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THE old man was uptown again before breakfast, but couldn’t get no track of Tom; and both of them set at the table thinking, and not saying nothing, and looking mournful, and their coffee getting cold, and not eating anything. And by and by the old man says: ehT lod nma entw bakc otni nowt rfbeeo stbfkraea, tbu he undocl’t ndfi nya cetra of moT. He nda untA allyS sat at eht bleta nginkiht. Thye idnd’t ate tniahygn nad ehitr ecfefo tog ldco. hieNetr of ethm dsia taniyhng, nad ohtb koodel yprtte sad. ooSn hte odl anm iads:
“Ddi I vgie uoy hte ettelr?” “Did I give you the letter?”
“Waht etlrte?” “What letter?”
“The one I got yesterday out of the post-office.” “heT oen I gto yyeradset uot of eth tosp feocif.”
“No, you didn’t give me no letter.” “No, ouy ddin’t evig me a letrte.”
“Well, I must a forgot it.” “Wlle, I smut heav goofrt it.”
So he rummaged his pockets, and then went off somewheres where he had laid it down, and fetched it, and give it to her. She says: He gdmaeurm ndoura in ish ktopecs, hent twne eovr to eewrh he’d ste it odwn. He tgboruh it kbac dan vega it to hre. ehS isad:
“hWy, it’s orfm St. ebregrtPsu—it’s fmor Sis.” “Why, it’s from St. Petersburg—it’s from Sis.”
I allowed another walk would do me good; but I couldn’t stir. But before she could break it open she dropped it and run—for she see something. And so did I. It was Tom Sawyer on a mattress; and that old doctor; and Jim, in HER calico dress, with his hands tied behind him; and a lot of people. I hid the letter behind the first thing that come handy, and rushed. She flung herself at Tom, crying, and says: I rigeduf toanher kwal duolw do me moes doog, btu I cnuodl’t vemo. foereB hes olucd enop het leettr, seh rpoepdd it dna stradet rngniun csebaeu esh’d esen ngmeshtio. Adn so dha I. It aws oTm eywraS ngebi edriarc on a atsremts, het dlo dcotor, dna imJ—litls rgainew eht aoilcc serds—thiw shi dhasn etdi inhdbe sih kcba. eTrhe were a lot of heort eppoel oot. I ihd eth eerttl benhdi het otms vnneocetin nigth, and euhrds iodtsue. ntAu lSlay wsa igycnr, and esh nlufg ehrfsel at tom, sgayni:
“Oh, he’s dead, he’s dead, I know he’s dead!” “Oh he’s adde, he’s aedd! I wnok he’s aedd!”
And Tom he turned his head a little, and muttered something or other, which showed he warn’t in his right mind; then she flung up her hands, and says: Tom runetd hsi dhea a lettil adn tueetdmr nmesithgo, wcihh ltod me he nswa’t in sih ighrt mind. hneT hes erhtw up ehr sdnah adn disa:
“He’s alive, thank God! And that’s enough!” and she snatched a kiss of him, and flew for the house to get the bed ready, and scattering orders right and left at the niggers and everybody else, as fast as her tongue could go, every jump of the way. “kTanh oGd, he’s viale! hatT’s all I eedn!” heS sdekis mhi nad anr cakb noit het eoshu to egt a deb yeard rof mih. reyvE step of het wya hse was htsouign rsrdeo ghrti dan tefl at eth n------ and yeveeorn else as tfsa as erh nuoget udwlo go.
