The Treasure Hunt

The school was closed for summer. Tom and Huck met at the same place. It was the end of the village street and the beginning of the forest. Here they played many games; and when they were tired out, they sat down under the shade of the tree and talked. One evening they made up their minds to hunt for a hidden treasure. They had learnt that hidden treasures lay buried at the foot of big, old trees, or in broken-down houses which were haunted by ghosts or spirits.

 They got two shovels and set out for a house in ruins which they knew. They had been told that this house was haunted like many other similar houses. On their arrival there, they crept to the door and looked around. There was wild grass growing; the floor was broken; the walls were without plaster; the staircase was half broken; the windows were half hanging; and there were cob-webs almost everywhere. Quietly, they came further in. They wanted to go upstairs. With great difficulty, they climbed the shaky, noisy stairs. When they were on top, they saw the floor in much the same condition. There was a box that promised mystery, but when they opened it they found nothing exciting in it. They were about to go down and begin work when-

“Sh!”said Tom.

“What is it?” whispered Huck.

“Sh! There! … Hear it?”

“Yes! … Oh my! Let’s run!”

“Keep still! Don’t move! They are coming right towards this door.”

The boys quietly lay down on the planks, anxiously looking through the holes in them.

“They have stopped. No, they are coming. There they are! Don’t whisper another word, Huck. My goodness, I wish I was out of this!”

Two men entered the ground floor. One of them was the old Spaniard, believed by everyone to be deaf and dumb. He had been seen in town once or twice lately. The other was Injun Joe. These two men talked in whispers for some time to the great surprise of the boys. Then they sat down and had something to eat. After food, Injun Joe felt sleepy. He said, “I’m very sleepy! It’s your turn to keep watch.” He was soon asleep and snoring. The Spaniard seemed to envy Joe’s blissful condition and decided to do the same thing. And in a few seconds he was in deeper sleep and was snoring more noisily.

Tom said, “Here’s our chance now, boy! Come.”

Huck replied, “I can’t. I’d be dead if they woke up.”

Tom rose slowly and quietly, and started coming down alone. But the first step he took made such a noise that he went back and lay down with fright. So they lay there full of fear, praying silently more for their lives than for their souls. At last, the sun started setting.

Injun Joe sat up. He looked around and smiled at his sleeping companion. He pushed him with his foot and said, “You are a wonderful watchman, aren’t you? Thank your stars that nothing happened.”

“My! Have I been asleep?”

“As fast as your grandfather is in his grave. But don’t worry now. It’s time to be moving. What shall we do with the little drink we’ve got left?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps leave it here as we’ve always done. No use taking it away till we start for Mexico. Six hundred and fifty in silver; it’s something to carry.”

“Very well, it won’t matter to come here once more.”

“No, but I’d say come in the night as we used to do. Night is safer. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, I do; but listen. It may be a good while before I get the right chance to do that job. There may be an accident. And, after all, this isn’t such a safe place. So, let’s bury it. Yes, bury it deep.”

“Good idea,” agreed the Spaniard. He walked across the room. Knelt down, raised one of the wooden planks and took out a bag. Then he took out of it some twenty or thirty dollars for himself and same amount for Joe, and gave the bag to Joe who was already digging with his knife.

The boys forgot all their fears. Six hundred dollars were being buried. What luck! They carefully watched the digging and the place. What luck in treasure hunting! The boys felt very, very happy.

Tom whispered, “Oh! But aren’t you glad now that we’re here?”

Joe’s knife struck upon something.

“Hello!” said he.

“What is it?” asked the Spaniard.

“A half-rotten plank; no, it’s a box, I believe. Here! Give me a hand. Never mind, I’ve broken a hole.”

He reached his hand in and drew it out.

“-Man, it is money!”

The two men examined the coins. They were gold. The boys above were feeling happier than ever.

The Spaniard said, “Let’s make a quick work of this. There is an old rusty shovel over there among the long grass in the corner next to the fireplace. I saw it a minute ago.”

He ran and brought the boys’ shovel. Injun Joe took the shovel, looked at it carefully, shook his head, said something to himself, and then began to use it. The box was soon dug out. It was not very big and was iron-bound. It must have been very strong at one time.

Injun Joe said, “There must be thousands of dollars in it.”

The Spaniard replied, “It is said that the Murrel gang used to be around here in summer.”

“I know it. This looks like their loot –a part of their loot, to be exact which they forgot to take away.”

