星期天早上天剛剛有點蒙蒙亮，哈克就摸上山，輕輕地敲着老威爾斯曼家的門。裡面的人還在睡覺，可是由於夜裡那樁驚人的事情，大家變得十分警惕，窗戶裡傳出了一句問話：
AS the earliest suspicion of dawn appeared on Sunday morning, Huck came groping up the hill and rapped gently at the old Welshman's door. The inmates were asleep, but it was a sleep that was set on a hair-trigger, on account of the exciting episode of the night. A call came from a window:
“是誰呀？”
"Who's there!"
哈克有點驚魂未定低聲答道：
Huck's scared voice answered in a low tone:
“請讓我進去吧！是哈克·費恩呀！”
"Please let me in! It's only Huck Finn!"
“哦，是你呀，只要你來，白天、黑夜都歡迎你！”
"It's a name that can open this door night or day, lad!--and welcome!"
這個流浪兒以前從沒聽過這樣的話，這也是他有生以來聽到的最快樂的話。他想不起來以前有沒有人對他說過“歡迎”一詞。門鎖很快打開了，他走了進去。主人讓哈克坐下，老人和兩個大高個孩子很快穿好衣服。
These were strange words to the vagabond boy's ears, and the pleasantest he had ever heard. He could not recollect that the closing word had ever been applied in his case before. The door was quickly unlocked, and he entered. Huck was given a seat and the old man and his brace of tall sons speedily dressed themselves.
“喂，好傢伙，我想你一定餓極了。太陽一出來，早飯就好了，咱們可以吃上一頓熱氣騰騰的飯，你儘管放心吧！我和孩子們指望你昨晚到我的家來過夜呢。”
"Now, my boy, I hope you're good and hungry, because breakfast will be ready as soon as the sun's up, and we'll have a piping hot one, too--make yourself easy about that! I and the boys hoped you'd turn up and stop here last night."
“我嚇得不得了，”哈克說，“我跑了，一聽見槍響我就跑了。一口氣跑出去有三英里。你瞧，我回來是想問問情況，乘天沒大亮來是怕碰上那兩個鬼東西，死也不願碰上。”
"I was awful scared," said Huck, "and I run. I took out when the pistols went off, and I didn't stop for three mile. I've come now becuz I wanted to know about it, you know; and I come before daylight becuz I didn't want to run across them devils, even if they was dead."
“嗯，可憐虫，看上去昨晚的事情確實讓你受了不少苦——吃完早飯後，這裡有張床鋪，你可以睡上一覺。那兩個傢伙還沒死，孩子，真不隨人願。你瞧，我們照你說的，知道該在什麼地方對他們下手，所以我們踮着腳走到離他們只有十五英呎的地方——可那綠樹叢黑的像個地窟——而這時我覺得要打噴嚏，真是倒霉透了！我想憋住，可不管事，結果打了個噴嚏！我是端着槍走在頭裡的，我驚動了那兩個壞蛋，他們沙沙地鑽出小路往外走，我大聲說，‘孩子們，開火！’ 對著沙沙聲的地方就放了一陣子槍，孩子們也開了槍，可那兩個惡棍卻溜了，我們穿過樹林一直追過去，我想我們根本沒打着他們。他們跑的時候也都放了槍，子彈從我們身邊嗖嗖地飛過去卻沒有傷着我們。他們跑遠了，我們就沒有再追上去，只是下山去叫醒了警官。他們調集了一隊人馬，部署在河岸上，擔任守衛工作。等天亮後，警長還親自帶一幫人到森林去搜查。我的兩個兒子也要跟他們一起去搜查。我很想知道那兩個傢伙是什麼模樣，這樣搜查起來要好辦些。可是孩子，我想晚上天黑你也沒看清他們長相，對嗎？”
"Well, poor chap, you do look as if you'd had a hard night of it--but there's a bed here for you when you've had your breakfast. No, they ain't dead, lad--we are sorry enough for that. You see we knew right where to put our hands on them, by your description; so we crept along on tiptoe till we got within fifteen feet of them--dark as a cellar that sumach path was--and just then I found I was going to sneeze. It was the meanest kind of luck! I tried to keep it back, but no use--'twas bound to come, and it did come! I was in the lead with my pistol raised, and when the sneeze started those scoundrels a-rustling to get out of the path, I sung out, 'Fire boys!' and blazed away at the place where the rustling was. So did the boys. But they were off in a jiffy, those villains, and we after them, down through the woods. I judge we never touched them. They fired a shot apiece as they started, but their bullets whizzed by and didn't do us any harm. As soon as we lost the sound of their feet we quit chasing, and went down and stirred up the constables. They got a posse together, and went off to guard the river bank, and as soon as it is light the sheriff and a gang are going to beat up the woods. My boys will be with them presently. I wish we had some sort of description of those rascals--'twould help a good deal. But you couldn't see what they were like, in the dark, lad, I suppose?"
