Chapter5-page_45-52

Chapter 5. The Treasure Hunters

Tom's biggest dream in life was to find a treasure. He dreamed of finding jewels and

gold buried in the ground. So he decided to look for a treasure. He wanted to do it together

with Huck. One day, he spoke to Huck about it. Huck was very interested in the idea and

was excited about it.

Where can we find a treasure? He asked Tom.

We will dig the ground under an old tree with dead branches, said Tom.

There is an old dead tree on Cardiff Hill, behind Old Mrs. Douglas's house.

Let's go there tomorrow and begin digging. The next day, the boys took a pick and a shovel

with them. They went to the old tree on the hill and began to dig. They worked for hours

and dug the earth in several different places around the tree. They found nothing.

"'Perhaps we are digging in the wrong place,' Tom said.

"'Do you see that old house at the bottom of this hill? Perhaps we can find some gold

and jewels there. Oh, but there are spirits in that house,' said Huck.

"'I am scared to go there. I hate ghosts and haunted houses,' he added.

"'Don't worry. Spirits come out only at night. We will go to the haunted house in daylight

and we won't see any ghosts,' Tom told him.

"'Tom's words did not comfort Huck,' he said.

"'But nobody goes near that house during the day or night. They say it's full of ghosts

because some people died there years ago.'

"'But later,' he agreed.

"'All right. I will come with you,' he said.

"'But I am warning you. It's not a safe place.'

"'The next day the boys met at noon time and went to the old haunted house.

"'They were both trembling in fear when they opened the door and looked inside.

"'They saw a room with an earthen floor and broken windows.

"'There was dust and cobwebs everywhere. There was an old staircase.

"'The boys left their tools at the foot of the stairs and went to the room upstairs.

"'There was nothing in the room but a closet in the corner.

"'They opened it because they thought there was some gold in it, but it was empty.

"'They decided to go back downstairs and begin digging there. Suddenly Tom stopped and said,

"'Be quiet. What is it?' Huck asked in a very low voice.

"'Do you hear something outside the door?' asked Tom in a whisper.

"'Yes, yes,' whispered Huck in panic.

"'The ghosts are coming. Let's run away. Let's not move. They are coming in,' whispered Tom.

Then they both kneeled down and peeped into the room downstairs

through the holes on the floor.

"'There were two men. One was the deaf and dumb Mexican man with a white mustache

"'and long white hair. The boys saw this man in the village several times.

"'He was wearing a big Mexican shawl. He had a big Mexican hat and green goggles.

"'The other man was a stranger with a very ugly, scary face.

"'He was saying something to the deaf and dumb Mexican.

"'The two men sat on the floor. The ugly stranger said,

"'I don't want to do another job. It's dangerous.

"'They will catch us.'

"'Don't be a fool. You were just afraid,' said the deaf and dumb Mexican.

"'Tom and Huck just froze in fear when they heard this.

"'It was Ingen Joe's voice.'

"'Then Ingen Joe said,

"'Hide in here after the robbery was dangerous too. You were lucky.

"'Nobody saw you come in here with the stolen money.

"'This was the best place for me to hide after you left,' said the other man.

"'I wanted to leave yesterday, but there were two boys on the hill all day.

"'I didn't want them to see me.'

"'Afterwards, the two men got some food out and had a quick lunch.

"'Then Ingen Joe began to talk again.

"'You must leave this place when it gets dark.

"'Go home and wait until you hear from me.

"'I will go to the village again tomorrow and look around.

"'When the time comes, we will do the new job.

"'Don't be afraid. After the job, we will escape to Texas with the money.

"'They can't catch us there.'"

The other man didn't say anything. He seemed pleased with Joe's plan.

"'I need some sleep now. I am very tired.

"'You stay awake and watch,' said Joe.

"'Then he took off his Mexican hat and removed his fake mustache and long hair.

"'He soon began to snore.

"'The other man also fell asleep.'"

"'We can escape now,' whispered Tom to Huck.

"'But Huck was too scared to move,' he said.

"'I will die if one of them opens his eyes.'

"'So Tom stood up and started to go alone.

"'But with his first step, the wooden floor made a creaking sound and he had to stop.

"'The two boys just sat there without moving.

"'An hour or so later, Ingen Joe woke up.

"'The sun was coming down.

"'He hit the other man with his foot and woke him up.

"'You slept too, you fool,' he shouted at him.

"'Luckily nothing has happened. We must leave now.

