Here's Charlie Poole's version:

CAN I SLEEP IN YOUR BARN TONIGHT MISTER
(Unknown)

May I sleep in your barn tonight mister
It's cold lying out on the ground
And the cold north wind it is whistling
And I have no place to lie down

I have no tobacco nor matches
I'm sure that will do you no harm
I will tell you my story, kind mister
Though it rests in my heart like a thorn

It was three years ago last summer
I never will forget that sad day
When a stranger came out from the city
And he wanted to stop for his health

Now the stranger was fair, tall and handsome
And he looked like a man who had wealth
Said he wanted to stop in the country
Said he wanted to stop for his health

Now my wife said she'd like to be earning
Something to add to our home
And she talked 'til I finally decided
That the stranger could enter our home

Last night as I came from my workshop
Whistling and singing with joy
I's expecting a kind-hearted welcome
At the gate from my wife and my boy

Nothing did I spy but a letter
Placed in the room on a stand
And the moment my eyes lay upon it
I picked it right up in my hand

Now the note said that Stella and the stranger
Had run away and taken my child
And I'm sure there's a God up in heaven
That will do as the stranger deserves.

Source: Charlie Poole and North Carolina Ramblers recorded New York 27 July 1925. Co 15038-D

--Stewie.