Ex~s1aVe Stories	Page ~1ii~ee
 (Texas)







	“Dey ‘low de 11,1 chilien lots of playtime and no hard task. Us p1ay~ stick hoss and seven-up marble grime with marbles usrnake and de ‘well gaine • ‚ De gal o r boy s ot In de chair and l~rm way back and ‚ t end like dey in de well. Dey say dey so nuuiy feet clown and say, ‘Who you want pull you out?‘ Arid de one you want pull you out, dey sposed to kiss you.

	“Dey used to be nigger traders what cc~ through de country with de herd of niggers ‚ j it like cattlemen with de herd of cat tie . Dey fix camp and. dM pen on de ridge of town and people what want to buy more slaves go dere. Dey have a block and make de slaves git up on dat. Maybe one man say, ‘I

cive you ‚ $2oo . oo ‚ and ~ when s through de slave sold to de highes ‚ bidder, Old massa warn us look out and not let de trader cotch us, ‘cause a trader jis‘ soon steal a nigger and sell him.

	„ De patterrollers corne round beTh‘ de war to see ifeen de massas treat dere slaves good. My wife‘s gr~inma say dey come round to her massa‘s place, but befo‘ dey git dere he take a meat skin and make dem nib it round day mouth and git dey face all greasy 8° it look like dey have plenty to eat and he tel). d.em day better tell de patterrolle~‘s dey gittin‘ plenty to eat. But dere one big nigger and he say, ‘Hell, no, he ain‘t give US tflOL~&~1 to eat,‘ Den dat nigger say, ‘Please take inc with ~ou~ ~caUSe 1±‘ ~OU don‘t ifiassa gwineter kill me when you git gone.

	“Old. massa he die befo‘ de war ~nd den he son, John Cade, take over de place ‚ and he brudders help . Dey name ‚ Overton ~nd Ta~l or and Bob ~ Junior. Us all want to git free and talk 1bout it in de ~iartere ‘mon~st ourselfs, but we ain‘t S~T nothin‘ where de white folks heared u~.