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lan' 'dout havin' to shout at you, but when I see dat house I begin to go slow. I

'??QZ off too fur to hear what dey say to you -- I wuz 'fraid o' de dogs -- but when it

'uz all quiet agin, I knowed you's in de house, so I struck out for de woods to

wait for day. Early in de mawnin' some er de niggers come along, gwyne to de

fields, en dey tuck me en showed me dis place, whah de dogs can't track me on

accounts o' de water, en dey brings me truck to eat every night, en tells me how

you's a gitt'n along." ssssssssss

"Why didn't you tell my Jack to fetch me here sooner, Jim?"

"Well, 'twarn't no use to 'sturb you, Huck, tell we could do sumf n -- but we's

all right, now. I beu a-buyin' pots en pans en vittles, as I got a chanst, en a

patchin' up de raf, nights, when" ssssssssss

"What raft, Jim?"

"Our olcraf." ssssssssss

"You mean to say our old raft warn't smashed all to flinders?"

"No, she warn't. She was tore up a good deal -- one en' of her was -- but dey

warn't no great harm done, on'y our traps was mos' all los'. Ef we hadn' dive'

so deep en swum so fur under water, en de night hadn' ben so dark, en we warn't

so sk'yerd, en ben sich punkin-heads, as de sayin' is, we'd a seed de raf. But it's

jis' as well we didn't, 'kase now she's all fixed up agin mos' as good as new, en

we's got a new lot o' stuff, too, in de place o' what 'uz los'."

"Why, how did you get hold of the raft again, Jim -- did you catch her?"

"How I gwyne to ketch her, en I out in de woods? No, some er de niggers

foun' her ketched on a snag, along heah in de ben', en dey hid her in a crick,

'mongst de willows, en dey wuz so much jawin' 'bout which un 'urn she b'long to de

mos', dat I come to heah 'bout it pooty soon, so I ups en settles de trouble by tellin'

'um she don't b'long to none uv um, but to you en me; en I ast 'm if dey gwyne to

grab a young white genlman's propaty, en git a hid'n for it? Den I gin 'm ten

cents apiece, en dey 'uz mighty well satisfied, en wisht some mo' raf's 'ud come

along en make 'm rich agin. Dey's mighty good to me, dese niggers is, en

whatever I wants 'm to do fur me, I doan' have to ast 'm twice, honey. Dat

Jack's a good nigger, en pooty smart." ssssssssss

"Yes, he is. He ain't ever told me you was here; told me to come, and he'd.

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