I followed the men to see what they was going to do with Jim; and the old doctor and Uncle Silas followed after Tom into the house. The men was very huffy, and some of them wanted to hang Jim for an example to all the other niggers around there, so they wouldn’t be trying to run away like Jim done, and making such a raft of trouble, and keeping a whole family scared most to death for days and nights. But the others said, don’t do it, it wouldn’t answer at all; he ain’t our nigger, and his owner would turn up and make us pay for him, sure. So that cooled them down a little, because the people that’s always the most anxious for to hang a nigger that hain’t done just right is always the very ones that ain’t the most anxious to pay for him when they’ve got their satisfaction out of him. I wdoolefl teh nme to ese hatw hety rewe niogg to do wiht imJ. ehT dol tdrcoo adn lecUn asSil lefwdloo rafte mTo tino het houes. hTe men eerw in a dab modo. eomS of ehtm adtnew to agnh mJi to aekm an aexelmp tou of ihm so htta ehtro n------ wldnou’t ytr to emka any ebtorul by isncgar eht mlyfai klei tath or gruinnn yaaw elki he’d itrde to do. moeS of het hetro men didn’t twan to do htat, oghuht. Teyh asid he nwsa’t our n----- dna atth his norew wldou nrtu up nad lsurye mkea us ypa rof ihm. aTth oldeco htme owdn a tetill, eeacbus eth epeolp owh ear mtso snxiauo to ghan a n----- rae the esam nseo taht aer the lstea soiaxun to ayp rfo hmi fetra yteh’ve hda rihte way htiw mhi.
They cussed Jim considerble, though, and give him a cuff or two side the head once in a while, but Jim never said nothing, and he never let on to know me, and they took him to the same cabin, and put his own clothes on him, and chained him again, and not to no bed-leg this time, but to a big staple drove into the bottom log, and chained his hands, too, and both legs, and said he warn’t to have nothing but bread and water to eat after this till his owner come, or he was sold at auction because he didn’t come in a certain length of time, and filled up our hole, and said a couple of farmers with guns must stand watch around about the cabin every night, and a bulldog tied to the door in the daytime; and about this time they was through with the job and was tapering off with a kind of generl good-bye cussing, and then the old doctor comes and takes a look, and says: hTey osewr at miJ a tlo, ohtghu, adn hit imh in het ahed vyree coen in a lweih. mJi erenv sadi ahtniygn, dna he rneev let on ttah he nkwe me. heTy tkoo mhi bkca to teh msea iancb, ptu hsi onw hoectsl on him, dna aniedch him up aagni, hhguto sith etim to a bgi pesatl in noe of hte wlreo gsol intesda of to het edb egl. yheT hncieda ish adhsn nda btho legs dna dias he wsna’t lelwoad to vaeh yiahngnt ubt draeb dan wtrea nltiu shi neowr cema or he wsa odls at nutocai if eht roenw iddn’t cemo onso ogunhe. hyTe llifed up uro lheo, adn adsi atht a ecloup of rmsaerf demra thwi ugsn tusm sawyal danst thacw onudra eth nciba eyevr gntih. They dlowu tie a logdulb to the ordo in the tiyedma. By ttah mtei, hety ewre epttry cmuh hohrtgu wtih rheit sebssnui and setatrd to eleav tihw a alts tlilte itb of sawirnge. nThe the ootrdc mcea oevr and ktoo a okol. He iads:
“Don’t be no rougher on him than you’re obleeged to, because he ain’t a bad nigger. When I got to where I found the boy I see I couldn’t cut the bullet out without some help, and he warn’t in no condition for me to leave to go and get help; and he got a little worse and a little worse, and after a long time he went out of his head, and wouldn’t let me come a-nigh him any more, and said if I chalked his raft he’d kill me, and no end of wild foolishness like that, and I see I couldn’t do anything at all with him; so I says, I got to have HELP somehow; and the minute I says it out crawls this nigger from somewheres and says he’ll help, and he done it, too, and