Join Host Bree Carlile as she reads the twenty-ninth chapter of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

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Today we'll be continuing Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Chapter 29 there was fetching a very nice looking old gentleman along, and a nice looking younger one with his right arm in a sling.

And my souls how the people yelled and laughed and kept it up.

But I didn't see no joke about it.

And I judged it would strain the Duke and the King some to see any.

I reckoned they turned pale, but no naria pale did they turn the Duke.

He never let on he suspicioned what was up, but just went to goo gooing around happy and satisfied like a jug that's googling out buttermilk.

And as for the King, he just gazed and gazed down sorrowful on them.

Newcomers like it give him the stomach ache in his very heart to think there could be such frauds and rascals in the world.

Oh, he'd done it admirable.

Lots of the principal people gathered around the King to let him see they was on his side.

That old gentleman had just come, looked all puzzled to death.

Pretty soon he begun to speak and I see straight off he pronounced like an Englishman.

Not the King's way though the King's was pretty good for an imitation.

I can't give the old gents words, nor I can't imitate him.

But he turned around to the crowd and says about like this this is.

A surprise to me which I wasn't.

Looking for and I'll acknowledge candid and frank.

I ain't very well fixed to meet it and answer it for my brother and me has had misfortunes.

He has broke his arm, and our baggage got put off at a town above here last night in the night by mistake.

I am Peter Wilk's brother, Harvey and this is his brother, William which can't hear nor speak and can't even make.

Signs to amount to much.

Now, he only got one hand to work them with.

We are who we say we are.

And in a day or two, when I get the baggage, I can prove it.

But up till then, I won't say.

Nothing more but go to the hotel and wait.

So him and the new dummy started off, and the King, he laughs and.

Blathers out broke his arm.

Very likely, ain't it?

And very convenient, too, for a fraud that's got to make signs and ain't learned how lost their baggage.

That's mighty good and mighty ingenious under the circumstances.

So he laughed again, and so did everybody else except three or four, maybe half a dozen.

One of these was that doctor.

Another one was a sharp looking gentleman with a carpet bag of the old fashioned kind made out of carpet stuff that had just come off the steamboat and was talking to him in a low voice and glancing towards the King now and then and nodding their heads.

It was Levi Bell, the lawyer, that was gone up to Louisville.

And another one was a big rough husky that come along and listened to all the old gentlemen said and was listening to the King now.

And when the King got done, this.

Husky up and says say, looky here, if you're Harvey Wilkes when'd you come.

To this town the day before the.

Funeral, friend, says the king but what time of day?

In the evening, about an hour or two before sundown.

How'd you come?

I come down on the Susan Powell from Cincinnati.

Well, then how'd you come to be at the Pint in the morning in a canoe?

I weren't up at the Pint in the morning.

It's a lie.

Several of them jumped for him and begged him not to talk that way to an old man and a preacher.

Preacher be hanged.

He's a fraud and a liar.

He was up at the Pint that morning.

I live up there, don't I?

Well, I was up there and he was up there.

I see him there.

He come in a canoe along with Tim Collins and a boy.

The doctor, he up and says would.

You know the boy again if you was to see him, Hines?

I reckon I would, but I don't know why.

Yonder he is now, I know him perfectly easy.

It was me he pointed at.

The doctor says neighbors.

I don't know whether the new couple is frauds or not but if these two ain't frauds.

I'm an idiot, that's all.

I think it's our duty to see that they don't get away from here till we've looked into this thing.

Come along, Hines.

Come along, the rest of you.

We'll take these fellows to the tavern and affront them with the other couple.

And I reckon we'll find out something before we get through.

It was nuts for the crowd, though.

Maybe not for the King's friends.

So we all started.

It was about sundown.

The Doctor, he led me along by the Hand and was plenty kind enough, but he never let go.

My Hand.

We all got in a big room in the hotel and lit up some candles and fetched in the new couple first.

The Doctor says, I don't wish to be too hard on these two men, but I think they're frauds and they may have comPLACES that we don't know nothing about.

If they have won't the comPLACES get away with that bag of gold Peter Wilkes left, it ain't unlikely.

