Chapter 34

           Hucksaid: "Tom,wecanslope,ifwecanfindarope. Thewindowain’thighfromtheground." 

           "Shucks!whatdoyouwanttoslopefor?" 

           "Well,Iain’tusedtothatkindofacrowd. Ican’tstandit. Iain’tgoingdownthere,Tom." 

           "Oh,bother! Itain’tanything. Idon’tminditabit. I’lltakecareofyou." 

           Sidappeared. 

           "Tom,"saidhe,"auntiehasbeenwaitingforyoualltheafternoon. MarygotyourSundayclothesready,andeverybody’sbeenfrettingaboutyou. Say—ain’tthisgreaseandclay,onyourclothes?" 

           "Now,Mr.Siddy,youjist’tendtoyourownbusiness. What’sallthisblow-outabout,anyway?" 

           "It’soneofthewidow’spartiesthatshe’salwayshaving. Thistimeit’sfortheWelshmanandhissons,onaccountofthatscrapetheyhelpedheroutoftheothernight. Andsay—Icantellyousomething,ifyouwanttoknow." 

           "Well,what?" 

           "Why,oldMr.Jonesisgoingtotrytospringsomethingonthepeoplehereto-night,butIoverheardhimtellauntieto-dayaboutit,asasecret,butIreckonit’snotmuchofasecretnow. Everybodyknows—thewidow,too,forallshetriestoletonshedon’t. Mr.JoneswasboundHuckshouldbehere—couldn’tgetalongwithhisgrandsecretwithoutHuck,youknow!"