After James and Norman bury Sammy in the rain, James realizes he is freezing and the two men move into the brush to huddle for warmth. In the morning, Norman gives James Daniel Emmett's soaked leather notebook, which he had saved in his sack. Faced with Sammy's fresh grave and the danger of Henderson's pursuit, James decides they should keep moving along the river, steal an unattended boat if they can, and try to escape by water.

The two men head south through the woods while keeping the Mississippi in sight. Around midday, James finds a trotline and a tied skiff, takes several catfish while Norman stands watch, and the pair eat in the woods. James refuses to take the skiff immediately because he expects its owners to return before dark; instead, he waits so they can steal it with less risk of being caught.

At dusk, Norman wakes James when a man and a boy come to check the trotline. Because James had left enough fish on the line, the pair suspect nothing, gather their catch, retie the skiff, and leave with the oars. After they are gone, James and Norman build a crude paddle from branches and twine, steal the skiff and a couple more fish, and push out into the river. James tries to reassure Norman, who cannot swim, but once they reach mid-river they are largely at the mercy of the current.

When Norman spots the lights of an upriver riverboat, James forms a desperate plan: he wants to put the skiff in front of the vessel and try to latch onto it so they can climb aboard. As the ship bears down on them, the skiff is tossed in the wake and slammed against the hull. James discovers too late that the vessel is a side-wheeler, making the attempt far more dangerous because the paddlewheel can drag them under and destroy the skiff.

James manages to hook their tie rope under a heavy line hanging from the ship, but the paddlewheel's pull grows stronger and threatens to tear them away. James orders Norman to grab him, hauls himself onto the larger rope, and helps Norman climb up as the skiff is shredded behind them. They collapse on a low deck beneath the feet of people above, who assume the skiff's occupants must have died. Realizing discovery would be dangerous, James leads Norman through a hatch into a dim, deafening room below deck, where they hide in the shadows.