CHAPTER 30

As Huck might have guessed, the king and the duke were as wily as he was when it came to making a getaway. If the sight of the gold in the coffin made Huck's captor let his guard down, it did exactly the same for the two thieves.

The king's first impulse is to accuse Huck of "tryin' to give us the slip." But Huck does some fast talking, the duke comes to his defense, and the matter is quickly forgotten.

He has a close call, though, when the two men begin talking about how the gold got into the coffin. He knows they're smart enough to put two and two together, and if they figure out the truth, he's going to be in serious trouble.

He's saved by the fact that, being inveterate thieves, they know exactly how much trust to put into each other-none. Each man suspects the other of having hidden the money in the coffin, with the intention of getting it for himself at a later time.

Their mutual distrust takes the heat off Huck, and the subject doesn't come up again. When the two men drink themselves to sleep, Huck tells Jim everything that has happened.

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