WHEN they got aboard the king went for me, and shook me by the collar, and says:

"Tryin' to give us the slip, was ye, you pup! Tired of our company, hey?"

I says:

"No, your majesty¹, we warn't -- PLEASE don't, your majesty!"

"Quick, then, and tell us what WAS your idea, or I'll shake the insides out o' you!"

"Honest, I'll tell you everything just as it happened, your majesty. The man that had a-holt of me was very good to me, and kept saying he had a boy about as big as me that died last year, and he was sorry to see a boy in such a dangerous fix; and when they was all took by surprise by finding the gold, and made a rush for the coffin², he lets go of me and whispers, 'Heel it now, or they'll hang ye, sure!' and I lit out. It didn't seem no good for ME to stay -- I couldn't do nothing, and I didn't want to be hung if I could get away. So I never stopped running till I found the canoe; and when I got here I told Jim to hurry, or they'd catch me and hang me yet, and said I was afeard you and the duke wasn't alive now, and I was awful sorry, and so was Jim, and was awful glad when we see you coming; you may ask Jim if I didn't."

Jim said it was so; and the king told him to shut up, and said, "Oh, yes, it's MIGHTY³ likely!" and shook me up again, and said he reckoned he'd drownd me. But the duke says:

"Leggo the boy, you old idiot! Would YOU a done any different? Did you inquire around for HIM when you got loose? I don't remember it."

So the king let go of me, and begun to cuss that town and everybody in it. But the duke says:

"You better a blame' sight give YOURSELF a good cussing, for you're the one that's entitled to it most. You hain't done a thing from the start that had any sense in it, except coming out so cool and cheeky with that imaginary blue-arrow mark. That WAS bright -- it was right down bully⁴; and it was the thing that saved us. For if it hadn't been for that they'd a jailed us till them Englishmen's baggage come -- and then -- the penitentiary⁵, you bet! But that trick took 'em to the graveyard⁶, and the gold done us a still bigger kindness; for if the excited fools hadn't let go all holts and made that rush to get a look we'd a slept in our cravats⁷ to-night -- cravats warranted to WEAR, too -- longer than WE'D need 'em."

They was still a minute -- thinking; then the king says, kind of absent-minded like:

"Mf! And we reckoned the NIGGERS stole it!"

That made me squirm!

"Yes," says the duke, kinder slow and deliberate and sarcastic⁸, "WE did."

After about a half a minute the king drawls out:

"Leastways, I did."

The duke says, the same way:

"On the contrary, I did."

The king kind of ruffles⁹ up, and says:

"Looky here, Bilgewater, what'r you referrin' to?"

The duke says, pretty brisk:

"When it comes to that, maybe you'll let me ask, what was YOU referring to?"

"Shucks!" says the king, very sarcastic; "but I don't know -- maybe you was asleep, and didn't know what you was about."

The duke bristles¹⁰ up now, and says:

"Oh, let UP on this cussed nonsense; do you take me for a blame' fool? Don't you reckon I know who hid that money in that coffin?"

"YES, sir! I know you DO know, because you done it yourself!"

"It's a lie!" -- and the duke went for him. The king sings out:

"Take y'r hands off! -- leggo my throat! -- I take it all back!"

The duke says:

"Well, you just own up, first, that you DID hide that money there, intending to give me the slip one of these days, and come back and dig it up, and have it all to yourself."

"Wait jest a minute, duke -- answer me this one question, honest and fair; if you didn't put the money there, say it, and I'll b'lieve you, and take back everything I said."

"You old scoundrel, I didn't, and you know I didn't. There, now!"

"Well, then, I b'lieve you. But answer me only jest this one more -- now DON'T git mad; didn't you have it in your mind to hook the money and hide it?"

The duke never said nothing for a little bit; then he says:

"Well, I don't care if I DID, I didn't DO it, anyway. But you not only had it in mind to do it, but you DONE it."

"I wisht I never die if I done it, duke, and that's honest. I won't say I warn't goin' to do it, because I WAS; but you -- I mean somebody -- got in ahead o' me."

"It's a lie! You done it, and you got to SAY you done it, or --"

The king began to gurgle, and then he gasps¹¹ out:

"'Nough! -- I OWN UP!"

