"My husband come to me in spirit any time I git worried up. When I git in trouble he'll come and stand over me wid his arms folded behind him. He told me one night: 'You must pray, Nancy. You must pray! Um gwine help, and de Lord gwine help you too.' Missy, how you reckon he gwine help me if he dead? I ask de Lord and beg him to take me too, beg him to please carry me home."
Nancy was becoming more and more doleful, and to take her mind from the thought of her dead husband, she was asked about remedies.
"When us had de mumps mother git sardines and take de oil out and rub us jaws and dat cure us good. Sassafax for measles, to run de numor (humor) out de blood. When de fever gone, she would grease us wid grease from skin of meat. Git fat light'ood, make fire, cut de skin off bacon meat, broil it over flame and let grease drip into a pan, den rub us all over for de rash. Couldn' wash us you see, 'cep' under de arms a little 'cause water musn' tech us. For a sty in de eye we nused to say: 'Sty! Lie!' You see dat call 'em a lie and dey go on off. 'Um got a sty! Sty! Lie!' When witches ride me I took a sifter. An old lady told me de nex' time dey come, 'you put de sifter in de bed.' I done dat and dey ain' bother me since. A basin of water under de bed is good too."
Nancy had an experience with a gold digger. He came to board, and had an inconvenient habit of staying up all night. "I nused to have a old man stay here wid me. One night I couldn' lay down it was so cold, so I sit up and wrop in a blanket. He say: 'Nancy, see yonder! In de corner of your yard is a pot of gold.' Now I knows if you go and git de money what de dead done bury, you don't see no peace, so I told him he couldn' dig in my yard. I made him move. A 'oman say he went to stay wid her and when she got up one morning he had dug a hole in de yard big as a well, so she runned him off too. He had all de implee-ments but he wouldn' let nobody see him digging in de night. Well Miss, I knowed dat gold was truly in my yard, because I got up one night and looked out dere, and a white 'oman was standin' right where de old man say twas gold pot. I look at de white lady, a high white lady, and she kep' her eye down in dat corner guardin' de gold what she bury! Den I seed her go on off thoo' de gate and I knowed twas de spirit of de woman what bury it."
Nancy did not remember any stories about witches, booger-men or animals, but she did give a version of the story of the mistress who was buried alive.
"Dat really did happen in Edgefield," she said. "Marster los' his daughter and den his butler went to de cemetery and dugged her up. He was gittin' de jewelries off of her finger when she moan; 'Oh, you hurtin' my finger!' He runned back to de house and she got up out of de coffin and went to de Big House. She knock on de door and her father went, and he fainted. Her mother went, and she fainted. Everyone went to de door fainted. But her father come to himself and he was so happy to have his daughter back, he said God let de man dig her up and git her out alive. He made dat nigger rich. Gin him a whole plantation and two big carriage horses and a great big carriage and I dunno how much gold and silver. Told him he didn' want him to do anything but sit down and live off of what he gin him de res' of his life."
Nancy asked her visitor to write a postcard to her "dear doctor" in Louisville and tell him she was having a hard time. She insisted that the card be signed: "Your Carrie Fryer what used to work for you, with love."
"Come back and see me some more," she begged wistfully, "I bin callin' you in my mind all week."