The next day at noon, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn met at the dead tree. They came to get their tools. Tom Sawyer wanted to go to the haunted house (a house where people believe ghosts live). But Huckleberry Finn suddenly stopped.
"Tom, do you know what day it is?" Huckleberry Finn asked.
Tom Sawyer thought about the days of the week. He looked at Huckleberry Finn with fear.
"I forgot, Huck! I did not think about it!" Tom Sawyer said.
"I forgot too," Huckleberry Finn said. "But then I remembered. Today is Friday."
"We must be very careful," Tom Sawyer said. "Friday is a very unlucky day. We might get into big trouble."
"I had a bad dream last night," Huckleberry Finn said. "I dreamed about rats."
"That is a sign of trouble," Tom Sawyer said. "We will not go to the house today. We will play instead. Do you know Robin Hood?"
"No. Who is he?" Huckleberry Finn asked.
"He was a famous robber (a person who steals things) in England," Tom Sawyer explained. "But he was a good man. He only robbed rich people and kings. He gave the money to poor people."
"I want to be like him," Huckleberry Finn said.
The boys played Robin Hood all afternoon. They looked at the haunted house sometimes. They planned to go there the next day. When the sun went down, they went home.
On Saturday afternoon, the boys met at the tree again. They smoked and talked in the shade. They dug a little in their last hole. They did not find anything. Then they carried their tools to the haunted house.
The house was very quiet and lonely. The boys were afraid to go inside. They looked through the door. They saw a room with no floor. There were many cobwebs (nets made by spiders) everywhere.
The boys entered the house slowly. They spoke in whispers. They were ready to run away. After a few minutes, they felt braver. They decided to go upstairs.
The stairs were old and weak. The boys went up and looked around. The rooms were empty and dark. They were ready to go down and start digging. Suddenly, Tom Sawyer heard a sound.
"Sh!" Tom Sawyer said.
"What is it?" Huckleberry Finn whispered. He was very white.
"Listen! They are coming to the door!" Tom Sawyer said.
The boys lay on the floor. They looked through small holes in the wood. Two men entered the house. One man was a Spaniard (a man from the country of Spain). He had long white hair and white whiskers. He wore green glasses. The other man was dirty and wore old clothes.
The men sat on the ground. The dirty man spoke. "I do not like this. It is dangerous," he said.
"Dangerous!" the Spaniard said. His voice was loud.
The boys were very shocked. They knew that voice. It was Injun Joe!
"This place is fine," Injun Joe said. "I wanted to leave yesterday. But those boys were playing on the hill. I did not want them to see us."
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn felt very afraid. They were happy they did not come on Friday. The men ate some food. Then Injun Joe felt tired.
"I need to sleep," Injun Joe said to the other man. "You must watch the door."
Injun Joe went to sleep. Soon, the other man began to sleep too. Tom Sawyer tried to walk away quietly. But the floor made a loud noise. Tom Sawyer sat down again. The boys waited for a long time. Finally, the sun began to set.
Injun Joe woke up. He kicked the other man. "Wake up!" he said. "It is almost time to go. What will we do with our money?"
"Let's leave it here," the other man said. "We have six hundred dollars in silver. That is too heavy to carry."
"Okay," Injun Joe said. "But we must bury it deep."
The other man went to the fireplace. He moved a large stone. He pulled out a bag of money. He took some money for himself. Then he gave the bag to Injun Joe. Injun Joe started to dig a hole with his knife.
The boys watched from upstairs. They were very excited. Six hundred dollars was a lot of money! Then Injun Joe’s knife hit something hard.
"What is this?" Injun Joe asked.
"Is it a box?" the other man asked.
Injun Joe broke the wood. He put his hand inside. He pulled out many gold coins.
"It is money!" Injun Joe shouted. "It is gold!"
The men looked at the coins. There were thousands of dollars. The boys upstairs were very happy. This was a great treasure (a collection of very valuable things like gold).
"We need a tool," the other man said. "I saw a pick (a heavy tool for breaking hard ground) in the corner."
The man brought the boys' pick and shovel. Injun Joe looked at the pick. He looked worried. Then he used it to dig up the box. It was a heavy iron box.
"We are rich!" the other man said. "Now you do not need to do that job."
"You do not understand," Injun Joe said. "This is not about money. It is about revenge (hurting someone because they hurt you first)."
Injun Joe looked at the pick again. "Wait," he said. "This pick has fresh earth on it. Someone was here today! Who brought these tools here?"
Injun Joe looked around the room. "We cannot leave the money here," he said. "Those people will come back. We will take the gold to my den (a secret place for a criminal)."
"Do you mean Number One?" the other man asked.
"No," Injun Joe said. "Number Two. Under the cross."
Injun Joe looked out the windows. Then he looked at the stairs. "Maybe they are upstairs," he said.
Injun Joe put his hand on his knife. He started to walk up the stairs. The boys were too afraid to move. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. The old stairs broke!
Injun Joe fell to the ground. He was angry.
"Forget about it," the other man said. "It is almost dark. If someone is up there, they can stay there. Let's go!"
The two men took the box of gold. They walked out of the house. They walked toward the river.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn stood up. They were very happy to be alive. They did not follow the men. They walked back to the town. They were very sad about the gold.
"Injun Joe found our tools," Tom Sawyer said. "That is why he took the money away. It is our fault."
They decided to look for the Spaniard in town. They wanted to find "Number Two." Then Tom Sawyer had a scary thought.
"Huck," Tom Sawyer said. "Injun Joe wants revenge. What if he wants to hurt us?"
Huckleberry Finn felt sick with fear. They walked into the town quietly. They hoped Injun Joe was looking for someone else.