~x—sIave Stories (Texae)
Page Two
75
	~1Marse Bob didntt put his little niggers in the fields till they‘5 big ‘nough to work, and the rnaxr~nies was give time off from the fields to come back to the nursin‘ home tosu.ck the babies. He didn‘t never put the niggers out in bad weather. He give us something to do, in out of the weather, like shellin‘ corn and the women could spin ~nd knit. They rn~de us plenty of good clothe5. In summer we wore long shirts, split up the sides, made out of lowerings —~ that~e same as cotton s~cks was made out of. In winter we had good jeans and knitted sweaters ~nd knitted socks.

	“My paw was a shoemalcer • t d take a. caifhide ~nd make shoes with the hairy sides turned in, ~and they was warm and kept your feet dry. My maw spent a lot of time car&in‘ and spinnin‘ wool, ~nd I 211us had plenty things.

	“Life was purty fine with Marse Bob. He was a man af plenty. H~ had a lot of land. ~nd he built him p. bIg log house when he come to Texas. He had sev‘ral hundred. he2d of cattle axid more than that many hawgs. ~Ye raised cotton and grain and. chickens and vegetables, arid most anything anybody could ask for. Some places the masters give out a peck of meal and so m~y pounds of meat to a family for them a week‘s rations, and if they et it up that was all they got. But Marse Bob allue give out plenty, and said, ‚ If you need more you can have it ‚ ~ cause am‘ t ~y going to suffer on my place. ~

	~He built ue a c1~.irch, and a: old man ‚ Ke rneth Lyons ‚ who waS a slave of the Lyon‘s family nearby, used to git a pa.s every Sunday morntht and come preach to us. .~e was a man of good learnin‘ and the beet preacher I ever ~ard~. 11e bapti.ed tri a little old mudhole down back of our place. Nearly
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