“不，我在鎮上見過他倆，還跟蹤過他們。”
"Oh yes; I saw them downtown and follered them."
“太棒了！說說看——孩子——說出他們的特徵來！”
"Splendid! Describe them--describe them, my boy!"
“一個是又聾又啞的西班牙人，有一兩次他來過這裡，另外一個長相難看，衣衫襤褸——”
"One's the old deaf and dumb Spaniard that's ben around here once or twice, and t'other's a mean-looking, ragged--"
“孩子，這就夠了，我們認識那兩個傢伙。有一次在寡婦家後面的樹林中碰到過，他們卻偷偷溜掉了。快去吧，孩子們，去告訴警長——明天早晨再吃早飯吧！”
"That's enough, lad, we know the men! Happened on them in the woods back of the widow's one day, and they slunk away. Off with you, boys, and tell the sheriff--get your breakfast tomorrow morning!"
威爾斯曼的兩個孩子立即動身出發。他們走出屋子時，哈克跳起來，大聲說道：
The Welshman's sons departed at once. As they were leaving the room Huck sprang up and exclaimed:
“喂，請你們千萬別對任何人講是我走漏的風聲！啊，千萬千萬不要說是我！”
"Oh, please don't tell anybody it was me that blowed on them! Oh, please!"
“好，你不讓說，就不說，可你總該讓人家知道你的功勞呀！”
"All right if you say it, Huck, but you ought to have the credit of what you did."
“不不不，請不要講！”
"Oh no, no! Please don't tell!"
兩個年青人走後，威爾斯曼老人說：
When the young men were gone, the old Welshman said:
“他們不會說出去，我也不會的。可你為什麼不願讓人知道呢？”
"They won't tell--and I won't. But why don't you want it known?"
哈克沒別的理由，他只是說他認識其中一人，不想讓那人知道是他本人在和他作對，否則肯定要送命的。
Huck would not explain, further than to say that he already knew too much about one of those men and would not have the man know that he knew anything against him for the whole world--he would be killed for knowing it, sure.
老人再次表示要替他保守秘密，說道：
The old man promised secrecy once more, and said:
“孩子，你怎麼會盯梢他倆呢？是不是他們可疑？”
"How did you come to follow these fellows, lad? Were they looking suspicious?"
哈克沒作聲，心裡卻在精心編造，好回答他提出的問題。 他說：
Huck was silent while he framed a duly cautious reply. Then he said:
“您瞧，我是個無可救藥的壞傢伙，至少大夥是這麼說我的，我也不覺得委屈——有時為了想這個問題，好改一改自己，結果弄得睡也睡不着，昨天晚上就是這樣。我睡不着，大約午夜時來到街上，想著這件事，後來走到禁酒的客棧旁那個老磚廠時，我就靠在牆上又在想這樁事情。嘿，真巧這時那兩個傢伙悄悄從我身邊溜過，腋下夾着東西，我想一定是偷來的。一個傢伙抽着煙，另外一個要接火。他倆就停在我前邊不遠，雪茄煙的火光照亮了他們的臉。藉著火光，我認出了那個長白鬍子、眼睛上戴着眼罩的傢伙是又聾又啞的西班牙人，另外一個傢伙，有點迂腐，衣衫襤褸。”
"Well, you see, I'm a kind of a hard lot,--least everybody says so, and I don't see nothing agin it--and sometimes I can't sleep much, on account of thinking about it and sort of trying to strike out a new way of doing. That was the way of it last night. I couldn't sleep, and so I come along upstreet 'bout midnight, a-turning it all over, and when I got to that old shackly brick store by the Temperance Tavern, I backed up agin the wall to have another think. Well, just then along comes these two chaps slipping along close by me, with something under their arm, and I reckoned they'd stole it. One was a-smoking, and t'other one wanted a light; so they stopped right before me and the cigars lit up their faces and I see that the big one was the deaf and dumb Spaniard, by his white whiskers and the patch on his eye, and t'other one was a rusty, ragged-looking devil."
