CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Back to the Cave

The judge immediately had people working to open the iron door he had placed over the cave entrance. When they were finally successful in opening it, they found Indian Joe lying on the ground just inside, dead. Tom felt a little sad to see him that way, but at the same time he was no longer afraid.

The following morning Tom and Huck met each other to talk. Huck told Tom about what happened with Indian Joe and his partner after he'd followed them up Cardiff Hill.

" ... and I heard gunfire and I heard the next day from Old Man Jones that the two men had gotten away. Now we'll never find that money!"

"I think I know where it is, Huck! It must be in the cave!"

"Huck," Tom said, "that money was never in Number Two. It's in the cave!"

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. Why don't we go and look? Do you have enough strength now?"

"If it's too deep inside, I won't be able to go with you."

"Don't worry. I know a secret way to get there. We'll go through the hole I used to escape from the cave."

"Can we go now, Tom?"

"OK. Let's just get a little bit of food, some tobacco, some string, and a couple of lights and we'll be ready."

So, at noon they took the boat of a friend down river to the place where Tom had exited the cave.

Tom went in first, after tying a string to a rock outside the cave. Coming to the little pool where he and Becky had waited without hope, Tom told Huckleberry how frightening it had been to be so lost.

When they found the hole in the floor where Tom had seen Indian Joe, they shone their lights down inside and found a hill leading to another rock below.

"OK, now look over there on that large rock. What do you see?"

"Hey! It's ... "

"A cross. Remember what we heard them say? The number two place was 'under the cross!'"

"I'm pretty frightened, Tom. Maybe we should just leave."

"What! And leave the money?"

"Tom, Indian Joe's spirit must be down here."

"But, Huck, he died five miles away from this spot, near the entrance."

"But you know what spirits do! They always guard their treasure!"

Tom thought for a moment. "Wait a minute, Huck. He was a bad man; his spirit wouldn't go near a cross!"

"Hey, you're right!" Huck agreed. "OK, let's go and get that money, Tom."

When they reached the bottom of the hill they found the place where Indian Joe had been sleeping. There was not money to be seen, however. But then Tom took out his knife and went behind the rock with the cross on it, and not long after he started digging, his knife struck wood.

"Hey Huck! Did you hear that noise?"

Together, they dug further, until they were able to easily pull the box from the ground.

"Look there, under the box, Tom!"

There were two guns.

"You know what this means, Tom? It means we're wealthy now!"

"I always knew we'd find this money! And here it is. It's all ours!"

They emptied the box and put everything in two bags and started walking back toward the exit.

"What about the guns, Tom?"

"We can get those later. I'm too hungry to worry about that now."

When they returned to the outside again, they got out their food and ate. And when they finished eating, Huckleberry took some tobacco from his pocket, for an after-dinner smoke.

"Huck," said Tom, "we'll take the money to Mrs Douglas' house. I know a place near there to put it tonight. Tomorrow morning we can count it and divide it. And then we can find a place in the forest where it will be safe. You wait here now and watch it. I'm going to get Benny Taylor's little wagon."

Within minutes Tom returned pulling the wagon behind him.

As they were passing Mr Jones' home, he came out the door yelling, "Who's there?"

"It's just Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Sir!"

"You boys come with me now! Everyone's been waiting for you. I'll take that wagon; you don't have to pull it yourself. It looks really heavy. What's in it? I'm sure it's filled with dirt or something of no value. Now let's move a little faster. You've got people waiting."

"People waiting, Sir?" the boys asked.

"You'll find out soon."

They walked to Mrs Douglas' house and entered the front door. Inside were all of their closest friends: Aunt Polly, Sid, and Mary, the Thatchers and the Harpers. They were all wearing their best clothing, while Tom and Huckleberry had dirt all over their clothes and faces. Aunt Polly seemed to be embarrassed by the boys' appearance. Noticing this, Mrs Douglas took the boys into the bathroom and gave them some new clothing to put on after they'd washed up.

"Come and join us at the dinner table when you've all finished." she said shutting the door behind her.

(end of section)