Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
To
My Wife
This Book
Is
Affectionately Dedicated
Preface
Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred one or two were
experiences of my own the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine Huck
Finn is drawn from life Tom Sawyer also but not from an individual he is a
combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew and therefore
belongs to the composite order of architecture
The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and
slaves in the West at the period of this story that is to say thirty or forty
years ago
Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls
I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account for part of my
plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were
themselves and of how they felt and thought and talked and what queer
enterprises they sometimes engaged in
The Author
Hartford 1876
Chapter 1
»Tom«
No answer
»TOM«
No answer
»Whats gone with that boy I wonder You TOM«
No answer
The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room
then she put them up and looked out under them She seldom or never looked
through them for so small a thing as a boy they were her state pair the pride
of her heart and were built for style not service she could have seen
through a pair of stove lids just as well She looked perplexed for a moment
and then said not fiercely but still loud enough for the furniture to hear
»Well I lay if I get hold of you Ill «
She did not finish for by this time she was bending down and punching under
the bed with the broom and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with
She resurrected nothing but the cat
»I never did see the beat of that boy«
She went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the tomato
vines and jimpson weeds that constituted the garden No Tom So she lifted up
her voice at an angle calculated for distance and shouted
»Youu Tom«
There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to seize a
small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight
»There I might a thought of that closet What you been doing in there«
»Nothing«
»Nothing Look at your hands And look at your mouth What is that truck«
»I dont know aunt«
»Well I know Its jam thats what it is Forty times Ive said if you
didnt let that jam alone Id skin you Hand me that switch«
The switch hovered in the air the peril was desperate
»My Look behind you aunt«
The old lady whirled around and snatched her skirts out of danger The lad
fled on the instant scrambled up the high board fence and disappeared over
it
His aunt Polly stood surprised a moment and then broke into a gentle laugh
»Hang the boy cant I never learn anything Aint he played me tricks
enough like that for me to be looking out for him by this time But old fools is
the biggest fools there is Cant learn an old dog new tricks as the saying is
But my goodness he never plays them alike two days and how is a body to know
whats coming He pears to know just how long he can torment me before I get my
dander up and he knows if he can make out to put me off for a minute or make me
laugh its all down again and I cant hit him a lick I aint doing my duty by
that boy and thats the Lords truth goodness knows Spare the rod and spile
the child as the Good Book says Im alaying up sin and suffering for us both
I know Hes full of the Old Scratch but lawsame hes my own dead sisters
boy poor thing and I aint got the heart to lash him somehow Every time I
let him off my conscience does hurt me so and every time I hit him my old heart
most breaks Wellawell man that is born of woman is of few days and full of
trouble as the Scripture says and I reckon its so Hell play hookey this
evening1 and Ill just be obleeged to make him work tomorrow to punish him
Its mighty hard to make him work Saturdays when all the boys is having
holiday but he hates work more than he hates anything else and Ive got to do
some of my duty by him or Ill be the ruination of the child«
Tom did play hookey and he had a very good time He got back home barely in
season to help Jim the small colored boy saw next days wood and split the
kindlings before supper at least he was there in time to tell his adventures
to Jim while Jim did threefourths of the work Toms younger brother or
rather halfbrother Sid was already through with his part of the work
picking up chips for he was a quiet boy and had no adventurous troublesome
ways
While Tom was eating his supper and stealing sugar as opportunity offered
aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile and very deep for she
wanted to trap him into damaging revealments Like many other simplehearted
souls it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark
and mysterious diplomacy and she loved to contemplate her most transparent
devices as marvels of low cunning Said she
»Tom it was middling warm in school warnt it«
»Yesm«
»Powerful warm warnt it«
»Yesm«
»Didnt you want to go in aswimming Tom«
A bit of a scare shot through Tom a touch of uncomfortable suspicion He
searched aunt Pollys face but it told him nothing So he said
»Nom well not very much«
The old lady reached out her hand and felt Toms shirt and said
»But you aint too warm now though« And it flattered her to reflect that
she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing that that was
what she had in her mind But in spite of her Tom knew where the wind lay now
So he forestalled what might be the next move
»Some of us pumped on our heads mines damp yet See«
Aunt Polly was vexed to think she had overlooked that bit of circumstantial
evidence and missed a trick Then she had a new inspiration
»Tom you didnt have to undo your shirt collar where I sewed it to pump on
your head did you Unbutton your jacket«
The trouble vanished out of Toms face He opened his jacket His shirt
collar was securely sewed
»Bother Well go long with you Id made sure youd played hookey and been
aswimming But I forgive ye Tom I reckon youre a kind of a singed cat as
the saying is bettern you look This time«
She was half sorry her sagacity had miscarried and half glad that Tom had
stumbled into obedient conduct for once
But Sidney said
»Well now if I didnt think you sewed his collar with white thread but
its black«
»Why I did sew it with white Tom«
But Tom did not wait for the rest As he went out at the door he said
»Siddy Ill lick you for that«
In a safe place Tom examined two large needles which were thrust into the
lappels of his jacket and had thread bound about them one needle carried
white thread and the other black He said
»Shed never noticed if it hadnt been for Sid Consound it sometimes she
sews it with white and sometimes she sews it with black I wish to geeminy shed
stick to one or tother I cant keep the run of em But I bet you Ill lam
Sid for that Ill learn him«
He was not the Model Boy of the village He knew the model boy very well
though and loathed him
Within two minutes or even less he had forgotten all his troubles Not
because his troubles were one whit less heavy and bitter to him than a mans are
to a man but because a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them
out of his mind for the time just as mens misfortunes are forgotten in the
excitement of new enterprises This new interest was a valued novelty in
whistling which he had just acquired from a negro and he was suffering to
practice it undisturbed It consisted in a peculiar birdlike turn a sort of
liquid warble produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short
intervals in the midst of the music the reader probably remembers how to do it
if he has ever been a boy Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of
it and he strode down the street with his mouth full of harmony and his soul
full of gratitude He felt much as an astronomer feels who has discovered a new
planet No doubt as far as strong deep unalloyed pleasure is concerned the
advantage was with the boy not the astronomer
The summer evenings were long It was not dark yet Presently Tom checked
his whistle A stranger was before him a boy a shade larger than himself A
newcomer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor
little shabby village of St Petersburg This boy was well dressed too well
dressed on a weekday This was simply astounding His cap was a dainty thing
his closebuttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty and so were his
pantaloons He had shoes on and yet it was only Friday He even wore a
necktie a bright bit of ribbon He had a citified air about him that ate into
Toms vitals The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel the higher he turned
up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to
him to grow Neither boy spoke If one moved the other moved but only
sidewise in a circle they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time
Finally Tom said
»I can lick you«
»Id like to see you try it«
»Well I can do it«
»No you cant either«
»Yes I can«
»No you cant«
»I can«
»You cant«
»Can«
»Cant«
An uncomfortable pause Then Tom said
»Whats your name«
»Tisnt any of your business maybe«
»Well I low Ill make it my business«
»Well why dont you«
»If you say much I will«
»Much much much There now«
»Oh you think youre mighty smart dont you I could lick you with one
hand tied behind me if I wanted to«
»Well why dont you do it You say you can do it«
»Well I will if you fool with me«
»Oh yes Ive seen whole families in the same fix«
»Smarty You think youre some now dont you Oh what a hat«
»You can lump that hat if you dont like it I dare you to knock it off
and anybody thatll take a dare will suck eggs«
»Youre a liar«
»Youre another«
»Youre a fighting liar and dasnt take it up«
»Aw take a walk«
»Say if you gimme much more of your sass Ill take and bounce a rock offn
your head«
»Oh of course you will«
»Well I will«
»Well why dont you do it then What do you keep saying you will for Why
dont you do it Its because youre afraid«
»I aint afraid«
»You are«
»I aint«
»You are«
Another pause and more eyeing and sidling around each other Presently they
were shoulder to shoulder Tom said
»Get away from here«
»Get away yourself«
»I wont«
»I wont either«
So they stood each with a foot placed at an angle as a brace and both
shoving with might and main and glowering at each other with hate But neither
could get an advantage After struggling till both were hot and flushed each
relaxed his strain with watchful caution and Tom said
»Youre a coward and a pup Ill tell my big brother on you and he can
thrash you with his little finger and Ill make him do it too«
»What do I care for your big brother Ive got a brother thats bigger than
he is and whats more he can throw him over that fence too« Both brothers
were imaginary
»Thats a lie«
»Your saying so dont make it so«
Tom drew a line in the dust with his big toe and said
»I dare you to step over that and Ill lick you till you cant stand up
Anybody thatll take a dare will steal a sheep«
The new boy stepped over promptly and said
»Now you said youd do it now lets see you do it«
»Dont you crowd me now you better look out«
»Well you said youd do it why dont you do it«
»By jingo for two cents I will do it«
The new boy took two broad coppers out of his pocket and held them out with
derision Tom struck them to the ground In an instant both boys were rolling
and tumbling in the dirt gripped together like cats and for the space of a
minute they tugged and tore at each others hair and clothes punched and
scratched each others noses and covered themselves with dust and glory
Presently the confusion took form and through the fog of battle Tom appeared
seated astride the new boy and pounding him with his fists
»Holler nuff« said he
The boy only struggled to free himself He was crying mainly from rage
»Holler nuff« and the pounding went on
At last the stranger got out a smothered Nuff and Tom let him up and said
»Now thatll learn you Better look out who youre fooling with next time«
The new boy went off brushing the dust from his clothes sobbing snuffling
and occasionally looking back and shaking his head and threatening what he would
do to Tom the next time he caught him out To which Tom responded with jeers
and started off in high feather and as soon as his back was turned the new boy
snatched up a stone threw it and hit him between the shoulders and then turned
tail and ran like an antelope Tom chased the traitor home and thus found out
where he lived He then held a position at the gate for some time daring the
enemy to come outside but the enemy only made faces at him through the window
and declined At last the enemys mother appeared and called Tom a bad
vicious vulgar child and ordered him away So he went away but he said he
lowed to lay for that boy
He got home pretty late that night and when he climbed cautiously in at
the window he uncovered an ambuscade in the person of his aunt and when she
saw the state his clothes were in her resolution to turn his Saturday holiday
into captivity at hard labor became adamantine in its firmness
Chapter 2
Saturday morning was come and all the summer world was bright and fresh and
brimming with life There was a song in every heart and if the heart was young
the music issued at the lips There was cheer in every face and a spring in
every step The locust trees were in bloom and the fragrance of the blossoms
filled the air Cardiff Hill beyond the village and above it was green with
vegetation and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land dreamy
reposeful and inviting
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a longhandled
brush He surveyed the fence and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy
settled down upon his spirit Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high Life
to him seemed hollow and existence but a burden Sighing he dipped his brush
and passed it along the topmost plank repeated the operation did it again
compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the farreaching continent of
unwhitewashed fence and sat down on a treebox discouraged Jim came skipping
out at the gate with a tin pail and singing »Buffalo Gals« Bringing water from
the town pump had always been hateful work in Toms eyes before but now it did
not strike him so He remembered that there was company at the pump White
mulatto and negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns resting
trading playthings quarreling fighting skylarking And he remembered that
although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards off Jim never got back
with a bucket of water under an hour and even then somebody generally had to
go after him Tom said
»Say Jim Ill fetch the water if youll whitewash some«
Jim shook his head and said
»Cant Mars Tom Ole missis she tole me I got to go an git dis water an
not stop foolin roun wid anybody She say she spec Mars Tom gwyne to ax me to
whitewash an so she tole me go long an tend to my own business she lowed
shed tend to de whitewashin«
»Oh never you mind what she said Jim Thats the way she always talks
Gimme the bucket I wont be gone only a minute She wont ever know«
»Oh I dasnt Mars Tom Ole missis shed take an tar de head offn me
Deed she would«
»She She never licks anybody whacks em over the head with her thimble
and who cares for that Id like to know She talks awful but talk dont hurt
anyways it dont if she dont cry Jim Ill give you a marvel Ill give you a
white alley«
Jim began to waver
»White alley Jim And its a bully taw«
»My Dats a mighty gay marvel I tell you But Mars Tom Is powerful fraid
ole missis «
»And besides if you will Ill show you my sore toe«
Jim was only human this attraction was too much for him He put down his
pail took the white alley and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while
the bandage was being unwound In another moment he was flying down the street
with his pail and a tingling rear Tom was whitewashing with vigor and aunt
Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her
eye
But Toms energy did not last He began to think of the fun he had planned
for this day and his sorrows multiplied Soon the free boys would come tripping
along on all sorts of delicious expeditions and they would make a world of fun
of him for having to work the very thought of it burnt him like fire He got
out his worldly wealth and examined it bits of toys marbles and trash enough
to buy an exchange of work maybe but not half enough to buy so much as half an
hour of pure freedom So he returned his straightened means to his pocket and
gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys At this dark and hopeless moment an
inspiration burst upon him Nothing less than a great magnificent inspiration
He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work Ben Rogers hove in sight
presently the very boy of all boys whose ridicule he had been dreading
Bens gait was the hopskipandjump proof enough that his heart was light and
his anticipations high He was eating an apple and giving a long melodious
whoop at intervals followed by a deeptoned dingdongdong dingdongdong
for he was personating a steamboat As he drew near he slackened speed took
the middle of the street leaned far over to starboard and rounded to
ponderously and with laborious pomp and circumstance for he was personating
the »Big Missouri« and considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water He
was boat and captain and enginebells combined so he had to imagine himself
standing on his own hurricane deck giving the orders and executing them
»Stop her sir Tingalingling« The headway ran almost out and he drew up
slowly toward the sidewalk
»Ship up to back Tingalingling« His arms straightened and stiffened
down his sides
»Set her back on the stabboard Tingalingling Chow chchowwow Chow«
His right hand meantime describing stately circles for it was representing
a fortyfoot wheel
»Let her go back on the labbord Tingalingling Chowchchowchow« The
left hand began to describe circles
»Stop the stabboard Tingalingling Stop the labbord Come ahead on the
stabboard Stop her Let your outside turn over slow Tingalingling
Chowowow Get out that headline Lively now Come out with your
