CHAPTER XXXI. Mutinous Language.—The Dead-house.—Cast-iron German and Flexible English.—A Dying Man's Confession.—I am Bound and Gagged. —I get Myself Free.—I Begin my Search.—The Man with one Thumb. —Red Paint and White Paper.—He Dropped on his Knees.—Fright and Gratitude.—I Fled through the Woods.—A Grisly Spectacle. —Shout, Man, Shout.—A look of Surprise and Triumph.—The Muffled Gurgle of a Mocking Laugh.—How strangely Things happen. —The Hidden Money.
CHAPTER XXXII. Ritter's Narrative.—A Question of Money.—Napoleon.—Somebody is Serious.—Where the Prettiest Girl used to Live.
CHAPTER XXXIII. A Question of Division.—A Place where there was no License.—The Calhoun Land Company.—A Cotton-planter's Estimate.—Halifax and Watermelons.—Jewelled-up Bar-keepers.
CHAPTER XXXIV. An Austere Man.—A Mosquito Policy.—Facts dressed in Tights. —A swelled Left Ear.
CHAPTER XXXV. Signs and Scars.—Cannon-thunder Rages.—Cave-dwellers. —A Continual Sunday.—A ton of Iron and no Glass.—The Ardent is Saved.—Mule Meat—A National Cemetery.—A Dog and a Shell. —Railroads and Wealth.—Wharfage Economy.—Vicksburg versus The "Gold Dust."—A Narrative in Anticipation.
Chapter 31
A Thumb-print and What Came of It
WE were approaching Napoleon, Arkansas. So I began to thinkabout my errand there. Time, noonday; and bright and sunny. Thiswas bad—not best, anyway; for mine was not (preferably) anoonday kind of errand. The more I thought, the more that factpushed itself upon me—now in one form, now in another. Finally,it took the form of a distinct question: is it good common senseto do the errand in daytime, when, by a little sacrifice ofcomfort and inclination, you can have night for it, and noinquisitive eyes around. This settled it. Plain question andplain answer make the shortest road out of most perplexities.
