The Duke and the King asked many questions. They wanted to know why we covered the raft with bushes. They asked why we hid during the day. They asked if Jim was a runaway (a person who escapes from their owner). I told them a lie to protect Jim.
I said my family lived in Missouri and most of them died. Only my father, my brother Ike, and I were left. We were very poor. We had only sixteen dollars and our servant, Jim. We found a raft and decided to go to New Orleans.
One night, a steamboat hit our raft. My father and Ike fell into the water and died. Only Jim and I lived. Now, people always try to take Jim away from me. They think he is a runaway (a person who escapes from their owner). That is why we travel at night now.
The Duke said he would find a way to travel during the day. He said he would make a plan. We stayed hidden that day because we were near a town. It was not safe for people to see us.
That evening, the sky became dark. There was lightning (bright flashes of light in the sky during a storm) and the wind began to blow. The Duke and the King went inside our wigwam (a small, simple shelter made of wood and cloth). They wanted to sleep.
My bed was made of straw, but Jim’s bed was made of corn husks. Corn husks are hard and make a loud noise when you move. The King took my comfortable straw bed. The Duke had to sleep on the uncomfortable corn husks. The Duke was sad, but he did not fight the King.
We started the raft when it was dark. A very big storm started at ten o’clock. There was loud thunder (the loud noise that follows lightning) and a lot of rain. I stayed outside to watch the river. The wind was very strong and the waves were high.
Jim was very kind and helped me watch the raft. Later, a big wave hit the raft and I fell into the water. Jim laughed very hard because I was not hurt. When the sun came up, we hid the raft again for the day.
After breakfast, the Duke showed us some handbills (small pieces of paper used for advertising). He had many different names on the papers. He told people he was a doctor or a famous actor. He also told people he could find gold in the ground.
The Duke wanted to perform a play in the next town. He said he and the King would act in stories by a famous writer. The Duke would be a young man named Romeo. The King would be a young woman named Juliet. The King did not know how to act, but the Duke said he would teach him.
We went to a small town in the canoe. Most people were not there. They were at a camp-meeting (a large religious meeting held outside in the woods). The Duke went to find a printing-office (a place where newspapers and signs are made). The King and I went to the meeting.
There were many people in the woods. They sat on wood benches and listened to a preacher. The preacher shouted and held his Bible. People were crying and shouting because they were excited. It was very loud.
The King went to the front and spoke to the people. He told them he was a pirate (a criminal who robs ships at sea). He said he was a pirate (a criminal who robs ships at sea) for thirty years. He told them he was now a changed man and he wanted to be good.
The King said he wanted to go back to the ocean to help other pirates become good. The people felt very sorry for him. They gave him a lot of money. He collected more than eighty dollars. The King was very happy with his lie.
The Duke also made some money in the town. He worked in the printing-office (a place where newspapers and signs are made) while the workers were away. He printed a special paper about Jim. It was a reward (money offered for catching a person) poster.
The paper said Jim was a runaway (a person who escapes from their owner) from a farm far away. It said there was a $200 reward (money offered for catching a person) for him. Now we could travel during the day. If people saw Jim, we could say we caught him and were taking him back.
We left the town at ten o’clock that night. We felt very safe. Jim asked me if we would meet more kings on our trip. He said one or two kings were enough. Jim thought the King and the Duke were often drunk and he did not like them.