Page FIve 2~1
ix—slave Stories ( ~exas)









	“I CO(fle3S to Fort ‘~Vorth and cooks. Minnie dies ‘fore long of de stomach Eli S ~ 17 . I works f or a M Issus ~o e t z and marri es ~ne s Skel ton ‚ wha t wo rks de re, tOO. (e has five chilien and I works dere for twenty—five years, till I goes blind, I‘s allus de big, stout fellow, helpin‘ somebod~r, and after I‘~ blind I has to ‘pend on other people to help me. De white folks sho‘ been good. to rae since I been in dis shape, and de state sends me $13.00 a month to pay de bills with, Dat a big help, but I‘s ‘bout three, four weeks ‘hind now.

	~ e old mari King‘ s daughter3 ~im here and b oks rae up ‚ and leaves me a couple dollars. I gits ‘lori~ some way.

	“I sets ht~re and thinks ‘bout old times. Qne song we use to sing was ‘Throw de Sraokehouse Ke~rs Down de ~Yell.‘ Dat ‘cause dere so many thieves in de country everybody have big lockc on de smokehouse if dey ‘spects to Keep dey meat.