“雪茄的火光能讓你看清他衣衫襤褸嗎？”
"Could you see the rags by the light of the cigars?"
這一問倒一下子難住了哈克。過了片刻後，他又說：
This staggered Huck for a moment. Then he said:
“嗯，這不太清楚——不過我好像是看清了。”
"Well, I don't know--but somehow it seems as if I did."
“然後他們繼續往前走，而你——”
"Then they went on, and you--"
“對，跟在他們後面，是這樣的，我想知道他們要幹什麼壞事——他們那樣偷偷摸摸的，實在有點不對勁。我一直跟到寡婦家院子的階梯那裡，站在黑暗裡聽見一個人在替寡婦求饒，可那西班牙佬發誓破她的相，就像我告訴您和您那兩個……”
"Follered 'em--yes. That was it. I wanted to see what was up--they sneaked along so. I dogged 'em to the widder's stile, and stood in the dark and heard the ragged one beg for the widder, and the Spaniard swear he'd spile her looks just as I told you and your two--"
“什麼，這些是那個又聾又啞的西班牙人說的！”
"What! The deaf and dumb man said all that!"
哈克又犯了一個大錯誤！他一直不想讓老人知道——哪怕是一點點——西班牙人的情況，儘管他十分小心，可那張舌頭就是不聽話，似乎有意給他添麻煩，他幾次都想擺脫窘境，可老人盯着他，結果弄得他一次又一次露了馬腳。隨後老人說：
Huck had made another terrible mistake! He was trying his best to keep the old man from getting the faintest hint of who the Spaniard might be, and yet his tongue seemed determined to get him into trouble in spite of all he could do. He made several efforts to creep out of his scrape, but the old man's eye was upon him and he made blunder after blunder. Presently the Welshman said:
“孩子，別怕我。我不會傷害你一根頭毛。相反我要保護你。這個西班牙人既不聾也不啞，你無意中說了出來，現在瞞也來不及了。你瞭解那個西班牙人的一些情況，你想隱瞞？相信我——告訴我吧！請相信我——我不會翻臉不認人的。”
"My boy, don't be afraid of me. I wouldn't hurt a hair of your head for all the world. No--I'd protect you--I'd protect you. This Spaniard is not deaf and dumb; you've let that slip without intending it; you can't cover that up now. You know something about that Spaniard that you want to keep dark. Now trust me--tell me what it is, and trust me--I won't betray you."
哈克看了看老人那雙真誠的眼睛，過了片刻彎過身去，對著老人低聲耳語道：
Huck looked into the old man's honest eyes a moment, then bent over and whispered in his ear:
“那不是西班牙人，是印第安·喬啊！”
"'Tain't a Spaniard--it's Injun Joe!"
威爾斯曼聽後差點從椅子上跳起來，片刻後他說：
The Welshman almost jumped out of his chair. In a moment he said:
“現在事情全明白了。你當時說什麼撕開鼻子，把耳朵弄個缺口之類的事情，我當時還以為是你自己故意編出來的，白人們報仇不會這樣做的。可這事是涉及到印第安·喬，那就完全不同了。”
"It's all plain enough, now. When you talked about notching ears and slitting noses I judged that that was your own embellishment, because white men don't take that sort of revenge. But an Injun! That's a different matter altogether."
吃早飯時，他倆繼續談論那事，談話中老人說上床睡覺前，他和兒子們做的第一件事情是提着燈到階梯附近看看有沒有血跡，結果血跡沒看見，倒找到了一大捆子——。
During breakfast the talk went on, and in the course of it the old man said that the last thing which he and his sons had done, before going to bed, was to get a lantern and examine the stile and its vicinity for marks of blood. They found none, but captured a bulky bundle of--
“一捆什麼？”
"Of what?"
這幾個字，就像閃電一般快地從哈克嘴中突然脫口而出，他顯得很吃驚，嘴唇發白。他眼睛瞪得溜溜圓，張着口在等回答。威爾斯曼吃了一驚——瞪着哈克——三秒——五秒——十秒——然後答道：
If the words had been lightning they could not have leaped with a more stunning suddenness from Huck's blanched lips. His eyes were staring wide, now, and his breath suspended--waiting for the answer. The Welshman started--stared in return--three seconds--five seconds--ten--then replied:
“是強盜作案工具。唉，你怎麼了？”
"Of burglar's tools. Why, what's the matter with you?"
