An' I guess he wasn't tryin' to swim the Kentucky, else he would have took off his clothes." "Which cuts out all three o' my guesses, leavin' me nothin' to go on.
Now, I ain't in the habit of pickin' floatin' an' unconscious boys out o' the middle o' the river, an' that leaves me in unpleasant doubt, me bein' of an inquirin' turn o' mind." "It was murder," said Harry, at last finding strength to speak.
"Murder!" exclaimed the man and boy together.
"Yes, murder, that is, an attempt at it.

A man set upon me to kill me, and in the struggle we fell in the river, which, with your help, saved my life.

Look here!" He tore open his coat and shirt, revealing his chest, which looked like pounded beef.
"Somebody has shorely been gettin' in good hard licks on you," said the man sympathetically, "an' I reckon you're tellin' nothin' but the truth, these bein' such times as this country never heard of before.

My name's Sam Jarvis, an' I came with this raft from the mountains.

This lunkhead here is my nephew, Ike Simmons.