of thinking about it and sort of trying to strike out a new way of
doing. That was the way of it last night. I couldn t sleep, and so I
come along upstreet bout midnight, a-turning it all over, and when I
got to that old shackly brick store by the Temperance Tavern, I backed
up agin the wall to have another think. Well, just then along comes
these two chaps slipping along close by me, with something under their
arm, and I reckoned they d stole it. One was a-smoking, and t other one
wanted a light; so they stopped right before me and the cigars lit up
their faces and I see that the big one was the deaf and dumb Spaniard,
by his white whiskers and the patch on his eye, and t other one was a
rusty, ragged-looking devil.
Could you see the rags by the light of the cigars?
This staggered Huck for a moment. Then he said:
Well, I don t know but somehow it seems as if I did.
Then they went on, and you
Follered em yes. That was it. I wanted to see what was up they sneaked
along so. I dogged em to the widder s stile, and stood in the dark and
heard the ragged one beg for the widder, and the Spaniard swear he d
spile her looks just as I told you and your two
What! The _deaf and dumb_ man said all that!
Huck had made another terrible mistake! He was trying his best to keep
the old man from getting the faintest hint of who the Spaniard might be,
and yet his tongue seemed determined to get him into trouble in spite of
all he could do. He made several efforts to creep out of his scrape,
but the old man s eye was upon him and he made blunder after blunder.
Presently the Welshman said:
My boy, don t be afraid of me. I wouldn t hurt a hair of your head for
all the world. No I d protect you I d protect you. This Spaniard is
not deaf and dumb; you ve let that slip without intending it; you can t
cover that up now. You know something about that Spaniard that you want
to keep dark. Now trust me tell me what it is, and trust me I won t
betray you.
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