I was very glad to hear him say that; it made me feel much more easier than what I was feeling before. So the duke took his hands off and says:

"If you ever deny it again I'll drown you. It's WELL for you to set there and blubber like a baby -- it's fitten for you, after the way you've acted. I never see such an old ostrich¹² for wanting to gobble everything -- and I a-trusting you all the time, like you was my own father. You ought to been ashamed of yourself to stand by and hear it saddled on to a lot of poor niggers, and you never say a word for 'em. It makes me feel ridiculous to think I was soft enough to BELIEVE that rubbage. Cuss you, I can see now why you was so anxious to make up the deffisit -- you wanted to get what money I'd got out of the Nonesuch and one thing or another, and scoop¹³ it ALL!"

The king says, timid, and still a-snuffling:

"Why, duke, it was you that said make up the deffisit; it warn't me."

"Dry up! I don't want to hear no more out of you!" says the duke. "And NOW you see what you GOT by it. They've got all their own money back, and all of OURN but a shekel or two BESIDES. G'long to bed, and don't you deffersit ME no more deffersits, long 's YOU live!"

So the king sneaked¹⁴ into the wigwam and took to his bottle for comfort, and before long the duke tackled HIS bottle; and so in about a half an hour they was as thick as thieves again, and the tighter they got the lovinger they got, and went off a-snoring in each other's arms. They both got powerful mellow¹⁵, but I noticed the king didn't get mellow enough to forget to remember to not deny about hiding the money-bag again. That made me feel easy and satisfied. Of course when they got to snoring we had a long gabble, and I told Jim everything.

他们一上了木筏，国王便朝我走过来，揪住了衣领，使劲摇我。还说：
    “好啊，想把我们给甩了，你这狗崽子！跟我们在一起嫌腻味啦，——是不是？”
    我说：
    “不，陛下，我们不敢——请别这样，陛下。”“那好，马上说出来，你安的是什么
心？不然的话，我把你的五脏六肺全给掏出来！”
    “说实话，我把一切经过从实说出来，实话实讲，陛下。那个揪住我的人对我可非常
好，还老是说，他有一个孩子，跟我一般大，不幸去年去了。还说，看到一个孩子身处险
境，他也十分难过。后来他们发现了金币，为之大吃一惊，朝棺材冲过去的时候，他放开了
我的手，还轻声地说，‘开路吧，要不然的话，他们会绞死你，肯定会的！’所以我就赶紧
溜了。我看我耽下去，可不会有什么好果子吃——我干不了什么事，并且如果能逃掉，我也
不想被绞死嘛。因此我就不停地奔起来，直到后来找到了一只划子。我一到这里，就叫杰姆
赶紧划，要不然他们会逮住我，把我给绞死。我还说，你和公爵，恐怕都已经保不住了，活
不了了，我也为此万分难过，杰姆也万分难过。如今看到你们回来了，我们又万分高兴，你
不妨问问杰姆，事情是不是这样？”
    杰姆说是这样的。国王对他说，要他闭嘴。还说，“哦，是啊，也很可能是这样的！”
一边说，一边又把我使劲地摇。
    又说，要把我扔到河里淹死。不过公爵说道：
    “放了孩子，你这个老傻瓜！要是换了你的话，你还不是一样这么干，有什么不一样？
你逃的时候，有没有问一下他怎么样了？我可记不得你曾问过。”
    于是国王放开了我，并且开始咒骂那个镇子以及镇上每一个人。不过公爵说：
    “你最好还是骂你自己吧，因为你是最为罪有应得的人。从一开始起，你就从没有干过
一件在理的事，除了那一件事算是例外，那就是既态度沉着、又老脸皮厚地凭空编了个蓝颜
色箭头标记这码事。这下子高明——确实顶呱呱，只是这下子啊，才救了我们一命。要不是
这下子啊，他们早就把我们关在看守所里了，要等到英国人的行李运到作最后的处理——那
就是坐班房，这我可以跟你打赌！正是这个妙计把他们引到了坟地去，那袋金币更是帮了我
们的大忙。因为要不是那些激动的傻瓜松开了他们的手，涌上前去看一眼，那我们今晚上怕
就要带上大领结①睡觉啦——这个大领结还保证经久耐用，可我们只要带上一次就完啦。”   

