ridin' down to de sho'. Dey was dat mad when dey
see us dat dey fired all dar shot-guns at us, an' Challenger was dat
s'prised dat he jumped right into de arr, an' come down on his feet ag'in
like a jack-rabbit. Dat was a leetle too much for de ole raft, an' she
done went to pieces like a bundle of straw. John Brown was a-holdin' on to
Challenger's neck, an' she jus' held on, legs an' han's, wid her fingers
clenched into de mane, so dat I had to cut some ob it off arterward to git
'em away. We'se nebber been able to prise 'em clean open sence: dey look
more like birds' claws dan han's, anyway, do' 'tain't likely yer ebber
took notice on't. I was a-holdin' on to Challenger's tail, an' dar we all
t'ree was in de middle ob de ribber. Wall, fus' de current carried us down
a good piece, an' I t'ought it was all ober for dis nigger sho'; den de
saddle-girth bust, an' dat seemed to gib Challenger some 'couragement, fur
he drawed a long breff an' struck out fur de Kansas sho'. Wall, it war an
awful swim, an' no mistake, but bimeby we all landed, 'bout halfway down
to Quindaro, blowin' and snortin' like so many steamboats. I didn' try to
ride Challenger up to Leavenworth, but jis' walked by his side, a-huggin'
an' a-kissin' him as I nebber kissed no women-trash in all my young days,
an' John Brown a-lyin' 'crost his back as limp as a empty gunny-bag. I
took her roun' to Vina's 'fore I went to de libbery-stable, an' jes' 'fore
I come to de doah a t'ought come to me dat made me dat sick to de stomach
I could hardly stan'. S'posin', after all, she _wan't_ Vina's chile! But
she was--leastways, Vina was sure ob it--an' ob all de goin's-on dat gal
went into yer'd a t'ought 'twas sumfin' mighty consequentious, stead ob
nuffin' but a little nigger young 'un. 'Yer jus' take back dat hoss, Fader
Abram,' says she, 'an' den come back to yo' darter Vina; an' don't yer dar
lib anywhar else after dis.'

"I tole Cap'n Gallup I'd been chased by hoss-thieves, an' had swum de
ribber wid Challenger, but I didn' say nuffin' 'bout John Brown, for dat
war de name Vina gabe de chile dat very day. I went dar, as she tole me,
an' she got up de biggest dinnah, wid more chicken-fixin's an' pie an'
cake dan ebber I see; but dat arternoon I was taken down ag'in wid de
rheumatiz--couldn't do no work for more'n six munfs, an' don't reckon I'll
be much use any more, nohow. Vina's tuk car' ob me more'n two year now.
She's had a sight ob beaux, but she's allus tol