*Interview with Frank Sides,*
*Cape Girardeau, Missouri.*
"Ah's jest a little feller when de war's over, jes' 'bout six year ole,
ah wuz, an' ah don' rec'lect much 'bout dem days. Aaron an' Lucy Sides
wuz mah daddy an' mammy, an' we belong to Mastuh Cato. Dey live near
Fredericktown, ah don' membuh young 'Missus' name, an' dey neveh had no
chillun. Dey had a big house, an' seems like we live in paht o'de white
folks' house. De sojers come 'round sometime, but dey didden' bathuh us,
jes' ask fo' a drink er suthin' to eat, an' go on.
"But de 'Bushwackers' wuz bad, dey go shootin' anybody, en' doin'
devilment. I don' rec'lect nuthin' dey done roun' our place but one day
a little bunch o' 'em stop dere fo' a drink. Ah's scared o' 'um, but ah
gives 'em all a drink, an' de las' man takes his drink and t'rows de
dippuh on de flo'.
"We didden' hab no school but ah learned to read an' write, but ah's not
much of a scholar at dat.
"When de war's ovuh we move to 'Cape', an' we live fust one place, 'en
'nuther, doin' whut we could.
"One time ah's workin' wid a gang on a railroad bridge. Dey wuz a big
gang of us. Oh, mebbe three or fo' hundred. De sleepin' cah wuz 'bout
half mile down de track. Come mah time tuh turn in, ah starts down de
track. It wuz bright moonlight an' ah's tired an' sleepy. Jes' as ah
comes along whar de cattle gahd is, dere standin' in de middle o' de
track is a big, tall man, all in black. He don' move, an' he's tall
ag'in as ah is. It's so light ah kin see him plain. Ah stan's an' looks
at him an' ah thinks: 'Shall ah run past? No, if ah does he'll git me
sho'.' Den ah says, 'Shall ah climb dat bobwire fence an' go through de
fiel'', but ah says, 'No, No!, spose mah pants gits hung on de bobwire,
den whut happen?' Ah looks at him again an' he's twice as big ez he wuz
befo', but he jes' stans dere. So ah goes jes' ez close to de fence ez
ah could an' goes sideways pass' him, keepin' mah eye on him, but he
don' move, jes' keep standin' dere. Nex' day ah goes tuh look at de
place but don' see no sign o' him. Ah don' know why fo' he stan' dere
'till folks tell me dat, 'Bout a year befo', a man wuz killed right
der'."