CHAPTER NINE

A Frightening Night among the Spirits

That night, Tom lay in bed waiting for Huck to call for him. When he finally heard the sound of a cat outside his window, Tom quietly climbed out of the window and found Huck waiting for him there with his dead cat.

They reached the graveyard in 30 minutes, as it was just outside of the village. The night was very quiet, so even the slightest sound made the boys jump from fear. When they had found the grave of Hoss Williams, it was still too early for the spirits to come, so Tom and Huck sat down under some trees nearby.

They waited a while without talking. But Tom started to become frightened by the sounds of the night, so he started to talk, hoping he'd forget about them.

"Huck, I bet that old Hoss can hear us here."

"Yeah, you're probably right. So you should always be careful about how you talk about dead people."

This made Tom think for a little while about all the things he had said about the dead people he'd known. But he was interrupted by the sound of voices.

"Did you hear that, Huck?"

Huckleberry listened for a moment and said:

"Tom, they're coming! Where can we hide?"

"I don't know. Do you think they can see us here?"

"Of course, they can see in the dark. They're spirits!"

"Well, maybe if we don't move, they won't see us."

"I'm pretty worried, Tom."

"Be quiet. I think they're getting close!"

Then something appeared. It looked like someone carrying a light. "I don't care about my warts any more, Tom! Let's just get out of here!"

Tom put his hands together and started to quietly pray.

"Wait, Tom! It's a person! No, it's three people ... and one of them is old Muff Potter. I can hear his drunken voice, I'm not afraid of him."

"And I know that other voice, Huck. It's Indian Joe."

"Now, him I am afraid of. Let's go, Tom."

But it was too late now. The men had already reached the grave, Hoss William's grave.

"Here we are, men." Tom didn't recognize this voice, but he looked around the tree and saw that it was Doctor Robinson. Tom was afraid to breathe for fear that the men might hear him.

"OK, now start digging." He said.

After a short while, the men pulled up Hoss' box from the ground.

Potter then spoke to the doctor: "Now we'll carry it away for you for five more dollars. If not, then we'll just leave it right here."

"I've already paid you enough," the doctor said.

"No, you'll pay us more, because it was your father who sent me to jail when I was younger. Your family owes me," said Indian Joe.

The doctor became angry and hit Indian Joe. Muff Potter was so surprised by this; he dropped his knife. Then he started to fight with the doctor. Indian Joe had seen Potter drop his knife, so when the two men started to fight, he picked it up and waited for the right moment to use it on the doctor. The opportunity came when the doctor turned his back on Indian Joe and hit Potter with a board, who fell quickly to the ground. Indian Joe didn't wait; he immediately put the blade of the knife into the doctor's back. The doctor suddenly stopped fighting and fell on top of Potter.

Tom and Huck quietly ran away without being seen. Potter was still asleep when Indian Joe put the knife he'd used to kill the doctor in his hand. When he finally woke up he first saw Indian Joe sitting near him; then he saw the doctor's body; and lastly he saw the knife in his own hand. It was covered with blood.

"I can't believe you killed him!" said Indian Joe.

"What? I didn't kill anyone!" Replied Potter, still surprised by what he'd woken up to.

"I saw the whole thing, Potter. After he hit you, you used your knife on him. But don't worry, Muff. I won't tell anyone."

Potter started crying: "Thank you, Joe. I knew you were a good friend."

"Now you've got to get out of here, before someone sees you."

Indian Joe watched Muff Potter run away and laughed to himself, saying, "Well, it looks like he was too drunk to remember to take his knife with him."

(end of section)