So Jim went to work and told me the whole thing rightthrough,just as it happened, only he painted it up consider-able.Then he said he must start in and"’terpret"it, becauseit was sent for a warning.He said the first tow-head stoodfor a man that would try to do us some good, but the cur-rent was another man that would get us away from him.Thewhoops was warnings that would come to us every now and then, and if we didn’t try hard to make out to understandthem they’d just take us into bad luck, ’stead of keeping usout of it.The lot of tow-heads was troubles we was going toget into withquarrelsome people and all kinds of mean folks, but if we minded our business and didn’t talk back and ag-gravate them, we would pull through and get out of the fog and into the big clear river,which was the free States, and wouldn’t have no more trouble.It had clouded up pretty dark just after I got onto the raft,but it was clearing up again, now.
　　"Oh, well that’s all interpreted well enough, as far as it goes, Jim, "I says;"but what does these things stand for?"
　　It was the leaves and rubbish on the raft, and the smashed oar.You could see them first rate, now.
　　Jim looked at the trash, and then looked at me, and back at the trash again.He had got the dream fixed so strong in his head that be couldn’t seem to shake it loose and get the facts back into its place again, right away . But when he did get the thing straightened around, he looked at me steady, without ever smiling,and says：
　　"What do dey stan’for?I’s gwyne to tell you.When I got all wore out wid work, en wid de callin’for you, en went to sleep, my heart wuz mos’broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’k’yer no mo’what become er me en de raf’.En when I wake up en fine you back agin’, all safe en soun’, de tears come en I could a got down on my knees en kiss’yo’foot I’s so thankful.En all you wuz thinkin’’bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie.Dat truck dah is trash;en trash is people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren’sen makes ’em ashamed."
　　Then he got up slow, and walked to the wigwam, 9 and went in there without saying anything but that.But that was enough.It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back.
　　It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and hombre myself to a n nigget-but I done it .and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards.neither.I didn’t do him no moremear onwould make him feel that way.