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Jim he couldn't see no sense in the most of it, but he allowed we was white folks

and knowed better than him; so he was satisfied, and said he would do it all just

as Tom said. ssssssssss

Jim had plenty corn-cob pipes and tobacco; so we had a right down good

sociable time; then we crawled out through the hole, and so home to bed, with

hands that looked like they'd been chawed. Tom was in high spirits. He said

it was the best fun he ever had in his life, and the most intellectural; and said if

he only could see his way to it we would keep it up all the rest of our lives

and leave Jim to our children to get out; for he believed Jim would come

to like it better and better the more he got used to it. He said that in that

way it could be strung out to as much as eighty year, and would be the best

time on record. And he said it would make us all celebrated that had a hand

in it.

In the morning we went out to the wood-pile and chopped up the brass candle-

stick into handy sizes, and Tom put them and the pewter spoon in his pocket.

Then we went to the nigger cabins, and while I got Nat's notice off, Tom shoved

a piece of candlestick into the middle of a corn-pone that was in Jim's pan, and

we went along with Nat to see how it would work, and it just worked noble;

when Jim bit into it it most mashed all his teeth out; and there warn't ever any-

thing could a worked better. Tom said so himself. Jim he never let on but what

it was only just a piece of rock or something like that that's always getting into

bread, you know; but after that he never bit into nothing but what he jabbed his

fork into it in three or four places, first.

And whilst we was a standing there in the dimmish light, here comes a couple

of the hounds bulging in, from under Jim's bed; and they kept on piling in till

there was eleven of them, and there warn't hardly room in there to get your

breath. By jings, we forgot to fasten that lean-to door. The nigger Nat he

only just hollered "witches!" once, and keeled over onto the floor amongst the

dogs, and begun to groan like he was dying. Tom jerked the door open and

flung out a slab of Jim's meat, and the dogs went for it, and in two seconds he

was out himself and back again and shut the door, and I knowed he'd fixed the

other door too. Then he went to work on the nigger, coaxing him and petting

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