Ex~-.s1ave Stories	Page Three
	(Texas)		•:	43




boy Q~1 the ‘j1nin~ place took up with him and they goes off In the woods ~nd he shows G‘eorge how to r~.d and write. Massz~, never did fi~d out ‘bout that tifl. after freedon~.

	‚s ~ie si Ips off and have p rayer but daren ‚ t ‚ 1 ow th~ whi t e folks know it ~nd somettni~ we hitr~s ‘liglous songs low like when ~ s workin‘ . It was our way of pr~yin‘ to be free, but the white folks didn‘t know it; I ‘~e~ber mRIQmy us~td to sing like this:

“‘Am I born to die, to l~y this body down, Must r~r tremblln‘ spirit ?iy into worlds unknown, The i~and of deepes‘ shade, Only pierce‘ by human thought.‘

	“Massa George ‘io~d them what wanted to work a little ground for theyselves and grandpa m~.de money s~iiin‘ wild turkey and hawgs to the poor white folks. H~ used to go huntin‘ at nIght or just ~ heo~uld.

	“Then c1Rys we made our own med~ eine out of hor~emint end butterfly weed and Jerusa1~rn oak and bottled them teat up for the winter. B~itterfiy ~eed tea was for the pleurisy and the others ~or the chUls and fever. As reg‘lar as I ~ot up I ailus ~ra& my asafoetida ~nd tar water.

	‘II ‘member Massa George f~irnishee three of his nig~ers, Ed Chile and Jacob ~r~d~nd Job Jester, f~r irnile skinners. I seed the government come and take off a big b~mcb of mules off our plitce. Mos‘ onto four year after the war, three men comes to Massa George and makes him call us up and turn us loose. I beered ‘em say its close onto four year we‘s been free, but that‘s the first we knowed ‘bout it.

	ttPappy goes to work at odd jobs and uai~miy ~nd I goes to keep house for a widow woman and I stays there till I marries, and. that to Tom Smith. We had five chill en and now Torn‘ s dead and I ~ lives on that pend on from the government, what is $16.00 a month, and I‘s giad~ to git it, ‘cause I‘e too old. to work. S