"'What shall we do with the money?

"'It is dangerous to carry $650 with us.'"

"'Let's leave it here. It's safe here. No one has found it,' said the other man.

"'An Ingen Joe,' said.

"'All right. But that means we have to come here again to get it.

"'After the new job, we'll come at night,' then he added.

"'I don't want anyone to find the money here, so let's bury it deeper.'"

"'Good idea,' said the other man, and lifted the stone from the floor.

"'Then he took a bag of money from under it.

"'There were $650 in it.

"'He took out some coins for himself and some for Joe.

"'And then he gave the bag to Joe.

"'Joe, with his knife, was digging a deep hole for the bag.

"'Tom and Huck looked at each other in excitement.

"'They forgot all about their fear.

"'Suddenly, Joe's knife hit something hard in the ground.

"'I think there's a heavy metal box here,' he said.

"'Help me to lift it. Oh, I have broken it open.'

"'He put his hand into the box and took out some coins.

"'They were gold.

"'This box is full of gold.

"'We're rich,' screamed Joe.

"'The two men were very happy.

"'The boys felt happy, too.

"'There was a big treasure buried in the ground.'

"'The ugly man said,

"'I saw a pick and a shovel near the staircase.

"'We can dig out the box with those tools.'"

"'I wonder who brought them here,' said Joe,

"'with a worried look on his face.'

"'Joe and the other man soon took out the heavy iron box.

"'Using the boys' tools.

"'Then Joe looked at the gold coins.

"'This is thousands of dollars,' he said happily and loudly.

"'It's a big treasure.

"'Perhaps some thieves hit it here years ago.

"'So we don't need to do the new job,' the other man said.

"'We can take this treasure and escape to Texas immediately.'

"'No, I must do that job,' Joe said.

"'And then he explained.

"'I am not doing it for money.

"'I will do it for revenge.

"'Someone in the village has done wrong to me.

"'Now he must pay for it.'"

"'Next,' he said,

"'We must bury this metal box in a safer place.'"

"'Take it to my secret place in the village

"'and bury it under the stone with a cross sign on it.'"

"'Engine Joe was also worried and afraid.

"'Who came here before us and left the pick and the shovel?'

"'He said,

"'They will come again.

"'Perhaps they are here now.

"'If they are here, they are hiding upstairs.'"

"'Then he took his knife and started to go upstairs.'"

The boys were terrified when Joe was climbing up the stairs.

Luckily, just at that moment, the old wooden staircase broke

and fell in pieces.

"'Engine Joe fell too.

"'He was hurt and upset.

"'Don't worry,' said the other man to Joe.

"'If there are men upstairs,

"'they will have to stay there.

"'They can't come down because there are no stairs now.

"'And if they jump down, they will get hurt.

"'Anyway, it is too dark for them to follow us.'"

"'That's right,' agreed Joe.

"'His partner went on.

"'But I think there is no one upstairs.

"'I'm sure they saw us coming here and ran away before we arrived.

"'Soon afterwards, the two men got out of the house

"'with the box of money and went toward the river.

"'Tom and Huck couldn't speak for a while.

"'They both wanted to get down safely and go back.

"'They were sorry the men didn't bury the treasure there.'"

Meanwhile, Tom had a plan for discovering

Engine Joe's secret place.

"'We must follow Engine Joe when he comes to the village

"'for his new job,' he said.

"'We can discover the secret place and find the stone with the cross.'"

Just when he said this, a terrible thought came to his mind.

"'Did you hear Engine Joe's words?' he asked Huck.

"'He said the new job in the village was for revenge.

"'He was talking about me.

"'Oh, he is going to kill me.'"

The thought made both boys terrified.

They hurried back to the village.

Tom could not sleep at all that night.

He thought about his adventure that day.

He was very worried and scared.

"'Perhaps it was all a dream.

"'Nothing like that happened,' he said to himself many times.

"'But at other times, he thought about the box of gold coins

"'and dreamed of finding Engine Joe's secret place

"'and getting the box.'"

A week later, Becky and her parents returned to the village.

Tom was very happy and excited again.

Engine Joe and the box of gold were not so important to him anymore.

He tried to spend time with Becky as much as possible.

On Friday afternoon that week, Becky and the other children

were playing a game.

Tom joined them and had a wonderful time.

It was Becky's birthday the next day.

She invited everyone and their brothers and sisters to a picnic.

"'First we are going to have a boat ride down the river,' she told everyone."