Chapter 30: "Royalty Returns"
Contributor: Ben Seale 
A Summary of Events
  • The King and the Duke board Huck’s raft. The King grabs and shakes Huck, accusing him of “giving them the slip”. Huck weaves a story in which he thought that the King and the Duke were doomed to die, and being let go, he ran back to the raft. The Duke tells the King to leave the boy alone, because the King didn’t stay around to find out about Huck when they fled.

    The Duke again make criticizes the King for being greedy and not quitting while they were ahead. They then start to accuse each other of stealing the gold. The Duke jumps on the King and starts choking him, forcing him to admit. Under the pressure, the King then admits to taking the gold.

    The Duke reveals that they have lost all their money in this escapade. He also scolds the king for blaming the theft of the gold on the slaves that were sold.

    The King and the Duke then get drunk and fall asleep. Huck explains to Jim everything that went on. 
Characters Involved
Two Discussion Questions
  • Is a soft side exhibited in the Duke when he sticks up for Huck and also condones the King for his treatment of the slave family?
  • Why are the King and the Duke so quick to accuse each other of stealing the bag of gold? 
Two Important Passages
  • “But that trick took ’em to the graveyard, and the gold done us a still bigger kindness; for if the excited fools hadn’t let go all holts and made that rush to get a look, we’d a slept in our cravats tonight.” 

- It is interesting that the very thing that the Kind and Duke were trying to steal, the gold, was the only reason that they escaped the mob and survived to con another day. 
  • “‘You ought to been ashamed of yourself to stand by and hear it saddled onto a lot of poor n*****s and you never say a word for ’em.’”

- This quote, by the Duke, shows that even the most low down of society can have compassion on fellow humans. In this, Twain shows that treatment like the King’s towards blacks was so appalling that it deserved to be condoned even by scoundrels. 
Controversial Elements
  • Once again, Huck lies to save himself. 
  • To remedy their sorrows, the King and the Duke drink their sorrows away and get drunk.