14 Joyful News and a Great Surprise

CHAPTER 14 Joyful News and a Great Surprise Tuesday night came and the whole village of St.Petersburg was in mourning. Most of the searchers had given up, and many people said the children could never be found. Then, in the middle of the night, a wild peal burst from the village bells, and the streets swarmed with frantic half-clad people who shouted: "They're found! They're found!" Aunt Polly began cheering and wildly clapping her hands while Mrs.Thatcher could barely speak; she was still crying but now she was raining tears of joy. Tom lay on a sofa

with a crowd gathered around him and told the history of how he left Becky and went on alone to find an opening; how he followed two passages as far as his kite line would reach; how he followed a third to the fullest stretch of the kite line, and was about to turn back when he glimpsed a far-off speck that looked like daylight; how he then dropped the line and groped toward it, pushed his head and shoulders through a small hole, and saw the broad Mississippi River rolling by! Three days and nights of toil and hunger were not to be shaken off easily; Tom and Becky were bedridden all of Wednesday and Thursday. Saturday was nearly spent when he finally got up and about. Tom immediately went to see Huck, who had been laid up with a serious fever, but the Widow Douglas was caring for him and would allow no visitors.

A week later, Huck was still laid up. Tom stopped by to see Becky. Judge Thatcher and some friends set Tom to talking about his adventures in the cave. "Well," the judge said when Tom was done, "nobody will get lost in that cave anymore." "Why?" Tom asked. "Because I had its big door covered with sheet iron two weeks ago, and had it triple locked—and I've got the keys." Tom turned as white as a sheet. "What's the matter, boy? Here, run, somebody! Fetch a glass of water!" The water was brought and thrown into Tom's face. "Ah, now you're all right. What was the matter with you?" "Oh, Judge, Injun Joe's in the cave!"

A few hours later, the cave door was unlocked. Injun Joe lay stretched upon the ground dead, with his face close to the crack of the door. The poor unfortunate had starved to death. After Huck was finally well, the two boys had a talk. There was still no news about the treasure. Injun Joe's room at the inn had been searched, but it had been empty. "I reckon Injun Joe's left friends behind him," Huck said. "And they took the money. Anyways, it's a goner for us, Tom." "Huck, that money wasn't ever in the inn!" "What!" "Huck, it's in the cave!" Soon after, the boys borrowed a small boat and headed down the river. When they were several miles below the cave, Tom directed Huck to steer the boat ashore.

"Now, Huck, where we're a-standin' you could touch that hole I got out with a fishing pole. See if you can find it." Huck searched all over the place but found nothing. Tom proudly marched into a clump of sumac bushes and said: "Here you are! Look at it, Huck; it's the snuggest hole in this country. All along, I've been wanting to be a robber but I knew I'd got to have a thing like this. We'll keep it quiet, only let Joe Harper know— because of course we need a gang. Tom Sawyer's Gang —it sounds splendid, don't it, Huck?" "Well, it just does, Tom. And who'll we rob?" "Oh, most anybody, I guess." "Why, it sounds bully, Tom." By this time the boys were ready to enter the hole, Tom in the lead. They worked their way to the far end of the tunnel. A few more

steps brought them to the spring where Tom and Becky had stayed. Seeing it again, Tom felt a shudder of fear rush through him. He showed Huck the fragment of candlewick perched on a lump of clay against the wall and told how he and Becky had watched the flames flicker and die. They went on some yards farther to the place where Tom had first spotted Injun Joe. "Now I'll show you something, Huck." Tom held his candle high and said: "Look as far around the corner as you can. Do you see that? There—on the big rock over yonder—done with the candle smoke." "Tom, it's a cross!" "Now, where's your Number Two? Under the cross, huh?" The boys got their knives out and started digging. They hadn't gone four inches before they struck wood.