FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   2749   2750   2751   2752   2753   2754   2755   2756   2757   2758   2759   2760   2761   2762   2763   2764   2765   2766   2767   2768   2769   2770   2771   2772   2773  
2774   2775   2776   2777   2778   2779   2780   2781   2782   2783   2784   2785   2786   2787   2788   2789   2790   2791   2792   2793   2794   2795   2796   2797   2798   >>   >|  
And then he had fetched away a three-gallon jug of whisky, too, that he found under a wagon when he was starting home through the woods. The king said, take it all around, it laid over any day he'd ever put in in the missionarying line. He said it warn't no use talking, heathens don't amount to shucks alongside of pirates to work a camp-meeting with. The duke was thinking HE'D been doing pretty well till the king come to show up, but after that he didn't think so so much. He had set up and printed off two little jobs for farmers in that printing-office--horse bills--and took the money, four dollars. And he had got in ten dollars' worth of advertisements for the paper, which he said he would put in for four dollars if they would pay in advance--so they done it. The price of the paper was two dollars a year, but he took in three subscriptions for half a dollar apiece on condition of them paying him in advance; they were going to pay in cordwood and onions as usual, but he said he had just bought the concern and knocked down the price as low as he could afford it, and was going to run it for cash. He set up a little piece of poetry, which he made, himself, out of his own head--three verses--kind of sweet and saddish--the name of it was, "Yes, crush, cold world, this breaking heart"--and he left that all set up and ready to print in the paper, and didn't charge nothing for it. Well, he took in nine dollars and a half, and said he'd done a pretty square day's work for it. Then he showed us another little job he'd printed and hadn't charged for, because it was for us. It had a picture of a runaway nigger with a bundle on a stick over his shoulder, and "$200 reward" under it. The reading was all about Jim, and just described him to a dot. It said he run away from St. Jacques' plantation, forty mile below New Orleans, last winter, and likely went north, and whoever would catch him and send him back he could have the reward and expenses. "Now," says the duke, "after to-night we can run in the daytime if we want to. Whenever we see anybody coming we can tie Jim hand and foot with a rope, and lay him in the wigwam and show this handbill and say we captured him up the river, and were too poor to travel on a steamboat, so we got this little raft on credit from our friends and are going down to get the reward. Handcuffs and chains would look still better on Jim, but it wouldn't go well with the story of us being so
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   2749   2750   2751   2752   2753   2754   2755   2756   2757   2758   2759   2760   2761   2762   2763   2764   2765   2766   2767   2768   2769   2770   2771   2772   2773  
2774   2775   2776   2777   2778   2779   2780   2781   2782   2783   2784   2785   2786   2787   2788   2789   2790   2791   2792   2793   2794   2795   2796   2797   2798   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

dollars

 

reward

 

pretty

 
advance
 

printed

 

plantation

 

Jacques

 

showed

 

square

 
charged

shoulder

 
reading
 
bundle
 

charge

 
picture
 

runaway

 

nigger

 

expenses

 
steamboat
 
travel

credit

 
wigwam
 

handbill

 

captured

 
friends
 

wouldn

 

Handcuffs

 
chains
 

winter

 

coming


daytime

 

Whenever

 

Orleans

 

onions

 

alongside

 

pirates

 

meeting

 

shucks

 

amount

 

talking


heathens

 

thinking

 
starting
 

whisky

 

fetched

 

gallon

 

missionarying

 
farmers
 

printing

 

verses