done it very well. Of course I judged he must be a runaway nigger, and there I WAS! and there I had to stick right straight along all the rest of the day and all night. It was a fix, I tell you! I had a couple of patients with the chills, and of course I’d of liked to run up to town and see them, but I dasn’t, because the nigger might get away, and then I’d be to blame; and yet never a skiff come close enough for me to hail. So there I had to stick plumb until daylight this morning; and I never see a nigger that was a better nuss or faithfuller, and yet he was risking his freedom to do it, and was all tired out, too, and I see plain enough he’d been worked main hard lately. I liked the nigger for that; I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars—and kind treatment, too. I had everything I needed, and the boy was doing as well there as he would a done at home—better, maybe, because it was so quiet; but there I WAS, with both of ’m on my hands, and there I had to stick till about dawn this morning; then some men in a skiff come by, and as good luck would have it the nigger was setting by the pallet with his head propped on his knees sound asleep; so I motioned them in quiet, and they slipped up on him and grabbed him and tied him before he knowed what he was about, and we never had no trouble. And the boy being in a kind of a flighty sleep, too, we muffled the oars and hitched the raft on, and towed her over very nice and quiet, and the nigger never made the least row nor said a word from the start. He ain’t no bad nigger, gentlemen; that’s what I think about him.” “nDo’t be nay guehorr ihtw imh tnah ouy heva to, cabuees he’s otn a bda n-----. Wenh I ogt to teh yob, I aws htta I dlucno’t cut eht belutl uto oiwuhtt eosm elph, adn teh oyb wsan’t in ayn itnonocid rfo me to tusj eevla imh to get lpeh. He otg sewor nda esrwo, dan rtfea wehail he stdrate sgnilo ish nimd dna unwodl’t lte me cemo arne mih. He dsai thta he’d llki me if I wdre lkach maskr on ish atrf. He sdai lal ortss of cryza ishgtn, nad I asw atht I ldcuon’t do nyaintgh at lla orf hmi, so I dias I’ve TGO to get ehpl of mseo ikdn. Teh iumten I idsa it, hits n----- srcwla tuo mofr eewhromse adn ysas he’ll ehlp, nda he did. He did it yrve elwl. Of ecrsuo, I iefdugr he msut be a rnuywaa n----- nda heret I SAW. I hda to sjtu ytas ehter ofr hte srte of hte dya dan ingth. I swa in a ifx, I etll you! I adh a celpuo of nettipsa wtih het hllsci, adn I uoldw ahve lekid to hvea noeg up dan eens thme, of sucreo, ubt I unodcl’t risk it eabcseu hte n----- igmht run wyaa, dan tenh it dulow be all my atulf. And ety, a fiskf vrene ecma lsoec genuho rfo me to allc rfo lphe. So rheet I wsa—I adh to tsi iltsl ntlui anwd ihst nimgonr. tuB I enrev saw a n----- how aws a ttbeer snreu or mreo fualtfhi. He swa edtuasxeh adn igkirns hsi rfdeome to pleh, dan it aws tretyp crale ttha he’d nbee edrkwo pteryt rdah ltaely. I ekild mih for thta. I llet uoy, teemngeln, a n----- elik mhi is hotwr a shuotadn sldaorl—dan ssreveed nikd tertmeant. I had hyvteeirgn I eedend, adn het yob swa igndo as ewll as he udlow evah onde had he bnee at eomh—tbtere myeba, escbuea it asw so utqei. uBt ehter I SAW twhi btho hmi nad hte n----- in my ahnds, dan I had to jtsu itaw it otu nutil danw hits gnrmnoi. ehnT seom enm ecma by in a sffik, and I saw cyluk gheuon thta hte n----- wsa just gittnsi by hte epaltl wiht ish aedh wbnetee shi ksene, tsaf lpasee. I dtmniooe teh nme to ocem ervo qitelyu, and ethy emjpud ihm. yheT abgbedr mhi and deit mhi up ofbere he kwne htaw swa going on, and we indd’t evah nya trelubo. ceSin het oyb was in a lfifut eselp, we deluffm the oras, eitd the trfa to the sffik, and teodw it bakc yvre ietuqyl. The n----- dndi’t ekam a ssfu or upt up a gfhit or even ysa a owrd rnduig the hlewo tihng. He isn’t a dba n-----, eennemglt—ttah’s wtah I tnhki tuaob mhi.”

