Tom saw his opportunity⁠—

“Lookyhere, Huck, being rich ain’t going to keep me back from turning robber.”

“No! Oh, good-licks; are you in real deadwood earnest, Tom?”

“Just as dead earnest as I’m sitting here. But Huck, we can’t let you into the gang if you ain’t respectable, you know.”

Huck’s joy was quenched.

“Can’t let me in, Tom? Didn’t you let me go for a pirate?”

“Yes, but that’s different. A robber is more high-toned than what a pirate is⁠—as a general thing. In most countries they’re awful high up in the nobility⁠—dukes and such.”