Chapter 13 Trapped in a Cave.
That Sunday morning, as soon as dawn broke, Huck again came racing up the hill and knocked gently at the old Welshman's door.
"'Who's there?' a gruff voice shouted.
"'Please let me in.
It's only Huck Finn.'
"'That's a name that can open this door night or day, lad.
Welcome!'
THE DOOR WAS QUICKLY UNLOCKED.
HUCK WAS GIVEN A COMFORTABLE SEAT AS THE OLD MAN BEGAN PREPARING A HERO'S BREAKFAST FOR HIM.
BOYS AND I WERE HOPING YOU'D STOP BACK HERE LAST NIGHT.
I WAS AWFUL SCARED, SAID HUCK.
I TOOK OFF WHEN THE PISTOLS WENT OFF.
I WAS A FEAR TO COME BACK BEFORE IT WAS LIGHT.
BUT WAR CHAP, YOU DO LOOK AS IF YOU'VE HAD A HARD NIGHT.
THERE'S A BED HERE FOR YOU WHEN YOU'VE HAD YOUR BREAKFAST.
We came near to catching those devils last night.
We would have had them if I hadn't sneezed.
It was the worst kind of luck.
Right off, those scoundrels started running.
We fired away at them, but they were off in a jiffy.
The sheriff got a posse together, and they're searching the woods.
You couldn't see what they were like in the dark, I suppose.
Oh, yes, I saw them downtown and followed them.
One of them's a Spaniard that's been around here once or twice.
The others... That's enough, lad.
We know the men.
Off with you boys and tell the sheriff.
Just as the Welshman's sons were about to leave the room, Huck sprang up.
Oh, please don't tell anybody it was me that told on them.
Oh, please.
Huck, you ought to have the credit.
Oh, no, no, please don't tell. won't, and I won't.
Why don't you want it known?
Huck would not explain, other than that he was afraid.
The old man promised secrecy once more.
How do you come to follow these fellas?
Were they looking suspicious?
Huck was silent for a while, thinking of what to say.
Well, you see, I couldn't sleep last night, and—
I saw these two men down by the inn.
One of them was carrying something that looked stolen.
He went on quickly making up a story about how he decided to follow the men one of whom he recognized as the Spaniard up the hill and down to the widow Douglas's house.
And then that Spaniard said, What?
The Spaniard can talk?
Huck realized his mistake instantly.
He made several feeble efforts to try to cover his tracks, but the old man cut him off.
"'My boy, don't be afraid of me.
I wouldn't hurt a hair on your head for all the world.
You know something about that Spaniard that you want to keep secret.
Now, trust me, lad, tell me the rest.
I won't betray you.'
Huck looked into the old man's honest eyes a moment, and then he whispered in his ear It ain't a Spaniard.
It's Injun Joe.
The Welshman almost jumped out of his chair.
After a moment, he said, It's all clear now.
Injun Joe always held it against the widow's husband for putting him in jail all the time.
Huck sat down to breakfast, feeling faint.
He was mad at himself for being so nervous and letting the information about Injun Joe slip.
At the same time, he felt relieved.
The Welshman told the rest of the story how the scoundrels had dropped a bunch of burglar tools when they ran.
There was no mention of treasure, which Huck thought must mean that it was still back in the room in the inn.
Injun Joe and his friend would be captured and jailed that day, Huck figured.
Then he and Tom could seize the gold that very night without any trouble at all.
Everyone in St.
Petersburg went early to church that morning.
The town was buzzing with the news from the night before.
The word was that not a sign of the two villains had been found.
When the sermon was finished, Judge Thacker's wife dropped alongside of Mrs Harper as she moved down the aisle with the crowd and said Is my Becky gonna sleep all day?
I just expected she would be tired to death.
Your Becky?
Yeah.
Didn't she stay with you last night?
Why, no.
Mrs. Thatcher turned pale and sank into a pew.
Just then Tom's Aunt Polly passed by and said, Good morning, Miss Thatcher.
Good morning, Mrs. Harper.
I reckon my Tom must have stayed at your house last night or with you, Mrs Harper, and now he's afraid to come to church.
I've got to settle with him.
Mrs. Thatcher shook her head feebly and her face turned pale.
He didn't stay with us, said Mrs. Harper, beginning to look uneasy.
The news quickly made the rounds, but no one could remember the last time they'd seen either Tom or Becky.
None of the children had even noticed if they were aboard the ferry boat for the homeward trip.
One young man finally birded out his fear that they were still in the cave.
Mrs. Thatcher fainted, and Aunt Polly felt crying and wringing her hands.