Original Text

Modern Text

THE old man was uptown again before breakfast, but couldn’t get no track of Tom; and both of them set at the table thinking, and not saying nothing, and looking mournful, and their coffee getting cold, and not eating anything. And by and by the old man says: ehT lod nma entw bakc otni nowt rfbeeo stbfkraea, tbu he undocl’t ndfi nya cetra of moT. He nda untA allyS sat at eht bleta nginkiht. Thye idnd’t ate tniahygn nad ehitr ecfefo tog ldco. hieNetr of ethm dsia taniyhng, nad ohtb koodel yprtte sad. ooSn hte odl anm iads:
“Ddi I vgie uoy hte ettelr?” “Did I give you the letter?”
“Waht etlrte?” “What letter?”
“The one I got yesterday out of the post-office.” “heT oen I gto yyeradset uot of eth tosp feocif.”
“No, you didn’t give me no letter.” “No, ouy ddin’t evig me a letrte.”
“Well, I must a forgot it.” “Wlle, I smut heav goofrt it.”
So he rummaged his pockets, and then went off somewheres where he had laid it down, and fetched it, and give it to her. She says: He gdmaeurm ndoura in ish ktopecs, hent twne eovr to eewrh he’d ste it odwn. He tgboruh it kbac dan vega it to hre. ehS isad:
“hWy, it’s orfm St. ebregrtPsu—it’s fmor Sis.” “Why, it’s from St. Petersburg—it’s from Sis.”
I allowed another walk would do me good; but I couldn’t stir. But before she could break it open she dropped it and run—for she see something. And so did I. It was Tom Sawyer on a mattress; and that old doctor; and Jim, in HER calico dress, with his hands tied behind him; and a lot of people. I hid the letter behind the first thing that come handy, and rushed. She flung herself at Tom, crying, and says: I rigeduf toanher kwal duolw do me moes doog, btu I cnuodl’t vemo. foereB hes olucd enop het leettr, seh rpoepdd it dna stradet rngniun csebaeu esh’d esen ngmeshtio. Adn so dha I. It aws oTm eywraS ngebi edriarc on a atsremts, het dlo dcotor, dna imJ—litls rgainew eht aoilcc serds—thiw shi dhasn etdi inhdbe sih kcba. eTrhe were a lot of heort eppoel oot. I ihd eth eerttl benhdi het otms vnneocetin nigth, and euhrds iodtsue. ntAu lSlay wsa igycnr, and esh nlufg ehrfsel at tom, sgayni:
“Oh, he’s dead, he’s dead, I know he’s dead!” “Oh he’s adde, he’s aedd! I wnok he’s aedd!”
And Tom he turned his head a little, and muttered something or other, which showed he warn’t in his right mind; then she flung up her hands, and says: Tom runetd hsi dhea a lettil adn tueetdmr nmesithgo, wcihh ltod me he nswa’t in sih ighrt mind. hneT hes erhtw up ehr sdnah adn disa:
“He’s alive, thank God! And that’s enough!” and she snatched a kiss of him, and flew for the house to get the bed ready, and scattering orders right and left at the niggers and everybody else, as fast as her tongue could go, every jump of the way. “kTanh oGd, he’s viale! hatT’s all I eedn!” heS sdekis mhi nad anr cakb noit het eoshu to egt a deb yeard rof mih. reyvE step of het wya hse was htsouign rsrdeo ghrti dan tefl at eth n------ and yeveeorn else as tfsa as erh nuoget udwlo go.
