Page:Emma Speed Sampson--The shorn lamb.djvu/233

Rh slaves on both sides er the ribber, an' somehow a res'less feelin' done got a holt er folks, what with the heat an' a big moon that didn't let you git no res' at night 'cause it wa' mos' as bright as the sun an' pretty nigh as hot.

"That's wa' in ol' Marse Thomas' time, the paw er Marse Bob. Now Marse Thomas wa' as good a marster as they wa' in Virginny, but he wa' moughty 'ticular 'bout one thing; he didn' let his niggers holt no meetin's without'n they wa' helt in the chu'ch what wa' built fer the pu'pose, an' he didn' 'low none er us ter go traipsin' orer the ribber, 'cept'n' it wa' on business er his'n.

"In harvest time in them days the Bollings an' Taylors useter help one another out by lendin' hands back an' fo'th, but it ain't never been much satisfaction in it. Looks lak they wa' allus some kinder row 'bout somethin' arfter harvest, even in them days when the families wa' kinder frien'ly. The niggers didn't mix very well, owin' ter ol' Aunt Peachy an' her outlandsh ways. She wa' a turrible lookin' pusson, even then, an' she done got holt er blacks an' whites over ter The Hedges an' ben' 'em all ter her ways. Rolfe Bolling's paw wa' one er these will-an'-they-won't pussons what had about as much git-up-an'-git about him as a ol' pump