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.