Huck Finn woke up early the next morning. He walked down the stairs. He saw Mary Jane Wilks in her room. She was packing her trunk (a large, strong box for clothes). Mary Jane Wilks was getting ready to go to England. But she stopped packing. She sat on the floor and cried. Huck Finn felt very bad for her. He went into the room.
Huck Finn said, "Miss Mary Jane Wilks, please tell me why you are crying." Mary Jane Wilks looked at him. She said she was very sad about the slaves. The King sold the slave family to different people. Mary Jane Wilks thought the mother and children would never see each other again. She cried even harder.
Huck Finn could not stay quiet. He said, "They will see each other again. I know it!" He said it very fast. Mary Jane Wilks jumped up. She put her arms around Huck Finn. She asked him to say it again. Huck Finn knew he was in a difficult position. He needed to think.
Huck Finn thought for a minute. He usually told lies to stay safe. But Mary Jane Wilks was a very good person. He decided to tell her the truth. He said, "Miss Mary Jane Wilks, can you go to the country for a few days?" She said she could go to Mr. Lothrop's house. Huck Finn told her to go there and stay for four days.
Huck Finn asked her to lock the door. Then he said, "I will tell you the truth. These men are not your uncles. They are a couple of frauds (people who pretend to be someone else to steal money)." Mary Jane Wilks was very surprised. Her eyes were bright with anger. Huck Finn told her everything about the King and the Duke.
Mary Jane Wilks stood up. She was very angry. She said, "The King is a bad man! Let us tell the town. We will throw them in the river!" Huck Finn told her to wait. He said he had to stay with the men for a little longer. He wanted to help his friend Jim. He told Mary Jane Wilks his plan.
Huck Finn said, "Go to the country now. Stay at Mr. Lothrop's house until tonight. Come back at nine o'clock and wait. If I am safe, I will leave the town. If I do not come by eleven o'clock, you must tell the town the truth. Then the police will put the frauds in jail." Mary Jane Wilks promised to help him.
Huck Finn gave her a piece of paper. He wrote "Royal Nonesuch" on it. He told her to tell the court about that show. People from another town could prove the King was a liar. Huck Finn said the auction should continue. He said the sale of the house would not count because the men were frauds.
Mary Jane Wilks wanted to eat breakfast first. But Huck Finn said no. He told her to leave immediately. He said her face was too honest. If she saw the King, her face would show the truth. He told her to let him talk to her sisters. He would tell them a story about why she was gone.
Mary Jane Wilks asked about the bag of money. Huck Finn felt very sad. He said, "I stole the money from the King to give it to you. I hid it in a place, but I think it is gone now." He did not want to tell her the hiding place with his voice. He wrote it on a piece of paper for her.
The paper said: "I put the money in the coffin." Mary Jane Wilks read the paper. She started to cry again. She shook Huck Finn’s hand. She said she would never forget him. She promised to pray for him. Then Mary Jane Wilks left the house quietly through the back door.
Huck Finn saw Susan Wilks and Joanna Wilks. He told them that Mary Jane Wilks went to see the Proctor family. He said one of the Proctors was very sick with the mumps (a sickness that makes the neck grow large). He told the sisters the sickness was very dangerous. He said it was a new, special kind of mumps.
The sisters were worried and wanted to tell the King. Huck Finn stopped them. He said the King would be afraid of the sickness. He said the King might leave the girls behind. The sisters did not want to stay in the town alone. So they promised to stay quiet. They agreed to tell the King that Mary Jane Wilks was visiting a different family.
Huck Finn felt very good. He thought his plan was very smart. In the afternoon, the auction (a sale where people buy things) started in the town square. The King and the Duke were there. They looked very happy. They sold almost everything in the house.
The King wanted to sell one last piece of land. Suddenly, a new steamboat arrived. Many people ran from the boat toward the town square. They were shouting and laughing. They said, "Here are two more men! They also say they are the brothers of Peter Wilks!" Now there were two sets of uncles in the town.