springline whatre you about there Take a turn round that stump with the
bight of it Stand by that stage now let her go Done with the engines sir
Tingalingling Sht ssht sht« trying the gaugecocks
Tom went on whitewashing paid no attention to the steamboat Ben stared a
moment and then said
»Hiyi Youre up a stump aint you«
No answer Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist then he
gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result as before Ben
ranged up alongside of him Toms mouth watered for the apple but he stuck to
his work Ben said
»Hello old chap you got to work hey«
Tom wheeled suddenly and said
»Why its you Ben I warnt noticing«
»Say Im going in aswimming I am Dont you wish you could But of
course youd druther work wouldnt you Course you would«
Tom contemplated the boy a bit and said
»What do you call work«
»Why aint that work«
Tom resumed his whitewashing and answered carelessly
»Well maybe it is and maybe it aint All I know is it suits Tom
Sawyer«
»Oh come now you dont mean to let on that you like it«
The brush continued to move
»Like it Well I dont see why I oughtnt to like it Does a boy get a
chance to whitewash a fence every day«
That put the thing in a new light Ben stopped nibbling his apple Tom swept
his brush daintily back and forth stepped back to note the effect added a
touch here and there criticised the effect again Ben watching every move and
getting more and more interested more and more absorbed Presently he said
»Say Tom let me whitewash a little«
Tom considered was about to consent but he altered his mind
»No no I reckon it wouldnt hardly do Ben You see aunt Pollys awful
particular about this fence right here on the street you know but if it was
the back fence I wouldnt mind and she wouldnt Yes shes awful particular
about this fence its got to be done very careful I reckon there aint one boy
in a thousand maybe two thousand that can do it the way its got to be done«
»No is that so Oh come now lemme just try Only just a little Id
let you if you was me Tom«
»Ben Id like to honest injun but aunt Polly well Jim wanted to do it
but she wouldnt let him Sid wanted to do it and she wouldnt let Sid Now
dont you see how Im fixed If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to
happen to it «
»Oh shucks Ill be just as careful Now lemme try Say Ill give you the
core of my apple«
»Well here No Ben now dont Im afeard «
»Ill give you all of it«
Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face but alacrity in his heart
And while the late steamer »Big Missouri« worked and sweated in the sun the
retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by dangled his legs munched
his apple and planned the slaughter of more innocents There was no lack of
material boys happened along every little while they came to jeer but
remained to whitewash By the time Ben was fagged out Tom had traded the next
chance to Billy Fisher for a kite in good repair and when he played out Johnny
Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to swing it with and so on and
so on hour after hour And when the middle of the afternoon came from being a
poor povertystricken boy in the morning Tom was literally rolling in wealth
He had beside the things before mentioned twelve marbles part of a jewsharp
a piece of blue bottleglass to look through a spool cannon a key that
wouldnt unlock anything a fragment of chalk a glass stopper of a decanter a
tin soldier a couple of tadpoles six firecrackers a kitten with only one
eye a brass doorknob a dog collar but no dog the handle of a knife four
pieces of orange peel and a dilapidated old window sash
He had had a nice good idle time all the while plenty of company and
the fence had three coats of whitewash on it If he hadnt run out of whitewash
he would have bankrupted every boy in the village
Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world after all He had
discovered a great law of human action without knowing it namely that in
order to make a man or a boy covet a thing it is only necessary to make the
thing difficult to attain If he had been a great and wise philosopher like the
writer of this book he would now have comprehended that Work consists of
whatever a body is obliged to do and that Play consists of whatever a body is
not obliged to do And this would help him to understand why constructing
artificial flowers or performing on a treadmill is work while rolling tenpins
or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement There are wealthy gentlemen in England
who drive fourhorse passengercoaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line
in the summer because the privilege costs them considerable money but if they
were offered wages for the service that would turn it into work and then they
would resign
The boy mused a while over the substantial change which had taken place in
his worldly circumstances and then wended toward headquarters to report
Chapter 3
Tom presented himself before aunt Polly who was sitting by an open window in a
pleasant rearward apartment which was bedroom breakfastroom dining room and
library combined The balmy summer air the restful quiet the odor of the
flowers and the drowsing murmur of the bees had had their effect and she was
nodding over her knitting for she had no company but the cat and it was
asleep in her lap Her spectacles were propped up on her gray head for safety
She had thought that of course Tom had deserted long ago and she wondered to
see him place himself in her power again in this intrepid way He said
»Maynt I go and play now aunt«
»What aready How much have you done«
»Its all done aunt«
»Tom dont lie to me I cant bear it«
»I aint aunt it is all done«
Aunt Polly placed small trust in such evidence She went out to see for
herself and she would have been content to find twenty per cent of Toms
statement true When she found the entire fence whitewashed and not only
whitewashed but elaborately coated and recoated and even a streak added to the
ground her astonishment was almost unspeakable She said
»Well I never Theres no getting around it you can work when youre a
mind to Tom« And then she diluted the compliment by adding »But its powerful
seldom youre a mind to Im bound to say Well go long and play but mind you
get back some time in a week or Ill tan you«
She was so overcome by the splendor of his achievement that she took him
into the closet and selected a choice apple and delivered it to him along with
an improving lecture upon the added value and flavor a treat took to itself when
it came without sin through virtuous effort And while she closed with a happy
Scriptural flourish he hooked a doughnut
Then he skipped out and saw Sid just starting up the outside stairway that
led to the back rooms on the second floor Clods were handy and the air was full
of them in a twinkling They raged around Sid like a hailstorm and before aunt
Polly could collect her surprised faculties and sally to the rescue six or
seven clods had taken personal effect and Tom was over the fence and gone There
was a gate but as a general thing he was too crowded for time to make use of
it His soul was at peace now that he had settled with Sid for calling
attention to his black thread and getting him into trouble
Tom skirted the block and came around into a muddy alley that led by the
back of his aunts cowstable he presently got safely beyond the reach of
capture and punishment and hasted toward the public square of the village
where two military companies of boys had met for conflict according to previous
appointment Tom was General of one of these armies Joe Harper a bosom
friend General of the other These two great commanders did not condescend to
fight in person that being better suited to the still smaller fry but sat
together on an eminence and conducted the field operations by orders delivered
through aidesdecamp Toms army won a great victory after a long and
hardfought battle Then the dead were counted prisoners exchanged the terms
of the next disagreement agreed upon and the day for the necessary battle
appointed after which the armies fell into line and marched away and Tom
turned homeward alone
As he was passing by the house where Jeff Thatcher lived he saw a new girl
in the garden a lovely little blueeyed creature with yellow hair plaited into
two long tails white summer frock and embroidered pantalettes The
freshcrowned hero fell without firing a shot A certain Amy Lawrence vanished
out of his heart and left not even a memory of herself behind He had thought he
loved her to distraction he had regarded his passion as adoration and behold
it was only a poor little evanescent partiality He had been months winning her
she had confessed hardly a week ago he had been the happiest and the proudest
boy in the world only seven short days and here in one instant of time she had
gone out of his heart like a casual stranger whose visit is done
He worshiped this new angel with furtive eye till he saw that she had
discovered him then he pretended he did not know she was present and began to
show off in all sorts of absurd boyish ways in order to win her admiration He
kept up this grotesque foolishness for some time but by and by while he was in
the midst of some dangerous gymnastic performances he glanced aside and saw
that the little girl was wending her way toward the house Tom came up to the
fence and leaned on it grieving and hoping she would tarry yet a while longer
She halted a moment on the steps and then moved toward the door Tom heaved a
great sigh as she put her foot on the threshold But his face lit up right
away for she tossed a pansy over the fence a moment before she disappeared
The boy ran around and stopped within a foot or two of the flower and then
shaded his eyes with his hand and began to look down street as if he had
discovered something of interest going on in that direction Presently he picked
up a straw and began trying to balance it on his nose with his head tilted far
back and as he moved from side to side in his efforts he edged nearer and
nearer toward the pansy finally his bare foot rested upon it his pliant toes
closed upon it and he hopped away with the treasure and disappeared around the
corner But only for a minute only while he could button the flower inside his
jacket next his heart or next his stomach possibly for he was not much
posted in anatomy and not hypercritical anyway
He returned now and hung about the fence till nightfall showing off as
before but the girl never exhibited herself again though Tom comforted himself
a little with the hope that she had been near some window meantime and been
aware of his attentions Finally he went home reluctantly with his poor head
full of visions
All through supper his spirits were so high that his aunt wondered what had
got into the child He took a good scolding about clodding Sid and did not seem
to mind it in the least He tried to steal sugar under his aunts very nose and
got his knuckles rapped for it He said
»Aunt you dont whack Sid when he takes it«
»Well Sid dont torment a body the way you do Youd be always into that
sugar if I warnt watching you«
Presently she stepped into the kitchen and Sid happy in his immunity
reached for the sugarbowl a sort of glorying over Tom which was wellnigh
unbearable But Sids fingers slipped and the bowl dropped and broke Tom was
in ecstasies In such ecstasies that he even controlled his tongue and was
silent He said to himself that he would not speak a word even when his aunt
came in but would sit perfectly still till she asked who did the mischief and
then he would tell and there would be nothing so good in the world as to see
that pet model catch it He was so brimfull of exultation that he could hardly
hold himself when the old lady came back and stood above the wreck discharging
lightnings of wrath from over her spectacles He said to himself »Now its
coming« And the next instant he was sprawling on the floor The potent palm was
uplifted to strike again when Tom cried out
»Hold on now whatre you belting me for Sid broke it«
Aunt Polly paused perplexed and Tom looked for healing pity But when she
got her tongue again she only said
»Umf Well you didnt get a lick amiss I reckon You been into some other
owdacious mischief when I wasnt around like enough«
Then her conscience reproached her and she yearned to say something kind
and loving but she judged that this would be construed into a confession that
she had been in the wrong and discipline forbade that So she kept silence and
went about her affairs with a troubled heart Tom sulked in a corner and exalted
his woes He knew that in her heart his aunt was on her knees to him and he was
morosely gratified by the consciousness of it He would hang out no signals he
would take notice of none He knew that a yearning glance fell upon him now and
then through a film of tears but he refused recognition of it He pictured
himself lying sick unto death and his aunt bending over him beseeching one
little forgiving word but he would turn his face to the wall and die with that
word unsaid Ah how would she feel then And he pictured himself brought home
from the river dead with his curls all wet and his poor hands still forever
and his sore heart at rest How she would throw herself upon him and how her
tears would fall like rain and her lips pray God to give her back her boy and
she would never never abuse him any more But he would lie there cold and white
and make no sign a poor little sufferer whose griefs were at an end He so
worked upon his feelings with the pathos of these dreams that he had to keep
swallowing he was so like to choke and his eyes swam in a blur of water which
overflowed when he winked and ran down and trickled from the end of his nose
And such a luxury to him was this petting of his sorrows that he could not bear
to have any worldly cheeriness or any grating delight intrude upon it it was
too sacred for such contact and so presently when his cousin Mary danced in
all alive with the joy of seeing home again after an agelong visit of one week
to the country he got up and moved in clouds and darkness out at one door as
she brought song and sunshine in at the other
He wandered far from the accustomed haunts of boys and sought desolate
places that were in harmony with his spirit A log raft in the river invited
him and he seated himself on its outer edge and contemplated the dreary
vastness of the stream wishing the while that he could only be drowned all
at once and unconsciously without undergoing the uncomfortable routine devised
by nature Then he thought of his flower He got it out rumpled and wilted and
it mightily increased his dismal felicity He wondered if she would pity him if
she knew Would she cry and wish that she had a right to put her arms around
his neck and comfort him Or would she turn coldly away like all the hollow
world This picture brought such an agony of pleasurable suffering that he
worked it over and over again in his mind and set it up in new and varied lights
till he wore it threadbare At last he rose up sighing and departed in the
darkness
About half past nine or ten oclock he came along the deserted street to
where the Adored Unknown lived he paused a moment no sound fell upon his
listening ear a candle was casting a dull glow upon the curtain of a
secondstory window Was the sacred presence there He climbed the fence
threaded his stealthy way through the plants till he stood under that window
he looked up at it long and with emotion then he laid him down on the ground
under it disposing himself upon his back with his hands clasped upon his
breast and holding his poor wilted flower And thus he would die out in the
cold world with no shelter over his homeless head no friendly hand to wipe the
deathdamps from his brow no loving face to bend pityingly over him when the
great agony came And thus she would see him when she looked out upon the glad
morning and Oh would she drop one little tear upon his poor lifeless form
would she heave one little sigh to see a bright young life so rudely blighted
so untimely cut down
The window went up a maidservants discordant voice profaned the holy
calm and a deluge of water drenched the prone martyrs remains
The strangling hero sprang up with a relieving snort there was a whiz as of
a missile in the air mingled with the murmur of a curse a sound as of
shivering glass followed and a small vague form went over the fence and shot
away in the gloom
Not long after as Tom all undressed for bed was surveying his drenched
garments by the light of a tallow dip Sid woke up but if he had any dim idea
of making any references to allusions he thought better of it and held his
peace for there was danger in Toms eye
Tom turned in without the added vexation of prayers and Sid made mental
note of the omission
Chapter 4
The sun rose upon a tranquil world and beamed down upon the peaceful village
like a benediction Breakfast over aunt Polly had family worship it began with
a prayer built from the ground up of solid courses of Scriptural quotations
welded together with a thin mortar of originality and from the summit of this
she delivered a grim chapter of the Mosaic Law as from Sinai
Then Tom girded up his loins so to speak and went to work to get his
verses Sid had learned his lesson days before Tom bent all his energies to the
memorizing of five verses and he chose part of the Sermon on the Mount because
he could find no verses that were shorter At the end of half an hour Tom had a
vague general idea of his lesson but no more for his mind was traversing the
whole field of human thought and his hands were busy with distracting
recreations Mary took his book to hear him recite and he tried to find his way
through the fog
»Blessed are the a a «
»Poor «
»Yes poor blessed are the poor a a «
»In spirit «
»In spirit blessed are the poor in spirit for they they «
»Theirs «
»For theirs Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven Blessed are they that mourn for they they «
»Sh «
»For they a «
»S H A «
»For they S H Oh I dont know what it is«
»Shall«
»Oh shall for they shall for they shall a a shall mourn a a
blessed are they that shall they that a they that shall mourn for they
