The next day at noon, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn met at the dead tree. They came to get their tools. Tom wanted to go to the haunted house. But Huck suddenly stopped.
"Tom, do you know what day it is?" Huck asked.
Tom thought about the days of the week. He looked at Huck with fear.
"I forgot, Huck! I did not think about it!" Tom said.
"I forgot too," Huck said. "But then I remembered. Today is Friday."
"We must be very careful," Tom said. "Friday is a very unlucky day. We might get into big trouble."
"I had a bad dream last night," Huck said. "I dreamed about rats."
"That is a sign of trouble," Tom said. "We will not go to the house today. We will play instead. Do you know Robin Hood?"
"No. Who is he?" Huck asked.
"He was a famous robber in England," Tom 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," Huck 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 a dirt floor. There were many cobwebs 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 heard a sound.
"Sh!" Tom said.
"What is it?" Huck whispered. His face was very pale.
"Listen! They are coming to the door!" Tom said.
The boys lay on the floor. They looked through small holes in the wood. Two men entered the house. One man was dressed like a Spaniard. 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 Indian Joe!
"This place is fine," Indian Joe said. "I wanted to leave yesterday. But those boys were playing on the hill. I did not want them to see us."
Tom and Huck felt very afraid. They were happy they did not come on Friday. The men ate some food. Then Indian Joe felt tired.
"I need to sleep," Indian Joe said to the other man. "You must watch the door."
Indian Joe went to sleep. Soon, the other man fell asleep too. Tom tried to walk away quietly. But the floor made a loud noise. Tom sat down again. The boys waited for a long time. Finally, the sun began to set.
Indian 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," Indian 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 Indian Joe. Indian 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 Indian Joe’s knife hit something hard.
"What is this?" Indian Joe asked.
"Is it a box?" the other man asked.
Indian Joe broke the wood. He put his hand inside. He pulled out many gold coins.
"It is money!" Indian 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.
"We need a tool," the other man said. "I saw a pick in the corner."
The man brought the boys' pick and shovel. Indian 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," Indian Joe said. "This is not about money. It is about revenge."
Indian 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?"
Indian 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."
"Do you mean Number One?" the other man asked.
"No," Indian Joe said. "Number Two. Under the cross."
Indian Joe looked out the windows. Then he looked at the stairs. "Maybe they are upstairs," he said.
Indian 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!
Indian 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 and Huck 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.
"Indian Joe found our tools," Tom 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 had a scary thought.
"Huck," Tom said. "Indian Joe wants revenge. What if he wants to hurt us?"
Huck felt sick with fear. They walked into the town quietly. They hoped Indian Joe was looking for someone else.