look at de horse wid a head of fire!’ She knock me out for dead!  She grab dat light and run home and lef’ me in de wood.  When I come to I run to my mother crying and she say:  ’Now Nancy, you know you kin see ’em but you ought not to tell de other chillun and skeer ’em.  You mus’ keep it to yourself.’  Ever since den, I won’t tell nobody what I kin see.  Yas’m, I wake up in de nighttime and see ’em standin’ all ‘bout dis house.  I ain’ skeered—­when you born wid de veil it jus’ be natchel to see ’em.  Why, I sees ’em on de canal bank when de fog sprangles through de trees and de shape forms on de ground’.

“I hears de death alarm too.  One kind of call comes from out de sky, a big howlin’ noise, loud like singin’—­a regular tune.  De other kind goes ‘hummmmmmm’ like somebody moanin’.  I was settin’ down and de bull bat come in de house.  Me and de chillun done all we could to git him out de house.  A woman nex’ door was name Rachel.  I say:  ’Rachel!  Dere’s a bull bat in here and we can’t get him out.’  You know what she done?  She turn her pocket inside out and dat bat went out de door jus’ like it come in!  Dat a simple thing to do, ain’ it?  But it done de work.  Dat was on Thursday night.  Saturday morning I got de news that my babiest sister was dead.  One of my boys was wid her.  I was settin’ down wid my head bowed, prayin’, and a white man dressed in a white robe come in de house and stood before me and say:  ’Oh, yeah!  I gwine take your sister!  Den what your child gwine do?’ I sot down and studied and I said:  ’Lord, I’ll do de bes’ I kin.’  And Miss you know I had to take dat child back!

“Before I los’ my husband ev’y time he go out to work I couldn’ hear nuttin’ but knockin’—­ever he step out de house somebody come to de door and knock four slow knocks.  If he go off in de night it wouldn’ stop till he git back.  I wouldn’ tell him ’cause I knowed twould worry him.  I say:  ‘Sam, les’ us move.’  He say:  ‘Honey, we ain’ long bin move here.’  But us ’cided to move anyway.  Twas a big show in town.  I let all de chillun go to de show.  Time I got my things fix up to move and went to cook my dinner come de knockin’ four times.  I knowed he’d be took sick pretty soon.  He didn’ ’low me to work.  Dat was a good husband!  I had six chillun.  He say:  ‘Honey, no!  I workin’ makin’ enough to support you.  All I want you to do is keep dis house clean and me and my chillun, and I will pay you de five dollars every week de white lady would pay you.’  And he done dat, gimme five dollars every week for myself.

“A white lady was crazy about my work, jus’ her and her husband.  I got up soon one morning, time he left, and runned up dere and washed her clothes and ironed dem.  Den I started back home ’bout noon.  I heared somethin’ walkin’ behind me.  ‘Bip!  Bip!’ I look round and didn’ see nuttin’.  I kep’ a lookin’ back and den I heard a voice moanin’ and kind of singing:  ’Oh, yeah!  I bin here and done took your mother.  I bin here