“Let’s bury it here for the time being. We’ll take it when we’re ready to go to the south.”

“Good enough. But one thing I can’t understand –how did this shovel come to be here? It has fresh earth on it. Could they be looking for it…”

“Forget it. Let’s be going.”

Just then there was a noise above where the boys were.

“What’s that?” said Joe, looking up, and put his hand to his knife.

“Better go and see,” replied the Spaniard.

Injun Joe looked at his companion. He shrugged his shoulders and got ready to climb up. The hearts of the boys stopped beating. Fear seized them completely and they could not breathe.

But Injun Joe changed his mind. He came back and said, “The stairs are broken, and it’s getting dark. If they break their necks, I won’t be sorry. And if they do come down, I’ll kill them.”

After listening for some time, the Spaniard said, “I don’t think there is anybody up there. It must have been a rat after our food. We’d better go now. We must get some sleep. We’ll be back in the morning to collect the dollars and then leave for the sunny south.”

Injun Joe agreed. They piled grass and leaves of trees over the place where the treasure had been buried, and the Spaniard moved away a few paces. Injun Joe quickly made a mark near the place and walked away to join his companion.

Now the boys began to breathe freely. Tom said, “We’d better go while the going is good. The treasure is ours. We’ll come back to get it by-and-by …”

“Yes, we will, if Injun Joe doesn’t come first. There is evil in his eyes. HE wants to get rid of the Spaniard, I think.”

They quietly came down. It was almost dark. But they knew these parts well; and coming out of the house, they ran for home.

The next day, Tom got the news that the Spaniard had disappeared all of a sudden, and Injun Joe left his knife behind.

Was the Spaniard killed? What was the mystery? Nobody could guess the truth of it all. Tom and Huck could guess the reason, and they could also tell what happened to the Spaniard. But they didn’t dare to speak out. Going back to get the treasure was out of the question, for the time being at least.

The school had reopened after the summer holidays; Tom had to forget about his treasure hunt and went to school as everybody did.

Huck didn’t meet Tom in the daytime. At midnight, Huck came near Tom’s window and gave the familiar cat’s call. Tom quietly went out of the room and joined Huck. They went further from house and sat down.

Tom said, “Listen, Huck, I’m going on a picnic in the morning. You keep watch and see where Joe and Spaniard go. You will keep watch, won’t you?

When Huck arrived at his ‘watch-post’, he heard two men talking. They were Joe and Spaniard. They are making plan to kill a widow because her husband had troubled them a lot.

Huck couldn’t believe his ears to hear their plan. He ran to his feet and informed the people about it. The life of the widow was saved. Huck was scared to think that he would be killed if Joe and the Spaniard knew that he informed the people about their cruel plan.

In the picnic, Tom and his girlfriend, Becky lost their way in a cave. The search went on for three days and night but produced no hopeful results.

Tom and Becky were so far deep in the cave that it was not easy to get out.

“Can we find our way?” asked Becky.

“I hope so. Let’s go ahead,” he replied.

As they walked few steps, just then a human hand, holding a candle, appeared from behind a rock. Tom shouted at once and it was Injun Joe. The next moment Tom saw the Spaniard run off, followed by Injun Joe.

Tom didn’t say anything to Becky for some time and they returned to the spring where they had drunk water. They began to find the exit way. It was five days before they found the way.

Everybody was happy to see them.

Tom explained that he had closed the door of the cave with a big stone but Joe was inside it. The Judge ordered the mouth of the cave to be opened. But it was too late. Injun Joe lay dead with the treasure-box held tight in his arms. Nothing was known of the Spaniard.

Tom told the Judge about the treasure hunt which he and Huck had gone on. Huck, who had been ill for some time, was sitting with Tom in the Judge’s house. Each of them told his part of story; and it was now that Tom came to know how Huck saved the life of the Widow Douglas.

It was agreed by everyone present there that the whole treasure belonged to Tom, but Tom said that the half of it should go to Huck. So, Judge Thatcher got the treasure divided equally between the two boys. Each boy got over six thousand dollars! All this money was deposited in the bank in the boys’ names, and it was decided that the interest on it was to be spent on their education. Huck was unwilling to give up his happy-go-lucky life, but in course of time Tom was able to make him change his mind.

The two evil men, Injun Joe and the Spaniard, had been punished by God in heaven –but in His own way and in His own time.