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no more. Well, for the next day or two we had considerable trouble, because

people was always coming out in skiffs and trying to take Jim away from me,

saying they believed he was a runaway nigger. We don't run day-times no more,

now; nights they don't bother us." ssssssssss

 

The duke says--

 

"Leave me alone to cipher out a way so we can run in the day-time if we want

to. I'll think the thing over -- I'll invent a plan that'll fix it. We'll let it alone

for to-day, because of course we don't want to go by that town yonder in day-

light -- it mightn't be healthy." ssssssssss

 

Towards night it begun to darken up and look like rain; the heat lightning

was squirting around, low down in the sky, and the leaves was beginning to

shiver -- it was going to be pretty ugly, it was easy to see that. So the duke and

the king went to overhauling our wigwam, to see what the beds was like. My

bed was a straw tick -- better than Jim's, which was a corn-shuck tick; there's

always cobs around about in a shuck tick, and they poke into you and hurt; and

when you roll over, the dry shucks sound like you was rolling over in a pile of

dead leaves; it makes such a rustling that you wake up. Well, the duke allowed

he would take my bed; but the king allowed he wouldn't. He says --

 

"I should a reckoned the difference in rank would a sejested to you that a

corn-shuck bed warn't just fitten for me to sleep on. Your Grace'll take the

shuck bed yourself." ssssssssss

 

Jim and me was in a sweat again, for a minute, being afraid there was going

to be some more trouble amongst them; so we was pretty glad when the duke

says --

 

"'Tis my fate to be always ground into the mire under the iron heel of

oppression. Misfortune has broken my once haughty spirit; I yield, I submit;

'tis my fate. I am alone in the world -- let me suffer; I can bear it."

 

We got away as soon as it was good and dark. The king told us to stand well

out towards the middle of the river, and not show a light till we got a long ways

below the town. We come in sight of the little bunch of lights by-and-by -- that

was the town, you know -- and slid by, about a half a mile out, all right. When

we was three-quarters of a mile below, we hoisted up our signal lantern; and

 

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