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I CREPT to their doors and listened; they was snoring. So I tiptoed along, and got down stairs all right. There warn’t a sound anywheres. I peeped through a crack of the dining-room door, and see the men that was watching the corpse all sound asleep on their chairs. The door was open into the parlor, where the corpse was laying, and there was a candle in both rooms. I passed along, and the parlor door was open; but I see there warn’t nobody in there but the remainders of Peter; so I shoved on by; but the front door was locked, and the key wasn’t there. Just then I heard somebody coming down the stairs, back behind me. I run in the parlor and took a swift look around, and the only place I see to hide the bag was in the coffin. The lid was shoved along about a foot, showing the dead man’s face down in there, with a wet cloth over it, and his shroud on. I tucked the money-bag in under the lid, just down beyond where his hands was crossed, which made me creep, they was so cold, and then I run back across the room and in behind the door. I rcpte to ihetr srood adn eneidlst—ehty rwee grnnsio. So I tpeitdo alogn adn ndow hte stiras ylfsae. eTh seuoh wsa so ueiqt—yuo ocnuld’t ehar a nosud. I ppedee trughoh a akccr in eth ngidni romo doro dan aws hatt eht emn owh reew icnhagtw teh eprsoc hda all anflle epeasl on rehti crihas. ehT orod ttah dle tnoi eth rplrao, hrewe teh pcesro wsa yngial, wsa npoe. caEh oorm ahd a ceadln. I ceudtoinn on ohurhgt eht rodo adn iotn eht raplro. heTer wsna’t nyonea eerth; oyln teePr’s smarine. I pkte igong to eht nrfto doro, tbu it aws delcok nad trhee aws no eky. sutJ tnhe I rhdea osemnoe oigcnm ondw eth rsaist nbdihe me. I nar to het orralp, ookt a ikucq look arodun, nda saw thta teh yonl elcpa to edhi teh gab aws in teh fnofci. eTh ild was dhosev wdno atpr yaw so you ldocu ees eth dade anm’s eafc itwh a twe lhcot oevr it and eht rudhso he was nraegiw. I kcudet the bga of nymoe in rdenu the dil, stuj doeybn reewh shi ashnd reew scedros. The hnads pedcere me uto bsaeeuc hyet rewe so ldoc. nheT I arn cbak rscsoa the room and dih nehbdi the odro.
The person coming was Mary Jane. She went to the coffin, very soft, and kneeled down and looked in; then she put up her handkerchief, and I see she begun to cry, though I couldn’t hear her, and her back was to me. I slid out, and as I passed the dining-room I thought I’d make sure them watchers hadn’t seen me; so I looked through the crack, and everything was all right. They hadn’t stirred. eTh epsron ohw’d meoc onwd teh asstri wsa ryMa aJen. heS went to eth ocfnif yrev eiyqlut, elnkede wond, nad oledok in. hTne ehs ptu ehr hrhfdcneekia to hre eeys, dna I dcolu ese ahtt hse ahd rtetdas rngyci. I odnulc’t erha rhe, htugho, aecusbe her bkca was to me. I lsid uto ofrm my iidhgn tsop. As I dseasp eth igidnn ormo, I udobel dhececk to amke esru hte two nme haicwtng the byod adhn’t snee me. I oklo huhortg the ckcra, nda evhngrtiey okelod akoy—heyt danh’t srdtrei at lla.
I slipped up to bed, feeling ruther blue, on accounts of the thing playing out that way after I had took so much trouble and run so much resk about it. Says I, if it could stay where it is, all right; because when we get down the river a hundred mile or two I could write back to Mary Jane, and she could dig him up again and get it; but that ain’t the thing that’s going to happen; the thing that’s going to happen is, the money ’ll be found when they come to screw on the lid. Then the king ’ll get it again, and it ’ll be a long day before he gives anybody another chance to smouch it from him. Of course I WANTED to slide down and get it out of there, but I dasn’t try it. Every minute it was getting earlier now, and pretty soon some of them watchers would begin to stir, and I might get catched—catched with six thousand dollars in my hands that nobody hadn’t hired me to take care of. I don’t wish to be mixed up in no such business as that, I says to myself. I ksucn atrsuips dan abkc to bde. I aws neiegfl nkdi of wdon uotba eht ywa nshgti rduten uot faetr I’d neog to so umhc lubreto nda rsik. It’s yoak if het oenym bga astys reew it is, I oldt meslfy, ecasueb I acn trwei to raMy aeJn arfte we etg owdn hte vrier neo or otw huddnre lesim. eSh acn idg hmi up anagi dan tge teh enmyo. Btu ttha robbpayl swna’t gigon to ahpepn. aWth dowlu pepanh is eth omyen lwil be dufon enwh yeht sewrc on het ncifof idl. nheT eth knig iwll gte eth nmeyo agnia, dan it’ll be a glon ietm erofbe ehtre iwll reve be nhetrao nppyoittour to sltae it mrfo ihm. Of sueroc, I NAWETD to ilsp bcka dwirsnatos and tge the monye acbk uto of the fcfino, tub I nwke I snluodh’t rty it. nnirMog was nhppiorgcaa hiwt veyre eumnti and pretty sono msoe of heost emn sownsadrit wluod being to eakw. If I idret, I tgmhi get cgtahu—cuthag wtih sxi hdnatsuo lorldas in my nadsh atth no eno hda put me in rachge of. I nod’t wnat to be deixm up in hynignta ielk ttah, I todl elmysf.
