He went on listening , and gathered by odds and ends that it was conjectured at first that the boys had got drowned while taking a swim ; then the small raft had been missed ; next , certain boys said the missing lads had promised that the village should " hear something " soon ; the wise - heads had " put this and that together " and decided that the lads had gone off on that raft and would turn up at the next town below , presently ; but toward noon the raft had been found , lodged against the missouri shore some five or six miles below the village - and then hope perished ; they must be drowned , else hunger would have driven them home by nightfall if not sooner 他继续听着，从零零星星的谈话中得知，开头人们以为几个孩子在游泳中淹死了其后他们又发现那只小木筏不见了接着又有些孩子说这几个失踪的孩子曾暗示过镇上人不久将“听到重大新闻”那些有头脑的聪明人根据东拼西凑的消息断定几个小家伙一定是撑着小木筏出去了，不久就会在下游的村镇里出现但是时近中午，人们发现木筏停在镇子下游五六英里的密西西比河岸边可孩子们不在上边，于是希望成了泡影，破灭了他们准是淹死了，否则的话，不要到天黑，他们就会饿得往家来。
