~x—sIave Stories	Page Three	~	75
(Texas)	. . . ‚







week, den iffen us eat it ~11 up too soon, lt am Jist go withoat. Lots‘ of times, I went down to de ‘tato patch a long time after everybody ~m in bed., and stole ‘tatoes, so we wouldn1t be httngry next day. I allus covered de

hole up good. and never did gît cotched. De dogs got ~fter me one time, bu.t I put pepper in dey eves and dey stopped. I allus carried pepper with me.

HI rn~rries when 11s fifteen, not so long befo1 Vm free, Nigger men

didn‘t git no license to marry dey gals den. Dey jist picked her out ~nd asked m2rse3 and iffen he ‚ grees ‚ dey‘ s married. But iffen he ~ t want it ‚ dat man

has to find heseif ‘nother gal, De men what lived on ‘nother plantation couldntt see dere wives but onet every two weeks . Marse bu~ed my husban ‚ ‚ Ru.be T~y1 or ‚

arid be come to live with me.

“One day marse say we1s all free and. we has a big ce1&r~tion, eatint and dane mt. B~.t ~ nF~r ~i1 stayed on hi~ place for a long time after day. He

paid. us thirty—five cents de day and let us live in de same old houses.

	“After we done left him, we Jist drifts Tround, workint for white folks, till we manages to git a fana. Bube dor~.e died. a long time back, and. I lives

with niy baby child.	.


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