shall a shall what Why dont you tell me Mary what do you want to be so
mean for«
»Oh Tom you poor thickheaded thing Im not teasing you I wouldnt do
that You must go and learn it again Dont you be discouraged Tom youll
manage it and if you do Ill give you something ever so nice There now
thats a good boy«
»All right What is it Mary tell me what it is«
»Never you mind Tom You know if I say its nice it is nice«
»You bet you thats so Mary All right Ill tackle it again«
And he did tackle it again and under the double pressure of curiosity and
prospective gain he did it with such spirit that he accomplished a shining
success Mary gave him a brannew Barlow knife worth twelve and a half cents
and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his
foundations True the knife would not cut anything but it was a sureenough
Barlow and there was inconceivable grandeur in that though where the western
boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its
injury is an imposing mystery and will always remain so perhaps Tom contrived
to scarify the cupboard with it and was arranging to begin on the bureau when
he was called off to dress for Sundayschool
Mary gave him a tin basin of water and a piece of soap and he went outside
the door and set the basin on a little bench there then he dipped the soap in
the water and laid it down turned up his sleeves poured out the water on the
ground gently and then entered the kitchen and began to wipe his face
diligently on the towel behind the door But Mary removed the towel and said
»Now aint you ashamed Tom You mustnt be so bad Water wont hurt you«
Tom was a trifle disconcerted The basin was refilled and this time he
stood over it a little while gathering resolution took in a big breath and
began When he entered the kitchen presently with both eyes shut and groping
for the towel with his hands an honorable testimony of suds and water was
dripping from his face But when he emerged from the towel he was not yet
satisfactory for the clean territory stopped short at his chin and his jaws
like a mask below and beyond this line there was a dark expanse of unirrigated
soil that spread downward in front and backward around his neck Mary took him
in hand and when she was done with him he was a man and a brother without
distinction of color and his saturated hair was neatly brushed and its short
curls wrought into a dainty and symmetrical general effect He privately
smoothed out the curls with labor and difficulty and plastered his hair close
down to his head for he held curls to be effeminate and his own filled his
life with bitterness Then Mary got out a suit of his clothing that had been
used only on Sundays during two years they were simply called his other
clothes and so by that we know the size of his wardrobe The girl put him to
rights after he had dressed himself she buttoned his neat roundabout up to his
chin turned his vast shirt collar down over his shoulders brushed him off and
crowned him with his speckled straw hat He now looked exceedingly improved and
uncomfortable And he was fully as uncomfortable as he looked for there was a
restraint about whole clothes and cleanliness that galled him He hoped that
Mary would forget his shoes but the hope was blighted she coated them
thoroughly with tallow as was the custom and brought them out He lost his
temper and said he was always being made to do everything he didnt want to do
But Mary said persuasively
»Please Tom thats a good boy«
So he got into the shoes snarling Mary was soon ready and the three
children set out for Sundayschool a place that Tom hated with his whole
heart but Sid and Mary were fond of it
Sabbathschool hours were from nine to half past ten and then church
service Two of the children always remained for the sermon voluntarily and
the other always remained too for stronger reasons The churchs highbacked
uncushioned pews would seat about three hundred persons the edifice was but a
small plain affair with a sort of pine board treebox on top of it for a
steeple At the door Tom dropped back a step and accosted a Sundaydressed
comrade
»Say Billy got a yaller ticket«
»Yes«
»Whatll you take for her«
»Whatll you give«
»Piece of lickrish and a fishhook«
»Less see em«
Tom exhibited They were satisfactory and the property changed hands Then
Tom traded a couple of white alleys for three red tickets and some small trifle
or other for a couple of blue ones He waylaid other boys as they came and went
on buying tickets of various colors ten or fifteen minutes longer He entered
the church now with a swarm of clean and noisy boys and girls proceeded to
his seat and started a quarrel with the first boy that came handy The teacher
a grave elderly man interfered then turned his back a moment and Tom pulled a
boys hair in the next bench and was absorbed in his book when the boy turned
around stuck a pin in another boy presently in order to hear him say »Ouch«
and got a new reprimand from his teacher Toms whole class were of a pattern
restless noisy and troublesome When they came to recite their lessons not one
of them knew his verses perfectly but had to be prompted all along However
they worried through and each got his reward in small blue tickets each with
a passage of Scripture on it each blue ticket was pay for two verses of the
recitation Ten blue tickets equaled a red one and could be exchanged for it
ten red tickets equaled a yellow one for ten yellow tickets the Superintendent
gave a very plainly bound Bible worth forty cents in those easy times to the
pupil How many of my readers would have the industry and the application to
memorize two thousand verses even for a Doré Bible And yet Mary had acquired
two Bibles in this way it was the patient work of two years and a boy of
German parentage had won four or five He once recited three thousand verses
without stopping but the strain upon his mental faculties was too great and he
was little better than an idiot from that day forth a grievous misfortune for
the school for on great occasions before company the Superintendent as Tom
expressed it had always made this boy come out and spread himself Only the
older pupils managed to keep their tickets and stick to their tedious work long
enough to get a Bible and so the delivery of one of these prizes was a rare and
noteworthy circumstance the successful pupil was so great and conspicuous for
that day that on the spot every scholars breast was fired with a fresh ambition
that often lasted a couple of weeks It is possible that Toms mental stomach
had never really hungered for one of those prizes but unquestionably his entire
being had for many a day longed for the glory and the eclat that came with it
In due course the Superintendent stood up in front of the pulpit with a
closed hymnbook in his hand and his forefinger inserted between its leaves and
commanded attention When a Sundayschool Superintendent makes his customary
little speech a hymn in the hand is as necessary as is the inevitable sheet of
music in the hand of a singer who stands forward on the platform and sings a
solo at a concert though why is a mystery for neither the hymnbook nor the
sheet of music is ever referred to by the sufferer This superintendent was a
slim creature of thirtyfive with a sandy goatee and short sandy hair he wore
a stiff standingcollar whose upper edge almost reached his ears and whose sharp
points curved forward abreast the corners of his mouth a fence that compelled
a straight lookout ahead and a turning of the whole body when a side view was
required his chin was propped on a spreading cravat which was as broad and as
long as a bank note and had fringed ends his boot toes were turned sharply up
in the fashion of the day like sleighrunners an effect patiently and
laboriously produced by the young men by sitting with their toes pressed against
a wall for hours together Mr Walters was very earnest of mien and very
sincere and honest at heart and he held sacred things and places in such
reverence and so separated them from worldly matters that unconsciously to
himself his Sundayschool voice had acquired a peculiar intonation which was
wholly absent on weekdays He began after this fashion
»Now children I want you all to sit up just as straight and pretty as you
can and give me all your attention for a minute or two There that is it That
is the way good little boys and girls should do I see one little girl who is
looking out of the window I am afraid she thinks I am out there somewhere
perhaps up in one of the trees making a speech to the little birds Applausive
titter I want to tell you how good it makes me feel to see so many bright
clean little faces assembled in a place like this learning to do right and be
good«
And so forth and so on It is not necessary to set down the rest of the
oration It was of a pattern which does not vary and so it is familiar to us
all
The latter third of the speech was marred by the resumption of fights and
other recreations among certain of the bad boys and by fidgetings and
whisperings that extended far and wide washing even to the bases of isolated
and incorruptible rocks like Sid and Mary But now every sound ceased suddenly
with the subsidence of Mr Walterss voice and the conclusion of the speech was
received with a burst of silent gratitude
A good part of the whispering had been occasioned by an event which was more
or less rare the entrance of visitors lawyer Thatcher accompanied by a very
feeble and aged man a fine portly middleaged gentleman with irongray hair
and a dignified lady who was doubtless the latters wife The lady was leading a
child Tom had been restless and full of chafings and repinings
consciencesmitten too he could not meet Amy Lawrences eye he could not
brook her loving gaze But when he saw this small newcomer his soul was all
ablaze with bliss in a moment The next moment he was showing off with all his
might cuffing boys pulling hair making faces in a word using every art
that seemed likely to fascinate a girl and win her applause His exaltation had
but one alloy the memory of his humiliation in this angels garden and that
record in sand was fast washing out under the waves of happiness that were
sweeping over it now
The visitors were given the highest seat of honor and as soon as Mr
Walterss speech was finished he introduced them to the school The middleaged
man turned out to be a prodigious personage no less a one than the county
judge altogether the most august creation these children had ever looked upon
and they wondered what kind of material he was made of and they half wanted
to hear him roar and were half afraid he might too He was from
Constantinople twelve miles away so he had traveled and seen the world
these very eyes had looked upon the county court house which was said to have
a tin roof The awe which these reflections inspired was attested by the
impressive silence and the ranks of staring eyes This was the great Judge
Thatcher brother of their own lawyer Jeff Thatcher immediately went forward
to be familiar with the great man and be envied by the school It would have
been music to his soul to hear the whisperings
»Look at him Jim Hes agoing up there Say look hes agoing to shake
hands with him he is ashaking hands with him By jings dont you wish you
was Jeff«
Mr Walters fell to showing off with all sorts of official bustlings and
activities giving orders delivering judgments discharging directions here
there everywhere that he could find a target The librarian showed off
running hither and thither with his arms full of books and making a deal of the
splutter and fuss that insect authority delights in The young lady teachers
showed off bending sweetly over pupils that were lately being boxed lifting
pretty warning fingers at bad little boys and patting good ones lovingly The
young gentlemen teachers showed off with small scoldings and other little
displays of authority and fine attention to discipline and most of the
teachers of both sexes found business up at the library by the pulpit and it
was business that frequently had to be done over again two or three times with
much seeming vexation The little girls showed off in various ways and the
little boys showed off with such diligence that the air was thick with paper
wads and the murmur of scufflings And above it all the great man sat and beamed
a majestic judicial smile upon all the house and warmed himself in the sun of
his own grandeur for he was showing off too
There was only one thing wanting to make Mr Walterss ecstasy complete
and that was a chance to deliver a Bibleprize and exhibit a prodigy Several
pupils had a few yellow tickets but none had enough he had been around among
the star pupils inquiring He would have given worlds now to have that German
lad back again with a sound mind
And now at this moment when hope was dead Tom Sawyer came forward with
nine yellow tickets nine red tickets and ten blue ones and demanded a Bible
This was a thunderbolt out of a clear sky Walters was not expecting an
application from this source for the next ten years But there was no getting
around it here were the certified checks and they were good for their face
Tom was therefore elevated to a place with the Judge and the other elect and
the great news was announced from headquarters It was the most stunning
surprise of the decade and so profound was the sensation that it lifted the new
hero up to the judicial ones altitude and the school had two marvels to gaze
upon in place of one The boys were all eaten up with envy but those that
suffered the bitterest pangs were those who perceived too late that they
themselves had contributed to this hated splendor by trading tickets to Tom for
the wealth he had amassed in selling whitewashing privileges These despised
themselves as being the dupes of a wily fraud a guileful snake in the grass
The prize was delivered to Tom with as much effusion as the Superintendent
could pump up under the circumstances but it lacked somewhat of the true gush
for the poor fellows instinct taught him that there was a mystery here that
could not well bear the light perhaps it was simply preposterous that this boy
had warehoused two thousand sheaves of Scriptural wisdom on his premises a
dozen would strain his capacity without a doubt
Amy Lawrence was proud and glad and she tried to make Tom see it in her
face but he wouldnt look She wondered then she was just a grain troubled
next a dim suspicion came and went came again she watched a furtive glance
told her worlds and then her heart broke and she was jealous and angry and
the tears came and she hated everybody Tom most of all she thought
Tom was introduced to the Judge but his tongue was tied his breath would
hardly come his heart quaked partly because of the awful greatness of the
man but mainly because he was her parent He would have liked to fall down and
worship him if it were in the dark The Judge put his hand on Toms head and
called him a fine little man and asked him what his name was The boy
stammered gasped and got it out
»Tom«
»Oh no not Tom it is «
»Thomas«
»Ah thats it I thought there was more to it maybe Thats very well But
youve another one I daresay and youll tell it to me wont you«
»Tell the gentleman your other name Thomas« said Walters »and say sir
You mustnt forget your manners«
»Thomas Sawyer sir«
»Thats it Thats a good boy Fine boy Fine manly little fellow Two
thousand verses is a great many very very great many And you never can be
sorry for the trouble you took to learn them for knowledge is worth more than
anything there is in the world its what makes great men and good men youll
be a great man and a good man yourself some day Thomas and then youll look
back and say Its all owing to the precious Sundayschool privileges of my
boyhood its all owing to my dear teachers that taught me to learn its all
owing to the good Superintendent who encouraged me and watched over me and
gave me a beautiful Bible a splendid elegant Bible to keep and have it all
for my own always its all owing to right bringing up That is what you will
say Thomas and you wouldnt take any money for those two thousand verses then
no indeed you wouldnt And now you wouldnt mind telling me and this lady
some of the things youve learned no I know you wouldnt for we are proud
of little boys that learn Now no doubt you know the names of all the twelve
disciples Wont you tell us the names of the first two that were appointed«
Tom was tugging at a button and looking sheepish He blushed now and his
eyes fell Mr Walterss heart sank within him He said to himself It is not
possible that the boy can answer the simplest question why did the Judge ask
him Yet he felt obliged to speak up and say
»Answer the gentleman Thomas dont be afraid«
Tom still hung fire
»Now I know youll tell me« said the lady »The names of the first two
disciples were «
»DAVID AND GOLIAH«
Let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene
Chapter 5
About half past ten the cracked bell of the small church began to ring and
presently the people began to gather for the morning sermon The Sundayschool
children distributed themselves about the house and occupied pews with their
parents so as to be under supervision Aunt Polly came and Tom and Sid and
Mary sat with her Tom being placed next the aisle in order that he might be
as far away from the open window and the seductive outside summer scenes as
possible The crowd filed up the aisles the aged and needy postmaster who had
seen better days the mayor and his wife for they had a mayor there among
other unnecessaries the justice of the peace the widow Douglas fair smart
and forty a generous goodhearted soul and welltodo her hill mansion the
only palace in the town and the most hospitable and much the most lavish in the
matter of festivities that St Petersburg could boast the bent and venerable
Major and Mrs Ward lawyer Riverson the new notable from a distance next the
belle of the village followed by a troop of lawnclad and ribbondecked young
heartbreakers then all the young clerks in town in a body for they had stood
in the vestibule sucking their caneheads a circling wall of oiled and