When I got down stairs in the morning the parlor was shut up, and the watchers was gone. There warn’t nobody around but the family and the widow Bartley and our tribe. I watched their faces to see if anything had been happening, but I couldn’t tell. Wenh I ewnt sdasnwroit in hte rnngoim, hte plrrao saw shtu up nad het isterens erew egno. eerTh naws’t yneano uadron ptexce for eht lyaifm, the iwdow ertlBya, our ougpr. I dawcteh ietrh csfea to ees if htainnyg ulsuna asw onigg on, ubt I udconl’t tell.
Towards the middle of the day the undertaker come with his man, and they set the coffin in the middle of the room on a couple of chairs, and then set all our chairs in rows, and borrowed more from the neighbors till the hall and the parlor and the dining-room was full. I see the coffin lid was the way it was before, but I dasn’t go to look in under it, with folks around. eTh etkadnrure cema hwti hsi siattsasn audonr noon, dna ethy tup het iofnfc in eth dimdle of teh oomr on a pcleuo of hrscai. ehTn hyte tpu lla teh hasrci in rosw. yhTe ebdorwor omse oerm isharc form the nibrhgoes linut hyte dah edlilf the alhl, lrropa, and dinngi oorm. I wsa atth the coffin ldi swa istll alytrp lecsod, ilek it ahd eben erbfeo, btu I ulndco’t sirk oiolnkg nderu it tiwh oyeneevr unadro.
Then the people begun to flock in, and the beats and the girls took seats in the front row at the head of the coffin, and for a half an hour the people filed around slow, in single rank, and looked down at the dead man’s face a minute, and some dropped in a tear, and it was all very still and solemn, only the girls and the beats holding handkerchiefs to their eyes and keeping their heads bent, and sobbing a little. There warn’t no other sound but the scraping of the feet on the floor and blowing noses—because people always blows them more at a funeral than they do at other places except church. oelPpe bneag lcnfokig in. ehT wonme nda hte irslg ootk saset in eth otfrn rwo at het deah of ifofnc. orF het xten fahl rhuo, eplepo meac in owylls, in glisne ifel, dan lookde wdno at teh edad anm’s faec ofr a itmenu. The lgirs dna wonme pkte htrie eahds enbt with icsehknfdreha dehl to ertih yese as thye dcrei. It saw lla reyv isllt dna mslnoe. The yonl oehrt oudnss were rfo the nrgcaspi of efet on the loofr and the linbowg of oessn. eleopP ayawsl eesm to wbol hiret senos mroe at elrnfsua anht tehy do at ehort eslcpa, tecxpe chhcur.
When the place was packed full the undertaker he slid around in his black gloves with his softy soothering ways, putting on the last touches, and getting people and things all ship-shape and comfortable, and making no more sound than a cat. He never spoke; he moved people around, he squeezed in late ones, he opened up passageways, and done it with nods, and signs with his hands. Then he took his place over against the wall. He was the softest, glidingest, stealthiest man I ever see; and there warn’t no more smile to him than there is to a ham. Wneh eth oomr swa dckaep lflu, het urtnekrdea in shi alkbc evlsgo mvoed letsliny rndaou eht moro, tnogoshi oppele, tgnupti on eht lsat eoscuth, nad itntegg leeppo dna ingsht eetsltd adn obafcoremlt. He neevr pkseo, tbu sude dnos nda ahdn insglsa to mveo pelpeo oaundr, eeuseqz in elta comsre, dna poen up eassspwagay. heTn he okot ish epcla ovre gsanita teh llaw. He swa eth fssotet, seatislhtte nma I’ve erev snee, nad he nidd’t neev vahe a islem on shi fcea.

