زیر صلیب

Under The Cross

The day after Injun Joe’s funeral, Huck was out of bed. He and Tom walked slowly out of the village. They had a good, long talk, and Huck heard all about the picnic, the cave, and Injun Joe.

‘We’re never going to find the money now,’ said Huck. ‘Huck,’ said Tom; ‘The money isn’t in St Petersburg. It’s in the cave -I know it is! Why was Injun Joe in the cave? Because he took the box of money there! Right?’ Huck looked excited. ‘Say that again, Tom!’ ‘The money’s in the cave! And we can get to it easily. Let’s go there now! I’ve got some candles and a long string. We can take a boat and put it back later.’ Twenty minutes later the boys were in a boat on the Mississippi. They went eight miles down the river, and then Tom stopped by some small trees.

‘Here we are’ he said.

Tom’s hole was just behind the trees. Tom took a candle and climbed in. Huck climbed in after him.

‘Injun Joe never found this hole,’ said Tom. ‘Or he did find it and couldn’t get through it. It’s very small.’ The boys went carefully through the tunnels with their string. Then Tom stopped.

‘I saw Injun Joe about here,’ he said. ‘And look, Huck -there’s the cross!’

There was a big smoke cross on the tunnel wall. The boys looked up and down the tunnel, but there was no box of money.

‘Injun Joe said under the cross,’ said Tom. ‘Perhaps it’s under the ground. Look, we can move these stones.’ The boys took their knives and began to dig by the tunnel wall. Very soon, they found a second, smaller tunnel under the wall. They climbed down into it, and came into a small room. There was a bed, two whiskey bottles, some old shoes - and the box of money.

When somebody finds treasure, everybody hears about it very quickly. The two boys carried the box through the village. And when they got to Aunt Polly’s house, half the village was with them. Everybody went into the house.

‘Oh, Tom, Tom’ cried Aunt Polly. ‘What is it now? And what have you got there?’

Tom put the box on the table and opened it.

There were twelve thousand dollars in that box. And suddenly, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were the richest people in St Petersburg.