simpering admirers till the last girl had run their gauntlet and last of all
came the Model Boy Willie Mufferson taking as heedful care of his mother as if
she were cut glass He always brought his mother to church and was the pride of
all the matrons The boys all hated him he was so good And besides he had
been thrown up to them so much His white handkerchief was hanging out of his
pocket behind as usual on Sundays accidentally Tom had no handkerchief and
he looked upon boys who had as snobs
The congregation being fully assembled now the bell rang once more to
warn laggards and stragglers and then a solemn hush fell upon the church which
was only broken by the tittering and whispering of the choir in the gallery The
choir always tittered and whispered all through service There was once a church
choir that was not illbred but I have forgotten where it was now It was a
great many years ago and I can scarcely remember anything about it but I think
it was in some foreign country
The minister gave out the hymn and read it through with a relish in a
peculiar style which was much admired in that part of the country His voice
began on a medium key and climbed steadily up till it reached a certain point
where it bore with strong emphasis upon the topmost word and then plunged down
as if from a springboard
He was regarded as a wonderful reader At church sociables he was always called
upon to read poetry and when he was through the ladies would lift up their
hands and let them fall helplessly in their laps and wall their eyes and shake
their heads as much as to say »Words cannot express it it is too beautiful
too beautiful for this mortal earth«
After the hymn had been sung the Rev Mr Sprague turned himself into a
bulletin board and read off notices of meetings and societies and things till it
seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of doom a queer custom
which is still kept up in America even in cities away here in this age of
abundant newspapers Often the less there is to justify a traditional custom
the harder it is to get rid of it
And now the minister prayed A good generous prayer it was and went into
details it pleaded for the church and the little children of the church for
the other churches of the village for the village itself for the county for
the State for the State officers for the United States for the churches of
the United States for Congress for the President for the officers of the
government for poor sailors tossed by stormy seas for the oppressed millions
groaning under the heel of European monarchies and Oriental despotisms for such
as have the light and the good tidings and yet have not eyes to see nor ears to
hear withal for the heathen in the far islands of the sea and closed with a
supplication that the words he was about to speak might find grace and favor
and be as seed sown in fertile ground yielding in time a grateful harvest of
good Amen
There was a rustling of dresses and the standing congregation sat down The
boy whose history this book relates did not enjoy the prayer he only endured
it if he even did that much He was restive all through it he kept tally of
the details of the prayer unconsciously for he was not listening but he knew
the ground of old and the clergymans regular route over it and when a little
trifle of new matter was interlarded his ear detected it and his whole nature
resented it he considered additions unfair and scoundrelly In the midst of
the prayer a fly had lit on the back of the pew in front of him and tortured his
spirit by calmly rubbing its hands together embracing its head with its arms
and polishing it so vigorously that it seemed to almost part company with the
body and the slender thread of a neck was exposed to view scraping its wings
with its hind legs and smoothing them to its body as if they had been coat
tails going through its whole toilet as tranquilly as if it knew it was
perfectly safe As indeed it was for as sorely as Toms hands itched to grab
for it they did not dare he believed his soul would be instantly destroyed if
he did such a thing while the prayer was going on But with the closing sentence
his hand began to curve and steal forward and the instant the Amen was out the
fly was a prisoner of war His aunt detected the act and made him let it go
The minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through an
argument that was so prosy that many a head by and by began to nod and yet it
was an argument that dealt in limitless fire and brimstone and thinned the
predestined elect down to a company so small as to be hardly worth the saving
Tom counted the pages of the sermon after church he always knew how many pages
there had been but he seldom knew anything else about the discourse However
this time he was really interested for a little while The minister made a grand
and moving picture of the assembling together of the worlds hosts at the
millennium when the lion and the lamb should lie down together and a little
child should lead them But the pathos the lesson the moral of the great
spectacle were lost upon the boy he only thought of the conspicuousness of the
principal character before the onlooking nations his face lit with the
thought and he said to himself that he wished he could be that child if it was
a tame lion
Now he lapsed into suffering again as the dry argument was resumed
Presently he bethought him of a treasure he had and got it out It was a large
black beetle with formidable jaws a pinchbug he called it It was in a
percussioncap box The first thing the beetle did was to take him by the
finger A natural fillip followed the beetle went floundering into the aisle
and lit on its back and the hurt finger went into the boys mouth The beetle
lay there working its helpless legs unable to turn over Tom eyed it and
longed for it but it was safe out of his reach Other people uninterested in
the sermon found relief in the beetle and they eyed it too Presently a
vagrant poodle dog came idling along sad at heart lazy with the summer
softness and the quiet weary of captivity sighing for change He spied the
beetle the drooping tail lifted and wagged He surveyed the prize walked
around it smelt at it from a safe distance walked around it again grew
bolder and took a closer smell then lifted his lip and made a gingerly snatch
at it just missing it made another and another began to enjoy the diversion
subsided to his stomach with the beetle between his paws and continued his
experiments grew weary at last and then indifferent and absentminded His
head nodded and little by little his chin descended and touched the enemy who
seized it There was a sharp yelp a flirt of the poodles head and the beetle
fell a couple of yards away and lit on its back once more The neighboring
spectators shook with a gentle inward joy several faces went behind fans and
handkerchiefs and Tom was entirely happy The dog looked foolish and probably
felt so but there was resentment in his heart too and a craving for revenge
So he went to the beetle and began a wary attack on it again jumping at it from
every point of a circle lighting with his forepaws within an inch of the
creature making even closer snatches at it with his teeth and jerking his head
till his ears flapped again But he grew tired once more after a while tried
to amuse himself with a fly but found no relief followed an ant around with
his nose close to the floor and quickly wearied of that yawned sighed forgot
the beetle entirely and sat down on it Then there was a wild yelp of agony and
the poodle went sailing up the aisle the yelps continued and so did the dog
he crossed the house in front of the altar he flew down the other aisle he
crossed before the doors he clamored up the homestretch his anguish grew with
his progress till presently he was but a woolly comet moving in its orbit with
the gleam and the speed of light At last the frantic sufferer sheered from its
course and sprang into its masters lap he flung it out of the window and the
voice of distress quickly thinned away and died in the distance
By this time the whole church was redfaced and suffocating with suppressed
laughter and the sermon had come to a dead standstill The discourse was
resumed presently but it went lame and halting all possibility of
impressiveness being at an end for even the gravest sentiments were constantly
being received with a smothered burst of unholy mirth under cover of some
remote pewback as if the poor parson had said a rarely facetious thing It was
a genuine relief to the whole congregation when the ordeal was over and the
benediction pronounced
Tom Sawyer went home quite cheerful thinking to himself that there was some
satisfaction about divine service when there was a bit of variety in it He had
but one marring thought he was willing that the dog should play with his
pinchbug but he did not think it was upright in him to carry it off
Chapter 6
Monday morning found Tom Sawyer miserable Monday morning always found him so
because it began another weeks slow suffering in school He generally began
that day with wishing he had had no intervening holiday it made the going into
captivity and fetters again so much more odious
Tom lay thinking Presently it occurred to him that he wished he was sick
then he could stay home from school Here was a vague possibility He canvassed
his system No ailment was found and he investigated again This time he
thought he could detect colicky symptoms and he began to encourage them with
considerable hope But they soon grew feeble and presently died wholly away He
reflected further Suddenly he discovered something One of his upper front
teeth was loose This was lucky he was about to begin to groan as a starter
as he called it when it occurred to him that if he came into court with that
argument his aunt would pull it out and that would hurt So he thought he
would hold the tooth in reserve for the present and seek further Nothing
offered for some little time and then he remembered hearing the doctor tell
about a certain thing that laid up a patient for two or three weeks and
threatened to make him lose a finger So the boy eagerly drew his sore toe from
under the sheet and held it up for inspection But now he did not know the
necessary symptoms However it seemed well worth while to chance it so he fell
to groaning with considerable spirit
But Sid slept on unconscious
Tom groaned louder and fancied that he began to feel pain in the toe
No result from Sid
Tom was panting with his exertions by this time He took a rest and then
swelled himself up and fetched a succession of admirable groans
Sid snored on
Tom was aggravated He said »Sid Sid« and shook him This course worked
well and Tom began to groan again Sid yawned stretched then brought himself
up on his elbow with a snort and began to stare at Tom Tom went on groaning
Sid said
»Tom Say Tom« No response »Here Tom Tom What is the matter Tom«
And he shook him and looked in his face anxiously
Tom moaned out
»O dont Sid Dont joggle me«
»Why whats the matter Tom I must call auntie«
»No never mind Itll be over by and by maybe Dont call anybody«
»But I must Dont groan so Tom its awful How long you been this way«
»Hours Ouch O dont stir so Sid youll kill me«
»Tom why didnt you wake me sooner O Tom dont It makes my flesh crawl
to hear you Tom what is the matter«
»I forgive you everything Sid Groan Everything youve ever done to me
When Im gone «
»O Tom you aint dying are you Dont Tom O dont Maybe «
»I forgive everybody Sid Groan Tell em so Sid And Sid you give my
windowsash and my cat with one eye to that new girl thats come to town and
tell her «
But Sid had snatched his clothes and gone Tom was suffering in reality
now so handsomely was his imagination working and so his groans had gathered
quite a genuine tone
Sid flew down stairs and said
»O aunt Polly come Toms dying«
»Dying«
»Yesm Dont wait come quick«
»Rubbage I dont believe it«
But she fled up stairs nevertheless with Sid and Mary at her heels And
her face grew white too and her lip trembled When she reached the bedside she
gasped out
»You Tom Tom whats the matter with you«
»O auntie Im «
»Whats the matter with you what is the matter with you child«
»O auntie my sore toes mortified«
The old lady sank down into a chair and laughed a little then cried a
little then did both together This restored her and she said
»Tom what a turn you did give me Now you shut up that nonsense and climb
out of this«
The groans ceased and the pain vanished from the toe The boy felt a little
foolish and he said
»Aunt Polly it seemed mortified and it hurt so I never minded my tooth at
all«
»Your tooth indeed Whats the matter with your tooth«
»One of thems loose and it aches perfectly awful«
»There there now dont begin that groaning again Open your mouth Well
your tooth is loose but youre not going to die about that Mary get me a silk
thread and a chunk of fire out of the kitchen«
Tom said
»O please auntie dont pull it out It dont hurt any more I wish I may
never stir if it does Please dont auntie I dont want to stay home from
school«
»Oh you dont dont you So all this row was because you thought youd get
to stay home from school and go afishing Tom Tom I love you so and you seem
to try every way you can to break my old heart with your outrageousness«
By this time the dental instruments were ready The old lady made one end of
the silk thread fast to Toms tooth with a loop and tied the other to the
bedpost Then she seized the chunk of fire and suddenly thrust it almost into
the boys face The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost now
But all trials bring their compensations As Tom wended to school after
breakfast he was the envy of every boy he met because the gap in his upper row
of teeth enabled him to expectorate in a new and admirable way He gathered
quite a following of lads interested in the exhibition and one that had cut his
finger and had been a centre of fascination and homage up to this time now
found himself suddenly without an adherent and shorn of his glory His heart
was heavy and he said with a disdain which he did not feel that it wasnt
anything to spit like Tom Sawyer but another boy said »Sour grapes« and he
wandered away a dismantled hero
Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village Huckleberry Finn
son of the town drunkard Huckleberry was cordially hated and dreaded by all the
mothers of the town because he was idle and lawless and vulgar and bad and
because all their children admired him so and delighted in his forbidden
society and wished they dared to be like him Tom was like the rest of the
respectable boys in that he envied Huckleberry his gaudy outcast condition and
was under strict orders not to play with him So he played with him every time
he got a chance Huckleberry was always dressed in the castoff clothes of
fullgrown men and they were in perennial bloom and fluttering with rags His
hat was a vast ruin with a wide crescent lopped out of its brim his coat when
he wore one hung nearly to his heels and had the rearward buttons far down the
back but one suspender supported his trousers the seat of the trousers bagged
low and contained nothing the fringed legs dragged in the dirt when not rolled
up
Huckleberry came and went at his own free will He slept on doorsteps in
fine weather and in empty hogsheads in wet he did not have to go to school or
to church or call any being master or obey anybody he could go fishing or
swimming when and where he chose and stay as long as it suited him nobody
forbade him to fight he could sit up as late as he pleased he was always the
first boy that went barefoot in the spring and the last to resume leather in the
fall he never had to wash nor put on clean clothes he could swear
wonderfully In a word everything that goes to make life precious that boy
had So thought every harassed hampered respectable boy in St Petersburg
Tom hailed the romantic outcast
»Hello Huckleberry«
»Hello yourself and see how you like it«
»Whats that you got«
»Dead cat«
»Lemme see him Huck My hes pretty stiff Whered you get him«
»Bought him offn a boy«
»What did you give«
»I give a blue ticket and a bladder that I got at the slaughter house«
»Whered you get the blue ticket«
»Bought it offn Ben Rogers two weeks ago for a hoopstick«
»Say what is dead cats good for Huck«
»Good for Cure warts with«
»No Is that so I know something thats better«
»I bet you dont What is it«
»Why spunkwater«
»Spunkwater I wouldnt give a dern for spunkwater«
»You wouldnt wouldnt you Dyou ever try it«
»No I haint But Bob Tanner did«
»Who told you so«
»Why he told Jeff Thatcher and Jeff told Johnny Baker and Johnny told Jim
Hollis and Jim told Ben Rogers and Ben told a nigger and the nigger told me
There now«
»Well what of it Theyll all lie Leastways all but the nigger I dont
know him But I never see a nigger that wouldnt lie Shucks Now you tell me
how Bob Tanner done it Huck«
»Why he took and dipped his hand in a rotten stump where the rain water
was«
»In the daytime«
»Certnly«
»With his face to the stump«
»Yes Least I reckon so«
»Did he say anything«
»I dont reckon he did I dont know«
»Aha Talk about trying to cure warts with spunkwater such a blame fool way
as that Why that aint agoing to do any good You got to go all by yourself
to the middle of the woods where you know theres a spunkwater stump and just
as its midnight you back up against the stump and jam your hand in and say
Barleycorn barleycorn injunmeal shorts
Spunkwater spunkwater swaller these warts
and then walk away quick eleven steps with your eyes shut and then turn
around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody Because if you
speak the charms busted«
»Well that sounds like a good way but that aint the way Bob Tanner done«
»No sir you can bet he didnt becuz hes the wartiest boy in this town
and he wouldnt have a wart on him if hed knowed how to work spunkwater Ive
took off thousands of warts off of my hands that way Huck I play with frogs so
much that Ive always got considerable many warts Sometimes I take em off with
a bean«
»Yes beans good Ive done that«
»Have you Whats your way«
»You take and split the bean and cut the wart so as to get some blood and
