"I dunno a foot of de way, an' I dunno whar' de fort is either." Tom being equally ignorant, their long consultation held on the spot, ended in an enforced abandonment of the enterprise which had occupied their heads and hands for so long a time.
"Now dar' it is, Mas' Tom," said Joe.

"Dat's always the way.

Mas' Sam never makes no blunder, 'cause he thinks it all out careful fust.

Poor Joe's head gets things all mixed up.

I ain't no count anyhow, an' I jest wish I was dead or somethin'." Poor Joe! The disappointment was a sore one to him.