哈克一下子放鬆下來，微微喘着氣，有一種說不出的如釋重負感，威爾斯曼嚴肅地看著他，顯得迷惑不解，然後接著說：
Huck sank back, panting gently, but deeply, unutterably grateful. The Welshman eyed him gravely, curiously--and presently said:
“是啊，那是捆強盜作案的工具。你好像放心多了。可你剛纔怎麼突然變了色！你以為我們找到了什麼？”
"Yes, burglar's tools. That appears to relieve you a good deal. But what did give you that turn? What were you expecting we'd found?"
哈克被逼問得夠嗆——老人用質疑的眼光盯着他——他真願用一切來換一個似乎能站住腳的答覆——可就是想不出來怎麼說好——質疑的眼睛盯得他入骨三分——他不知不覺地想出了理由——這由不得他再三斟酌。於是，他硬着頭皮，捏着嗓子說：
Huck was in a close place--the inquiring eye was upon him--he would have given anything for material for a plausible answer--nothing suggested itself--the inquiring eye was boring deeper and deeper--a senseless reply offered--there was no time to weigh it, so at a venture he uttered it--feebly:
“主日學校用的教材，也許是的。”
"Sunday-school books, maybe."
可憐的哈克顯得十分難過的樣子，不苟言笑，可老人卻開懷大笑，笑得渾身上下直髮抖。最後，他還說這種大笑就等於到手的錢，因為笑口常開無病無災。他接着補充道：
Poor Huck was too distressed to smile, but the old man laughed loud and joyously, shook up the details of his anatomy from head to foot, and ended by saying that such a laugh was money in a-man's pocket, because it cut down the doctor's bill like everything. Then he added:
“可憐的小伙子，你臉色發白，氣色不正，怪不得，你有點發飄，站不穩。不過會好起來的，我想你只要休息休息，睡睡覺，就好了。”
"Poor old chap, you're white and jaded--you ain't well a bit--no wonder you're a little flighty and off your balance. But you'll come out of it. Rest and sleep will fetch you out all right, I hope."
哈克一想到自己是隻笨鵝，激動得差點露出馬腳，他不免有些懊惱。自他在寡婦家的階梯處聽到那兩個傢伙說話後，就不再認為從客棧中拿出來的包裹裡有財寶。不過這只是他的猜想，可他並不曉得——裡面確實沒有財寶——結果在老人提及一捆東西時，他就沉不住氣了。不管怎麼說，他還是挺高興的，至少他現在知道“這捆”毫無疑問不是他要的“那捆”，這下他心裡十分高興，舒服極了。實際情況也都在朝他希望的方向發展。那財寶一定還在二號裡，那兩個傢伙當天會被捉住，關到牢裡去，而他和湯姆晚上會不費吹灰之力，就弄到那些金子，根本用不着擔心會有人來打攪。
Huck was irritated to think he had been such a goose and betrayed such a suspicious excitement, for he had dropped the idea that the parcel brought from the tavern was the treasure, as soon as he had heard the talk at the widow's stile. He had only thought it was not the treasure, however--he had not known that it wasn't--and so the suggestion of a captured bundle was too much for his self-possession. But on the whole he felt glad the little episode had happened, for now he knew beyond all question that that bundle was not the bundle, and so his mind was at rest and exceedingly comfortable. In fact, everything seemed to be drifting just in the right direction, now; the treasure must be still in No. 2, the men would be captured and jailed that day, and he and Tom could seize the gold that night without any trouble or any fear of interruption.
早飯剛吃完，就有人來敲門。哈克跳起來找藏身的地方。他不想讓任何別的人把他和最近發生的事情聯繫起來。威爾斯曼讓幾個女士和紳士進了門，道格拉斯寡婦也來了。老人還看見有一群人正在往山上爬——以便好看清楚那階梯，原來人們已經知道這事了。 老人只好把晚上發生過的情況向在坐的人講了一遍。寡婦因免遭迫害，也痛痛快快地把她的感激之情說了出來。
Just as breakfast was completed there was a knock at the door. Huck jumped for a hiding-place, for he had no mind to be connected even remotely with the late event. The Welshman admitted several ladies and gentlemen, among them the Widow Douglas, and noticed that groups of citizens were climbing up the hill--to stare at the stile. So the news had spread. The Welshman had to tell the story of the night to the visitors. The widow's gratitude for her preservation was outspoken.