then you put the blood on one piece of the bean and take and dig a hole and bury
it bout midnight at the crossroads in the dark of the moon and then you burn
up the rest of the bean You see that piece thats got the blood on it will keep
drawing and drawing trying to fetch the other piece to it and so that helps
the blood to draw the wart and pretty soon off she comes«
»Yes thats it Huck thats it though when youre burying it if you say
Down bean off wart come no more to bother me its better Thats the way Joe
Harper does and hes been nearly to Constantinople and most everywheres But
say how do you cure em with dead cats«
»Why you take your cat and go and get in the graveyard long about midnight
when somebody that was wicked has been buried and when its midnight a devil
will come or maybe two or three but you cant see em you can only hear
something like the wind or maybe hear em talk and when theyre taking that
feller away you heave your cat after em and say Devil follow corpse cat
follow devil warts follow cat Im done with ye Thatll fetch any wart«
»Sounds right Dyou ever try it Huck«
»No but old Mother Hopkins told me«
»Well I reckon its so then Becuz they say shes a witch«
»Say Why Tom I know she is She witched pap Pap says so his own self He
come along one day and he see she was awitching him so he took up a rock and
if she hadnt dodged hed a got her Well that very night he rolled offn a shed
wher he was alayin drunk and broke his arm«
»Why thats awful How did he know she was awitching him«
»Lord pap can tell easy Pap says when they keep looking at you right
stiddy theyre awitching you Specially if they mumble Becuz when they mumble
theyre asaying the Lords Prayer backards«
»Say Hucky when you going to try the cat«
»Tonight I reckon theyll come after old Hoss Williams tonight«
»But they buried him Saturday Huck Didnt they get him Saturday night«
»Why how you talk How could their charms work till midnight and then
its Sunday Devils dont slosh around much of a Sunday I dont reckon«
»I never thought of that Thats so Lemme go with you«
»Of course if you aint afeard«
»Afeard Taint likely Will you meow«
»Yes and you meow back if you get a chance Last time you kep me
ameowing around till old Hays went to throwing rocks at me and says Dern that
cat and so I hove a brick through his window but dont you tell«
»I wont I couldnt meow that night becuz auntie was watching me but Ill
meow this time Say Huck whats that«
»Nothing but a tick«
»Whered you get him«
»Out in the woods«
»Whatll you take for him«
»I dont know I dont want to sell him«
»All right Its a mighty small tick anyway«
»O anybody can run a tick down that dont belong to them Im satisfied
with it Its a good enough tick for me«
»Sho theres ticks a plenty I could have a thousand of em if I wanted
to«
»Well why dont you Becuz you know mighty well you cant This is a pretty
early tick I reckon Its the first one Ive seen this year«
»Say Huck Ill give you my tooth for him«
»Less see it«
Tom got out a bit of paper and carefully unrolled it Huckleberry viewed it
wistfully The temptation was very strong At last he said
»Is it genuwyne«
Tom lifted his lip and showed the vacancy
»Well all right« said Huckleberry »its a trade«
Tom enclosed the tick in the percussioncap box that had lately been the
pinchbugs prison and the boys separated each feeling wealthier than before
When Tom reached the little isolated frame schoolhouse he strode in
briskly with the manner of one who had come with all honest speed He hung his
hat on a peg and flung himself into his seat with businesslike alacrity The
master throned on high in his great splintbottom armchair was dozing lulled
by the drowsy hum of study The interruption roused him
»Thomas Sawyer«
Tom knew that when his name was pronounced in full it meant trouble
»Sir«
»Come up here Now sir why are you late again as usual«
Tom was about to take refuge in a lie when he saw two long tails of yellow
hair hanging down a back that he recognized by the electric sympathy of love
and by that form was the only vacant place on the girls side of the
schoolhouse He instantly said
»I STOPPED TO TALK WITH HUCKLEBERRY FINN«
The masters pulse stood still and he stared helplessly The buzz of study
ceased The pupils wondered if this foolhardy boy had lost his mind The master
said
»You you did what«
»Stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn«
There was no mistaking the words
»Thomas Sawyer this is the most astounding confession I have ever listened
to No mere ferule will answer for this offense Take off your jacket«
The masters arm performed until it was tired and the stock of switches
notably diminished Then the order followed
»Now sir go and sit with the girls And let this be a warning to you«
The titter that rippled around the room appeared to abash the boy but in
reality that result was caused rather more by his worshipful awe of his unknown
idol and the dread pleasure that lay in his high good fortune He sat down upon
the end of the pine bench and the girl hitched herself away from him with a toss
of her head Nudges and winks and whispers traversed the room but Tom sat
still with his arms upon the long low desk before him and seemed to study his
book By and by attention ceased from him and the accustomed school murmur rose
upon the dull air once more Presently the boy began to steal furtive glances at
the girl She observed it made a mouth at him and gave him the back of her head
for the space of a minute When she cautiously faced around again a peach lay
before her She thrust it away Tom gently put it back She thrust it away
again but with less animosity Tom patiently returned it to its place Then she
let it remain Tom scrawled on his slate »Please take it I got more« The
girl glanced at the words but made no sign Now the boy began to draw something
on the slate hiding his work with his left hand For a time the girl refused to
notice but her human curiosity presently began to manifest itself by hardly
perceptible signs The boy worked on apparently unconscious The girl made a
sort of noncommittal attempt to see but the boy did not betray that he was
aware of it At last she gave in and hesitatingly whispered
»Let me see it«
Tom partly uncovered a dismal caricature of a house with two gable ends to
it and a corkscrew of smoke issuing from the chimney Then the girls interest
began to fasten itself upon the work and she forgot everything else When it was
finished she gazed a moment then whispered
»Its nice make a man«
The artist erected a man in the front yard that resembled a derrick He
could have stepped over the house but the girl was not hypercritical she was
satisfied with the monster and whispered
»Its a beautiful man now make me coming along«
Tom As An Artist
Tom drew an hourglass with a full moon and straw limbs to it and armed the
spreading fingers with a portentous fan The girl said
»Its ever so nice I wish I could draw«
»Its easy« whispered Tom »Ill learn you«
»O will you When«
»At noon Do you go home to dinner«
»Ill stay if you will«
»Good thats a whack Whats your name«
»Becky Thatcher Whats yours Oh I know Its Thomas Sawyer«
»Thats the name they lick me by Im Tom when Im good You call me Tom
will you«
»Yes«
Now Tom began to scrawl something on the slate hiding the words from the
girl But she was not backward this time She begged to see Tom said
»Oh it aint anything«
»Yes it is«
»No it aint You dont want to see«
»Yes I do indeed I do Please let me«
»Youll tell«
»No I wont deed and deed and double deed I wont«
»You wont tell anybody at all Ever as long as you live«
»No I wont ever tell anybody Now let me«
»Oh you dont want to see«
»Now that you treat me so I will see« And she put her small hand upon his
and a little scuffle ensued Tom pretending to resist in earnest but letting his
hand slip by degrees till these words were revealed »I love you«
»O you bad thing« And she hit his hand a smart rap but reddened and
looked pleased nevertheless
Just at this juncture the boy felt a slow fateful grip closing on his ear
and a steady lifting impulse In that vise he was borne across the house and
deposited in his own seat under a peppering fire of giggles from the whole
school Then the master stood over him during a few awful moments and finally
moved away to his throne without saying a word But although Toms ear tingled
his heart was jubilant
As the school quieted down Tom made an honest effort to study but the
turmoil within him was too great In turn he took his place in the reading class
and made a botch of it then in the geography class and turned lakes into
mountains mountains into rivers and rivers into continents till chaos was
come again then in the spelling class and got turned down by a succession of
mere baby words till he brought up at the foot and yielded up the pewter medal
which he had worn with ostentation for months
Chapter 7
The harder Tom tried to fasten his mind on his book the more his ideas
wandered So at last with a sigh and a yawn he gave it up It seemed to him
that the noon recess would never come The air was utterly dead There was not a
breath stirring It was the sleepiest of sleepy days The drowsing murmur of the
five and twenty studying scholars soothed the soul like the spell that is in the
murmur of bees Away off in the flaming sunshine Cardiff Hill lifted its soft
green sides through a shimmering veil of heat tinted with the purple of
distance a few birds floated on lazy wing high in the air no other living
thing was visible but some cows and they were asleep
Toms heart ached to be free or else to have something of interest to do to
pass the dreary time His hand wandered into his pocket and his face lit up with
a glow of gratitude that was prayer though he did not know it Then furtively
the percussioncap box came out He released the tick and put him on the long
flat desk The creature probably glowed with a gratitude that amounted to
prayer too at this moment but it was premature for when he started
thankfully to travel off Tom turned him aside with a pin and made him take a
new direction
Toms bosom friend sat next him suffering just as Tom had been and now he
was deeply and gratefully interested in this entertainment in an instant This
bosom friend was Joe Harper The two boys were sworn friends all the week and
embattled enemies on Saturdays Joe took a pin out of his lappel and began to
assist in exercising the prisoner The sport grew in interest momently Soon Tom
said that they were interfering with each other and neither getting the fullest
benefit of the tick So he put Joes slate on the desk and drew a line down the
middle of it from top to bottom
»Now« said he »as long as he is on your side you can stir him up and Ill
let him alone but if you let him get away and get on my side youre to leave
him alone as long as I can keep him from crossing over«
»All right go ahead start him up«
The tick escaped from Tom presently and crossed the equator Joe harassed
him a while and then he got away and crossed back again This change of base
occurred often While one boy was worrying the tick with absorbing interest the
other would look on with interest as strong the two heads bowed together over
the slate and the two souls dead to all things else At last luck seemed to
settle and abide with Joe The tick tried this that and the other course and
got as excited and as anxious as the boys themselves but time and again just as
he would have victory in his very grasp so to speak and Toms fingers would be
twitching to begin Joes pin would deftly head him off and keep possession At
last Tom could stand it no longer The temptation was too strong So he reached
out and lent a hand with his pin Joe was angry in a moment Said he
»Tom you let him alone«
»I only just want to stir him up a little Joe«
»No sir it aint fair you just let him alone«
»Blame it I aint going to stir him much«
»Let him alone I tell you«
»I wont«
»You shall hes on my side of the line«
»Look here Joe Harper whose is that tick«
»I dont care whose tick he is hes on my side of the line and you shant
touch him«
»Well Ill just bet I will though Hes my tick and Ill do what I blame
please with him or die«
A tremendous whack came down on Toms shoulders and its duplicate on Joes
and for the space of two minutes the dust continued to fly from the two jackets
and the whole school to enjoy it The boys had been too absorbed to notice the
hush that had stolen upon the school a while before when the master came
tiptoeing down the room and stood over them He had contemplated a good part of
the performance before he contributed his bit of variety to it
When school broke up at noon Tom flew to Becky Thatcher and whispered in
her ear
»Put on your bonnet and let on youre going home and when you get to the
corner give the rest of em the slip and turn down through the lane and come
back Ill go the other way and come it over em the same way«
So the one went off with one group of scholars and the other with another
In a little while the two met at the bottom of the lane and when they reached
the school they had it all to themselves Then they sat together with a slate
before them and Tom gave Becky the pencil and held her hand in his guiding it
and so created another surprising house When the interest in art began to wane
the two fell to talking Tom was swimming in bliss He said
»Do you love rats«
»No I hate them«
»Well I do too live ones But I mean dead ones to swing round your head
with a string«
»No I dont care for rats much anyway What I like is chewinggum«
»O I should say so I wish I had some now«
»Do you Ive got some Ill let you chew it a while but you must give it
back to me«
That was agreeable so they chewed it turn about and dangled their legs
against the bench in excess of contentment
»Was you ever at a circus« said Tom
»Yes and my pas going to take me again some time if Im good«
»I been to the circus three or four times lots of times Church aint
shucks to a circus Theres things going on at a circus all the time Im going
to be a clown in a circus when I grow up«
»O are you That will be nice Theyre so lovely all spotted up«
»Yes thats so And they get slathers of money most a dollar a day Ben
Rogers says Say Becky was you ever engaged«
»Whats that«
»Why engaged to be married«
»No«
»Would you like to«
»I reckon so I dont know What is it like«
»Like Why it aint like anything You only just tell a boy you wont ever
have anybody but him ever ever ever and then you kiss and thats all Anybody
can do it«
»Kiss What do you kiss for«
»Why that you know is to well they always do that«
»Everybody«
»Why yes everybody thats in love with each other Do you remember what I
wrote on the slate«
»Yeyes«
»What was it«
»I shant tell you«
»Shall I tell you«
»YeYes but some other time«
»No now«
»No not now tomorrow«
»O no now Please Becky Ill whisper it Ill whisper it ever so easy«
Becky hesitating Tom took silence for consent and passed his arm about her
waist and whispered the tale ever so softly with his mouth close to her ear
And then he added
»Now you whisper it to me just the same«
She resisted for a while and then said
»You turn your face away so you cant see and then I will But you mustnt
ever tell anybody will you Tom Now you wont will you«
»No indeed indeed I wont Now Becky«
He turned his face away She bent timidly around till her breath stirred his
curls and whispered »I love you«
Then she sprang away and ran around and around the desks and benches with
Tom after her and took refuge in a corner at last with her little white apron
to her face Tom clasped her about her neck and pleaded
»Now Becky its all done all over but the kiss Dont you be afraid of
that it aint anything at all Please Becky« And he tugged at the apron and
the hands
By and by she gave up and let her hands drop her face all glowing with
the struggle came up and submitted Tom kissed the red lips and said
»Now its all done Becky And always after this you know you aint ever
to love anybody but me and you aint ever to marry anybody but me never never
and forever Will you«
»No Ill never love anybody but you Tom and Ill never marry anybody but
you and you aint to ever marry anybody but me either«
»Certainly Of course Thats part of it And always coming to school or
when were going home youre to walk with me when there aint anybody looking
and you choose me and I choose you at parties because thats the way you do
when youre engaged«
»Its so nice I never heard of it before«
»Oh its ever so gay Why me and Amy Lawrence «
The big eyes told Tom his blunder and he stopped confused
»O Tom Then I aint the first youve ever been engaged to«
The child began to cry Tom said
»O dont cry Becky I dont care for her any more«
»Yes you do Tom you know you do«
Tom tried to put his arm about her neck but she pushed him away and turned
her face to the wall and went on crying Tom tried again with soothing words
in his mouth and was repulsed again Then his pride was up and he strode away
and went outside He stood about restless and uneasy for a while glancing at
the door every now and then hoping she would repent and come to find him But
she did not Then he began to feel badly and fear that he was in the wrong It
was a hard struggle with him to make new advances now but he nerved himself to
it and entered She was still standing back there in the corner sobbing with
her face to the wall Toms heart smote him He went to her and stood a moment
not knowing exactly how to proceed Then he said hesitatingly
»Becky I I dont care for anybody but you«
No reply but sobs
»Becky« pleadingly »Becky wont you say something«
More sobs
Tom got out his chiefest jewel a brass knob from the top of an andiron and
passed it around her so that she could see it and said
»Please Becky wont you take it«
She struck it to the floor Then Tom marched out of the house and over the
hills and far away to return to school no more that day Presently Becky began
to suspect She ran to the door he was not in sight she flew around to the
playyard he was not there Then she called
»Tom Come back Tom«
She listened intently but there was no answer She had no companions but
silence and loneliness So she sat down to cry again and upbraid herself and by
