C
Well, here we were, stuck on the steamboat with two bad men inside.
"We've got to find their boat now," I told Jim. "We need it for ourselves."
Jim was so afraid that he was 1. s
shaking
. I was nervous too. But we had to keep calm. Soon we found their small boat was 2. t
tied
up on the side.
Jim and I hopped in that boat quickly and cut the rope. We pushed off and headed down the river, looking for our raft(竹筏). We floated along for several miles and then we found it and were on 3. b
board
. We floated along for about three days. Then the river opened up and we knew we were heading in the right 4. d
direction
. We wanted to get to Cairo, a town on the Ohio River. It was a 5. f
free
place, and Jim would no longer be a slave(奴隶) there. But we had to be 6. c
careful
not to pass it.
Jim hid in a small house during the day in order not to be 7. s
seen
. But one day I saw a couple of men heading our way. They were looking for five runaway slaves. They asked me if my partner was black and wanted to 8. c
check
the boat.
I told them that it was my father. He was white and he was really 9. s
sick
.
"What's wrong with him?" the man asked.
"He's got smallpox(天花)," I lied. "Can you help him?"
"Stay 10. a
away
from us!" they shouted and started running away quickly. I was glad to see them go.