“夫人，別提這事了，還有一個人比我和孩子們做得更多，更值得你感謝。不過他有言在先，不讓我說出他的名子，要不是他，我們不會到你那裡去。”
"Don't say a word about it, madam. There's another that you're more beholden to than you are to me and my boys, maybe, but he don't allow me to tell his name. We wouldn't have been there but for him."
大家的好奇心一下子轉到了這方面，但老人守口如瓶，只讓大家牢牢地記住這事，再由他們傳遍全城，可就不說出這人是誰。寡婦知道了一切後說：
Of course this excited a curiosity so vast that it almost belittled the main matter--but the Welshman allowed it to eat into the vitals of his visitors, and through them be transmitted to the whole town, for he refused to part with his secret. When all else had been learned, the widow said:
“我上床睡覺，在床上看書，外面吵吵閙閙我卻睡着了。你們怎麼不來把我叫醒？”
"I went to sleep reading in bed and slept straight through all that noise. Why didn't you come and wake me?"
“我們覺得沒那必要，那些傢伙不可能再回來，——他們沒了作案工具。叫醒你，把你嚇個半死又何必呢？後來我派了三個家奴守着你的房子，一直守到天亮。他們剛纔回來。”
"We judged it warn't worth while. Those fellows warn't likely to come again--they hadn't any tools left to work with, and what was the use of waking you up and scaring you to death? My three negro men stood guard at your house all the rest of the night. They've just come back."
來的人越來越多，老人一遍又一遍地對大家講晚上發生的事情，花了有兩個多小時才算結束。
More visitors came, and the story had to be told and retold for a couple of hours more.
走讀學校放假，主日學校也不上課，可是去教堂的人卻很早就到了。那樁驚人的事情已經是滿城風雨。有消息說，那兩個壞蛋現在連影子都見不着。做完佈道，法官撒切爾的夫人同哈潑夫人一道隨着人群順着過道往外走，邊走邊說：
There was no Sabbath-school during day-school vacation, but everybody was early at church. The stirring event was well canvassed. News came that not a sign of the two villains had been yet discovered. When the sermon was finished, Judge Thatcher's wife dropped alongside of Mrs. Harper as she moved down the aisle with the crowd and said:
“我那貝基難道要睡一整天不成？我料到她累得要命。”
"Is my Becky going to sleep all day? I just expected she would be tired to death."
“你的貝基？”
"Your Becky?"
“對呀，”法官太太看上去很吃驚，“昨晚她不是和你住在一起的嗎？”
"Yes," with a startled look--"didn't she stay with you last night?"
“和我住的，不，沒有。”
"Why, no."
撒切爾太太臉色發白，癱坐在一把椅子上。這時波莉姨媽從她身旁走過，愉快地邊走邊和朋友聊着。 波莉姨媽說：
Mrs. Thatcher turned pale, and sank into a pew, just as Aunt Polly, talking briskly with a friend, passed by. Aunt Polly said:
“早晨好，撒切爾太太，早晨好，哈帕太太，我家那個鬼小子人不見了。我想我那個湯姆昨晚住在你們家中——不知是在你們哪一家。他現在不敢來教堂做禮拜。我得和他算帳。”
"Goodmorning, Mrs. Thatcher. Goodmorning, Mrs. Harper. I've got a boy that's turned up missing. I reckon my Tom stayed at your house last night--one of you. And now he's afraid to come to church. I've got to settle with him."
Mrs. Thatcher shook her head feebly and turned paler than ever.
“他沒在我們這兒住過。”哈帕說著，看上去顯得有些不安，波莉姨媽臉上明顯地露出了焦慮的神色。
"He didn't stay with us," said Mrs. Harper, beginning to look uneasy. A marked anxiety came into Aunt Polly's face.
“喬·哈帕，你早上看到我家湯姆了嗎？”
"Joe Harper, have you seen my Tom this morning?"
“沒有，大嬸。”
"No'm."
“什麼時候你最後見過他？”
"When did you see him last?"