this time the scholars began to gather again and she had to hide her griefs and
still her broken heart and take up the cross of a long dreary aching
afternoon with none among the strangers about her to exchange sorrows with
Chapter 8
Tom dodged hither and thither through lanes until he was well out of the track
of returning scholars and then fell into a moody jog He crossed a small branch
two or three times because of a prevailing juvenile superstition that to cross
water baffled pursuit Half an hour later he was disappearing behind the Douglas
mansion on the summit of Cardiff Hill and the schoolhouse was hardly
distinguishable away off in the valley behind him He entered a dense wood
picked his pathless way to the centre of it and sat down on a mossy spot under
a spreading oak There was not even a zephyr stirring the dead noonday heat had
even stilled the songs of the birds nature lay in a trance that was broken by
no sound but the occasional faroff hammering of a woodpecker and this seemed
to render the pervading silence and sense of loneliness the more profound The
boys soul was steeped in melancholy his feelings were in happy accord with his
surroundings He sat long with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his
hands meditating It seemed to him that life was but a trouble at best and he
more than half envied Jimmy Hodges so lately released it must be very
peaceful he thought to lie and slumber and dream forever and ever with the
wind whispering through the trees and caressing the grass and the flowers over
the grave and nothing to bother and grieve about ever any more If he only had
a clean Sundayschool record he could be willing to go and be done with it all
Now as to this girl What had he done Nothing He had meant the best in the
world and been treated like a dog like a very dog She would be sorry some
day maybe when it was too late Ah if he could only die temporarily
But the elastic heart of youth cannot be kept compressed into one
constrained shape long at a time Tom presently began to drift insensibly back
into the concerns of this life again What if he turned his back now and
disappeared mysteriously What if he went away ever so far away into unknown
countries beyond the seas and never came back any more How would she feel
then The idea of being a clown recurred to him now only to fill him with
disgust For frivolity and jokes and spotted tights were an offense when they
intruded themselves upon a spirit that was exalted into the vague august realm
of the romantic No he would be a soldier and return after long years all
warworn and illustrious No better still he would join the Indians and hunt
buffaloes and go on the warpath in the mountain ranges and the trackless great
plains of the Far West and away in the future come back a great chief
bristling with feathers hideous with paint and prance into Sundayschool some
drowsy summer morning with a bloodcurdling warwhoop and sear the eyeballs
of all his companions with unappeasable envy But no there was something
gaudier even than this He would be a pirate That was it Now his future lay
plain before him and glowing with unimaginable splendor How his name would
fill the world and make people shudder How gloriously he would go plowing the
dancing seas in his long low blackhulled racer the Spirit of the Storm
with his grisly flag flying at the fore And at the zenith of his fame how he
would suddenly appear at the old village and stalk into church all brown and
weatherbeaten in his black velvet doublet and trunks his great jackboots
his crimson sash his belt bristling with horsepistols his crimerusted
cutlass at his side his slouch hat with waving plumes his black flag unfurled
with the skull and crossbones on it and hear with swelling ecstasy the
whisperings »Its Tom Sawyer the Pirate the Black Avenger of the Spanish
Main«
Yes it was settled his career was determined He would run away from home
and enter upon it He would start the very next morning Therefore he must now
begin to get ready He would collect his resources together He went to a rotten
log near at hand and began to dig under one end of it with his Barlow knife He
soon struck wood that sounded hollow He put his hand there and uttered this
incantation impressively
»What hasnt come here come Whats here stay here«
Then he scraped away the dirt and exposed a pine shingle He took it up and
disclosed a shapely little treasurehouse whose bottom and sides were of
shingles In it lay a marble Toms astonishment was boundless He scratched his
head with a perplexed air and said
»Well that beats anything«
Then he tossed the marble away pettishly and stood cogitating The truth
was that a superstition of his had failed here which he and all his comrades
had always looked upon as infallible If you buried a marble with certain
necessary incantations and left it alone a fortnight and then opened the place
with the incantation he had just used you would find that all the marbles you
had ever lost had gathered themselves together there meantime no matter how
widely they had been separated But now this thing had actually and
unquestionably failed Toms whole structure of faith was shaken to its
foundations He had many a time heard of this thing succeeding but never of its
failing before It did not occur to him that he had tried it several times
before himself but could never find the hiding places afterwards He puzzled
over the matter some time and finally decided that some witch had interfered
and broken the charm He thought he would satisfy himself on that point so he
searched around till he found a small sandy spot with a little funnelshaped
depression in it He laid himself down and put his mouth close to this
depression and called
»Doodlebug doodlebug tell me what I want to know Doodlebug doodlebug
tell me what I want to know«
The sand began to work and presently a small black bug appeared for a
second and then darted under again in a fright
»He dasnt tell So it was a witch that done it I just knowed it«
He well knew the futility of trying to contend against witches so he gave
up discouraged But it occurred to him that he might as well have the marble he
had just thrown away and therefore he went and made a patient search for it
But he could not find it Now he went back to his treasurehouse and carefully
placed himself just as he had been standing when he tossed the marble away then
he took another marble from his pocket and tossed it in the same way saying
»Brother go find your brother«
He watched where it stopped and went there and looked But it must have
fallen short or gone too far so he tried twice more The last repetition was
successful The two marbles lay within a foot of each other
Just here the blast of a toy tin trumpet came faintly down the green aisles
of the forest Tom flung off his jacket and trousers turned a suspender into a
belt raked away some brush behind the rotten log disclosing a rude bow and
arrow a lath sword and a tin trumpet and in a moment had seized these things
and bounded away barelegged with fluttering shirt He presently halted under
a great elm blew an answering blast and then began to tiptoe and look warily
out this way and that He said cautiously to an imaginary company
»Hold my merry men Keep hid till I blow«
Now appeared Joe Harper as airily clad and elaborately armed as Tom Tom
called
»Hold Who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass«
»Guy of Guisborne wants no mans pass Who are thou that that «
»Dares to hold such language« said Tom prompting for they talked by
the book from memory
»Who art thou that dares to hold such language«
»I indeed I am Robin Hood as thy caitiff carcase soon shall know«
»Then art thou indeed that famous outlaw Right gladly will I dispute with
thee the passes of the merry wood Have at thee«
They took their lath swords dumped their other traps on the ground struck
a fencing attitude foot to foot and began a grave careful combat two up and
two down Presently Tom said
»Now if youve got the hang go it lively«
So they went it lively panting and perspiring with the work By and by Tom
shouted
»Fall fall Why dont you fall«
»I shant Why dont you fall yourself Youre getting the worst of it«
»Why that aint anything I cant fall that aint the way it is in the
book The book says Then with one backhanded stroke he slew poor Guy of
Guisborne Youre to turn around and let me hit you in the back«
There was no getting around the authorities so Joe turned received the
whack and fell
»Now« said Joe getting up »you got to let me kill you Thats fair«
»Why I cant do that It aint in the book«
»Well its blamed mean thats all«
»Well say Joe you can be Friar Tuck or Much the millers son and lam me
with a quarterstaff or Ill be the Sheriff of Nottingham and you be Robin Hood
a little while and kill me«
This was satisfactory and so these adventures were carried out Then Tom
became Robin Hood again and was allowed by the treacherous nun to bleed his
strength away through his neglected wound And at last Joe representing a whole
tribe of weeping outlaws dragged him sadly forth gave his bow into his feeble
hands and Tom said »Where this arrow falls there bury poor Robin Hood under
the greenwood tree« Then he shot the arrow and fell back and would have died
but he lit on a nettle and sprang up too gaily for a corpse
The boys dressed themselves hid their accoutrements and went off grieving
that there were no outlaws any more and wondering what modern civilization
could claim to have done to compensate for their loss They said they would
rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States
forever
Chapter 9
At half past nine that night Tom and Sid were sent to bed as usual They said
their prayers and Sid was soon asleep Tom lay awake and waited in restless
impatience When it seemed to him that it must be nearly daylight he heard the
clock strike ten This was despair He would have tossed and fidgeted as his
nerves demanded but he was afraid he might wake Sid So he lay still and
stared up into the dark Everything was dismally still By and by out of the
stillness little scarcely perceptible noises began to emphasize themselves The
ticking of the clock began to bring itself into notice Old beams began to crack
mysteriously The stairs creaked faintly Evidently spirits were abroad A
measured muffled snore issued from aunt Pollys chamber And now the tiresome
chirping of a cricket that no human ingenuity could locate began Next the
ghastly ticking of a deathwatch in the wall at the beds head made Tom shudder
it meant that somebodys days were numbered Then the howl of a faroff dog
rose on the night air and was answered by a fainter howl from a remoter
distance Tom was in an agony At last he was satisfied that time had ceased and
eternity begun he began to doze in spite of himself the clock chimed eleven
but he did not hear it And then there came mingling with his halfformed
dreams a most melancholy caterwauling The raising of a neighboring window
disturbed him A cry of »Scat you devil« and the crash of an empty bottle
against the back of his aunts woodshed brought him wide awake and a single
minute later he was dressed and out of the window and creeping along the roof of
the ell on all fours He meowd with caution once or twice as he went then
jumped to the roof of the woodshed and thence to the ground Huckleberry Finn
was there with his dead cat The boys moved off and disappeared in the gloom
At the end of half an hour they were wading through the tall grass of the
graveyard
It was a graveyard of the oldfashioned western kind It was on a hill
about a mile and a half from the village It had a crazy board fence around it
which leaned inward in places and outward the rest of the time but stood
upright nowhere Grass and weeds grew rank over the whole cemetery All the old
graves were sunken in There was not a tombstone on the place roundtopped
wormeaten boards staggered over the graves leaning for support and finding
none Sacred to the Memory of Soandso had been painted on them once but it
could no longer have been read on the most of them now even if there had been
light
A faint wind moaned through the trees and Tom feared it might be the
spirits of the dead complaining at being disturbed The boys talked little and
only under their breath for the time and the place and the pervading solemnity
and silence oppressed their spirits They found the sharp new heap they were
seeking and ensconced themselves within the protection of three great elms that
grew in a bunch within a few feet of the grave
Then they waited in silence for what seemed a long time The hooting of a
distant owl was all the sound that troubled the dead stillness Toms
reflections grew oppressive He must force some talk So he said in a whisper
»Hucky do you believe the dead people like it for us to be here«
Huckleberry whispered
»I wisht I knowed Its awful solemn like aint it«
»I bet it is«
There was a considerable pause while the boys canvassed this matter
inwardly Then Tom whispered
»Say Hucky do you reckon Hoss Williams hears us talking«
»O course he does Least his sperrit does«
Tom after a pause
»I wish Id said Mister Williams But I never meant any harm Everybody
calls him Hoss«
»A body cant be too particlar how they talk bout theseyer dead people
Tom«
This was a damper and conversation died again Presently Tom seized his
comrades arm and said
»Sh«
»What is it Tom« And the two clung together with beating hearts
»Sh There tis again Didnt you hear it«
»I «
»There Now you hear it«
»Lord Tom theyre coming Theyre coming sure Whatll we do«
»I dono Think theyll see us«
»O Tom they can see in the dark same as cats I wisht I hadnt come«
»O dont be afeard I dont believe theyll bother us We aint doing any
harm If we keep perfectly still maybe they wont notice us at all«
»Ill try to Tom but Lord Im all of a shiver«
»Listen«
The boys bent their heads together and scarcely breathed A muffled sound of
voices floated up from the far end of the graveyard
»Look See there« whispered Tom »What is it«
»Its devilfire O Tom this is awful«
Some vague figures approached through the gloom swinging an oldfashioned
tin lantern that freckled the ground with innumerable little spangles of light
Presently Huckleberry whispered with a shudder
»Its the devils sure enough Three of em Lordy Tom were goners Can
you pray«
»Ill try but dont you be afeard They aint going to hurt us Now I lay
me down to sleep I «
»Sh«
»What is it Huck«
»Theyre humans One of em is anyway One of ems old Muff Potters
voice«
»No taint so is it«
»I bet I know it Dont you stir nor budge He aint sharp enough to notice
us Drunk same as usual likely blamed old rip«
»All right Ill keep still Now theyre stuck Cant find it Here they
come again Now theyre hot Cold again Hot again Red hot Theyre pinted
right this time Say Huck I know another o them voices its Injun Joe«
»Thats so that murderin halfbreed Id druther they was devils a dern
sight What kin they be up to«
The whispers died wholly out now for the three men had reached the grave
and stood within a few feet of the boys hiding place
»Here it is« said the third voice and the owner of it held the lantern up
and revealed the face of young Dr Robinson
Potter and Injun Joe were carrying a handbarrow with a rope and a couple of
shovels on it They cast down their load and began to open the grave The doctor
put the lantern at the head of the grave and came and sat down with his back
against one of the elm trees He was so close the boys could have touched him
»Hurry men« he said in a low voice »the moon might come out at any
moment«
They growled a response and went on digging For some time there was no
noise but the grating sound of the spades discharging their freight of mould and
gravel It was very monotonous Finally a spade struck upon the coffin with a
dull woody accent and within another minute or two the men had hoisted it out
on the ground They pried off the lid with their shovels got out the body and
dumped it rudely on the ground The moon drifted from behind the clouds and
exposed the pallid face The barrow was got ready and the corpse placed on it
covered with a blanket and bound to its place with the rope Potter took out a
large springknife and cut off the dangling end of the rope and then said
»Now the cussed things ready Sawbones and youll just out with another
five or here she stays«
»Thats the talk« said Injun Joe
»Look here what does this mean« said the doctor »You required your pay in
advance and Ive paid you«
»Yes and you done more than that« said Injun Joe approaching the doctor
who was now standing »Five year ago you drove me away from your fathers
kitchen one night when I come to ask for something to eat and you said I
warnt there for any good and when I swore Id get even with you if it took a
hundred years your father had me jailed for a vagrant Did you think Id
forget The Injun blood aint in me for nothing And now Ive got you and you
got to settle you know«
He was threatening the doctor with his fist in his face by this time The
doctor struck out suddenly and stretched the ruffian on the ground Potter
dropped his knife and exclaimed
»Here now dont you hit my pard« And the next moment he had grappled with
the doctor and the two were struggling with might and main trampling the grass
and tearing the ground with their heels Injun Joe sprang to his feet his eyes
flaming with passion snatched up Potters knife and went creeping catlike and
stooping round and round about the combatants seeking an opportunity All at
once the doctor flung himself free seized the heavy headboard of Williamss
grave and felled Potter to the earth with it and in the same instant the
halfbreed saw his chance and drove the knife to the hilt in the young mans
breast He reeled and fell partly upon Potter flooding him with his blood and
in the same moment the clouds blotted out the dreadful spectacle and the two
frightened boys went speeding away in the dark
Presently when the moon emerged again Injun Joe was standing over the two
forms contemplating them The doctor murmured inarticulately gave a long gasp
or two and was still The halfbreed muttered
»That score is settled damn you«
