The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-22

/ first rate, and she reckoned / would hive the
next one. She went and got the lump of lead
and fetched it back, and brought along hank
| of yarn which she wanted me to help her with.
held up my two hands, and she put the hank
over them, and went on talking about her and
her husbands matters. But she broke off TO
say:
Keep your eye on the rats. You better
| have the lead in your lap, handy"
| $50 she dropped the lump into my lap, just
at that moment, and l clapped my legs together
| on 1t and she went on talking But only about a
minute Then she took off the hank and looked
/ me straight in the face, but very pleasant and
says
"'Come now-whats your real namep
Wh-what mumP
"'What's your real uamel Is it Bill, or Tom,
| or Bob2 or what is itf
II reckon shook like leaf, and didn't
know hardly what to do. So said IL wouldn't
would just make clean breast and tell her ev-
| erything. told her my father and mother was
! dead. and the law had bound me to mean old
farmer in the country thirty miles back from the
river, and he treated me so bad couldn't stand
| it no longer. i stole some of his daughters
| clothes and cleared out, and | had been three
| nights coming thirty miles. said believed my
uncle, Abner Moore, would take care of me, and
that was why struck out for this town of
| Goshen
| "'Goshen, childl This amt Goshen. This is
st. Petersburg. Goshens ten miles further up
river
"'Well, I've got to be moving along. I'll fetch
| Goshen before daylight
| "'Hold on minute I'll put you up a snack
to eat; you might want it. So she put me up
| snack, and says:
"'say, when cows laying down, which end
| of her gets up frstl Answer up prompt, now.
| Don't stop to study over it. Which end gets up
| frst9
9 The hind end, num-
Well, then, horsep
- The for rard end, num-
(which side of tree does the most moss
grow onQ
"'North side"
"If fifteen cows is browsing on hillside.
how many of them eats with their heads pointed
in the same directiong
as The whole fifteen, num-
"'Well, | reckon you have lived in the coun-
try. thought maybe you was trying to hocus
me again. What's your real name nowP
"'George Peters, num-
"'Well, try to remember it, George. Don't
forget and tell me it's alexander before you go,
and then get out by saying it's George alexander
when l catch you. And don't go about women
in that old calico. You do girl tolerable poor,
but you might fool men, maybe Bless you,
child, when you set out to thread needle. don't
hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to
it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it
that's the way woman most always does
but man always does tother way And
when you throw at a rat or anything, hitch your
self up tip-toe and fetch your hand over your
head as awkward as you can, and miss your rat
the shoulder, like there pivot there for it
to turn on-like a girl; not from the wrist and
elbow with your arm out to one side, like boy.
And, mind you, when a girl tries to catch any
thing in her lap, she throws her knees apart; she
don't clap them together the way you did when
you catched the lump of lead. Why, spotted
you for boy when you was threading the needle;
and contrved the other things just to make
certain. Now trot along to your uncle, Sarah
Mary Williams George alexander Peters, and if
you get into trouble you send word to Mrs Judith
Lotus, which is me, and I'll do what l can to get
you out of it,"
Huck and the darby lit out at once from the
island, navigating the river OF a small raft by
night and tying up along shore and lying
low during daylight. Their plan was to leave
tho raft at Cairo, go up the Ohio on a steamboat,
and thus reach the free States. AS they neared
Cairo, Hueks moral nature began to experience
singular reawakening A conscience that was
sufficiently elastic the subject of mendacity,
and that never kicked when Huck stole chickens
or watermelons, or appropriated the goods and
chattels of other people, was strongly agitated
by the thought that here he was helping q slave
to escape to freedom. He even started once to
go ashore and inform on his companions
II got to feeling so mean and miserable most
wished | was dead. l fidgeted up and down the
raft, abusing myself to myself, and Jim was
fdgeting up and down past me- We neither of
us could keep still Every time he danced
around and says, 'Dah's Cairo! it went through
me like shot, and thought if it was Cairo, 1
reckoned l would die of miserableness
Jim talked out loud all the time while was
talking to myself. He was saying how the first
thing he would do when he got to a free State
he would go to saving up money, and never
spend single cent and when he got enough he
would buy his wife, which was owned on a farm
close to where Miss Watson lived; and then they
would both work to buy the two children, and if
their master wouldn't sell them, they'd get an
Ablitionist to 60 and stealthem.
ut most froZe me to hear such talk. He
wouldn't ever dared to talk such talk in his life
before. Just see what difference it made in
him the minute he judged he was about free
It was according to the old saying, give Mig
ger an inch and he'll take an ELL Thinks l. this
is what comes of my not thinking Here was
this niger which had as good as helped to run
away, coming right out fat footed and saying he
would steal his children-children that belonged
to a man didn't even know; man that hadn't
ever done me no harm.
II was sorry to hear Jim say that. It was
such lowering in him. My conscience got to
says to it, Let up on met amt too late yet
I'll paddle ashore at the first light and tell I
felt easy and happy, and light as feather right
of. All my troubles was gone. went to look
ing out sharp for light Fand sort of singing to
myself. By and by one showed. Jim sings out:
yves safe, Huck, we's safe! Jump up and
crack yo' heels, OATS de good ole Cairo at las. I
jist knows itp
II says: I'll take the canoe and and go see,
jim 1t nnightn't be, you know
He jumped and got the canoe ready, and put
his old coat in the bottom for me to set on, and
give me the paddle; and as l showed off, he says:
"'Pooty soon I'll be a-shout'n for joy, en- I'll
say, it's all on accounts o Huck; rs free man,
en- / couldn't ever ben free eff it hadn' been for
Huck; Huck done it. Jim won't ever forget you,
Huck; yous de bes' frien' Jims ever had; en- you's
de only frien' ole Jim's got now
Il was padding off, all in sweat to tell on
him; but when he says this, it seemed to kind of
take the tuck-all out of me. 1 went along slo 7
then. and | warnt right down certain whether
was glad started or whether warn't. When
was fifty yards off, Jim says:
"'Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y
white genlman dat ever KEEP his promise to ole
Jim"
An incident turned Huck from his purpose at