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Sam, the Turpentine Chopper - 3 -

Sam sent his weekly grocery order in to be filled. The cost of groceries was taken out every two weeks on pay day. Sam never bothered to keep track of how much the groceries were. Sometimes there was some money left on pay days. A little. Sometimes there were not enough groceries to last longer than Friday. Then they went -without food until Saturday night. Sometimes,
too, the foreman gave them a chicken for Sunday but there were not enough chickens growing on the place to supply all of the workers' families.

Once a month there was preaching up the road about three miles. Preaching lasted all day and Sam and Lou took their two children and trudged the three miles and "'joyed de day." Sam thought the preacher was "Presbytery" but Lou believed he was "Mefuradist". So long as there was preaching the denomination
made little difference. It was some place to go.

"Chillun orter be teached 'ligion when dey's young," said Sam, and Lou nodded her kinky head in agreement. "Sho orter," she said.

"Lou, buxom and grinning, began her- day before Sam, regardless of whether he was working or not. When the coffee was "biling" she called Sam. The "chillun got up nohow." The had corn-pone, side meat and flour gravy. On Sundays the kids had oatmeal but there was no milk or sugar. They ate it with gravy. Field peas were cooked for Sam's lunch with an occasional green vegetable from the foreman's garden. At noon the meal for Lou and the chillun was the same as breakfast while a supper was made of the remainder of the vegetables cooked for Sam's lunch - with the same menu of breakfast and noon. When Sam did not

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