Ex—slave Stories	~ Page Three (Texas)





him. I swore if I ever got a-loose I‘ct kill him. Bitt befo‘ long after that he fails to come home, and some people finds him hanging to a tree. Boss, tiiat 1on~ after w~r time he got hung. He didn‘t let us free. ~e wore chains all the time . ~Nhen we work, we dru.g them chains with us. At night he lock us to a tree to keep us from ru.nnin‘ off. He didn‘t have to do that. ~Ye were ‘fraid to i‘u.n. ~e knew he‘d kill us. Besides, h~ brarid.s us and they no way to get it off. It~s put there with a hot iron. You can‘t ~it it off.

	“If a slave die, massa made the rest of us tie a rope round. he feet and. drug hirn o~f. Never buried one, it was too much trouble.

	“Massa allus say he b‘i rich after the war. He stealin‘ ai]. the time. He have a whole mountain side where he keep he stock. Missy Selena tell i~ one day we sposed to be free, but he didn‘t turn us a—loose. It was ‘bout three years after the war they hurx,~ him. Missy turned us a-loose.

	t, I h~d a hard time then. All I had to ~ eat was what I could find and steal. I was ‘fraid of everybody, I jus‘ went wild and to the woods, but, thank God, a bunch of men taken they dogs and ran me down. They carry me to they place. Gen. Houston had some niggers and he made them feed. me. He made them keep rue till I git weil and able to work. Then he give me a job. I marr~r one the cals befo‘ I leaves then. I‘m plumb out of place there at my own in, Yes, suh, boss ‚ it wasn‘ t one year befo‘ that I ‘m the wild nigger. We had thirteen chilien.

	HI farms all my life after that, I didntt ~io‘w nothin‘ else to do. I made plenty cotton, b~it now I‘m too old. Me and my wife is alone now. This

old n igger git s the 1 1 ‚ 1 pensi on from the goy‘ ment . I not got much I onger t o stay here. I‘s ready to see God but I hope my old massa ain‘t there to

torment me again.