' I didn't cry
none, 'cause I didn't care. Marse Fred bought us, an' tuk us to Athens
to live, an' old Mist'ess went to live wid her chilluns.
"Marse Fred didn't have a very big plantation; jus' 'bout 70 or 80 acres
I guess, an' he had 'bout 25 Niggers. He didn't have no overseer. My pa
wuz de one in charge, an' he tuk his orders from Marse Fred, den he went
out to de farm, whar he seed dat de Niggers carried 'em out. Pa wuz de
carriage driver too. It wuz his delight to drive for Marster and
Mist'ess.
"Marster and Mist'ess had eight chillun: Miss Mattie, Miss Mary, Miss
Fannie, Miss Senie, Mr. Dave, Mr. Joe, Mr. Frank and Mr. Freddy. Dey
lived in a big house, weather-boarded over logs, an' de inside wuz
ceiled.
"Marster an' Mist'ess sho' wuz good to us Niggers. Us warn't beat much.
De onliest Nigger I 'member dey whupped wuz Cicero. He wuz a bad boy. My
Marster never did whup me but onct. Mist'ess sont me up town to fetch
her a spool of thread. I got to playin' marbles an' 'fore I knowed it,
it wuz dinner time. When I got home, Mist'ess wuz mad sno' 'nough.
Marster cotch me an' wore me out, but Mist'ess never touched me. I seed
Niggers in de big jail at Watkinsville an' in de calaboose in Athens.
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