up at
Salem. I dug the Peter Lukins' cellar out, and there's nothing there,
and nothing at Salem. So it's us for Tom Sawyer." Then he fished some
letters out of his pocket and handed one to me to read. "This is your
writin', Mitch," I said. "I know it," says Mitch--"But wait, read this,
and I'll show you somethin'." This is what it said:

"Dear Tom: My name is Mitch Miller, and I live here in
Petersburg, as you'll see. My chum is Skeet Kirby, a boy as
good as Huckleberry Finn, but different, as you'll see when
you meet him. But you'll like him. He's sick now, but he's
true blue, and when he gets up, we want to come to see you.
For we've dug for treasure all around here, and as fur as
that goes, we found some, only the law took it away. But
what I want to say is that we know you have things to say
that is not in your book, not only about treasure, but about
a lot of things. And anyway, we want to see you, and the
Mississippi, and Huck, and your folks, and have a visit.
Nobody knows that I'm writin' this letter, because they say
here that you ain't real. But I know better, and Skeet does,
and so I've made up my mind to try this letter. If you're
real, write me and if you want us to come, say so, and we'll
be there, if there's a way. Next to Skeet, I love you and
Huck more than anybody in the world, barrin' near relatives,
for I think you're brave and plucky, and square, as anybody
would who reads your book. I want to meet Becky, too.

"Your Friend,
"Mitch Miller."

"Well," I said after readin' this, "when you goin' to send this?" "I
have sent it," said Mitch. "This is a copy kept for you to see. Yes,
sir, I've sent it, and here is Tom's letter to me."

He pulled a letter out all stamped and everything--stamped Hannibal,
Missouri, and handed it to me to take the letter out my own self, which
I did, and read:

"Dear Mitch: It's all right for you to come down here and
we'll be glad to see you--although you can't depend much on
Huck for he's in trouble all the time with his pap. The old
man is lawin' with Judge Thatcher about Huck's money, and
Huck ain't had any peace of mind since we found the treasure.
Don't think I'm puttin' on airs, when I say that this findin'
of treasure ain't wha