Hello, Jim! and skipped out.
He bounced up and stared at me wild. Then he drops down on his knees, and puts his hands together and says:
Doan hurt me dont! I haint ever done no harm to a ghos. I alwuz liked dead people, en done all I could for em. You go en git in de river agin, whah you blongs, en doan do nuffn to Ole Jim, at uz awluz yo fren.
Well, I warnt long making him understand I warnt dead. I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warnt lonesome now. I told him I warnt afraid of HIM telling the people where I was. I talked along, but he only set there and looked at me; never said nothing. Then I says:
Its good daylight. Les get breakfast. Make up your camp fire good.
Whats de use er makin up de camp fire to cook strawbries en sich truck[72]? But you got a gun, haint you? Den we kin git sumfn better den strawbries.
Strawberries and such truck, I says. Is that what you live on?
I couldn git nuffn else, he says.
Why, how long you been on the island, Jim?
I come heah de night arter yous killed.
What, all that time?
Yes indeedy.
And aint you had nothing but that kind of rubbage to eat?
No, sah nuffn else.
Well, you must be most starved, aint you?
I reckn I could eat a hoss. I think I could. How long you ben on de islan?
Since the night I got killed.
No! Wy, what has you lived on? But you got a gun. Oh, yes, you got a gun. Dats good. Now you kill sumfn en Ill 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[73]. 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 warnt you?
Then I told him the whole thing, and he said it was smart. He said Tom Sawyer couldnt get up no better plan than what I had. Then I says:
How do you come to be here, Jim, and howd you get here?
He looked pretty uneasy, and didnt say nothing for a minute. Then he says:
Maybe I better not tell.
Why, Jim?
Well, deys reasons. But you wouldn tell on me ef I uz to tell you, would you, Huck?
Blamed if I would, Jim.
Well, I blieve 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 wouldnt, and Ill stick to it. Honest INJUN, I will. People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum but that dont make no difference. I aint a-going to tell, and I aint a-going back there, anyways. So, now, les know all about it.
Well, you see, it uz dis way. Ole missus dats 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 warnt 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 hundd dollars for me, en it uz sich a big stack o money she couldn resis[74]. 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 somers 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 yous killed. Dese las skifts wuz full o ladies en genlmen a-goin over for to see de place. Sometimes deyd pull up at de sho en take a res bfo dey started acrost, so by de talk I got to know all bout de killin. I uz powerful sorry yous killed, Huck, but I aint no mo now.
I laid dah under de shavins all day. I uz hungry, but I warnt afeard; bekase I knowed ole missus en de widder wuz goin to start to de camp-meetn 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 deyd shin out en take holiday soon as de ole folks uz outn de way[75].
Well, when it come dark I tuck out up de river road, en went bout two mile er more to whah dey warnt no houses. Id made up my mine bout what Is 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, deyd miss dat skift, you see, en deyd know bout whah Id lan on de yuther side, en whah to pick up my track. So I says, a raff is what Is arter; it doan MAKE no track.
I see a light a-comin roun de pint bymeby, so I wade in en shove a log ahead o me en swum moren half way acrost de river, en got in mongst de drift-wood, 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 a-risin, en dey wuz a good current; so I recknd at by fo in de mawnin Id be twenty-five mile down de river, en den Id slip in jis bfo 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 warnt no use fer to wait, so I slid overboard en struck out fer de islan. Well, I had a notion I could lan mos anywhers, but I couldnt bank too bluff[76]. I uz mos to de foot er de islan bfo I found a good place. I went into de woods en jedged I wouldn fool wid raffs no mo, long as dey move de lantern roun so. I had my pipe en a plug er dog-leg, en some matches in my cap, en dey warnt wet, so I uz all right.
And so you aint had no meat nor bread to eat all this time? Why didnt you get mud-turkles?
How you gwyne to git m? You cant slip up on um en grab um; en hows a body gwyne to hit um wid a rock? How could a body do it in de night? En I warnt gwyne to show mysef on de bank in de daytime.
Well, thats so. Youve had to keep in the woods all the time, of course. Did you hear em shooting the cannon?
Oh, yes. I knowed dey was arter you. I see um go by heah watched um thoo de bushes.