If these men ain't frauds, they won't object to sending for that money and letting us keep it till they prove they're all right.

Ain't that so?

Everybody agreed to that, so I judged they had our gang in a pretty tight place right at the outstart.

But the King, he only looked sorrowful.

And says, gentlemen, I wish the money was there, for I ain't got no disposition to throw anything in the way of a fair open, out and out investigation of this miserable business.

But, alas, the money ain't there.

You can send and see if you want to.

Where is it, then?

Well, when my niece gave it to me to keep for her, I took it and hid it inside the straw tick of my bed.

Not wishing to bank it.

For a few days we'd be here.

And considering the bed a safe place.

We not being used to servants and.

Supposing them honest like servants in England.

The servant stole it the very next morning after I'd went downstairs.

And when I sold him, I hadn't missed the money yet, so they got.

Clean away with it.

My servant here can tell you about it.

Gentlemen.

The Doctor and several said shocks and I see nobody didn't altogether believe him.

One man asked me if I see the servant steal it.

I said, no, but I see them sneaking out of the room and hustling away.

And I never thought nothing.

Only I reckoned they was afraid they had waked up my master and was trying to get away before he made trouble with them.

That was all they asked me.

Then the Doctor whirls on me and.

Says, are you English, too?

I says yes.

And him and some others laughed and said stuff.

Well, then they sailed in on the general investigation.

And there we had it, up and down, hour in, hour out.

And nobody never said a word about supper, nor ever seemed to think about it.

And so they kept it up and kept it up.

And it was the worst mixed up thing you ever see.

They made the king tell his yarn, and they made the old gentleman tell his in.

And anybody but a lot of prejudiced chuckleheads would have seen that the old gentleman was spinning truth and the other one lies.

And by and by, they had me.

Up to tell what I knowed.

The king, he gave me a left handed look out of the corner of his eye and so I knowed enough to talk on the right side.

I begun to tell about Sheffield and how he lived there and all about the English Wilkes's and so on.

But I didn't get pretty fur till the doctor began to laugh.

And Levi Bell.

The lawyer says, Sit down, my boy.

I wouldn't strain myself if I was you.

I reckon you ain't used to lying.

It don't seem to come handy.

What you want is practice.

You do it pretty awkward.

I didn't care nothing for the compliment, but I was glad to be let off.

Anyway, the doctor, he started to say something and turns and says, if you'd.

Been in town at first, Levi Bell.

The king, broke in and reached out.

His hand and says, why is this my poor dead brother's old friend that he's wrote so often about?

A lawyer and him shook hands, and the lawyer smiled and looked pleased.

And they talked right along a while and then got to one side and talked low.

And at last the lawyer speaks up and says, that'll fix it.

I'll take the order and send it along with your brothers.

And then they'll know it's all right.

So they got some paper and a pen.

And the king, he sat down and twisted his head to one side and chod his tongue and scrawled off something.

And then they give the pen to the duke.

And then for the first time, the duke looked sick, but he took the pen and wrote.

So then the lawyer turns to the new old gentleman and says, you and your brother please write a line or two and sign your names.

The old gentleman wrote, but nobody could read it.

The lawyer looked powerful astonished and says, well, it beats me, and snaked a lot of old letters out of his pocket and examined them, and then examined the old man's writing and then them again, and then says, these old letters is from Harvey Wilkes.

And here's these two handwritings, and anybody.

Can see they didn't write them.

The king and the duke looked sold and foolish, I tell you.

You see how the lawyer had took them in?

And here's this old gentleman's handwriting.

And anybody can tell easy enough he didn't write them.

Fact is, the scratches he makes ain't properly writing at all.

Now, here's some letters from a new old gentleman.

Says, if you please let me explain.

Nobody can read my hand but my brother there, so he copies for me.

It's his hand you've got there, not mine.

Well, says the lawyer, this is the state of things.

I've got some of William's letters, too.

So if you'll get him to write a line or so, we can come.

He can't write with his left hand.

Says the old gentleman.

If he could use his right hand, you would see that he wrote his own letters and mine, too.

Look at both, please.

They're by the same hand.

