been out on bail." "What's that?" said
Mitch. "I don't know," says I. "It's a way to keep from goin' to jail,
and since the book don't say that Injun Joe was in jail, I'll bet you he
never was. Poor old Muff Potter was in jail after the murder and he
didn't kill anybody. It was Injun Joe that did the killin'. And don't
you remember that Tom and Huck went to the jail one night and stood on
each other's backs so they could talk to Muff through the bars?" "I have
an idea," says Mitch, "let's go to the jail to-night and talk to Doc
Lyon. Your pa and Jasper Rutledge, the sheriff, are friends, and he
knows us. And besides, Joe Pink is in jail. Look at it: Joe Pink is Muff
Potter and Doc Lyon is Injun Joe, and we'll go to see 'em just like Tom
and Huck went to see Muff Potter. Only, as I said before, Skeet, you're
no more like Huck than my pa is like Nigger Dick."

"Well," says I, "it makes no difference. We'll go. For you can bet Doc
Lyon will never be free again, and we can look at him and ask him
questions, and see what he has to say."

We got down to the jail about dusk, and Mitch insisted on rollin' a barl
up to the window and climbin' up on it, so as to make it as much like
Tom Sawyer as possible. The window was too high for us to stand on each
other's backs. Just as we got the barl up, along comes Jasper Rutledge,
the sheriff, and he says, "Hey, what you boys doin'?" "We want to talk
to Doc Lyon," says I. "What about?" says he. "About my dog," says Mitch.
The sheriff looked at us curious for a minute and says, "If I let you
talk to him, will you promise not to tease him or get him mad?" "Yes,
Mr. Rutledge," both of us said. "Well then," said the sheriff, "don't
fool around with that barl; I'll let you inside the jail and you can
stand comfortable and talk to him." Mitch didn't know what to say to
this. He just toed the ground with his toe, and finally said, "We'd
rather stand on the barl, Mr. Rutledge." I knew what he meant. It
wouldn't be like Tom Sawyer to go inside. And the sheriff laughed and
said, "Well, I'll swan, have it your way. But mind you, I'm going to
hide and hear what is said, for I want to hear what he says about all
this devilish work. But if you tease him or say anything out of the way,
I'll stop it and drive you off."

So we promised and Mitch rolled the barl up to the winder and we both
stood on it and looked in. First thing we see was Joe Pink. He was in
there for bein' drunk, and beatin' his wife