　　①指绞索。

    他们停了一会儿没有说话——是在想心事——随后国王开了腔，仿佛有点儿心不在焉的
模样。
“哼，可我们还以为是那些黑奴偷走的呢！”
这一下可叫我提心吊胆啦！
“是啊，”公爵说，声音低沉，用意深长，带着挖苦的味道。“我们是这么想的。”
大概半分钟以后，国王慢声慢气地说：
“至少——我是这么想的。”
公爵说了，用了同一种腔调：
“不见得吧，——我才这么想。”
国王气呼呼地说：
“听我说，毕奇华特，你这是什么意思？”
公爵回答得挺干脆利索：
“讲到这个嘛，也许该由我问你一下，你是什么意思？”“嘘！”国王说得十分挖苦。
“可是我并不知道——也许你是睡着了吧，连你自己干的什么事，你也搞不清楚了吧？”
公爵这下子可发火了，他说：
“嘿，别讲这一套废话——你把我当一个大傻瓜？你有没有想到，我知道是谁把钱藏在
棺材里的？”
“是啊，先生，我知道你是知道的——因为是你自己干的嘛！”
“撒谎！”公爵朝他扑了过去。国王高声叫道：
“把手放开！——别卡住我的喉咙！——我把这些话都收回！”
公爵说：
“好吧，那你就得承认，第一，你确实把钱藏在那里，打算有朝一日把我甩掉，然后你
回转去，把它挖掘出来，归你一个人所有。”
“等一下，公爵——回答我这个问题，老老实实、公公道道地说。要是你并没有把钱放
在那儿呢，你也就照实这么说，我就相信你，把我说过了的话一律收回。”
“你这个老流氓，我没有，你也明明知道我没有。就是这话。”
“那就好吧，我相信你。不过只要你回答另外一个问题——不过别发火，你心里有没有
想过要把钱给拐走、给藏起来呢？”
公爵沉默了一会儿，没有作声，随后说：
“哼——要是说我曾想过吧，我也并不在乎，反正我没有这么干过。可你呢，不光是心
里想过，而且还干过。”
“公爵，要是我干过的话，我就不得好死，这是大实话。我不是说我并非正要这么干，
因为我是正要干，不过你——
我是说有人——赶在了我的前面。”
“这是撒谎！你干了的，你得承认你是干了的，不然——”
国王喉咙口咯咯地直响，随后喘着粗气说：
“行啦——我招认！”
听到他这么一说，我可高兴啦，我觉得比先前舒坦得多啦。公爵这才放开了手，说道：
“要是你再否认的话，我就淹死你。你活该光只坐在那儿抹你的眼泪，活象一个婴孩—
—在你干了这些事以后，你只配这样——可我过去却一直相信你，把你看做象我的父亲一般
呢。你那么样站在一旁，听任人家给可怜的黑奴栽赃，自己却一言不发，你不该害臊么？想
想看，我竟然那么软心肠，相信了你的那些胡话，这有多可笑。你这个混蛋，我现在才明
白，为什么你那么急于把那笔缺的数目给补足——是你存心要把我从《王室异兽》以及别处
搞到的一笔笔钱财都拿出来，好全都归你一个人吞掉。”
国王仍然有点胆怯怯、可怜兮兮地说：
“怎么啦，公爵，那是你说的该把缺数补上，可不是我说的嘛。”
“给我闭嘴！我再也不愿意听到你的话了！”公爵说。“如今你看到了，你落得个什么
样的下场。他们把他们自己的钱全都讨了回去啦，还把我们自己的钱，除了零零星星的以
外，也都裹走了。滚到床上去吧——从今以后，只要你活一天，不论你缺什么钱，不准你缺
到我的头上来！”
这样，国王偷偷钻进了窝棚，拿起了酒瓶，自我慰劳一番。没多久，公爵也抓起了他的
酒瓶。这样，半个钟头以后，两人又亲热得什么似的。并且越是醉得厉害，也就越是亲热，
最后抱在一起大打起呼噜来。两人都非常高兴，不过我注意到，公爵还没有高兴到忘掉那件
事，就是不许他否认是他把钱藏起来的。这叫我非常宽心，非常满意。他们大打呼噜的时
候，我和杰姆自然就有机会聊了好长时间，我把整个儿的经过一桩桩、一件件都告诉了杰姆。