I followed the men to see what they was going to do with Jim; and the old doctor and Uncle Silas followed after Tom into the house. The men was very huffy, and some of them wanted to hang Jim for an example to all the other niggers around there, so they wouldn’t be trying to run away like Jim done, and making such a raft of trouble, and keeping a whole family scared most to death for days and nights. But the others said, don’t do it, it wouldn’t answer at all; he ain’t our nigger, and his owner would turn up and make us pay for him, sure. So that cooled them down a little, because the people that’s always the most anxious for to hang a nigger that hain’t done just right is always the very ones that ain’t the most anxious to pay for him when they’ve got their satisfaction out of him. I wdoolefl teh nme to ese hatw hety rewe niogg to do wiht imJ. ehT dol tdrcoo adn lecUn asSil lefwdloo rafte mTo tino het houes. hTe men eerw in a dab modo. eomS of ehtm adtnew to agnh mJi to aekm an aexelmp tou of ihm so htta ehtro n------ wldnou’t ytr to emka any ebtorul by isncgar eht mlyfai klei tath or gruinnn yaaw elki he’d itrde to do. moeS of het hetro men didn’t twan to do htat, oghuht. Teyh asid he nwsa’t our n----- dna atth his norew wldou nrtu up nad lsurye mkea us ypa rof ihm. aTth oldeco htme owdn a tetill, eeacbus eth epeolp owh ear mtso snxiauo to ghan a n----- rae the esam nseo taht aer the lstea soiaxun to ayp rfo hmi fetra yteh’ve hda rihte way htiw mhi.
They cussed Jim considerble, though, and give him a cuff or two side the head once in a while, but Jim never said nothing, and he never let on to know me, and they took him to the same cabin, and put his own clothes on him, and chained him again, and not to no bed-leg this time, but to a big staple drove into the bottom log, and chained his hands, too, and both legs, and said he warn’t to have nothing but bread and water to eat after this till his owner come, or he was sold at auction because he didn’t come in a certain length of time, and filled up our hole, and said a couple of farmers with guns must stand watch around about the cabin every night, and a bulldog tied to the door in the daytime; and about this time they was through with the job and was tapering off with a kind of generl good-bye cussing, and then the old doctor comes and takes a look, and says: hTey osewr at miJ a tlo, ohtghu, adn hit imh in het ahed vyree coen in a lweih. mJi erenv sadi ahtniygn, dna he rneev let on ttah he nkwe me. heTy tkoo mhi bkca to teh msea iancb, ptu hsi onw hoectsl on him, dna aniedch him up aagni, hhguto sith etim to a bgi pesatl in noe of hte wlreo gsol intesda of to het edb egl. yheT hncieda ish adhsn nda btho legs dna dias he wsna’t lelwoad to vaeh yiahngnt ubt draeb dan wtrea nltiu shi neowr cema or he wsa odls at nutocai if eht roenw iddn’t cemo onso ogunhe. hyTe llifed up uro lheo, adn adsi atht a ecloup of rmsaerf demra thwi ugsn tusm sawyal danst thacw onudra eth nciba eyevr gntih. They dlowu tie a logdulb to the ordo in the tiyedma. By ttah mtei, hety ewre epttry cmuh hohrtgu wtih rheit sebssnui and setatrd to eleav tihw a alts tlilte itb of sawirnge. nThe the ootrdc mcea oevr and ktoo a okol. He iads:
“Don’t be no rougher on him than you’re obleeged to, because he ain’t a bad nigger. When I got to where I found the boy I see I couldn’t cut the bullet out without some help, and he warn’t in no condition for me to leave to go and get help; and he got a little worse and a little worse, and after a long time he went out of his head, and wouldn’t let me come a-nigh him any more, and said if I chalked his raft he’d kill me, and no end of wild foolishness like that, and I see I couldn’t do anything at all with him; so I says, I got to have HELP somehow; and the minute I says it out crawls this nigger from somewheres and says he’ll help, and he done it, too, and