The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapter 14

Chapter 13
Ouch, I gasped in fright and almost fainted.Trapped on this wreck with such a gang!But now is not the time to moan.We had to find the boat, the lifeboat had to be found for our escape.So we staggered, scrambled, and moved back along the starboard side. We moved very slowly, and it seemed like a week before we came to the stern, but there was no sign of the lifeboat.Jim said he couldn't walk any more, and he was so frightened that he didn't have any energy left in him.But I say let's go, we're going to be in bad luck if we get stuck in this boat.Then we groped forward again, towards the aft end of the top cabin, and when we got there, we saw that the side of the skylight was already submerged in water, so we had to hold on to the wooden slats on the skylight and hang in the air. Move over little by little.Come to the entrance of the hall and have a look, thank God, the boat is there, yes!I can see it dimly.He could go up immediately, but at this juncture, the door opened.A person stuck his head out to look around, only two or three feet away from me, I thought I was finished.Unexpectedly, he retracted his head all of a sudden, and said:
"Get that damn lamp off, Bill!"

He threw a bag of things into the boat and climbed into it himself.It was Packard, and then Bill got into the boat.Packard whispered:
"It's all packed, let's sail!"

I was so weak that I could barely hold onto the shutter.But Bill said:

"Wait a minute, did you search him?"

"No. Don't you either?"

"No. So his share of the cash is still with him."

"Well then, come on, you can't just take things and leave your cash there."

"I said, won't he become suspicious and guess our intentions?"

"Probably not. But we've got to get it anyway. Come on."

So they got out of the boat and went into the cabin again.

The hatch was on the water side, so it slammed shut as soon as they got in, and I jumped into the boat right away, with Jim stumbling in after him.I took out my knife and cut the cable, and in the blink of an eye we were off in the boat.

We didn't move the oars, neither of us said a word, we didn't even whisper, and we didn't even dare to breathe.The boat drifted down the current quickly, without making a sound, in the silence of a tomb, rounded the top of the paddle wheel, and round the stern, and in an instant was a hundred yards below the wreck, and looked back. Look, it was pitch black, and there was no shadow of the wrecked ship. We were finally out of danger, and we were relieved.

We walked downstream for three or four hundred yards before we saw the lantern flicker from the top cabin door like a small spark from a distance.We both knew that the two rascals had found their boat missing, and they must have come to realize that they were just as unlucky as Turner.

Then Jim pulled out the oars and picked up speed to catch our raft.Only now did I worry about those people—I probably didn't have time to think about it just now.I began to think, even if it is a murderer, it is really terrible enough to get into such a desperate situation.I thought to myself, maybe I will become a murderer myself one day.So I said to Jim:
"As soon as we see the light, we'll find a good place to land about a hundred yards or so, and hide you and the boat, and I'll go ashore and make up a story, and get some one to get those guys out until they die. time, so that they can hang them to death."

But my idea was thwarted, for just at this moment there was another storm, and it was much more violent than the previous one.The rain was splashing straight down, and it was so dark that there was no light at all.It looked like everyone was sleeping.We shot down the river like arrows, staring for light and looking for our raft.It took a long time for the rain to stop, but the black clouds hadn't dissipated, and there were still thunder and lightning. Later, a lightning illuminated a dark thing floating in front of us, and we hurried to catch up.

It turned out to be our raft, and now we can go on the raft again. We are very happy.At this time, I saw a bright light on the far right bank, and I said I wanted to go there.Here were all the things that gangsters had stolen from the wreck, which took up half of the boat.We moved things to the raft and piled them up. I asked Jim to go on the raft and float down. About two miles out, I hung a light and kept the light on and waited for me. Then I took the oars and went straight to The light on the shore.Along the way, I saw three or four lights, all on the side of a small mountain.It was only later that I realized that it was a village.I stopped my oars near the light on the bank and floated across.When I passed the light, I could see that it was a lantern hanging on the flagpole of a double-hulled ferryboat.I speeded up and went around the ferry, trying to find the man watching the boat and see where he was sleeping.After searching for a while, I found him squatting on the cable post in front, with his head slumped between his knees.I nudged him on the shoulder and started crying.

He woke up suddenly, seeing me alone in front of him, he yawned slowly and unhurriedly, stretched his waist, and said:

"Hey, what's the matter? Don't cry, little brother, what's the matter?"

I say:

"My father, my mother, my sister, and..."

I said and burst into tears again.He said:
"Oh, that's all right, don't be so sad, everyone will inevitably encounter bad luck, just let it go. What's the matter with them?"

"They...they...are you watching the ship?"

