第19章

"No! W'y, what has you lived on? But you got a gun.Oh, yes, you got a gun.Dat's good.Now you kill sumfn en I'll make up de fire."So we went over to where the canoe was, and while he built a fire in a grassy open place amongst the trees, I fetched meal and bacon and coffee, and coffee-pot and frying-pan, and sugar and tin cups, and the nigger was set back considerable, because he reckoned it was all done with witchcraft.

I catched a good big catfish, too, and Jim cleaned him with his knife, and fried him.

When breakfast was ready we lolled on the grass and eat it smoking hot.

Jim laid it in with all his might, for he was most about starved.Then when we had got pretty well stuffed, we laid off and lazied.By and by Jim says:

"But looky here, Huck, who wuz it dat 'uz killed in dat shanty ef it warn't you?"Then I told him the whole thing, and he said it was smart.He said Tom Sawyer couldn't get up no better plan than what I had.Then I says:

"How do you come to be here, Jim, and how'd you get here?"He looked pretty uneasy, and didn't say nothing for a minute.Then he says:

"Maybe I better not tell."

"Why, Jim?"

"Well, dey's reasons.But you wouldn' tell on me ef I uz to tell you, would you, Huck?""Blamed if I would, Jim."

"Well, I b'lieve you, Huck.I -- I RUN OFF.""Jim!"

"But mind, you said you wouldn' tell -- you know you said you wouldn'

tell, Huck."

"Well, I did.I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it.Honest INJUN, I will.People would call me a lowdown Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum -- but that don't make no difference.I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways.So, now, le's know all about it.""Well, you see, it 'uz dis way.Ole missus -- dat's Miss Watson -- she pecks on me all de time, en treats me pooty rough, but she awluz said she wouldn' sell me down to Orleans.But I noticed dey wuz a nigger trader roun' de place considable lately, en I begin to git oneasy.Well, one night I creeps to de do' pooty late, en de do' warn't quite shet, en I hear old missus tell de widder she gwyne to sell me down to Orleans, but she didn'

want to, but she could git eight hund'd dollars for me, en it 'uz sich a big stack o' money she couldn' resis'.De widder she try to git her to say she wouldn' do it, but I never waited to hear de res'.I lit out mighty quick, I tell you.

"I tuck out en shin down de hill, en 'spec to steal a skift 'long de sho' som'ers 'bove de town, but dey wuz people a-stirring yit, so I hid in de ole tumble-down cooper-shop on de bank to wait for everybody to go 'way.Well, I wuz dah all night.Dey wuz somebody roun' all de time.'Long 'bout six in de mawnin' skifts begin to go by, en 'bout eight er nine every skift dat went 'long wuz talkin' 'bout how yo' pap come over to de town en say you's killed.Dese las' skifts wuz full o' ladies en genlmen a-goin'

over for to see de place.Sometimes dey'd pull up at de sho' en take a res' b'fo' dey started acrost, so by de talk I got to know all 'bout de killin'.I 'uz powerful sorry you's killed, Huck, but I ain't no mo' now.

"I laid dah under de shavin's all day.I 'uz hungry, but I warn't afeard;bekase I knowed ole missus en de widder wuz goin' to start to de campmeet'n'

right arter breakfas' en be gone all day, en dey knows I goes off wid de cattle 'bout daylight, so dey wouldn' 'spec to see me roun' de place, en so dey wouldn' miss me tell arter dark in de evenin'.De yuther servants wouldn' miss me, kase dey'd shin out en take holiday soon as de ole folks 'uz out'n de way.

"Well, when it come dark I tuck out up de river road, en went 'bout two mile er more to whah dey warn't no houses.I'd made up my mine 'bout what I's agwyne to do.You see, ef I kep' on tryin' to git away afoot, de dogs 'ud track me; ef I stole a skift to cross over, dey'd miss dat skift, you see, en dey'd know 'bout whah I'd lan' on de yuther side, en whah to pick up my track.So I says, a raff is what I's arter; it doan'

MAKE no track.

"I see a light a-comin' roun' de p'int bymeby, so I wade' in en shove'

a log ahead o' me en swum more'n half way acrost de river, en got in 'mongst de driftwood, en kep' my head down low, en kinder swum agin de current tell de raff come along.Den I swum to de stern uv it en tuck a-holt.It clouded up en 'uz pooty dark for a little while.So I clumb up en laid down on de planks.De men 'uz all 'way yonder in de middle, whah de lantern wuz.De river wuz arisin', en dey wuz a good current; so I reck'n'd 'at by fo' in de mawnin' I'd be twenty-five mile down de river, en den I'd slip in jis b'fo' daylight en swim asho', en take to de woods on de Illinois side.

"But I didn' have no luck.When we 'uz mos' down to de head er de islan'

a man begin to come aft wid de lantern, I see it warn't no use fer to wait, so I slid overboard en struck out fer de islan'.Well, I had a notion Icould lan' mos' anywhers, but I couldn't -- bank too bluff.I 'uz mos'