" Then the two women fell to talking, each
telling a tale of woe. After a time, my mother called out, "Here, you,
Louise, or some one of you, put some fagots under the pot, so these
pease can get done." We couldn't put them under fast enough, first one
and then another of us children, the mothers still talking. Soon my
mother said, "Draw that hoe cake one side, I guess it is done." My
mother said to the woman, "Honey, ain't you got no husband?" She
said, "No, my husband got killed in the war." My mother replied,
"Well, my husband died right after the war. I have been away from my
little brood for four years. With a hard struggle, I have got them
away from the Farrin plantation, for they did not want to let them go.
But I got them. I was determined to have them. But they would not let
me have them if they could have kept them. With God's help I will keep
them from starving. The white folks are good to me. They give me work,
and I know, with God's help, I can get along." The white woman
replied, "Yes, Auntie, my husband left me on a rich man's plantation.
This man promised to look out for me until my husband came home; but
he got killed in the war, and the Yankees have set his negroes free
and he said he could not help me any more, and we would have to do the
best we could for ourselves.
Pages:
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47