- description
- # Discovery of the treasure
## Overview
This entity is a narrative scene extracted from the text file [tom_sawyer.txt](arke:01KG0K71QZ8KK7RGEGSNTB5534), corresponding to lines 6714–6751 of the source document. It is part of [CHAPTER XXVI](arke:01KG16PT8N4Y3JYFS6AHK7P0EF) in the novel *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* and belongs to the [More Classics](arke:01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS) collection. The scene depicts a pivotal moment in which two men, including the character Injun Joe, discover a hidden box of gold coins in a haunted house.
## Context
This scene occurs during a tense sequence in which Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn secretly observe two men—Injun Joe and his comrade—while hiding in the upstairs of a derelict house. It follows the moment when the men decide to bury their remaining treasure more securely, setting the stage for its accidental discovery. The scene is directly preceded by [Injun Joe and comrade discussing their plans](arke:01KG16QBV4JQFPWHJ5XVT2XY45), in which they resolve to re-bury their loot, and is immediately followed by [Injun Joe's revelation about revenge](arke:01KG16QBST8G96C9J6EV14VV51), where Joe’s true motives are revealed.
## Contents
The scene begins when Injun Joe’s knife strikes a buried object, initially mistaken for a rotten plank but soon identified as a strong, iron-bound box. With the help of a pick and shovel—unbeknownst to him, the boys’ own tools—he breaks open the box and pulls out a handful of gold coins. The men are astonished, estimating the treasure to be worth “thousands of dollars,” and speculate that it may have belonged to Murrel’s gang, a notorious band of outlaws. The discovery fills them with silent wonder, marking a turning point in their plans. Unseen above, Tom and Huck are equally thrilled, believing they have stumbled upon the perfect treasure hunt—until the mood shifts with Joe’s subsequent revelation of revenge as his true motive.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-28T02:32:11.003Z
- description_model
- Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
- description_title
- Discovery of the treasure
- end_line
- 6751
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-28T02:25:37.438Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 6714
- text
- Joe’s knife struck upon something.
“Hello!” said he.
“What is it?” said his comrade.
“Half-rotten plank—no, it’s a box, I believe. Here—bear a hand and we’ll
see what it’s here for. Never mind, I’ve broke a hole.”
He reached his hand in and drew it out—
“Man, it’s money!”
The two men examined the handful of coins. They were gold. The boys
above were as excited as themselves, and as delighted.
Joe’s comrade said:
“We’ll make quick work of this. There’s an old rusty pick over amongst
the weeds in the corner the other side of the fireplace—I saw it a
minute ago.”
He ran and brought the boys’ pick and shovel. Injun Joe took the
pick, looked it over critically, shook his head, muttered something to
himself, and then began to use it. The box was soon unearthed. It was
not very large; it was iron bound and had been very strong before the
slow years had injured it. The men contemplated the treasure awhile in
blissful silence.
“Pard, there’s thousands of dollars here,” said Injun Joe.
“’Twas always said that Murrel’s gang used to be around here one
summer,” the stranger observed.
“I know it,” said Injun Joe; “and this looks like it, I should say.”
“Now you won’t need to do that job.”
- title
- Discovery of the treasure