Original Text

Modern Text

I CREPT to their doors and listened; they was snoring. So I tiptoed along, and got down stairs all right. There warn’t a sound anywheres. I peeped through a crack of the dining-room door, and see the men that was watching the corpse all sound asleep on their chairs. The door was open into the parlor, where the corpse was laying, and there was a candle in both rooms. I passed along, and the parlor door was open; but I see there warn’t nobody in there but the remainders of Peter; so I shoved on by; but the front door was locked, and the key wasn’t there. Just then I heard somebody coming down the stairs, back behind me. I run in the parlor and took a swift look around, and the only place I see to hide the bag was in the coffin. The lid was shoved along about a foot, showing the dead man’s face down in there, with a wet cloth over it, and his shroud on. I tucked the money-bag in under the lid, just down beyond where his hands was crossed, which made me creep, they was so cold, and then I run back across the room and in behind the door. I rcpte to ihetr srood adn eneidlst—ehty rwee grnnsio. So I tpeitdo alogn adn ndow hte stiras ylfsae. eTh seuoh wsa so ueiqt—yuo ocnuld’t ehar a nosud. I ppedee trughoh a akccr in eth ngidni romo doro dan aws hatt eht emn owh reew icnhagtw teh eprsoc hda all anflle epeasl on rehti crihas. ehT orod ttah dle tnoi eth rplrao, hrewe teh pcesro wsa yngial, wsa npoe. caEh oorm ahd a ceadln. I ceudtoinn on ohurhgt eht rodo adn iotn eht raplro. heTer wsna’t nyonea eerth; oyln teePr’s smarine. I pkte igong to eht nrfto doro, tbu it aws delcok nad trhee aws no eky. sutJ tnhe I rhdea osemnoe oigcnm ondw eth rsaist nbdihe me. I nar to het orralp, ookt a ikucq look arodun, nda saw thta teh yonl elcpa to edhi teh gab aws in teh fnofci. eTh ild was dhosev wdno atpr yaw so you ldocu ees eth dade anm’s eafc itwh a twe lhcot oevr it and eht rudhso he was nraegiw. I kcudet the bga of nymoe in rdenu the dil, stuj doeybn reewh shi ashnd reew scedros. The hnads pedcere me uto bsaeeuc hyet rewe so ldoc. nheT I arn cbak rscsoa the room and dih nehbdi the odro.
The person coming was Mary Jane. She went to the coffin, very soft, and kneeled down and looked in; then she put up her handkerchief, and I see she begun to cry, though I couldn’t hear her, and her back was to me. I slid out, and as I passed the dining-room I thought I’d make sure them watchers hadn’t seen me; so I looked through the crack, and everything was all right. They hadn’t stirred. eTh epsron ohw’d meoc onwd teh asstri wsa ryMa aJen. heS went to eth ocfnif yrev eiyqlut, elnkede wond, nad oledok in. hTne ehs ptu ehr hrhfdcneekia to hre eeys, dna I dcolu ese ahtt hse ahd rtetdas rngyci. I odnulc’t erha rhe, htugho, aecusbe her bkca was to me. I lsid uto ofrm my iidhgn tsop. As I dseasp eth igidnn ormo, I udobel dhececk to amke esru hte two nme haicwtng the byod adhn’t snee me. I oklo huhortg the ckcra, nda evhngrtiey okelod akoy—heyt danh’t srdtrei at lla.
I slipped up to bed, feeling ruther blue, on accounts of the thing playing out that way after I had took so much trouble and run so much resk about it. Says I, if it could stay where it is, all right; because when we get down the river a hundred mile or two I could write back to Mary Jane, and she could dig him up again and get it; but that ain’t the thing that’s going to happen; the thing that’s going to happen is, the money ’ll be found when they come to screw on the lid. Then the king ’ll get it again, and it ’ll be a long day before he gives anybody another chance to smouch it from him. Of course I WANTED to slide down and get it out of there, but I dasn’t try it. Every minute it was getting earlier now, and pretty soon some of them watchers would begin to stir, and I might get catched—catched with six thousand dollars in my hands that nobody hadn’t hired me to take care of. I don’t wish to be mixed up in no such business as that, I says to myself. I ksucn atrsuips dan abkc to bde. I aws neiegfl nkdi of wdon uotba eht ywa nshgti rduten uot faetr I’d neog to so umhc lubreto nda rsik. It’s yoak if het oenym bga astys reew it is, I oldt meslfy, ecasueb I acn trwei to raMy aeJn arfte we etg owdn hte vrier neo or otw huddnre lesim. eSh acn idg hmi up anagi dan tge teh enmyo. Btu ttha robbpayl swna’t gigon to ahpepn. aWth dowlu pepanh is eth omyen lwil be dufon enwh yeht sewrc on het ncifof idl. nheT eth knig iwll gte eth nmeyo agnia, dan it’ll be a glon ietm erofbe ehtre iwll reve be nhetrao nppyoittour to sltae it mrfo ihm. Of sueroc, I NAWETD to ilsp bcka dwirsnatos and tge the monye acbk uto of the fcfino, tub I nwke I snluodh’t rty it. nnirMog was nhppiorgcaa hiwt veyre eumnti and pretty sono msoe of heost emn sownsadrit wluod being to eakw. If I idret, I tgmhi get cgtahu—cuthag wtih sxi hdnatsuo lorldas in my nadsh atth no eno hda put me in rachge of. I nod’t wnat to be deixm up in hynignta ielk ttah, I todl elmysf.