Then he robbed the body After which he put the fatal knife in Potters open
right hand and sat down on the dismantled coffin Three four five minutes
passed and then Potter began to stir and moan His hand closed upon the knife
he raised it glanced at it and let it fall with a shudder Then he sat up
pushing the body from him and gazed at it and then around him confusedly His
eyes met Joes
»Lord how is this Joe« he said
»Its a dirty business« said Joe without moving »What did you do it for«
»I I never done it«
»Look here That kind of talk wont wash«
Potter trembled and grew white
»I thought Id got sober Id no business to drink tonight But its in my
head yet worsen when we started here Im all in a muddle cant recollect
anything of it hardly Tell me Joe honest now old feller did I do it
Joe I never meant to pon my soul and honor I never meant to Joe Tell me
how it was Joe O its awful and him so young and promising«
»Why you two was scuffling and he fetched you one with the headboard and
you fell flat and then up you come all reeling and staggering like and
snatched the knife and jammed it into him just as he fetched you another awful
clip and here youve laid dead as a wedge till now«
»O I didnt know what I was adoing I wish I may die this minute if I did
It was all on accounts of the whisky and the excitement I reckon I never used
a weepon in my life before Joe Ive fought but never with weepons Theyll
all say that Joe dont tell Say you wont tell Joe thats a good feller I
always liked you Joe and stood up for you too Dont you remember You wont
tell will you Joe« And the poor creature dropped on his knees before the
stolid murderer and clasped his appealing hands
»No youve always been fair and square with me Muff Potter and I wont go
back on you There now thats as fair as a man can say«
»O Joe youre an angel Ill bless you for this the longest day I live«
And Potter began to cry
»Come now thats enough of that This aint any time for blubbering You
be off yonder way and Ill go this Move now and dont leave any tracks behind
you«
Potter started on a trot that quickly increased to a run The halfbreed
stood looking after him He muttered
»If hes as much stunned with the lick and fuddled with the rum as he had
the look of being he wont think of the knife till hes gone so far hell be
afraid to come back after it to such a place by himself chickenheart«
Two or three minutes later the murdered man the blanketed corpse the
lidless coffin and the open grave were under no inspection but the moons The
stillness was complete again too
Chapter 10
The two boys flew on and on toward the village speechless with horror They
glanced backward over their shoulders from time to time apprehensively as if
they feared they might be followed Every stump that started up in their path
seemed a man and an enemy and made them catch their breath and as they sped by
some outlying cottages that lay near the village the barking of the aroused
watchdogs seemed to give wings to their feet
»If we can only get to the old tannery before we break down« whispered
Tom in short catches between breaths »I cant stand it much longer«
Huckleberrys hard pantings were his only reply and the boys fixed their
eyes on the goal of their hopes and bent to their work to win it They gained
steadily on it and at last breast to breast they burst through the open door
and fell grateful and exhausted in the sheltering shadows beyond By and by
their pulses slowed down and Tom whispered
»Huckleberry what do you reckon ll come of this«
»If Dr Robinson dies I reckon hanging ll come of it«
»Do you though«
»Why I know it Tom«
Tom thought a while then he said
»Wholl tell We«
»What are you talking about Spose something happened and Injun Joe didnt
hang Why hed kill us some time or other just as dead sure as were alaying
here«
»Thats just what I was thinking to myself Huck«
»If anybody tells let Muff Potter do it if hes fool enough Hes
generally drunk enough«
Tom said nothing went on thinking Presently he whispered
»Huck Muff Potter dont know it How can he tell«
»Whats the reason he dont know it«
»Because hed just got that whack when Injun Joe done it D you reckon he
could see anything D you reckon he knowed anything«
»By hokey thats so Tom«
»And besides lookahere maybe that whack done for him«
»No taint likely Tom He had liquor in him I could see that and
besides he always has Well when paps full you might take and belt him over
the head with a church and you couldnt phase him He says so his own self So
its the same with Muff Potter of course But if a man was dead sober I reckon
maybe that whack might fetch him I dono«
After another reflective silence Tom said
»Hucky you sure you can keep mum«
»Tom we got to keep mum You know that That Injun devil wouldnt make any
more of drownding us than a couple of cats if we was to squeak bout this and
they didnt hang him Now lookahere Tom less take and swear to one another
thats what we got to do swear to keep mum«
»Im agreed Huck Its the best thing Would you just hold hands and swear
that we «
»O no that wouldnt do for this Thats good enough for little rubbishy
common things specially with gals cuz they go back on you anyway and blab
if they get in a huff but there orter be writing bout a big thing like this
And blood«
Toms whole being applauded this idea It was deep and dark and awful the
hour the circumstances the surroundings were in keeping with it He picked up
a clean pine shingle that lay in the moonlight took a little fragment of red
keel out of his pocket got the moon on his work and painfully scrawled these
lines emphasizing each slow downstroke by clamping his tongue between his
teeth and letting up the pressure on the upstrokes
Huckleberry was filled with admiration of Toms facility in writing and the
sublimity of his language He at once took a pin from his lappel and was going
to prick his flesh but Tom said
»Hold on Dont do that A pins brass It might have verdigrease on it«
»Whats verdigrease«
»Its pison Thats what it is You just swaller some of it once youll
see«
So Tom unwound the thread from one of his needles and each boy pricked the
ball of his thumb and squeezed out a drop of blood In time after many
squeezes Tom managed to sign his initials using the ball of his little finger
for a pen Then he showed Huckleberry how to make an H and an F and the oath
was complete They buried the shingle close to the wall with some dismal
ceremonies and incantations and the fetters that bound their tongues were
considered to be locked and the key thrown away
A figure crept stealthily through a break in the other end of the ruined
building now but they did not notice it
»Tom« whispered Huckleberry »does this keep us from ever telling always
«
»Of course it does It dont make any difference what happens we got to
keep mum Wed drop down dead dont you know that«
»Yes I reckon thats so«
They continued to whisper for some little time Presently a dog set up a
long lugubrious howl just outside within ten feet of them The boys clasped
each other suddenly in an agony of fright
»Which of us does he mean« gasped Huckleberry
»I dono peep through the crack Quick«
»No you Tom«
»I cant I cant do it Huck«
»Please Tom There tis again«
»O lordy Im thankful« whispered Tom »I know his voice Its Bull
Harbison«2
»O thats good I tell you Tom I was most scared to death Id a bet
anything it was a stray dog«
The dog howled again The boys hearts sank once more
»O my that aint no Bull Harbison« whispered Huckleberry »Do Tom«
Tom quaking with fear yielded and put his eye to the crack His whisper
was hardly audible when he said
»O Huck ITS A STRAY DOG«
»Quick Tom quick Who does he mean«
»Huck he must mean us both were right together«
»O Tom I reckon were goners I reckon there aint no mistake bout where
Ill go to I been so wicked«
»Dad fetch it This comes of playing hookey and doing everything a fellers
told not to do I might a been good like Sid if Id a tried but no I
wouldnt of course But if ever I get off this time I lay Ill just waller in
Sundayschools« And Tom began to snuffle a little
»You bad« and Huckleberry began to snuffle too »Consound it Tom Sawyer
youre just old pie longside o what I am O lordy lordy lordy I wisht I
only had half your chance«
Tom choked off and whispered
»Look Hucky look Hes got his back to us«
Hucky looked with joy in his heart
»Well he has by jingoes Did he before«
»Yes he did But I like a fool never thought O this is bully you know
Now who can he mean«
The howling stopped Tom pricked up his ears
»Sh Whats that« he whispered
»Sounds like like hogs grunting No its somebody snoring Tom«
»That is it Where bouts is it Huck«
»I bleeve its down at tother end Sounds so anyway Pap used to sleep
there sometimes long with the hogs but laws bless you he just lifts things
when he snores Besides I reckon he aint ever coming back to this town any
more«
The spirit of adventure rose in the boys souls once more
»Hucky do you dast to go if I lead«
»I dont like to much Tom spose its Injun Joe«
Tom quailed But presently the temptation rose up strong again and the boys
agreed to try with the understanding that they would take to their heels if the
snoring stopped So they went tiptoeing stealthily down the one behind the
other When they had got to within five steps of the snorer Tom stepped on a
stick and it broke with a sharp snap The man moaned writhed a little and his
face came into the moonlight It was Muff Potter The boys hearts had stood
still and their hopes too when the man moved but their fears passed away now
They tiptoed out through the broken weatherboarding and stopped at a little
distance to exchange a parting word That long lugubrious howl rose on the
night air again They turned and saw the strange dog standing within a few feet
of where Potter was lying and facing Potter with his nose pointing heavenward
»O geeminy its him« exclaimed both boys in a breath
»Say Tom they say a stray dog come howling around Johnny Millers house
bout midnight as much as two weeks ago and a whipporwill come in and lit on
the bannisters and sung the very same evening and there aint anybody dead
there yet«
»Well I know that And suppose there aint Didnt Gracie Miller fall in the
kitchen fire and burn herself terrible the very next Saturday«
»Yes but she aint dead And whats more shes getting better too«
»All right you wait and see Shes a goner just as dead sure as Muff
Potters a goner Thats what the niggers say and they know all about these
kind of things Huck«
Then they separated cogitating When Tom crept in at his bedroom window
the night was almost spent He undressed with excessive caution and fell asleep
congratulating himself that nobody knew of his escapade He was not aware that
the gentlysnoring Sid was awake and had been so for an hour
When Tom awoke Sid was dressed and gone There was a late look in the
light a late sense in the atmosphere He was startled Why had he not been
called persecuted till he was up as usual The thought filled him with
bodings Within five minutes he was dressed and down stairs feeling sore and
drowsy The family were still at table but they had finished breakfast There
was no voice of rebuke but there were averted eyes there was a silence and an
air of solemnity that struck a chill to the culprits heart He sat down and
tried to seem gay but it was uphill work it roused no smile no response and
he lapsed into silence and let his heart sink down to the depths
After breakfast his aunt took him aside and Tom almost brightened in the
hope that he was going to be flogged but it was not so His aunt wept over him
and asked him how he could go and break her old heart so and finally told him
to go on and ruin himself and bring her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave
for it was no use for her to try any more This was worse than a thousand
whippings and Toms heart was sorer now than his body He cried he pleaded for
forgiveness promised reform over and over again and then received his dismissal
feeling that he had won but an imperfect forgiveness and established but a
feeble confidence
He left the presence too miserable to even feel vengeful toward Sid and so
the latters prompt retreat through the back gate was unnecessary He moped to
school gloomy and sad and took his flogging along with Joe Harper for playing
hookey the day before with the air of one whose heart was busy with heavier
woes and wholly dead to trifles Then he betook himself to his seat rested his
elbows on his desk and his jaws in his hands and stared at the wall with the
stony stare of suffering that has reached the limit and can no further go His
elbow was pressing against some hard substance After a long time he slowly and
sadly changed his position and took up this object with a sigh It was in a
paper He unrolled it A long lingering colossal sigh followed and his heart
broke It was his brass andiron knob
This final feather broke the camels back
Chapter 11
Close upon the hour of noon the whole village was suddenly electrified with the
ghastly news No need of the as yet undreamedof telegraph the tale flew from
man to man from group to group from house to house with little less than
telegraphic speed Of course the schoolmaster gave holiday for that afternoon
the town would have thought strangely of him if he had not
A gory knife had been found close to the murdered man and it had been
recognized by somebody as belonging to Muff Potter so the story ran And it
was said that a belated citizen had come upon Potter washing himself in the
branch about one or two oclock in the morning and that Potter had at once
sneaked off suspicious circumstances especially the washing which was not a
habit with Potter It was also said that the town had been ransacked for this
murderer the public are not slow in the matter of sifting evidence and arriving
at a verdict but that he could not be found Horsemen had departed down all
the roads in every direction and the Sheriff was confident that he would be
captured before night
All the town was drifting toward the graveyard Toms heartbreak vanished
and he joined the procession not because he would not a thousand times rather
go anywhere else but because an awful unaccountable fascination drew him on
Arrived at the dreadful place he wormed his small body through the crowd and
saw the dismal spectacle It seemed to him an age since he was there before
Somebody pinched his arm He turned and his eyes met Huckleberrys Then both
looked elsewhere at once and wondered if anybody had noticed anything in their
mutual glance But everybody was talking and intent upon the grisly spectacle
before them
»Poor fellow« »Poor young fellow« »This ought to be a lesson to
graverobbers« »Muff Potterll hang for this if they catch him« This was the
drift of remark and the minister said »It was a judgment His hand is here«
Now Tom shivered from head to heel for his eye fell upon the stolid face of
Injun Joe At this moment the crowd began to sway and struggle and voices
shouted »Its him its him hes coming himself«
»Who Who« from twenty voices
»Muff Potter«
»Hallo hes stopped Look out hes turning Dont let him get away«
People in the branches of the trees over Toms head said he wasnt trying
to get away he only looked doubtful and perplexed
»Infernal impudence« said a bystander »wanted to come and take a quiet
look at his work I reckon didnt expect any company«
The crowd fell apart now and the Sheriff came through ostentatiously
leading Potter by the arm The poor fellows face was haggard and his eyes
showed the fear that was upon him When he stood before the murdered man he
shook as with a palsy and he put his face in his hands and burst into tears
»I didnt do it friends« he sobbed »pon my word and honor I never done
it«
»Whos accused you« shouted a voice
This shot seemed to carry home Potter lifted his face and looked around him
with a pathetic hopelessness in his eyes He saw Injun Joe and exclaimed
»O Injun Joe you promised me youd never «
»Is that your knife« and it was thrust before him by the Sheriff
Potter would have fallen if they had not caught him and eased him to the
ground Then he said
»Something told me t if I didnt come back and get « He shuddered then
waved his nerveless hand with a vanquished gesture and said »Tell em Joe
tell em it aint any use any more«
Then Huckleberry and Tom stood dumb and staring and heard the stonyhearted
liar reel off his serene statement they expecting every moment that the clear
sky would deliver Gods lightnings upon his head and wondering to see how long
the stroke was delayed And when he had finished and still stood alive and
whole their wavering impulse to break their oath and save the poor betrayed
prisoners life faded and vanished away for plainly this miscreant had sold
himself to Satan and it would be fatal to meddle with the property of such a
power as that
»Why didnt you leave What did you want to come here for« somebody said
»I couldnt help it I couldnt help it« Potter moaned »I wanted to run
away but I couldnt seem to come anywhere but here« And he fell to sobbing
again
Injun Joe repeated his statement just as calmly a few minutes afterward on
the inquest under oath and the boys seeing that the lightnings were still
withheld were confirmed in their belief that Joe had sold himself to the devil
He was now become to them the most balefully interesting object they had ever
looked upon and they could not take their fascinated eyes from his face They
inwardly resolved to watch him nights when opportunity should offer in the
hope of getting a glimpse of his dread master
Injun Joe helped to raise the body of the murdered man and put it in a wagon
for removal and it was whispered through the shuddering crowd that the wound
bled a little The boys thought that this happy circumstance would turn
suspicion in the right direction but they were disappointed for more than one
villager remarked
»It was within three feet of Muff Potter when it done it«
Toms fearful secret and gnawing conscience disturbed his sleep for as much
as a week after this and at breakfast one morning Sid said
»Tom you pitch around and talk in your sleep so much that you keep me awake
about half the time«
Tom blanched and dropped his eyes
