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"No, spirits wouldn't say, 'dern the dern fog.'"

Soon as it was night, out we shoved; when we got her out to about the

middle, we let her alone, and let her float wherever the current wanted her

to; then we lit the pipes, and dangled our legs in the water and talked about

all kinds of things -- we was always naked, day and night, whenever the

mosquitoes would let us -- the new clothes Buck's folks made for me was

too good to be comfortable, and besides I didn't go much on clothes, no-

how.

Sometimes we'd have that whole river all to ourselves for the longest

time. Yonder was the banks and the islands, across the water; and maybe a

spark -- which was a candle in a cabin window -- and sometimes on the water

you could see a spark or two -- on a raft or a scow, you know; and maybe

you could hear a fiddle or a song coming over from one of them crafts. It's

lovely to live on a raft. "We had the sky, up there, all speckled with stars,

and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about

whether they was made, or only just happened -- Jim he allowed they was made,

but I allowed they happened; I judged it would have took too long to make

so many. Jim said the moon could a laid them; well, that looked kind of

reasonable, so I didn't say nothing against it, because I've seen a frog lay

most as many, so of course it could be done. We used to watch the stars that

fell, too, and see them streak down. Jim allowed they'd got spoiled and was

hove out of the nest. ssssssssss

Once or twice of a night we would see a steamboat slipping along in the

dark, and now and then she would belch a whole world of sparks up out

of her chimbleys, and they would rain down in the river and look awful pretty;

then she would turn a corner and her lights would wink out and her pow-wow

shut off and leave the river still again; and by-and-by her waves would get to

us, a long time after she was gone, and joggle the raft a bit, and after that you

wouldn't hear nothing for you couldn't tell how long, except maybe frogs

or something. ssssssssss

After midnight the people on shore went to bed, and then for two or

three hours the shores was black -- no more sparks in the cabin windows. These

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