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crime in a prisoner to steal the thing he needs to get away with, Tom said; it's

his right; and so, as long as ssssssssss

we was representing a pris- ssssssssss

oner, we had a perfect right ssssssssss

to steal anything on this ssssssssss

place we had the least use ssssssssss

for, to get ourselves out of ssssssssss

prison with. He said if we ssssssssss

warn't prisoners it would be ssssssssss

a very different thing, and ssssssssss

nobody but a mean ornery ssssssssss

person would steal when he ssssssssss

warn't a prisoner. So we ssssssssss

allowed we would steal every- ssssssssss

thing there was that come ssssssssss

handy. And yet he made a ssssssssss

mighty fuss, one day, after ssssssssss

that, when I stole a water- ssssssssss

melon out of the nigger patch ssssssssss

and eat it; and he made me ssssssssss

go and give the niggers a ssssssssss

dime, without telling them ssssssssss

what it was for. Tom said ssssssssss

that what he meant was, we ssssssssss

could steal anything we needed. Well, I says, I needed the watermelon. But

he said I didn't need it to get out of prison with, there's where the difference

was. He said if I'd a wanted it to hide a knife in, and smuggle it to Jim to kill

the seneskal with, it would a been all right. So I let it go at that, though I

couldn't see no advantage in my representing a prisoner, if I got to set down and

chaw over a lot of gold-leaf distinctions like that, every time I see a chance to hog

a watermelon. ssssssssss

Well, as I was saying, we waited that morning till everybody was settled

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