. Highways and byways of the South. e no better offdan de rest of us. But de people what work in desun an de rain in de cotton-fiel, dey were all glad;an yet I seen some good times in slavery. You couldget thoo your days task by two or thee oclock, anif you was smart, your masterd give you a piece ergroun to plant for yoself. We each had jus somuch rashions evy week, an it was enough ; but nowdars a whole bunch er colored folks earn so littledey have to live off er scraps. I done so well I wasmade head hand; but when I was seventeen, masterwanted to whip me, an I run away to de woods, an* The
. Highways and byways of the South. e no better offdan de rest of us. But de people what work in desun an de rain in de cotton-fiel, dey were all glad;an yet I seen some good times in slavery. You couldget thoo your days task by two or thee oclock, anif you was smart, your masterd give you a piece ergroun to plant for yoself. We each had jus somuch rashions evy week, an it was enough ; but nowdars a whole bunch er colored folks earn so littledey have to live off er scraps. I done so well I wasmade head hand; but when I was seventeen, masterwanted to whip me, an I run away to de woods, an* The Cotton Patch in Harvest Time 279 I was in de woods six weeks. Id come home nightsto git food, an some er de boys would bring me bread,so I had plenty to eat. I made a camp way back in de swamp, an Ihadnt been gone long till one day a white man nameer Cy Lucas fin me while I was cookin my heard the bushes crackin, an dar he was befo Icould git hid. What you doin hyar ? he say. I run away,* says I ; an I tell him how it Old-time Plantation Quarters I reckon I ought to kerry yo home, he says. He was a neighbor of my people, an him andem want vey good friends, an I say, Deyre 28o Highways and Byways of the South always abusin* you, an dey wont thank you fortif you do take me home. So he said, * Well, doan you steal nothin offnmy plantation — take it offn yo own, an Ill letyou be.* Anudder time two white men see me while I waswalkin in de swamp huntin fo a pig to steal, andey know me an holler, Youll be ketched tereckly ! I run, an dey went off an come back wid a dogan a gun. Yo ought to hear me cussin den ; butI had a club, an I was boun to fight until I die. Isquat behin a fence, an de dog come runnin afterme an jump de fence, an he no sooner done dat dan— blap ! — I hit him wid de club, an de dog squealan git away from dar as fas as he can, an de mencouldnt git dat dog to foller me any mo. But datdidnt stop de men. Dey kep after me until it gotdark; an dey ha
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1904