Within minutes, horses were saddled, the ferry boat was ordered out and in less than one half hour, two hundred men were pouring down the river toward the cave.
All that night the town waited for news, but when the morning dawned at last, the children had still not been found.
Finally, early Monday afternoon, parties of weary men began to straggle back into the village.
In one remote place, far from the section usually visited by tourists.
The names Becky and Tom had been found traced upon a rocky wall with candle smoke.
That was the nearest the searchers had come to the two lost children.
Tom and Becky were there all right, hopelessly lost deep in the cave's innermost recesses.
After hide-and-go-seek, they had wandered carelessly through the cave looking at the names and the dates that had been left on the rock walls.
They both then descended into the secret depths of the abyss, with Tom making smoke marks all along the way so they wouldn't get lost.
Finally, they came upon a huge cavern.
Here under the roof, vast knots of bats had packed themselves together, thousands in a bunch.
The candlelight startled the creatures and they came flocking down by the hundreds, squeaking and darting furiously at the bright lights.
In a panic, Tom seized Becky's hands, and they raced into the first corridor that Tom saw.
The bats chased the children a good distance, but Tom and Becky kept running into every new passage they saw until they finally got rid of the frightening creatures.
When they stopped to get their bearings, they found they were on the shore of a vast underground lake.
Tom was then overtaken by a terrible fear.
Can you find the way out?
Becky asked, hopefully.
I reckon I could find it, Tom said carefully, noticing that the bats had put out Becky's candle.
But the bats, if they put out both of our candles, it will be an awful fix.
Let's try some other way so as not to go through there.
They started down another corridor, walking in silence for a long time and glancing at each new opening for signs of anything that looked familiar.
Each time Tom explored one of the corridors, his face grew less and less hopeful.
"'All is lost!'
Becky cried fearfully, clinging to Tom's arm after they'd been walking for some time.
Oh, Tom, never mind the bats, she pleaded.
Let's go back that way.
Tom agreed, but now he couldn't find the way back.
Each turn was the wrong turn.
Becky got more and more worried until finally Tom broke down and said, Becky, I was such a fool.
I didn't make any marks, and now I can't find the way back.
Becky sank to the ground and burst into a frenzy of crying that shook Tom's bones.
They searched around a bit more and traced the sound of dripping water to a spring where the two children finally collapsed, exhausted and terrified.
The hours passed until finally they dozed off.
After waking, Becky suggested they move on again.
There was a long pause before Tom spoke.
Becky, I have to tell you something.
We must stay here where there's water to drink.
That little piece is our last candle.
Becky again burst into tears.
Tom did what he could to comfort her.
They'll miss us, and they'll hunt for us.
It's certain they will, Tom said.
The only question, he thought to himself, was how long it would take.
While Becky wept, Tom saw the candle melt slowly away.
Soon, there was only the wick, and they watched as the feeble flames rose and fell, climbing the thin column of smoke lingering at the top.
A moment, and then the horror of utter darkness.
The hours wasted away.
The children drifted off to sleep and woke up again.
Soon, hunger began to torment them.
Tom was wondering how long they could last without food when, shh, did you hear that?
Both held their breath and listened.
There was a sound like the faintest far-off shout.
Instantly, Tom answered it and, leading Becky by the hand, started groping down the corridor in its direction.
The sound was heard again, apparently a little nearer.
They're coming, Tom yelled.
Come along, Becky.
We're all right now.
Tom traced the sound slowly until they came to a couple of small side passages that led downward.
He took a kite line from his pocket and tied it to a rock.
Then he left Becky there and started down one of the passages.
At the end of twenty steps the corridor seemed to end and Tom got down on his knees and felt as far around the corner of a large boulder as he could reach with his hands.
Just at that moment, not twenty yards away, a human hand holding a candle appeared from behind a rock.
Tom lifted up a glorious holler and instantly that hand was followed by the body that it belonged to.
Injun Joe.
Tom couldn't move.
Luckily, Joe turned and took to his heels, running out of sight.
Tom's fright weakened every muscle in his body.
He told himself that if he had enough strength to get back to the spring, he would stay there and nothing would tempt him to run the risk of meeting Injun Joe again.
But hunger and cold proved stronger than Tom's fears after another long night at the spring had passed.
Now he felt willing to risk Injun Joe and all other terrors.
But Becky was very weak and could not go with him.
Tom kissed her on her forehead and made a show of being sure that he would find an escape from the cave.
Then he took the kite line in his hand and once more went groping down one of the passages, feeling hungry and sick and with his mind filled with the thought of coming doom.
