Every young boy wants to find a treasure. And Tom did too.

One hot summer day he told Huck about his idea.

«Where can we look for a treasure?» asked Huck happily.

«Robbers put treasure under old trees or in old houses. We can start digging under the old tree on Cardiff Hill. Come on! Let’s go!»

The boys went to Cardiff Hill and started digging. It was a hot day and they dug for a few hours.

«There’s nothing under this tree,» said Huck.

«I’m hot and tired,» said Tom, «Let’s go to the haunted house. Nobody lives there.»

«But haunted houses have ghosts,» said Huck.

«Ghosts only come out at night. It’s daytime now,» said Tom.

«Well, alright,» said Huck.

They went to the haunted house. It was an old, lonely place. There was silence all around. They were both afraid of this strange place. They entered quietly and looked around. Everything was old and broken. No one lived there. They looked in all the rooms downstairs and upstairs. But there was no treasure and there were no ghosts.

Tom and Huck were upstairs. «Sh!» said Tom.

«What is it? Do you hear ghosts?» whispered Huck.

«No! Don’t move!» said Tom, «Let’s sit down on the floor.»

There were holes in the floor and they could see the rooms downstairs.

«Oh, no!» whispered Tom, «There are two men downstairs.»

One was an old Spanish man with long, white hair and a big hat. The other man was small and wore dirty clothes.

«Let’s listen to them,» whispered Tom.

The two men sat on the floor. «It’s hot in here and I’m tired,» said the old Spanish man.

When the boys heard his voice they were terrified, «That’s Injun Joe!» whispered Huck. The boys’ faces became white.

«What are we going to do with the $650 in silver coins? That was a good robbery!» said the small, dirty man.

«Let’s take about $30 with us now and hide the bag here. We can come back to get it soon,» said Injun Joe.

The small, dirty man moved a big stone in the fireplace and pulled out a bag. He took some money from the bag. Injun Joe started digging near the fireplace with his knife.

Tom and Huck watched with excitement. There was a real treasure downstairs! Six hundred dollars was a wonderful treasure for two young boys!

Suddenly Injun Joe stopped digging. «There’s something here! I think it’s a box,» he said. He found an old box and opened it.

«It’s money!» cried Injun Joe, «Look! There are lots of gold coins!» The two men looked at the coins and smiled. The box was full of gold coins!

Tom and Huck smiled too.

«This is the treasure of the old Murrel family — now it’s ours!» said Injun Joe.

«Where can we hide this gold?» asked the small man, «Can we put it back under the stone?»

«Yes,» said Injun Joe, «No, no! The stone isn’t a good place. Someone may find it. Let’s put it under the cross tonight.»

When it was dark outside the two men took the silver and gold away. Tom and Huck did not follow them because they were afraid of Injun Joe. But they wanted to find «the cross» and the treasure. Where was «the cross»?