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Show ' ' 1nn t a b ~ ' 11 clcs" on to one o 'e 1ock \Yhcn \YC got bclo\V the islan<l at ln ·t, and Lhc raft ditl scc1n to go 1nighty slow. If a 1)Qat \vas to co1ne along, we\ wa~ croin o· to takP i.o the~ canoe and h h break£ r the Illinoi~ shore; and it wa. well a boat didn·t come, for w ' hacln •t ever thought to put th gun into the ca11oe, or a fiHhing-line or anything to <'at. \Vp was in ruther too 1nnch of n f-lweaL to think of ·o 1nany things. I t wnrn't good j ndg1n n t to pnt f!1'P'i '!)th i 1l[J on tlH" raft. If th n1 n went to the 0~ Till~ I{AI"l'. i. ·hlnd, I just exp ct they fonnJ. the camp llre I built, aucl watch eel it all night for J i1n to come. Anyway .. , they tayed away from 11 , and if 1ny builcling the fire ne,·er fool d the1n it \varn't no fault of min . I played it as low-down on t h m a I could. \Vhen the fir t treak of day begun to show, we tied up to a tow-head in a big bend on th Illinoi sid , and hacked o!T SLO JV .l{AT IGATJO.\'. un cotton-wood branches with t he hatchet antl covered up t h' raft. with them so she looke<l like there ha<l been a ca.v -in in t hl' b~nk th r ). A tow-head is a . and-bar that ha' coLLon- woocl · on it as thick a harrow·-teetb. 'Ve ha<l mountains on the l\Ii :ouri Hh r' <UHl heavy 1 i1nber on the Illinois side, and t he channrl wa. dow11 the 1\Ii: ouri shore at that place, so we warn't afrai<l of anybody running across u . '\r e laid th \r ~ all day and watclH\d the raft.' and ;-;teatnboat spin down th ~Ii 'onri shore, antl up-botuul st ainh:) at· fight the big river in the middle. I i.ol<l Jitn all about th time I had jabbering with that \YOlnan; an<l Jitn .·aid .:he" was a smart on , a.ntl if .'he wa to 'tart after ns hcr;-;elf ·lu' wouldn't <~t down and wai ch a ecunp fire-no, sir, ~h 'd fet · h n. clog. Well, th en, I :n id, why couldn't slH\ tell h('r hn ·han<l i o fetch a d g ? .J i 111 • aid he b 'L h c <1 i <l t h ink of i t by i h e tim the men was ready to start, and he believ d thry 1nu t n gone up town to get a <log, a1Hl ·o they lo:t all that tin1r, or el e we woul<ln't b hrr on a tow-head . ixt e \u or . event e '11 1nile below t lt<' v j llage-110, iud \ecly, we 'voul<l b ' in that san1e old town again. ~o I ·aid I diJn't care whal wa. Lh )o r ca:m1 they didn't get ns, as long as i hey di(lu:t. Wh n it was beginning tn co1ne on clark, we pokl\tl our heads out of the cottonwood thieket and looked up, and down, and aero s ; nothing in sight; so J inl took up som of t h) t(~p planks of th raft ancl built a. nug wigwa1n to get und r 111 blazing w 'ath :.r an<l rainy, an<l io keep th ihings dry. Jim 1nade a floor for the wigwa1n, and ra.i cl it a fo t or mor:) abov ' the level of the raft., so now the blanket and all t h traps wa .. out of the reach of st am boat wave . Right in th ~ nti<ldlc of the wigwam w made a layer of dirt about five or six i~chc deep with a frame around it for to holl it to its place; tlus \vas to build a fire on in loppy weather or chilly; i he wigwmn woulcl k(ep it fron1 being :c n. V\' e mad an xtra t cring JI ~ |