Part 6 (1/2)

”What's de use to ax dat question? Don't you see I has?”

”Well, are you rich?”

”No, but I ben rich wunst, and gwyne to be rich agin Wunst I had foteen dollars, but I tuck to specalat'n', en got busted out”

”What did you speculate in, Jim?”

”Well, fust I tackled stock”

”What kind of stock?”

”Why, live stock?cattle, you know I put ten dollars in a cow But I ain' gwyne to resk no mo' money in stock De cow up 'n' died on my han's”

”So you lost the ten dollars”

”No, I didn't lose it all I on'y los' 'bout nine of it I sole de hide en taller for a dollar en ten cents”

”You had five dollars and ten cents left Did you speculate any er dat b'longs to old Misobadish? Well, he sot up a bank, en say anybody dat put in a dollar would git fo' dollars ers went in, but dey didn't have much I wuz de on'y one dat had much So I stuck out for it it I'd start a bank er want' to keep me out er de business, bekase he says dey warn't business 'nough for two banks, so he say I could put in my five dollars en he pay me thirty-five at de en'

er de year

”So I done it Den I reck'n'd I'd inves' de thirty-five dollars right off en keep things a-er name' Bob, dat had ketched a wood-flat, en his ht it off'n him en told him to take de thirty-five dollars when de en' er de year coht, en nex day de one-laigged nigger say de bank's busted So dey didn' none uv us git no money”

”What did you do with the ten cents, Jiwyne to spen' it, but I had a dreaer name' Balum?Balum's ass dey call him for short; he's one er dem chuckleheads, you know But he's lucky, dey say, en I see I warn't lucky De dream say let Balum inves' de ten cents en he'd make a raise for me Well, Balum he tuck de money, en when he wuz in church he hear de preacher say dat whoever give to de po' len' to de Lord, en boun' to git his ive de ten cents to de po', en laid low to see yne to come of it”

”Well, what did coe to k'leck dat wyne to len' no it yo' money back a hund'd tiit de ten _cents_ back, I'd call it squah, en be glad er de chanst”

”Well, it's all right anyway, Jiain some time or other”

”Yes; en I's rich now, coht hund'd dollars I wisht I had de money, I wouldn' want no o and look at a place right about the ; so we started and soon got to it, because the island was only threeand a quarter of a , steep hill or ridge about forty foot high We had a rough ti to the top, the sides was so steep and the bushes so thick We traood big cavern in the rock, most up to the top on the side towards Illinois The cavern was as big as two or three rooht in it It was cool in there Jiht away, but I said we didn't want to be cli up and down there all the tiood place, and had all the traps in the cavern, we could rush there if anybody was to cos And, besides, he said the to rain, and did I want the things to get wet?

So ent back and got the canoe, and paddled up abreast the cavern, and lugged all the traps up there Then we hunted up a place close by to hide the canoe in, ast the thick s We took soet ready for dinner

The door of the cavern was big enough to roll a hogshead in, and on one side of the door the floor stuck out a little bit, and was flat and a good place to build a fire on So we built it there and cooked dinner