Huck and Jim were looking for a town named Cairo. On their way to the next town, they saw some steam boats heading their way. Huck and Jim have had have some boats come closer to them, but never actually touch their raft. This time it was differently the steamboat was heading their way pretty fast. The boat had hit them, and Huck and Jim had jumped off on differently side. Huck could find Jim.
The just plain mean how some people would trick Huck and Jim by pretending to be so close their raft and about to hit them, but actually having time to move. This last boat that actually hit their raft was just plain rude! People enjoy making other people suffer in order to laugh.