"Not bad," he said, looking a little smug. "I'm the captain, the owner, the mate, the helmsman, the watchman, sometimes the ship's man, sometimes the cargo. I'm not as good as old Jim? Hornback has money, Can't be like him, being so fucking generous with anybody, throwing money around, but I've told him so many times, I won't switch. I said to him Well, we live like sailors, and if I live two miles from town and never see a thing, it's gonna kill me, even if he gives me double all his bills , I don't do it either. I said..."

"They've had the worst of bad luck, and..."

"Who?"

"Well, my father, my mother, my sister, and Miss Hooker, if you take the ferry up..."

"Where are they going? Where are they?"

"On a wrecked boat."

"Which wrecked ship?"

"Hey, that's the one."

"What, you mean the Walter? The Scott?"

"Yes."

"My God! How did they get there? My God."

"Well, they didn't mean to be there."

"Of course not, I dare say! Oh, God, if they don't come down quickly, there's no hope of it! Well, what did they do to get to such a gate?"

"It's quite simple to say, Miss Hook wants to go to the town above to see someone..."

"Yes, Booth Pier--go on."

"She was going to see someone at Booth Quay, and when it was getting dark she took her black maid across the river in a horse ferry, intending to spend the night at her friend's house, and I can't think of her The friend's name was lost. The boat lost its rudder oar, turned around, and drifted forward. After drifting for about two miles, it hit the wrecked boat and capsized. The punter and the woman The servant was drowned instantly, and the horses fell into the water and were drowned, but Miss Hooker clung desperately to the railing of the wreck, and climbed up, when it was dark. Another hour or so later Well, we got there in our freighter, and it was dark by then, and we couldn't see anything, and we hit it too. But we all got saved, except for Bill Whipple. Man—oh, he's a good man! Drown me and let him live, I really think so."

"My God! It's a great misfortune to never see it. And what happened to you after that?"

"Well, we shouted and panicked like hell, but the river was too wide for anyone to hear us. My father said that someone should go ashore and call for help. I was the only one who could swim, so I had to say yes. Came down. Miss Hook said if she couldn't get help right away, she'd come here to find her uncle, and his uncle would do something about it. I landed a mile further down, and wandered about till here Son, I want to ask for help, but the ones I can find are not willing to go. They say, "What, the river is flowing so fast in such a dark night? Isn't it killing people? Go find that ferry boat." .'If you will go...'

"My God, I'm willing to go. If I don't want to go, I'm not a human being; but tell me, who will pay for it? Look at your father..."

"You see, it's absolutely all right. Miss Hooker even told me that her uncle Hornback..."

"Oh! Hornback is her uncle? Listen to me, do you see that lighted place in the distance? Go there first, then turn west, and within half a mile, you will see a small hotel called the hotel. Take you to the Hornbacks, he'll pay for it. Don't dawdle because he'll want to know the news. Just say I'll save his niece before he gets to town. Come up. Now, go on your own, and I'll go round the corner and wake the sailor." I started toward the lighted place, but as soon as he turned the corner, I quickly turned back and jumped on the boat. The boat, bailed the water out of its belly, and paddled up the still water along the shore like six hundred yards, and then got into a wooden boat and hid, because I couldn't be relieved until I saw the ferry boat go.To say that I have spent so much effort for those guys, I feel quite comfortable in my heart. To be honest, no one is willing to put in such effort.I wish this would reach the widow's ears.I reckon she'd be proud of me for helping those bad guys.Widows and well-meaning people couldn't be more concerned about crooks and crooks.

Not long after, the broken boat came over, a black mass, drifting down the current!I couldn't help shivering, and when I gathered my mind, I rowed towards it.The boat has sunk so deep that I can see at a glance that if there are people on it, there is no way to save it.I turned around it and called a few times, but there was no response at all, it was as quiet as a tomb.It made me a little sick to think what happened to those guys, but it was all right, and I figured if they could take it, so could I.

The ferry boat also came down, and I quickly turned the bow of the boat, turned into a section of the rushing rapids, and paddled for a while, and then paddled towards the center of the river.I rowed until I felt that my eyes couldn't see, then I took off the oars, and looked back at the ferry boat circling the wreck, trying to find Miss Hooker's body, because the captain of the ferry boat knew in his heart that her uncle Horn Buck must be alive to see people, and dead to see corpses.After a while, the ferry stopped circling. Knowing that it was hopeless, it turned around and headed towards the pier.I moved quickly and rushed down like an arrow.

It seemed a very long time before Jim's light came out, but it still looked as if it were a thousand miles away.When I got there, there was a bit of gray in the eastern sky, and we rowed quickly to a small island, hid the raft, sank the boat in the water, and lay down and fell asleep, sleeping like a dead man. It was dark.

(End of this chapter)