Huck Finn spoke to Tom Sawyer. "Tom, we can escape if we find a rope," Huck said. "The window is not far above the ground."
Tom asked why Huck wanted to leave. Huck said he did not like large groups of people. He was too nervous to go to the party. Tom told him not to worry. Tom promised to take care of him.
Sid came into the room. He said Aunt Polly had been waiting for Tom all afternoon. Mary had put his Sunday clothes out at home, and everyone had been worried about him. Sid saw the dirt and the wax on their clothes.
"Sid, go away!" Tom said. "What is this party for?"
Sid said the party was for the Welshman and his sons. The Widow Douglas wanted to thank them for their help. Sid also knew a secret. He said Mr. Jones, the Welshman, wanted to surprise everyone. The surprise was about how Huck followed the robbers.
"Did you tell everyone the secret, Sid?" Tom asked.
Sid laughed. He did not say yes, but Tom knew the truth. Tom was very angry. He said Sid was a mean boy. He said Sid was jealous because people liked Huck. Tom hit Sid and pushed him out of the room.
Later, the guests ate supper. The children sat at small tables in the same room. Mr. Jones stood up to give a speech. He thanked the Widow Douglas for the meal. Then he told the story of Huck and the robbers. He wanted to surprise everyone.
The people tried to look surprised. But the surprise was not very big. Many people already knew the secret because of Sid. The Widow Douglas thanked Huck many times. Huck felt very uncomfortable in his new clothes. He did not like it when everyone looked at him.
The Widow Douglas said she wanted to help Huck. She wanted him to live in her house. She wanted to pay for his education. She said she would give him money to start a business one day.
Tom saw his chance to speak. "Huck does not need money," Tom said. "Huck is rich."
The guests wanted to laugh at this joke. They thought Tom was being funny. No one said anything for a moment. It was a very quiet and strange moment.
"Huck has money," Tom said again. "He has a lot of money. You do not believe me, but I can show you. Wait one minute."
Tom ran out of the house. The guests looked at each other. They looked at Huck, but Huck did not speak. Aunt Polly said she never understood that boy.
Tom came back into the room. He was carrying the heavy bags of gold. He poured the yellow coins onto the table. "There!" Tom shouted. "Half of this is for Huck. The other half is for me!"
The sight was amazing. Everyone stopped breathing for a moment. No one spoke. Then everyone asked for an explanation. Tom told the long story of the cave and the treasure. Everyone listened with great interest.
When Tom finished, Mr. Jones spoke. He said his own secret was very small now. Tom’s surprise was much better.
The people counted the money. There was more than twelve thousand dollars. No one in the town had ever seen that much money at one time. Many people in the room were rich, but they did not have that much gold in their houses.