We’re splitting it fifty-fifty.”

Everyone gasped. Tom told them how he and Huck had overheard Injun Joe and how they had found the treasure.

The money came to more than twelve thousand dollars. No one in the room had ever seen that much money in all their lives!

Huck went to live with the Widow Douglas. She held Huck’s money for him. Judge Thatcher did the same for Tom. The boys were given a dollar a day allowance.

The Widow Douglas made Huck take baths and eat healthy meals. He had to brush his teeth, comb his hair, and dress properly. He was sent to church and to school.

Poor Huck didn’t like his new life. He ran away after three weeks!

One day Tom found Huck sleeping in his favorite barrel.

Huck was wearing his old rags. His hair was in knots, and his face was dirty. Tom begged him to go back.

“The Widow is good to me, and she’s friendly,” replied Huck. “But I can’t stand her ways. She makes me get up at the same time every morning. She makes me wash. She won’t let me sleep in the woodshed. I can’t do a thing I want!”

“Everybody lives that way, Huck,” Tom explained.

“I’m not everybody, and I can’t stand it. Looky here, Tom, being rich isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. It’s nothing but worry and sweat. Tom, you take my share of the money!”

“Huck, you know I can’t do that. It isn’t fair. Just try this thing a little longer. You’ll come to like it!”

“I don’t think so, Tom,” Huck said. “I like the woods and the river and living in my barrel. I don’t want to ask to go fishing or swimming. We were having such fun as pirates. All this money has spoiled it!”

“Looky here, Huck, being rich isn’t going to keep me from being a robber.”

Then Tom told Huck about his plan to be a robber. He would have a den and everything. He would even have a gang! He told Huck that robbers were better than pirates.

“But I can’t let you be a robber,” said Tom. “It wouldn’t look right. Robbers don’t live in barrels.