Listen to the AudioBook: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

(Tom Sawyer’s Comrade)

By Mark Twain

CHAPTER I. Civilizing Huck.—Miss Watson.—Tom Sawyer Waits.

YOU don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but it won’t matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.

That ain’t no matter. Fact is, as soon as I got done with the civilizing process they had put me in, I got put back into the sinner-like state again, and I was just as glad as a person is when he strikes a light in a tinderbox.

The Widow Douglas, she took me to live with her along with her sister, Miss Watson; and they told me I was to be respectable, and来study, and wash, and come to prayers, and wear the clean clothes, and say, “Yes, ma’am,” and “No, ma’am,” and kind of try to learn to do everything proper. Well, they done their level best, they had to, for they were ladies, and done everything they could for me. But, as a matter of fact, they had their hands full.

They didn’t have no use for tobacco, snuff, and such, and a body’s guns, and a body’s language was all strictly tabooed in the house; but by and by I managed to cipher out some way to keep them out of their sight with it, most of the time.

Well, in that town of St. Petersburg, they warned me with the black spot and the death-mark, and the case of Immanuel, and all that, so I was in considerable awe of them, but howsomever, I got pretty much over that in a little while. Because some boys talked a lot about it, and said the widow was just trying to hector us with such talk; so after a while I got to dipping the tobacco on the end of my finger and skipping it on my shirt-sleeve, so as to taste it and see how it was, and it warn’t no use for me. I tried it three or four times, but I couldn’t get enough of it to do me, and I was always powerful mean when I done it, too.

Well, by and by, Tom Sawyer came to me one of these nights, and said it was a-late, and asked me if I wanted to go with him and a lot more boys to steal some negroes from a Sunday-school, or maybe rob a jewelry store, or something which suited my style, and I was just about as glad as I could be, and I concluded I would.

So we said, “All right, we’ll go if the coast is clear,” and we waited a little while to see if the coast was clear, and it was, and we slipped out and went around to where Tom Sawyer was waiting for us in the shadow of the wood-shed.

There was a whole pile of boys there, and they had a kind of a sign they made with their hands, and they said they were an organized band of robbers, and they had the secret words, and the signs, and the oaths, and all that, and they were sworn to have it out with anybody that told on them.

Tom Sawyer was the kingpin, and he was dressed up in a kind of a clown suit, with a big hat and feathers, and he had a piece of charcoal and he’d drawn a scar across his face, and he looked just exactly like a real pirate.

“Huck,” he says, “we’re all here. Now, we’re going to have a secret meeting, and we’re going to swear oaths and all that, and we’re going to be a gang of robbers and murderers, and we’re going to steal women and children, and then we’re going to dig up buried treasure, and we’re going to cut people’s throats, and we’re going to do all kinds of things.”

And I says, “All right, I’m with you, Tom.”

So Tom he put his hand on a book—it was a Pilgrim’s Progress that he’d borrowed from the Widow Douglas—and he made us all put our hands on it, and he made us swear that we would never tell anybody about the gang, and that we would always do just what the boss told us to do, and that we would never tell on anybody that belonged to the gang, and that we would always help them if they got into a scrape, and that we would kill anybody that told on us, and we’d tear their souls out and burn them up.

And I says, “I’ll do it, Tom, I’ll do everything you say.”

And Tom he says, “All right, Huck, you can be one of us, and we’ll have a good time, and we’ll have adventures, and we’ll be rich, and we’ll have all the fun we want to.”

And we all shook hands, and we were the band of robbers, and we were ready for adventure.

CHAPTER II. The Boys Escape Jim.—Torn Sawyer’s Gang.—Deep-laid Plans.

We went down to the edge of the town, where the graveyard was, and Tom he says, “Now, boys, this is where we’re going to have our first adventure. We’re going to visit the graveyard at midnight, and we’re going to see if we can see any ghosts, and we’re going to try to raise the dead.”

And we all said, “All right, Tom, we’ll do it.”

So we waited until midnight, and then we crept down to the graveyard, and we hid behind the big willow tree, and we watched, and it was dark and spooky, and we were all of us powerful nervous.

And by and by we saw a light bobbing around among the graves, and we peeked through the leaves, and we saw a sight that made us all jump.

It was old Muff Potter, and he was drunk as a fiddle, and he was singing a song about an old woman who lived in a shoe, and he was carrying a lantern, and he looked just like a regular ghost.

And Tom he whispered, “Boys, that’s a ghost, and we better be careful, or he’ll carry us off to the infernal regions.”

And we all shivered, and we didn’t say a word, and we watched him stumble around until he got so drunk he fell down over a grave and went to sleep.

Then Tom he says, “Now’s our chance. We’ll sneak up on him and tie him to a tree, and then we’ll have some fun with him in the morning.”