喬竭力在想，可說不准。往教堂外走的人現在都停下了腳步。到處竊竊私語，人人臉上露出不祥的焦慮。大人們迫不及待地詢問孩子們和老師們。他們都不敢肯定湯姆和貝基是否上了回程的船；當時天黑，沒人想到問一問人是否全到齊了。有個年青人突然說他們仍在山洞裡，撒切爾夫人當即暈了過去，波莉姨媽捶胸頓足地放聲大哭。
Joe tried to remember, but was not sure he could say. The people had stopped moving out of church. Whispers passed along, and a boding uneasiness took possession of every countenance. Children were anxiously questioned, and young teachers. They all said they had not noticed whether Tom and Becky were on board the ferryboat on the homeward trip; it was dark; no one thought of inquiring if any one was missing. One young man finally blurted out his fear that they were still in the cave! Mrs. Thatcher swooned away. Aunt Polly fell to crying and wringing her hands.
這個驚人的消息一傳十，十傳百，弄得大街小巷家喻戶曉，不到五分鐘的工夫，大鐘瘋了似地噹噹直響，全鎮的人都行動起來。卡第夫山事件隨即顯得沒有多大意義，盜賊的事也擺到了一邊去。大家套上馬鞍，給小船配好劃手，叫渡船出發，不到半個時辰，全鎮就有二百多個人潮水般順着公路和河流向山洞湧去。
The alarm swept from lip to lip, from group to group, from street to street, and within five minutes the bells were wildly clanging and the whole town was up! The Cardiff Hill episode sank into instant insignificance, the burglars were forgotten, horses were saddled, skiffs were manned, the ferryboat ordered out, and before the horror was half an hour old, two hundred men were pouring down highroad and river toward the cave.
那天下午，林子裡好像什麼也沒有，一片沉寂。許多婦女去看波莉姨媽和撒切爾夫人，想安慰她倆，結果大家一齊罵個不停，這要比安慰人的話更頂用。這一夜全鎮顯得十分沉悶，大家都在等消息；但當黎明最後來臨時，所有的消息都是一句話：“再送些蠟燭去——送些吃的。”
All the long afternoon the village seemed empty and dead. Many women visited Aunt Polly and Mrs. Thatcher and tried to comfort them. They cried with them, too, and that was still better than words. All the tedious night the town waited for news; but when the morning dawned at last, all the word that came was, "Send more candles--and send food." Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. Judge Thatcher sent messages of hope and encouragement from the cave, but they conveyed no real cheer.
撒切爾夫人几乎神經失常，還有波莉姨媽也是。撒切爾法官從洞中派人傳來令人鼓舞的好消息，可這一點也不能引起大家的興緻。天快亮時老威爾斯曼回了家，他渾身滴滿蠟燭油，蹭滿泥土，差點累得精疲力竭。他看見哈克仍睡在那張床上，燒得昏過去。醫生們都去了山洞，因此道格拉斯寡婦來負責照看他。她說她對他一定會盡全力，哈克是好孩子還是壞孩子，或者不好不壞，那是另一回事，但他屬於上帝，上帝的任何東西都應該受到重視。威爾斯曼說哈克有優點，寡婦說：
The old Welshman came home toward daylight, spattered with candle-grease, smeared with clay, and almost worn out. He found Huck still in the bed that had been provided for him, and delirious with fever. The physicians were all at the cave, so the Widow Douglas came and took charge of the patient. She said she would do her best by him, because, whether he was good, bad, or indifferent, he was the Lord's, and nothing that was the Lord's was a thing to be neglected. The Welshman said Huck had good spots in him, and the widow said:
“的確如此，那就是上帝給他留下的記號，上帝從沒有放棄給人留下良好的記號，凡經他手的人，都有良好記號。”
"You can depend on it. That's the Lord's mark. He don't leave it off. He never does. Puts it somewhere on every creature that comes from his hands."
