Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone | Page 6

to say."
Little Tommy Barnes was asleep now, and when they waked him up he
was scared, and cried, and said he wanted to go home to his ma, and
didn't want to be a robber any more.
So they all made fun of him, and called him cry-baby, and that made
him mad, and he said he would go straight and tell all the secrets. But
Tom give him five cents to keep quiet, and said we would all go home
and meet next week, and rob somebody and kill some people.
Ben Rogers said he couldn't get out much, only Sundays, and so he
wanted to begin next Sunday; but all the boys said it would be wicked
to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing. They agreed to get
together and fix a day as soon as they could, and then we elected Tom
Sawyer first captain and Jo Harper second captain of the Gang, and so
started home.
I clumb up the shed and crept into my window just before day was
breaking. My new clothes was all greased up and clayey, and I was
dog- tired.
CHAPTER III.
WELL, I got a good going-over in the morning from old Miss Watson
on account of my clothes; but the widow she didn't scold, but only
cleaned off the grease and clay, and looked so sorry that I thought I
would behave awhile if I could. Then Miss Watson she took me in the
closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every
day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so. I tried it.
Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn't any good to me without
hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't
make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me,
but she said I was a fool. She never told me why, and I couldn't make it
out no way.

I set down one time back in the woods, and had a long think about it. I
says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don't
Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork? Why can't the
widow get back her silver snuffbox that was stole? Why can't Miss
Watson fat up? No, says I to my self, there ain't nothing in it. I went
and told the widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by
praying for it was "spiritual gifts." This was too many for me, but she
told me what she meant--I must help other people, and do everything I
could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and never
think about myself. This was including Miss Watson, as I took it. I
went out in the woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but I
couldn't see no advantage about it--except for the other people; so at
last I reckoned I wouldn't worry about it any more, but just let it go.
Sometimes the widow would take me one side and talk about
Providence in a way to make a body's mouth water; but maybe next day
Miss Watson would take hold and knock it all down again. I judged I
could see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand
considerable show with the widow's Providence, but if Miss Watson's
got him there warn't no help for him any more. I thought it all out, and
reckoned I would belong to the widow's if he wanted me, though I
couldn't make out how he was a-going to be any better off then than
what he was before, seeing I was so ignorant, and so kind of low-down
and ornery.
Pap he hadn't been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable
for me; I didn't want to see him no more. He used to always whale me
when he was sober and could get his hands on me; though I used to
take to the woods most of the time when he was around. Well, about
this time he was found in the river drownded, about twelve mile above
town, so people said. They judged it was him, anyway; said this
drownded man was just his size, and was ragged, and had uncommon
long hair, which was all like pap; but they couldn't make nothing out of
the face, because it had been in the water so long it warn't much like a
face at all. They said he was floating on his back in the water. They
took him and buried him on the bank.