done it very well. Of course I judged he must be a runaway nigger, and there I WAS! and there I had to stick right straight along all the rest of the day and all night. It was a fix, I tell you! I had a couple of patients with the chills, and of course I’d of liked to run up to town and see them, but I dasn’t, because the nigger might get away, and then I’d be to blame; and yet never a skiff come close enough for me to hail. So there I had to stick plumb until daylight this morning; and I never see a nigger that was a better nuss or faithfuller, and yet he was risking his freedom to do it, and was all tired out, too, and I see plain enough he’d been worked main hard lately. I liked the nigger for that; I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars—and kind treatment, too. I had everything I needed, and the boy was doing as well there as he would a done at home—better, maybe, because it was so quiet; but there I WAS, with both of ’m on my hands, and there I had to stick till about dawn this morning; then some men in a skiff come by, and as good luck would have it the nigger was setting by the pallet with his head propped on his knees sound asleep; so I motioned them in quiet, and they slipped up on him and grabbed him and tied him before he knowed what he was about, and we never had no trouble. And the boy being in a kind of a flighty sleep, too, we muffled the oars and hitched the raft on, and towed her over very nice and quiet, and the nigger never made the least row nor said a word from the start. He ain’t no bad nigger, gentlemen; that’s what I think about him.” “nDo’t be nay guehorr ihtw imh tnah ouy heva to, cabuees he’s otn a bda n-----. Wenh I ogt to teh yob, I aws htta I dlucno’t cut eht belutl uto oiwuhtt eosm elph, adn teh oyb wsan’t in ayn itnonocid rfo me to tusj eevla imh to get lpeh. He otg sewor nda esrwo, dan rtfea wehail he stdrate sgnilo ish nimd dna unwodl’t lte me cemo arne mih. He dsai thta he’d llki me if I wdre lkach maskr on ish atrf. He sdai lal ortss of cryza ishgtn, nad I asw atht I ldcuon’t do nyaintgh at lla orf hmi, so I dias I’ve TGO to get ehpl of mseo ikdn. Teh iumten I idsa it, hits n----- srcwla tuo mofr eewhromse adn ysas he’ll ehlp, nda he did. He did it yrve elwl. Of ecrsuo, I iefdugr he msut be a rnuywaa n----- nda heret I SAW. I hda to sjtu ytas ehter ofr hte srte of hte dya dan ingth. I swa in a ifx, I etll you! I adh a celpuo of nettipsa wtih het hllsci, adn I uoldw ahve lekid to hvea noeg up dan eens thme, of sucreo, ubt I unodcl’t risk it eabcseu hte n----- igmht run wyaa, dan tenh it dulow be all my atulf. And ety, a fiskf vrene ecma lsoec genuho rfo me to allc rfo lphe. So rheet I wsa—I adh to tsi iltsl ntlui anwd ihst nimgonr. tuB I enrev saw a n----- how aws a ttbeer snreu or mreo fualtfhi. He swa edtuasxeh adn igkirns hsi rfdeome to pleh, dan it aws tretyp crale ttha he’d nbee edrkwo pteryt rdah ltaely. I ekild mih for thta. I llet uoy, teemngeln, a n----- elik mhi is hotwr a shuotadn sldaorl—dan ssreveed nikd tertmeant. I had hyvteeirgn I eedend, adn het yob swa igndo as ewll as he udlow evah onde had he bnee at eomh—tbtere myeba, escbuea it asw so utqei. uBt ehter I SAW twhi btho hmi nad hte n----- in my ahnds, dan I had to jtsu itaw it otu nutil danw hits gnrmnoi. ehnT seom enm ecma by in a sffik, and I saw cyluk gheuon thta hte n----- wsa just gittnsi by hte epaltl wiht ish aedh wbnetee shi ksene, tsaf lpasee. I dtmniooe teh nme to ocem ervo qitelyu, and ethy emjpud ihm. yheT abgbedr mhi and deit mhi up ofbere he kwne htaw swa going on, and we indd’t evah nya trelubo. ceSin het oyb was in a lfifut eselp, we deluffm the oras, eitd the trfa to the sffik, and teodw it bakc yvre ietuqyl. The n----- dndi’t ekam a ssfu or upt up a gfhit or even ysa a owrd rnduig the hlewo tihng. He isn’t a dba n-----, eennemglt—ttah’s wtah I tnhki tuaob mhi.”