還沒到下午，三三兩兩的人拖着疲憊的身體回到林裡，那些身強力壯的人還在山洞裡搜索。傳來的消息只是說以前山洞裡沒人去過的地方，現在大家都在搜，就連一個角落，一處裂隙都要徹底地過一遍，錯綜複雜的迷宮中人們鑽來鑽去，老遠就能看見到處燈光搖曳，喊聲、槍聲迴蕩在陰森可怖的通道里。有個地方，一般遊客很少去，人們發現貝基和湯姆的名字用蠟燭煙熏在石壁上，不遠處還有一截油乎乎的髮帶，撒切爾夫人認出這是貝基的東西，痛哭流涕。她說這是她女兒留給她的最後一點遺物，再也沒有什麼別的想頭比這更寶貴，因為當那可怕的死亡降臨時，這件東西最後離開她的孩子。有人說洞裡遠處的地方不時有微光閃動，然後就是大喊大叫聲，接着一二十個男人排着隊鑽進聲音蕩漾的通道——結果照例是空歡喜一場，孩子並不在那裡，亮光原來來自搜尋人的燈光。
Early in the forenoon parties of jaded men began to straggle into the village, but the strongest of the citizens continued searching. All the news that could be gained was that remotenesses of the cavern were being ransacked that had never been visited before; that every corner and crevice was going to be thoroughly searched; that wherever one wandered through the maze of passages, lights were to be seen flitting hither and thither in the distance, and shoutings and pistol-shots sent their hollow reverberations to the ear down the sombre aisles. In one place, far from the section usually traversed by tourists, the names "BECKY & TOM" had been found traced upon the rocky wall with candle-smoke, and near at hand a grease-soiled bit of ribbon. Mrs. Thatcher recognized the ribbon and cried over it. She said it was the last relic she should ever have of her child; and that no other memorial of her could ever be so precious, because this one parted latest from the living body before the awful death came. Some said that now and then, in the cave, a far-away speck of light would glimmer, and then a glorious shout would burst forth and a score of men go trooping down the echoing aisle--and then a sickening disappointment always followed; the children were not there; it was only a searcher's light.
漫長的三天三夜過去了，令人焦慮，令人乏味，全村陷入絶望，茫然不知所措。沒有心情干別的事，就連碰巧發現禁酒客棧老闆私自藏酒這樣令人震驚的事情，眾人們几乎都沒勁頭。哈克清醒的時候，斷斷續續地把話題扯到客棧上，最後問道——心裡隱約覺得會有最壞的事情——他發病期間，在禁酒客棧裡是否找到了什麼。
Three dreadful days and nights dragged their tedious hours along, and the village sank into a hopeless stupor. No one had heart for anything. The accidental discovery, just made, that the proprietor of the Temperance Tavern kept liquor on his premises, scarcely fluttered the public pulse, tremendous as the fact was. In a lucid interval, Huck feebly led up to the subject of taverns, and finally asked--dimly dreading the worst--if anything had been discovered at the Temperance Tavern since he had been ill.
“沒錯，是找到了點東西。”寡婦道。
"Yes," said the widow.
哈克一下子從床上吃驚地坐起來，眼睛睜得溜圓。
Huck started up in bed, wildeyed:
“是什麼？找到了什麼東西？”
"What? What was it?"
“是酒啊！——現在客棧被查封了。躺下來，孩子——你確實嚇了我一大跳呀！”
"Liquor!--and the place has been shut up. Lie down, child--what a turn you did give me!"
“就告訴我一樁事——就一樁事，求您了！那是湯姆·索亞發現的嗎？”
"Only tell me just one thing--only just one--please! Was it Tom Sawyer that found it?"
寡婦突然哭起來。“安靜點，安靜點，孩子，安靜點！我早就跟你說過了，不要講話，你現在病得很厲害，很虛弱！”
The widow burst into tears. "Hush, hush, child, hush! I've told you before, you must not talk. You are very, very sick!"
除酒之外，沒發現別的東西。如果找到的是黃金的話，大家準會大談特談。足見那財寶是永遠找不到了——永遠找不到了！可是她為什麼會哭呢？她居然哭，真是不可思議。
Then nothing but liquor had been found; there would have been a great powwow if it had been the gold. So the treasure was gone forever--gone forever! But what could she be crying about? Curious that she should cry.
哈克迷迷糊糊地想著這些問題，感到十分疲倦，就睡着了。寡婦自言自語道：
These thoughts worked their dim way through Huck's mind, and under the weariness they gave him he fell asleep. The widow said to herself:
“唉，他終於睡了，可憐的孩子。是湯姆·索亞找到的！可遺憾的是沒人能找到湯姆·索亞！更糟的是沒有幾個人還抱有希望或有力氣去繼續尋找他。”
"There--he's asleep, poor wreck. Tom Sawyer find it! Pity but somebody could find Tom Sawyer! Ah, there ain't many left, now, that's got hope enough, or strength enough, either, to go on searching."