"Well, you see, sah, it was about de second-last time I got a hair-cut."
This answer provoked a roar, but the district attorney took the witness in hand.
"Can you count?"
"Oh, yes, sah; I can count, sah."
"Up to how far?"
"Up to ten mostly, sah."
"You can't read?"
"Born before Massah Linkun, sah. Chillun can read. Old folks picking cotton; no time for school, sah."
"And you reckon time by the occasions when your hair needs cutting?"
"Yes, sah; wife and I reckons pretty close on that, sah."