{{huckfp070.jpg}}

two mile er more to whah dey warn't no houses. I'd made up my mine

'bout what Fs agwyne to do. You see ef I kep' on try in' to git away afoot,

de dogs 'ud track me; ef I stole a skift to cross over, dey'd miss dat skift,

you see, en dey'd know 'bout whah I'd lan' on de yuther side en whah to

pick up my track. So I says, a raff is what I's arter; it doan' make no

track.

"I see a light a-comin' roun' de p'int, bymeby, so I wade' in en shove' a

log ahead o' me, en swum more'n half-way acrost de river, en got in 'mongst

de drift-wood, en kep' my head down low, en kinder swum agin de current

tell de raff come along. Den I swum to de stern uv it, en tuck aholt. It

clouded up en 'uz pooty dark for a little while. So I clumb up en laid

down on de planks. De men 'uz all 'way yonder in de middle, whah de

lantern wuz. De river wuz arisin' en dey wuz a good current, so I reck'n'd

'at by fo' in de mawnin' I'd be twenty-five mile down de river, en den I'd slip

in, jis' b'fo' daylight, en swim asho' en take to de woods on de lllinoi side.

"But I didn' have no luck. When we 'uz mos' down to de head er de

islan', a man begin to come aft wid de lantern. I see it warn't no use fer

to wait, so I slid overboad, en struck out fer de islan'. Well, I had a notion

I could lan' mos' anywhers, but I couldn't -- bank too bluff. I 'uz mos' to

de foot er de islan' b'fo' I foun' a good place. I went into de woods en

jedged I wouldn' fool wid raffs no mo', long as dey move de lantern roun'

so. I had my pipe en a plug er dog-leg, en some matches in my cap, en dey

warn't wet, so I 'uz all right." ssssssssss

"And so you ain't had no meat nor bread to eat all this time? Why

didn't you get mud-turkles?" ssssssssss

"How you gwyne to git'm? You can't slip up on urn en grab urn; en

how's a body gwyne to hit urn wid a rock? How could a body do it in de

night? en I warn't gwyne to show mysef on de bank in de daytime."

"Well, that's so. You've had to keep in the woods all the time, of

course. Did you hear 'em shooting the cannon?"

"Oh, yes. I knowed dey was arter you. I see urn go by heah; watched

urn thoo de bushes." ssssssssss

Some young birds come along, flying a yard or two at a time and lighting.

ssssssssss

 [70]