Goody!... No, Tom, that ain t it. If it is, it ain t in this one-horse
town. They ain t no numbers here.
Well, that s so. Lemme think a minute. Here it s the number of a
room in a tavern, you know!
Oh, that s the trick! They ain t only two taverns. We can find out
quick.
You stay here, Huck, till I come.
Tom was off at once. He did not care to have Huck s company in public
places. He was gone half an hour. He found that in the best tavern, No.
2 had long been occupied by a young lawyer, and was still so occupied.
In the less ostentatious house, No. 2 was a mystery. The tavern-keeper s
young son said it was kept locked all the time, and he never saw anybody
go into it or come out of it except at night; he did not know any
particular reason for this state of things; had had some little
curiosity, but it was rather feeble; had made the most of the mystery
by entertaining himself with the idea that that room was ha nted ; had
noticed that there was a light in there the night before.
That s what I ve found out, Huck. I reckon that s the very No. 2 we re
after.
I reckon it is, Tom. Now what you going to do?
Lemme think.
Tom thought a long time. Then he said:
I ll tell you. The back door of that No. 2 is the door that comes out
into that little close alley between the tavern and the old rattle trap
of a brick store. Now you get hold of all the doorkeys you can find, and
I ll nip all of auntie s, and the first dark night we ll go there and
try em. And mind you, keep a lookout for Injun Joe, because he said he
was going to drop into town and spy around once more for a chance to get
his revenge. If you see him, you just follow him; and if he don t go to
that No. 2, that ain t the place.
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