The Duke and the Dauphin

It’s been years (decades, in fact) since I read Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, so forgive me if I get some of the details muddled. But there was a story in Huck that I’m reminded of from time to time when looking at how people cling to their faith in spite of everything, and that’s the story of the Duke and the Dauphin. The Duke and the Dauphin were a couple of ne’er-do-wells that Huck and Jim had the misfortune to get entangled with. Despite their grandiose airs, they were simple con-men out to make a quick buck out of people’s gullibility. But one of their schemes went awry.