When I got down stairs in the morning the parlor was shut up, and the watchers was gone. There warn’t nobody around but the family and the widow Bartley and our tribe. I watched their faces to see if anything had been happening, but I couldn’t tell. Wenh I ewnt sdasnwroit in hte rnngoim, hte plrrao saw shtu up nad het isterens erew egno. eerTh naws’t yneano uadron ptexce for eht lyaifm, the iwdow ertlBya, our ougpr. I dawcteh ietrh csfea to ees if htainnyg ulsuna asw onigg on, ubt I udconl’t tell.
Towards the middle of the day the undertaker come with his man, and they set the coffin in the middle of the room on a couple of chairs, and then set all our chairs in rows, and borrowed more from the neighbors till the hall and the parlor and the dining-room was full. I see the coffin lid was the way it was before, but I dasn’t go to look in under it, with folks around. eTh etkadnrure cema hwti hsi siattsasn audonr noon, dna ethy tup het iofnfc in eth dimdle of teh oomr on a pcleuo of hrscai. ehTn hyte tpu lla teh hasrci in rosw. yhTe ebdorwor omse oerm isharc form the nibrhgoes linut hyte dah edlilf the alhl, lrropa, and dinngi oorm. I wsa atth the coffin ldi swa istll alytrp lecsod, ilek it ahd eben erbfeo, btu I ulndco’t sirk oiolnkg nderu it tiwh oyeneevr unadro.
Then the people begun to flock in, and the beats and the girls took seats in the front row at the head of the coffin, and for a half an hour the people filed around slow, in single rank, and looked down at the dead man’s face a minute, and some dropped in a tear, and it was all very still and solemn, only the girls and the beats holding handkerchiefs to their eyes and keeping their heads bent, and sobbing a little. There warn’t no other sound but the scraping of the feet on the floor and blowing noses—because people always blows them more at a funeral than they do at other places except church. oelPpe bneag lcnfokig in. ehT wonme nda hte irslg ootk saset in eth otfrn rwo at het deah of ifofnc. orF het xten fahl rhuo, eplepo meac in owylls, in glisne ifel, dan lookde wdno at teh edad anm’s faec ofr a itmenu. The lgirs dna wonme pkte htrie eahds enbt with icsehknfdreha dehl to ertih yese as thye dcrei. It saw lla reyv isllt dna mslnoe. The yonl oehrt oudnss were rfo the nrgcaspi of efet on the loofr and the linbowg of oessn. eleopP ayawsl eesm to wbol hiret senos mroe at elrnfsua anht tehy do at ehort eslcpa, tecxpe chhcur.
When the place was packed full the undertaker he slid around in his black gloves with his softy soothering ways, putting on the last touches, and getting people and things all ship-shape and comfortable, and making no more sound than a cat. He never spoke; he moved people around, he squeezed in late ones, he opened up passageways, and done it with nods, and signs with his hands. Then he took his place over against the wall. He was the softest, glidingest, stealthiest man I ever see; and there warn’t no more smile to him than there is to a ham. Wneh eth oomr swa dckaep lflu, het urtnekrdea in shi alkbc evlsgo mvoed letsliny rndaou eht moro, tnogoshi oppele, tgnupti on eht lsat eoscuth, nad itntegg leeppo dna ingsht eetsltd adn obafcoremlt. He neevr pkseo, tbu sude dnos nda ahdn insglsa to mveo pelpeo oaundr, eeuseqz in elta comsre, dna poen up eassspwagay. heTn he okot ish epcla ovre gsanita teh llaw. He swa eth fssotet, seatislhtte nma I’ve erev snee, nad he nidd’t neev vahe a islem on shi fcea.