The lawyer done it and says, I believe it's so.

And if it ain't so, there's a heap stronger resemblance than I noticed before, anyway.

Well, well, well.

I thought we was on the right track of a solution but it's gone to grasp partly.

But anyway, one thing is proved these.

Two ain't either of them.

Wilkes's.

And he wagged his head towards the King and the Duke.

What do you think?

That mule headed old fool wouldn't give in then.

Indeed he wouldn't.

Said it weren't no fair.

Test said his brother William was the custodiest joker in the world and hadn't tried to write.

He.

See, William was going to play one of his jokes the minute he put the pen to paper.

And so he warmed up and went whirling and wharbling right along till he was actually beginning to believe what he was saying himself.

But pretty soon the new gentleman broke.

In and says I've thought of something.

Is there anybody here that helped to.

Lay out my helped to lay out.

The late Peter Wilkes for burying?

Yes, says somebody.

Me and AB Turner done it.

We're both here.

Then the old man turns toward the King and says perhaps this gentleman can.

Tell me what was tattooed on his breast.

Blamed if the King didn't have to brace up mighty quick or he to squash down like a bluff bank that the river has cut under.

It took him so sudden.

And mind you, it was the thing that was calculated to make most anybody squash to get fetched such a solid one as that without any notice.

Because how is he going to know what was tattooed on the man?

He whitened a little.

He couldn't help it.

And it was mighty still in there.

And everybody bending a little forwards and gazing at him.

Says I to myself now he'll throw up the sponge.

There ain't no more use.

Well, did he?

A body can't hardly believe it, but he didn't.

I reckon he thought he'd keep the thing up till he tired them people out.

So they'd been out, and him and the Duke could break loose and get away.

Anyway, he sat there and pretty soon he begun to smile and says it's.

A very tough question, ain't it?

Yes, sir.

I can tell you what's tattooed on his breast.

It's just a small, thin blue arrow, that's what it is.

And if you don't look close.

You can't see it.

Now, what do you say?

Hey?

Well, I never see anything like that old Blister for clean out and out cheek.

The new old gentleman turns brisk towards AB Turner and his pard and his eyes lights up like he judged.

He's got the king this time and says, there.

You've heard what he said.

Was there any such mark on Peter Wilkes's breast?

Both of them spoke up and says we didn't see no such mark.

Good, says the old gentleman.

Now, what did you see?

On his breast was a small dim p and a b, which is an initial he dropped when he was young and a w with dashes between them.

So P-B-W and he marked them that way on a piece of paper.

Come.

Ain't that what you saw?

Both of them spoke up again and says no, we didn't.

We never seen any marks at all.

Well, everybody was in a state of mind now.

And they sings out the whole villain of M's.

Fraud.

Let's duck them, let's drown them.

Let's ride them on a rail.

And everybody was whooping at once and there was a rattling POW wow.

But the lawyer, he jumps out on the table and yells and says gentlemen, gentlemen, hear me.

Just a word, just a single word, if you please.

There's one way yet.

Let's go and dig up the corpse.

And look that took them hooray.

They all shouted, and was starting right off.

But the lawyer and the doctor sung out, hold on, hold on.

Call her all these four men and the boy and fetch them along too.

We'll do it.

They all shouted.

And if we don't find them marks, we'll lynch the whole gang.

I was scared now, I tell you.

But there weren't no getting away, you know.

They gripped us all and marched us right along straight for the graveyard, which was a mile and a half down the river, and the whole town at our heels, for we made noise enough and it was only nine in the evening.

As we went by our house, I wished I hadn't sent Mary Jane out of town because now if I could tip her the wink, she'd lie out and save me and blow on our deadbeats.

Well, we swarmed along down the river road, just carrying on like wild cats.

And to make it more scary, the sky was darking up and the lightning beginning to wink and flitter and the wind to shiver amongst the leaves.

This was the most awful trouble and most dangerous am I ever was in.

And I was kind of stunned.

Everything was going so different from what I had allowed for instead of being fixed so I could take my own time if I wanted to and see all the fun and have Mary Janet my back to save me and set me free when the close fit come.

