We clapped on the power, and went for them a-biling. We was there in no time, and come a-whizzing down amongst them, and they broke and scattered every which way, and some that was climbing the ladder after Jim let go all holts and fell. We soared up and found him laying on top of the head panting and most tuckered out, partly from howling for help and partly from scare. He had been standing a siege a long time—a week, _he_ said, but it warn’t so, it only just seemed so to him because they was crowding him so. They had shot at him, and rained the bullets all around him, but he warn’t hit, and when they found he wouldn’t stand up and the bullets couldn’t git at him when he was laying down, they went for the ladder, and then he knowed it was all up with him if we didn’t come pretty quick. Tom was very indignant, and asked him why he didn’t show the flag and command them to _git_, in the name of the United States. Jim said he done it, but they never paid no attention. Tom said he would have this thing looked into at Washington, and says: “You’ll see that they’ll have to apologize for insulting the flag, and pay an indemnity, too, on top of it even if they git off _that_ easy.” Jim says: “What’s an indemnity, Mars Tom?” “It’s cash, that’s what it is.” “Who gits it, Mars Tom?” “Why, _we_ do.” “En who gits de apology?” “The United States. Or, we can take whichever we please. We can take the apology, if we want to, and let the gov’ment take the money.” “How much money will it be, Mars Tom?” “Well, in an aggravated case like this one, it will be at least three dollars apiece, and I don’t know but more.” “Well, den, we’ll take de money, Mars Tom, blame de ’pology. Hain’t dat yo’ notion, too? En hain’t it yourn, Huck?” We talked it over a little and allowed that that was as good a way as any, so we agreed to take the money. It was a new business to me, and I asked Tom if countries always apologized when they had done wrong, and he says: “Yes; the little ones does.” We was sailing around examining the pyramids, you know, and now we soared up and roosted on the flat top of the biggest one, and found it was just like what the man said in the Sunday-school. It was like four pairs of stairs that starts broad at the bottom and slants up and comes together in a point at the top, only these stair-steps couldn’t be clumb the way you climb other stairs; no, for each step was as high as your chin, and you have to be boosted up from behind. The two other pyramids warn’t far away, and the people moving about on the sand between looked like bugs crawling, we was so high above them.