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Show 0G8 '" Thi~ ain'L no thidy-:ev n year job, thi "' i. a thirty-right year joh, Tom Sawy 'r.'' . lie neY 'l' aiclnotl1ing. BuL he sighed, and pr tty . oon he stopp d digging and then for a goocl little while I know0cl he wa. thinking. 'I'hcn he say. : ,, It ain't no us , II nc k, it ain't agoing to work. If ·wr was prisoners iL \vonld, because then \ve'cl have as many year. Ui:i we \Yantecl, and no hurry; and we wouldn't get but a few Jninui es to dig, yery dny, ,~·hilc they \Yas changing watches, :111d ~o onr hand._ wonlcln't get bli."'teretl, and \Ye could keep it np r ight along, year in and year out, an~ do it right, and the wny it. ourrht to he clonr. But 1ve cant fool along, we got to rn:-:h; \r b a in •t goL no tin1c to spare. If \Ye \Yas to put in a11o1 hrr nirrht this \Yny, we'd have to knock off for a w ek to let onr }1a~cls get wcll-~ouldn't touch a case-knife with then1 ~ooncr.'' '" 'Vell, th n, what \VC going i o do, Tom?., '~ I'll tell you. It ai.n 't righ1, and it ain't moral, an l I wouldn't like it t o·et out--but there ain't only ju:i tlH' onr b way; \YC goL to dig hi1n out \Yith the pick , and lel on iL':-; ca. e-kniv . : "l\.,.o1r you 'rc lalZ· i ng ! ., I sn.ys ; " your head g ts l <'\'C ller · c.1 and leYellcr all the tun , To1n ~-,awy ·r, ,, I says. " I).1 c1 \: S I.S th e thing, 1noral or no 1noral; and as for 1ne, I don'L care shuck.~ for the n1orality of it, noho\v. \Vhen I start in to steal a nigcrer, or a watcnnclon, or a Rnnday-school book, I ain't no way· particular how if:-; <1one so it\; done. \Yhat I want is 1ny nigger; or what 1 want i:-; n1y watermelon; or what I want is 111y ~ unday-.·chool book; ancl if a pick's the hanclic t thing, thaf~ t1te thing I'n1 (lgoing to dig that nigger or that waterl11 ·lon or that f-;nnday-school book out \vith ; and I don't give a dea<1 rat what the authorities thinks about it nuther.'' "\Yell," hr ay.·, "ther ·s excuse for picks and l etting-on in a case like thi.· ; if it ·wnrn't Eo, I wouldn"t approve of ii, nor .'> ('C) ) ), I woulcln 'L tancl by and . c tl1 rul e~ brokc-h cau:e right is right, and \\Tong i~ wrong, and a body ai n '( got no busin :-:s doi11g wr ng when he ain't ignorant a11cl knowH bt-Ltcr. I t might an wcr for yon to dig Jin1 out with a pi~k, 1vilhout any letting-on, becau · you d n~t kno\Y no better; hut iL wouldn't for me, because I clo know b iter. Girn1ne a ca. e-knif<·.'· } [e had his OWD by hi111, but f 11nnclccl hin1 Inin . ) [e flung it dnwn, <lnd say._: " G inlmc a case-l·n (le .'' I didn "t kno,,· ju t what to do-but i hrn I thought. I scratched around a1nong t the old tool~, nncl got a pick-axe and give it i o hiin, and h~ took it and \Vent Lo work, antl never said · a word. lfe wa: always jn t that parti ·nlar. l'ull of principl~ . Ho then I got a . hovel, and then we picked and . h vell d, hnn about, and Inade the fur fly. vY ~ Rtu~k to it ab nt a, half an hour, which 'va: as long ns w could tancl np ; but we had a goocl d al of a hole to .·how for it. \Yh cn I got up tair.._ , I look cl ont at th \rindow and sr Tom <loing his level b , t with the lightning-rod, but he couldn't cmn it, his hands was o sore. At last h says: "It ain't no u · , it can't be <lon e. \Y11at you reckon I b tt~r do? Can't you think up no \Yay?., "y· es;· I say., "but l r ckon it ain"t r \gnlnr. C01n up t.h stairs, and let on it's a lightning-rod.·· So he done it. Next day To1n stole a pcwt r ~poon and a bra. candle tick in Lhe hou:e, for to make some pens for Ji1n out of, and . ix tallow candles ; and I hung aronnd the nigg r cabins, and laid for a chance, and stol thrc tin plate:. T nn1 , aid it wa:u't enough; but I . ajd nobody wouldn't e ver ·c the plate· that Jim throwcd out, becau. \ they'd fall in the dog-fennel and j imp on \reed· under the window-hole-then we conld tote B B |