Is there historical documentation for real grifters of the Duke and the
Dauphin sort in the antebellum river societies? I recall reading an
assertion that they were stand-ins for the postwar influx of
carpetbaggers, but I'm not sure I buy that thesis.

DDD

PS: What about accepting Hemingway's suggestion, and stopping just
before Tom shows up? Does anyone do that? Trouble with that tact for a
reader is, to that point, the plot /completely/ lacks resolution. Or, In
counter-historical-fictional mode (would that be a signle word in
German? ;-) ) : having learned more of the arts of dissimulation from
the D & D, Huck and Jim could work up their cover story at the Quarles'
farm, with Jim as Huck's putative slave, and then concoct a reason to
take passage up the Ohio on some errand. Then, seek out some low-down
Abolitionists, and finish their journey via the Underground RR,
presumably getting to Canada. News of Miss Watson's deathbed manumission
would then come along, providing a resolution, and a suitable close.