~ stock, Deie a ferry ‘cross de Br~zos and Capt. Ross ru~n it. Hesho‘ fit dem Indians.

	“Dein days everybody went hossback and de roads was e1 trails and brid~s was poies 1cross ~e creeks. One day us went to a wedd~n~~ Dey sot de dinner table out in de yard u~d.er a bi~ tree and de table was a bi~ slab of a tree on legs. Dey had pewter plates and spoons and chin‘î bowle and ic~oden dishes, Some de knives and forks was maake out of bones Dey bad. beef and pork and turkey ~nd corne antelope.

	“I knows tbout ~hostes. First, I tel1~you a ft~nny 8tory. A old man named Josh, he purty old trnd notionate. Every ~ he squat down under a oak tree, Marse Smith, he slip up and he~r Josh pravin, ‘Oh, Œ~wd, please take pore old Josh home with you, ~ Next day, Marse Sraith‘ wrop h~~Self in a sheet ~nd ~it in de oak tree. Old Josh conic ‘lone and pray, ‘Oh, Gawd, please c~ae take pore old Josh ho~ae with you.‘ k~arse say frora top de tree, ‘Poor Josh, I‘s come to take you hoxnc~ with me.‘ Old Josh, he riz up and eeed. dat white shape in de tree, and he yell, ‘Oh, Lawd, not rig~t now, I haan‘ t git forgive for ai]. ray sins . ~ Old Josh, he ‘ shakintm and he