 reckon I can show you. You just wait a minute.«
    Tom ran out of doors. The company looked at each other with a perplexed
interest - and inquiringly at Huck, who was tongue-tied.
    »Sid, what ails Tom?« said aunt Polly. »He - well, there ain't ever any
making of that boy out. I never -«
    Tom entered, struggling with the weight of his sacks, and Aunt Polly did not
finish her sentence. Tom poured the mass of yellow coin upon the table and said
-
    »There - what did I tell you? Half of it's Huck's and half of it's mine!«
    The spectacle took the general breath away. All gazed, nobody spoke for a
moment. Then there was a unanimous call for an explanation. Tom said he could
furnish it, and he did. The tale was long, but brim full of interest. There was
scarcely an interruption from any one to break the charm of its flow. When he
had finished, Mr. Jones said -
    »I thought I had fixed up a little surprise for this occasion, but it don't
amount to anything now. This one makes it sing mighty small, I'm willing to
allow.«
    The money was counted. The sum amounted to a little over twelve thousand
dollars. It was more than any one present had ever seen at one time before,
though several persons were there who were worth considerably more than that in
property.
 

                                   Chapter 35

The reader may rest satisfied that Tom's and Huck's windfall made a mighty stir
in the poor little village of St. Petersburg. So vast a sum, all in actual cash,
seemed next to incredible. It was talked about, gloated over, glorified, until
the reason of many of the citizens tottered under the strain of the unhealthy
excitement. Every haunted house in St. Petersburg and the neighboring villages
was dissected, plank by plank, and its foundations dug up and ransacked for
hidden treasure - and not by boys, but men - pretty grave, unromantic men, too,
some of them. Wherever Tom and Huck appeared they were courted, admired, stared
at. The boys were not able to remember that their remarks had possessed weight
before; but now their sayings were treasured and repeated; everything they did
seemed somehow to be regarded as remarkable; they had evidently lost the power
of doing and saying commonplace things; moreover, their past history was raked
up and discovered to bear marks of conspicuous originality. The village paper
published biographical sketches
