Ex-.Slave Stories	Page Nine
(Texas)





open range country.

	“Oh, it was all in fun. Just catch somebody so we could hold court2 They would have two or three as a jury. They would uuime as eherirr and appoint a judged, The prisoner was turned overto the judge and whatever he said, it had to be carried out exactly. The penalty? Well, sometimes ~ it was owing to the crime —~ but sometimes they would. put it up to about twenty liøke with the leggin‘s. If they was any bendin‘ trees, they would lay you across the log. They got tough, all right, but we sure had. fun. We had to salute the bo~~ every mornin‘, and if we forgot it . . .1 They never forgot it that night; you~d sure get tried in court.

	‘We camped on the side of a creek one time, and we hada new man, a sort of green fellow. ThIs new man unsaddled his horse by the side of the creek and h~ lay down there. He had on a big pair of spurs, and I was watohin‘ him and st~id~in‘ upeome kin~~f~‘r ank to play on tim. Sö I went and got me a string and tied one of his spurs to his saddle and then I told the