ungry, but I warn't
afeard; bekase I knowed ole missus en de widder wuz goin' to start to
de camp-meet'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 a-gwyne 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 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 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 I could lan' mos' anywhers, but I couldn't--bank too
bluff. I uz mos' to de foot er de islan' b'fo' I foun' 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 warn't wet, so I 'uz all right."

"And so you ain't had no meat nor bread to eat all this time? Why
didn't you get mud-turkles?"

"How you gwyne to git 'm? You can't slip up on um en grab um; en
how's a body gwyne to hit um wid a rock? How could a body do it in de
night? En I warn't gwyne to show mysef on de bank in de daytime."

"Well, that's so. You've had to keep in the woods all the time, of
course. Did