One day, Tom Sawyer wanted to find hidden treasure. He looked for Joe Harper and Ben Rogers. But he could not find them. Then, he saw Huckleberry Finn.
Huck liked the idea. He had a lot of free time. He asked, “Where will we dig, Tom?”
Tom answered, “People hide treasure in special places. Sometimes they hide it on islands. Sometimes they hide it under dead trees. But they mostly hide it in haunted houses.”
Huck asked, “Who hides the treasure?” Tom said, “Robbers hide it. Then they die or they forget where it is. The treasure stays there for a long time and gets rusty.”
Huck’s eyes were bright. He said, “I want to find a hundred dollars!” Tom said, “I want to find diamonds. Some diamonds are worth a lot of money.”
They went to find a shovel and a pick. They walked three miles to a dead tree on a hill. It was a very hot day. They sat under an elm tree to rest.
Tom asked, “What will you do with your money, Huck?” Huck said, “I will eat pie and go to the circus every day. What will you do, Tom?”
Tom said, “I will buy a new drum and a sword. Then, I will get married.” Huck was surprised. He thought marriage was a bad idea. He remembered his parents fighting.
They began to dig under the dead tree. They worked for an hour. They were very hot and tired. They did not find any treasure.
Tom said, “We are in the wrong place. We must find where the shadow of the tree falls at midnight. That is where the treasure is!”
Huck said, “Then we must come back at night. It is a long way to walk.” Tom said, “We must do it tonight. If someone else sees our holes, they will take the treasure.”
They went back to the tree at midnight. The woods were very dark and quiet. They heard an owl in the trees. The boys felt a little afraid.
They found the shadow and began to dig. They worked very hard. Their hole became very deep. But they only found big stones.
Tom said, “It is no use. We are wrong again. Maybe the time was not exactly midnight.” Huck was very scared now. He felt like a ghost was behind him.
Tom said, “Robbers always put a dead man near a treasure to guard it. I do not like being near dead people at night.” Huck agreed. They decided to stop digging there.
Tom said, “Let’s try the haunted house next!” Huck did not like the idea. He was afraid of ghosts in white sheets.
Tom said, “Ghosts only come out at night. They will not stop us in the daytime.” Huck thought about this. He said, “Okay. We will try the house during the day.”
They walked down the hill. They saw the old haunted house in the valley. It was falling apart and stood alone. They walked home through the woods.