Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Have you seen anybody else go in there?” “No, your grace, not as I remember, I believe.” “Stop and think.” I studied awhile and see my chance; then I says: “Well, I see the niggers go in there several times.” Both of them gave a little jump, and looked like they hadn’t ever expected it, and then like they _had_. Then the duke says: “What, _all_ of them?” “No—leastways, not all at once—that is, I don’t think I ever see them all come _out_ at once but just one time.” “Hello! When was that?” “It was the day we had the funeral. In the morning. It warn’t early, because I overslept. I was just starting down the ladder, and I see them.” “Well, go on, _go_ on! What did they do? How’d they act?” “They didn’t do nothing. And they didn’t act anyway much, as fur as I see. They tiptoed away; so I seen, easy enough, that they’d shoved in there to do up your majesty’s room, or something, s’posing you was up; and found you _warn’t_ up, and so they was hoping to slide out of the way of trouble without waking you up, if they hadn’t already waked you up.” “Great guns, _this_ is a go!” says the king; and both of them looked pretty sick and tolerable silly. They stood there a-thinking and scratching their heads a minute, and the duke he bust into a kind of a little raspy chuckle, and says: “It does beat all how neat the niggers played their hand. They let on to be _sorry_ they was going out of this region! And I believed they _was_ sorry, and so did you, and so did everybody. Don’t ever tell _me_ any more that a nigger ain’t got any histrionic talent. Why, the way they played that thing it would fool _anybody_. In my opinion, there’s a fortune in ’em. If I had capital and a theater, I wouldn’t want a better lay-out than that—and here we’ve gone and sold ’em for a song. Yes, and ain’t privileged to sing the song yet. Say, where _is_ that song—that draft?” “In the bank for to be collected. Where _would_ it be?” “Well, _that’s_ all right then, thank goodness.” Says I, kind of timid-like: “Is something gone wrong?” The king whirls on me and rips out: “None o’ your business! You keep your head shet, and mind y’r own affairs—if you got any. Long as you’re in this town don’t you forgit _that_—you hear?” Then he says to the duke, “We got to jest swaller it and say noth’n’: mum’s the word for _us_.” As they was starting down the ladder the duke he chuckles again, and says: “Quick sales _and_ small profits! It’s a good business—yes.” v The king snarls around on him and says: “I was trying to do for the best in sellin’ ’em out so quick. If the profits has turned out to be none, lackin’ considable, and none to carry, is it my fault any more’n it’s yourn?” “Well, _they’d_ be in this house yet and we _wouldn’t_ if I could a got my advice listened to.” The king sassed back as much as was safe for him, and then swapped around and lit into _me_ again. He give me down the banks for not coming and _telling_ him I see the niggers come out of his room acting that way—said any fool would a _knowed_ something was up. And then waltzed in and cussed _himself_ awhile, and said it all come of him not laying late and taking his natural rest that morning, and he’d be blamed if he’d ever do it again. So they went off a-jawing; and I felt dreadful glad I’d worked it all off on to the niggers, and yet hadn’t done the niggers no harm by it.