I was very tired, and I soon fell asleep. When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was for a minute. I sat up and looked around, feeling a little scared. Then I remembered: I was hiding under some willows on the riverbank with the canoe. I looked out across the Mississippi River; it was so wide. The other bank seemed far, far away. The moon was so bright I could have counted the logs that floated on the river. Everything was quiet and it looked late. It even smelled late, if you know what I mean.
I yawned and stretched and started to untie the canoe when I heard the sound of oars. Soon I saw a rowboat coming toward me. When it got closer, I saw that it was Pap, but he didn’t see me because it was dark and I was hidden by the willow bushes. As soon as he was on shore, I started paddling as fast as I could to the middle of the river. Then I lay down in the bottom of the canoe and just let it float downstream.
I listened to the sounds that carried over the water. I could even hear men talking on the ferry dock by the shore. As I floated farther, their voices faded slowly away. Finally, I sat up and saw by the moonlight that I had come to Jackson’s Island.
I landed the canoe in a hollow on the shore of the island and covered it with willow branches so that no one could see it. As morning approached, the sky turned gray, and I went into the woods and had a nap. When I woke up, the sun was up high. I lay in the cool shade of the trees and felt rested and comfortable. A little breeze was blowing in the branches, and a couple of squirrels were chattering up there. I fell asleep again.
I was awakened by a loud boom from the river. I peeked out from the trees and saw a ferryboat full of people out in the middle of the river. They were firing a cannon over the water, and I knew why they were doing it. They thought I was dead and they were trying to make my body rise up to the surface of the water.
I went down to the riverbank and hid behind a log. As the ferryboat came closer to Jackson’s Island, I looked through a hole in the log. I could see Pap, Judge Thatcher, Tom Sawyer, and lots of other people I knew from St. Petersburg. Everyone was talking about my murder. Then the captain said, "Maybe his body washed ashore and got tangled in the brush at the water’s edge. I hope so, anyway."
They all crowded up to the front of the boat and leaned over the rails, watching. I could see them clearly, but they couldn’t see me. The boat floated on and went out of sight. I heard the cannon boom now and then, further and further off. After a while, I heard the boat on the other side of the island. It had turned around, and the people were going back to St. Petersburg. Now I guessed that they had stopped looking for me.
I got my supplies out of the canoe and made a nice camp in the woods. I made a tent out of my blankets to keep my things out of the rain. I caught a catfish, and around sunset, I lit a campfire and had supper. Then I set out a fishing line to catch some fish for breakfast.
When the night became dark, I sat by my campfire, and as it got later, I felt lonely. I went down to the riverbank and listened to the river and counted the logs and rafts and stars. Finally, I went to bed.
The next three days were exactly the same, but on the fourth day, I explored the island. It belonged to me and I wanted to know all about it. I took my gun just in case I saw animals I could kill for food. I found lots of ripe strawberries, green summer grapes, and unripe raspberries I could eat later on.
Then I almost stepped on a large snake. It slid off through the grass and flowers, and I ran after it, trying to shoot it. Suddenly I leaped onto the ashes of a campfire that was still smoking. My heart was beating so hard it was jumping out of my chest.
I backed away as fast as I could, and then I ran. Every time I saw a bush, I thought it was a man. When I got back to camp, I hid all my supplies back in my canoe. I put out my campfire and climbed a tree.
I couldn’t stay up there forever, so finally I came down, but I stayed in the thick woods. By nighttime I was very hungry, but I was afraid to stay on the island. So I paddled my canoe over to the Illinois shore. I went into the woods there and had a meal of berries and the fish left over from my breakfast.
I had just decided I would stay there all night when I heard horses coming, and then I heard men’s voices. I was afraid they would see me, so I jumped into my canoe and paddled back to Jackson’s Island.