Late that afternoon, James and Huck are surprised to find their own canoe and raft caught in brush near the beach where they had landed. James argues that they should use their own craft because it is not stolen and no one will be looking for the canoe, and Huck agrees. At dusk they push off again, James in the canoe and Huck on the raft, moving downriver under clear skies.

As they drift, Huck asks James what last name he would choose if he could choose one for himself. After joking about how names are made, James settles on "Golightly," then refines it to "James Golightly." The exchange gives James a brief moment of self-definition beyond enslavement, while Huck enjoys imagining names for both of them.

Later, James wakes to the noise of a passing steamboat and realizes that the canoe and raft have come apart and Huck is gone. James calls for Huck, but the riverboat noise swallows his voice. When James finally spots Huck panicking on the raft, James quietly rows back, pretends to be asleep, and lets Huck tie the vessels together before acting as if he has just awakened. Huck then tricks James by insisting they were never separated and that James dreamed the riverboat. James plays along, acting hurt so that Huck will feel guilty, reflecting that this kind of performance often makes life easier under white power.

Afterward, Huck confesses his deeper worry: because James belongs to Miss Watson, helping James escape feels like stealing property. James challenges Huck's thinking by saying that goodness cannot depend on rules, law, or even religion, because the law itself says James is a slave. As they listen to the silence of the river, James says he can hear the Ohio speaking of freedom. James reveals his goal plainly: he wants to get work, save money, return, and free Sadie and Lizzie so that they will belong to no one.