Here was nothing in the world betwixt me and sudden death.

But just them tattoo marks if they didn't find them.

I couldn't bear to think about it.

And yet, somehow I couldn't think about nothing else.

It got darker.

And darker.

And it was a beautiful time to give the crowd the slip but that big husky had me by the wrist.

Hines and the body might as well try to give Golier the slip.

He dragged me right along.

He was so excited, and I had to run to keep up.

When they got there, they swarmed into the graveyard and washed over it like an overflow.

And when they got to the grave, they found they had about a hundred times as many shovels as they wanted.

But nobody hadn't thought to fetch a lantern.

But they sailed into digging anyway, by the flicker of the lightning, and sent a man to the nearest house.

A half a mile off to borrow one.

So they dug and dug like everything.

And it got awful dark, and the rain started and the wind swished and swished along.

And the lightning come brisker and brisker and the thunder boomed.

But then people never took no notice of it.

They was so full of this business.

And 1 minute you could see everything and every face in that big crowd and the shovelfuls of dirt sailing up out of the grave.

And the next second, the dark wiped it all out and you couldn't see nothing at all.

At last they got out the coffin and begun to unscrew the lid.

And then such another crowding and shouldering and shoving.

As there was to scrouge in and get a sight you never see and in the dark that way.

It was awful, Hines.

He hurt my wrist dreadful.

Pulling and tugging so.

And I reckon he clean forgot.

I was in the world.

He was so excited and panting.

All of a sudden, the lightning let go a perfect sluice of white glare and somebody sings out by the living jingo here's the bag of gold on his breast hines let out a whoop like everybody else and dropped my wrist and give a big surge to bust his way in and get a look.

And the way I lit out and shinned for the road in the dark there.

Ain't nobody can tell.

I had the road all to myself and I fairly flew.

Least ways I had it all to myself except the solid dark and the now and then glares and the buzzing of the rain and the thrashing of the wind and the splitting of the thunder.

And sure as you're born, I did clip it along when I struck the town.

I see.

There weren't nobody out in the storm, so I never hunted for no back streets, but humped it straight through the main one.

And when I begun to get towards our house, I aimed my eye and said, it no light there.

The house all dark.

Which made me feel sorry and disappointed.

I didn't know why, but at last, just as I was sailing by, flash comes the light in Mary Jane's window and my heart swelled up sudden like to bust.

And the same second the house and all was behind me in the dark and wasn't ever going to be before me no more in this world.

She was the best girl I ever see and had the most sand.

The minute I was far enough above the town to see I could make the tow head, I begun to look sharp for a boat to borrow.

And the first time the lightning showed me one that wasn't chained, I snatched it and shoved.

It was a canoe and weren't fastened with nothing but a rope.

The tow head was a rattling big distance off away out there in the middle of the river.

But I didn't lose no time.

And when I struck the raft at.

Last, I was so fagged I would.

Just laid down to blow and gasp if I could afford it.

But I didn't.

As I sprung aboard, I sung out out with you, Jim and set her loose.

Glory be to goodness were shut of them.

Jim lit out and was a coming for me with both arms spread, he was so full of joy.

But when I glimpsed him in the lightning, my heart shot up in my mouth and I went overboard backwards, for I forgot he was old King Lear and a drowned Arab all in one and it most scared the livers and lights out of me.

But Jim fished me out and was going to hug me and bless me and so on.

He was so glad I was back and we was shut of the King and the Duke.

But I says not now.

Have it for breakfast.

Have it for breakfast.

Cut loose and let her slide.

So in 2 seconds, away we went to sliding down the river.

And it did seem so good to be free again and all by ourselves on the big river and nobody to bother us.

I had to skip around a bit and jump up and crack my heels a few times.

I couldn't help it, but about the third crack I noticed a sound that I knowed mighty well and held my breath and listened and waited.

And sure enough, when the next flash busted out over the water, here they come and just allaying to their oars and making their skiff, it was the King and the Duke.

So I wilted right down onto the planks then and give up and it was all I could do to keep from crying.

Thank you for joining Bite at a Time Books today while we read a bite of one of your favorite classics.

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