So we crept up to him, and we tied his hands and feet with some rope we had brought along, and we tied him to the biggest tree we could find, and then we sneaked off and went home, and we were all of us mighty proud of ourselves.

The next morning, when the town found out about Muff Potter, there was the biggest excitement you ever saw. Everybody was talking about it, and asking who did it, and Muff Potter, when he woke up and found himself tied to a tree, he was so scared he thought the devil had been there.

Tom Sawyer, he was mighty pleased with himself, and he told all the boys about it, and they thought he was the cleverest boy in the world.

But I didn’t say anything about it to the Widow Douglas, because I didn’t want to get in trouble, and besides, I didn’t want to spoil Tom’s fun.

CHAPTER III. A Good Going-over.—Grace Triumphant.—“One of Tom Sawyers’s Lies”.

I stayed with the Widow Douglas for a while, and I got so I could wash my face and comb my hair pretty regular, and I even started to wear shoes on Sundays, though I didn’t like it much.

Miss Watson, she tried to teach me to read, but it was slow work. She said I was a natural-born sinner, and that if I didn’t learn my book, I would go to the bad place.

One day, she was talking to me about King Solomon and all his wives, and I says, “Why, Miss Watson, I thought he was the wisest man in the world.”

And she says, “He was, Huck, but he had a heap of wives, and that wasn’t right.”

And I says, “Well, if he was so wise, why didn’t he just have one, and keep her, and not have so much trouble?”

And she got so mad she couldn’t talk, and she said I was the worst boy she ever saw, and I better go and mind my business.

Tom Sawyer came around that night, and he said he had a grand plan.

“Huck,” he says, “we’re going to have a secret meeting down by the river tonight, and we’re going to tell each other all about our adventures, and we’re going to plan out some more.”

So I went down to the river, and Tom and the boys were all there, and they were talking in low whispers.

Tom says, “Boys, I’ve been thinking. We need a secret cave, a regular robbers’ hideout, where nobody can find us. And we need a flag, and we need a password, and we need a name that sounds scary.”

And we all agreed that was a fine idea.

“I know just the place,” Tom says. “There’s an old cave up on McDougal’s bluff that nobody ever goes into. It’s dark and spooky, and it’s got all sorts of secret passages.”

And we all cheered, and we swore we would go there the next night and make it our headquarters.

Tom also said we needed a password. He suggested “Blood and Thunder,” but we voted that down as too common. Finally, we settled on “Gadsby’s Gold.”

“And the flag,” Tom said, “it ought to be black, with a death’s-head and crossbones on it. I’ll get some cloth and paint it tomorrow.”

I was just as excited as any of them. Being a robber was a heap better than being civilized, that was a sure thing.

CHAPTER IV. Huck and the Judge.—Superstition.

The next day I was feeling pretty good, except for the Sunday clothes I had to wear. They felt stiff and tight, and I kept thinking about the river and the cave.

I saw Judge Thatcher walking down the street, and he called me over.

“Huckleberry,” he says, “how are you getting along with the Widow Douglas? Is she treating you well?”

“Yes, sir,” I says. “She’s good to me.”

“And are you behaving yourself? Going to school and minding your manners?”

“Yes, sir,” I says, though I was lying a little.

The Judge was a good man, and he always had a kind word for everybody. He was the one who took my money when Pap was still around, to keep it safe from him.

He looked at my clothes and says, “You’re looking tidy, Huck. I hope you’ll stick to this.”

I just nodded, because I didn’t want to tell him I was planning on joining a band of robbers that very night.

After I left the Judge, I went down to the river to see if I could find any sign of Jim. Jim was the Widow’s runaway slave, and he was a good friend of mine. We used to sit and talk for hours. I hadn’t seen him since the Widow took me in.

I found him down by the raft, hiding in the thick bushes. He looked worried.

“Huck,” he whispered, “you look mighty clean. Has the Widow got a hold of you?”

“She has, Jim, and she’s trying to make a saint out of me. But I’m going back to my old ways soon enough.”

Jim grinned. “I’m powerful glad to hear that, Huck. I don’t like to see you getting too white.”

We talked for a while, and Jim told me about some superstitions he knew. He said if a stray dog howled around a house three times, somebody in that house was going to die. He also said if you see a snake skin, you shouldn’t touch it, or you’ll have seven years of bad luck.

“Is that so, Jim?” I asked.

“Yes, honey, that’s the gospel truth. You see signs everywhere if you look for them.”

I didn’t put much stock in all that stuff, but I knew Jim did, and I didn’t want to argue with him. We had enough on our hands with Tom Sawyer’s gang.

I told Jim about the plan to meet at the cave, but I didn’t tell him all the details about being robbers. He just shook his head and said he hoped we wouldn’t get into too much trouble.

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