Ex—slave Stori‘~s	?a~e Three
	(Texas) ~ ‘!		87




	“Yes they was lots of p~th~rs aM b~.rs here. If this ghost w~s ~ bear, he sho‘ was ~ bj~ sun. :T~ h~d ~ ghost down here on the creek we c‘dled the ‘Th~ll ~i~t~r :~i~I~ Ghost.‘ He w~s seen lots of times. He used to stey down there, hut he aintt been seen lately. }~y wife, she seen him.“
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	“Yes‘rn, I seen hirn wa].kin‘ ‘long the trail ahead öf u~. H‘ h.qd on a blz~~k hat, like a tall stovepipe ~ 2fld. ~ long bL~ck coat, and when we ~ot up close he jes‘ dis~ppe~tred. He was ~ big m~n, and tall, too. ~e didn‘ know which way he ~ent; he jes‘ seemed to disappear. My oldest aau~h~ ter sr~.w him too. Lots of folks dId. H~ was alwa~rs seen down ~t th~.t water hole somewhere.

	“Another time, I vi~ stayin‘ with ~rs. Reedes • Mr. Re~c1es was killed ~nd ~lI night long he‘d conic hack and grind coffee and sprinkle it ~ll over us. I was so bad scared I nearly died. Next r~iornin‘ there‘d be coffee all over the floor. ~e supposed it was Mr. Heede‘s ghost. Thev say if a person was wicked the~r come back Ilk. that. Onot he pulled Mrs. Reecles outta bed and pitched her on the floor, and he would ta~ce the dishes out of the shelves and. throw ~er~ down. I couldn‘t stand it ~-iut a nicht or two ~nd I s~Id I w~s goin‘ home. Yes, mae~ii, it shot was a ghost. He sho‘ did tear up that house every night. ~Th~r, they‘d be a light shine in that room just as plein as daylight, nearly. They say ghosttes will run you, hut I never had any to r~n inc.“

	‚t I was born in ~i ssissippi . We come t o Texas &~nd my mother died, so gr~ndms raised nie. I was jes‘ a bab~r when we corne to Texas. Lir. H~‘per owned us. I remember the war, ~ut it~s so long ~o I don‘t renteinber much. I remember when John Harper re ad the free pape r to us. He had a b ~ lot of slaves ‚ but