Miss Watson was very angry at Huckleberry Finn in the morning. She saw his dirty clothes and scolded him. But the Widow Douglas was not angry. The Widow Douglas cleaned the grease and the dirt. The Widow Douglas looked very sad. Huckleberry Finn wanted to be good for a while because she was kind.
Miss Watson took Huckleberry Finn into a small room. Miss Watson prayed there. She told Huckleberry Finn to pray every day. Miss Watson said Huckleberry Finn would get everything he asked for. But this was not true. Huckleberry Finn tried it.
Huckleberry Finn prayed for a fishing line. He got a line but he did not have any hooks. A line is not useful without hooks. Huckleberry Finn prayed for hooks many times. He did not get any hooks. Huckleberry Finn asked Miss Watson to pray for him. Miss Watson called Huckleberry Finn a fool.
Huckleberry Finn went into the woods to think. He thought about prayer. A man named Deacon Winn lost a lot of money. Why did prayer not help him get it back? The Widow Douglas lost her silver box. Why did prayer not find it? Miss Watson was very thin. Why did prayer not make her fat?
Huckleberry Finn told the Widow Douglas his thoughts. The Widow Douglas explained prayer to him. She said people get spiritual gifts (things that help your soul and make you a better person). She said Huckleberry Finn must help other people. He must never think about himself.
Huckleberry Finn thought about this in the woods for a long time. He saw no advantage for himself. He decided not to worry about prayer any more. Sometimes the Widow Douglas talked about Providence (a name for God and his care for people). She made it sound wonderful.
But Miss Watson also talked about Providence. Miss Watson made it sound very scary. Huckleberry Finn thought there were two different Providences. He liked the Providence of the Widow Douglas. But Huckleberry Finn was afraid he was too bad for any Providence to want him.
Huckleberry Finn did not see Pap for more than a year. This made Huckleberry Finn feel comfortable. Pap was the father of Huckleberry Finn. Pap hit Huckleberry Finn when Pap was not drunk. Huckleberry Finn usually ran into the woods when Pap was near.
People found a dead man in the river. This happened twelve miles from the town. People thought the man was Pap. The man was dirty and had long hair. His face was not clear because he was in the water for a long time. The man was floating on his back.
The people buried the man on the river bank. But Huckleberry Finn was not happy. He remembered something important. A dead man does not float on his back. A dead man floats on his face. Huckleberry Finn knew the dead person was a woman in men’s clothes. He knew Pap was still alive.
The boys played in the gang for one month. Then Huckleberry Finn stopped. All the boys stopped. They did not rob any people. They did not kill any people. They only pretended. They ran out of the woods and scared people. They scared people with pigs or women with vegetables.
Tom Sawyer called the pigs "gold bars." Tom Sawyer called the vegetables "jewels." The boys went to the cave to talk about their work. They talked about the people they "killed" and marked. But Huckleberry Finn did not see any profit in it.
One day, Tom Sawyer sent a boy into town with a burning stick. This was a slogan (a sign for the gang to meet). Tom Sawyer said he had secret news. He said rich people from Spain and Arabia were coming to a place called Cave Hollow.
Tom Sawyer said they had hundreds of elephants and camels. He said they had many diamonds. He said four hundred soldiers guarded the treasure. We had to wait in an ambuscade (a place where you hide to surprise an enemy). We had to clean our swords and guns.
Our swords and guns were only pieces of wood. You could clean them for a long time, but they were still wood. Huckleberry Finn did not believe Tom Sawyer. We could not fight many soldiers. But Huckleberry Finn wanted to see the camels and elephants.
On Saturday, the boys hid in the woods. Then they ran down the hill to attack. But there were no elephants or camels. There were no rich people. It was only a picnic for a Sunday-school. There were only small children there.
The boys chased the children. The children ran away into the woods. The boys did not get any diamonds. They only got some doughnuts (small, round, sweet cakes) and jam. One boy got a doll. Then the teacher came and the boys ran away.
Huckleberry Finn talked to Tom Sawyer about the diamonds. Tom Sawyer said the diamonds were there. Tom Sawyer said the elephants were there, too. Huckleberry Finn asked why he could not see them. Tom Sawyer said Huckleberry Finn was ignorant.
Tom Sawyer said everything was done by enchantment (magic that changes how things look). Tom Sawyer said they had enemies. He called these enemies magicians (people who use magic). The magicians changed the treasure into a picnic to be mean.
Huckleberry Finn wanted to fight the magicians. Tom Sawyer said that was a bad idea. He said a magician could call genies (magic spirits that are very strong). Tom Sawyer said genies are as tall as trees. They are as big as a church.
Tom Sawyer said people call genies with a tin lamp or an iron ring. You rub the lamp and the genie comes with thunder and lightning. The genies do everything you say. They can build a palace made of diamonds. They can bring a princess from China.
The genie must do these things before the sun comes up. The genie must move the palace to any place you want. Huckleberry Finn thought the genies were stupid. Why did they give the palace away? Huckleberry Finn would keep the palace for himself.
Tom Sawyer said the genies must obey the person with the lamp. Huckleberry Finn thought about this for two days. He wanted to see if it was true. Huckleberry Finn found an old lamp and an iron ring. He went into the woods.
Huckleberry Finn rubbed the lamp for a long time. He wanted to build a palace and sell it. But no genie came. Huckleberry Finn decided that Tom Sawyer told a lie. Tom Sawyer believed the stories, but Huckleberry Finn did not. It was only a Sunday-school picnic.