»Its a bad sign« said Aunt Polly gravely »What you got on your mind
Tom«
»Nothing Nothing t I know of« But the boys hand shook so that he spilled
his coffee
»And you do talk such stuff« Sid said »Last night you said its blood
its blood thats what it is You said that over and over And you said Dont
torment me so Ill tell Tell what What is it youll tell«
Everything was swimming before Tom There is no telling what might have
happened now but luckily the concern passed out of Aunt Pollys face and she
came to Toms relief without knowing it She said
»Sho Its that dreadful murder I dream about it most every night myself
Sometimes I dream its me that done it«
Mary said she had been affected much the same way Sid seemed satisfied Tom
got out of the presence as quickly as he plausibly could and after that he
complained of toothache for a week and tied up his jaws every night He never
knew that Sid lay nightly watching and frequently slipped the bandage free and
then leaned on his elbow listening a good while at a time and afterward slipped
the bandage back to its place again Toms distress of mind wore off gradually
and the toothache grew irksome and was discarded If Sid really managed to make
anything out of Toms disjointed mutterings he kept it to himself
It seemed to Tom that his schoolmates never would get done holding inquests
on dead cats and thus keeping his trouble present to his mind Sid noticed that
Tom never was coroner at one of these inquiries though it had been his habit to
take the lead in all new enterprises he noticed too that Tom never acted as a
witness and that was strange and Sid did not overlook the fact that Tom even
showed a marked aversion to these inquests and always avoided them when he
could Sid marveled but said nothing However even inquests went out of vogue
at last and ceased to torture Toms conscience
Every day or two during this time of sorrow Tom watched his opportunity
and went to the little grated jailwindow and smuggled such small comforts
through to the murderer as he could get hold of The jail was a trifling little
brick den that stood in a marsh at the edge of the village and no guards were
afforded for it indeed it was seldom occupied These offerings greatly helped
to ease Toms conscience
The villagers had a strong desire to tarandfeather Injun Joe and ride him
on a rail for bodysnatching but so formidable was his character that nobody
could be found who was willing to take the lead in the matter so it was
dropped He had been careful to begin both of his inqueststatements with the
fight without confessing the graverobbery that preceded it therefore it was
deemed wisest not to try the case in the courts at present
Chapter 12
One of the reasons why Toms mind had drifted away from its secret troubles was
that it had found a new and weighty matter to interest itself about Becky
Thatcher had stopped coming to school Tom had struggled with his pride a few
days and tried to whistle her down the wind but failed He began to find
himself hanging around her fathers house nights and feeling very miserable
She was ill What if she should die There was distraction in the thought He no
longer took an interest in war nor even in piracy The charm of life was gone
there was nothing but dreariness left He put his hoop away and his bat there
was no joy in them any more His aunt was concerned She began to try all manner
of remedies on him She was one of those people who are infatuated with patent
medicines and all newfangled methods of producing health or mending it She was
an inveterate experimenter in these things When something fresh in this line
came out she was in a fever right away to try it not on herself for she was
never ailing but on anybody else that came handy She was a subscriber for all
the Health periodicals and phrenological frauds and the solemn ignorance they
were inflated with was breath to her nostrils All the rot they contained about
ventilation and how to go to bed and how to get up and what to eat and what
to drink and how much exercise to take and what frame of mind to keep ones
self in and what sort of clothing to wear was all gospel to her and she never
observed that her healthjournals of the current month customarily upset
everything they had recommended the month before She was as simplehearted and
honest as the day was long and so she was an easy victim She gathered together
her quack periodicals and her quack medicines and thus armed with death went
about on her pale horse metaphorically speaking with hell following after But
she never suspected that she was not an angel of healing and the balm of Gilead
in disguise to the suffering neighbors
The water treatment was new now and Toms low condition was a windfall to
her She had him out at daylight every morning stood him up in the woodshed and
drowned him with a deluge of cold water then she scrubbed him down with a towel
like a file and so brought him to then she rolled him up in a wet sheet and
put him away under blankets till she sweated his soul clean and »the yellow
stains of it came through his pores« as Tom said
Yet notwithstanding all this the boy grew more and more melancholy and pale
and dejected She added hot baths sitz baths shower baths and plunges The boy
remained as dismal as a hearse She began to assist the water with a slim
oatmeal diet and blister plasters She calculated his capacity as she would a
jugs and filled him up every day with quack curealls
Tom had become indifferent to persecution by this time This phase filled
the old ladys heart with consternation This indifference must be broken up at
any cost Now she heard of PainKiller for the first time She ordered a lot at
once She tasted it and was filled with gratitude It was simply fire in a
liquid form She dropped the water treatment and everything else and pinned her
faith to PainKiller She gave Tom a teaspoonful and watched with the deepest
anxiety for the result Her troubles were instantly at rest her soul at peace
again for the indifference was broken up The boy could not have shown a
wilder heartier interest if she had built a fire under him
Tom felt that it was time to wake up this sort of life might be romantic
enough in his blighted condition but it was getting to have too little
sentiment and too much distracting variety about it So he thought over various
plans for relief and finally hit upon that of professing to be fond of
PainKiller He asked for it so often that he became a nuisance and his aunt
ended by telling him to help himself and quit bothering her If it had been Sid
she would have had no misgivings to alloy her delight but since it was Tom she
watched the bottle clandestinely She found that the medicine did really
diminish but it did not occur to her that the boy was mending the health of a
crack in the sittingroom floor with it
One day Tom was in the act of dosing the crack when his aunts yellow cat
came along purring eyeing the teaspoon avariciously and begging for a taste
Tom said
»Dont ask for it unless you want it Peter«
But Peter signified that he did want it
»You better make sure«
Peter was sure
»Now youve asked for it and Ill give it to you because there aint
anything mean about me but if you find you dont like it you mustnt blame
anybody but your own self«
Peter was agreeable So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the
PainKiller Peter sprang a couple of yards into the air and then delivered a
warwhoop and set off round and round the room banging against furniture
upsetting flower pots and making general havoc Next he rose on his hind feet
and pranced around in a frenzy of enjoyment with his head over his shoulder
and his voice proclaiming his unappeasable happiness Then he went tearing
around the house again spreading chaos and destruction in his path Aunt Polly
entered in time to see him throw a few double summersets deliver a final mighty
hurrah and sail through the open window carrying the rest of the flowerpots
with him The old lady stood petrified with astonishment peering over her
glasses Tom lay on the floor expiring with laughter
»Tom what on earth ails that cat«
»I dont know aunt« gasped the boy
»Why I never see anything like it What did make him act so«
»Deed I dont know aunt Polly cats always act so when theyre having a good
time«
»They do do they« There was something in the tone that made Tom
apprehensive
»Yesm That is I believe they do«
»You do«
»Yesm«
The old lady was bending down Tom watching with interest emphasized by
anxiety Too late he divined her drift The handle of the telltale teaspoon
was visible under the bedvalance Aunt Polly took it held it up Tom winced
and dropped his eyes Aunt Polly raised him by the usual handle his ear and
cracked his head soundly with her thimble
»Now sir what did you want to treat that poor dumb beast so for«
»I done it out of pity for him because he hadnt any aunt«
»Hadnt any aunt you numscull What has that got to do with it«
»Heaps Because if hed a had one shed a burnt him out herself Shed a
roasted his bowels out of him thout any more feeling than if he was a human«
Aunt Polly felt a sudden pang of remorse This was putting the thing in a
new light what was cruelty to a cat might be cruelty to a boy too She began
to soften she felt sorry Her eyes watered a little and she put her hand on
Toms head and said gently
»I was meaning for the best Tom And Tom it did do you good«
Tom looked up in her face with just a perceptible twinkle peeping through
his gravity
»I know you was meaning for the best aunty and so was I with Peter It
done him good too I never see him get around so since «
»O go long with you Tom before you aggravate me again And you try and
see if you cant be a good boy for once and you neednt take any more
medicine«
Tom reached school ahead of time It was noticed that this strange thing had
been occurring every day latterly And now as usual of late he hung about the
gate of the school yard instead of playing with his comrades He was sick he
said and he looked it He tried to seem to be looking everywhere but whither he
really was looking down the road Presently Jeff Thatcher hove in sight and
Toms face lighted he gazed a moment and then turned sorrowfully away When
Jeff arrived Tom accosted him and led up warily to opportunities for remark
about Becky but the giddy lad never could see the bait Tom watched and
watched hoping whenever a frisking frock came in sight and hating the owner of
it as soon as he saw she was not the right one At last frocks ceased to appear
and he dropped hopelessly into the dumps he entered the empty school house and
sat down to suffer Then one more frock passed in at the gate and Toms heart
gave a great bound The next instant he was out and going on like an Indian
yelling laughing chasing boys jumping over the fence at risk of life and
limb throwing handsprings standing on his head doing all the heroic things
he could conceive of and keeping a furtive eye out all the while to see if
Becky Thatcher was noticing But she seemed to be unconscious of it all she
never looked Could it be possible that she was not aware that he was there He
carried his exploits to her immediate vicinity came warwhooping around
snatched a boys cap hurled it to the roof of the schoolhouse broke through a
group of boys tumbling them in every direction and fell sprawling himself
under Beckys nose almost upsetting her and she turned with her nose in the
air and he heard her say »Mf some people think theyre mighty smart always
showing off«
Toms cheeks burned He gathered himself up and sneaked off crushed and
crestfallen
Chapter 13
Toms mind was made up now He was gloomy and desperate He was a forsaken
friendless boy he said nobody loved him when they found out what they had
driven him to perhaps they would be sorry he had tried to do right and get
along but they would not let him since nothing would do them but to be rid of
him let it be so and let them blame him for the consequences why shouldnt
they what right had the friendless to complain Yes they had forced him to it
at last he would lead a life of crime There was no choice
By this time he was far down Meadow Lane and the bell for school to take up
tinkled faintly upon his ear He sobbed now to think he should never never
hear that old familiar sound any more it was very hard but it was forced on
him since he was driven out into the cold world he must submit but he
forgave them Then the sobs came thick and fast
Just at this point he met his souls sworn comrade Joe Harper hardeyed
and with evidently a great and dismal purpose in his heart Plainly here were
two souls with but a single thought Tom wiping his eyes with his sleeve began
to blubber out something about a resolution to escape from hard usage and lack
of sympathy at home by roaming abroad into the great world never to return and
ended by hoping that Joe would not forget him
But it transpired that this was a request which Joe had just been going to
make of Tom and had come to hunt him up for that purpose His mother had
whipped him for drinking some cream which he had never tasted and knew nothing
about it was plain that she was tired of him and wished him to go if she felt
that way there was nothing for him to do but succumb he hoped she would be
happy and never regret having driven her poor boy out into the unfeeling world
to suffer and die
As the two boys walked sorrowing along they made a new compact to stand by
each other and be brothers and never separate till death relieved them of their
troubles Then they began to lay their plans Joe was for being a hermit and
living on crusts in a remote cave and dying sometime of cold and want and
grief but after listening to Tom he conceded that there were some conspicuous
advantages about a life of crime and so he consented to be a pirate
Three miles below St Petersburg at a point where the Mississippi river was
a trifle over a mile wide there was a long narrow wooded island with a
shallow bar at the head of it and this offered well as a rendezvous It was not
inhabited it lay far over toward the further shore abreast a dense and almost
wholly unpeopled forest So Jacksons Island was chosen Who were to be the
subjects of their piracies was a matter that did not occur to them Then they
hunted up Huckleberry Finn and he joined them promptly for all careers were
one to him he was indifferent They presently separated to meet at a lonely
spot on the river bank two miles above the village at the favorite hour which
was midnight There was a small log raft there which they meant to capture Each
would bring hooks and lines and such provision as he could steal in the most
dark and mysterious way as became outlaws And before the afternoon was done
they had all managed to enjoy the sweet glory of spreading the fact that pretty
soon the town would hear something All who got this vague hint were cautioned
to be mum and wait
About midnight Tom arrived with a boiled ham and a few trifles and stopped
in a dense undergrowth on a small bluff overlooking the meetingplace It was
starlight and very still The mighty river lay like an ocean at rest Tom
listened a moment but no sound disturbed the quiet Then he gave a low
distinct whistle It was answered from under the bluff Tom whistled twice more
these signals were answered in the same way Then a guarded voice said
»Who goes there«
»Tom Sawyer the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main Name your names«
»Huck Finn the RedHanded and Joe Harper the Terror of the Seas« Tom had
furnished these titles from his favorite literature
»Tis well Give the countersign«
Two hoarse whispers delivered the same awful word simultaneously to the
brooding night
»BLOOD«
Then Tom tumbled his ham over the bluff and let himself down after it
tearing both skin and clothes to some extent in the effort There was an easy
comfortable path along the shore under the bluff but it lacked the advantages
of difficulty and danger so valued by a pirate
The Terror of the Seas had brought a side of bacon and had about worn
himself out with getting it there Finn the RedHanded had stolen a skillet and
a quantity of half cured leaf tobacco and had also brought a few corncobs to
make pipes with But none of the pirates smoked or chewed but himself The Black
Avenger of the Spanish Main said it would never do to start without some fire
That was a wise thought matches were hardly known there in that day They saw a
fire smouldering upon a great raft a hundred yards above and they went
stealthily thither and helped themselves to a chunk They made an imposing
adventure of it saying »Hist« every now and then and suddenly halting with
finger on lip moving with hands on imaginary daggerhilts and giving orders in
dismal whispers that if the foe stirred to let him have it to the hilt because
dead men tell no tales They knew well enough that the raftsmen were all down at
the village laying in stores or having a spree but still that was no excuse for
their conducting this thing in an unpiratical way
They shoved off presently Tom in command Huck at the after oar and Joe at
the forward Tom stood amidships gloomybrowed and with folded arms and gave
his orders in a low stern whisper
»Luff and bring her to the wind«
»Ayeaye sir«
»Steady steadyyy«
»Steady it is sir«
»Let her go off a point«
»Point it is sir«
As the boys steadily and monotonously drove the raft toward midstream it
was no doubt understood that these orders were given only for style and were
not intended to mean anything in particular
»What sails she carrying«
»Courses topsls and flyingjib sir«
»Send the ryals up Lay out aloft there half a dozen of ye
foretopmaststunsl Lively now«
»Ayeaye sir«
»Shake out that maintogalansl Sheets and braces Now my hearties«
»Ayeaye sir«
»Hellumalee hard a port Stand by to meet her when she comes Port
port Now men With a will Steadyyy«
»Steady it is sir«
The raft drew beyond the middle of the river the boys pointed her head
right and then lay on their oars The river was not high so there was not more
than a two or threemile current Hardly a word was said during the next
threequarters of an hour Now the raft was passing before the distant town Two
or three glimmering lights showed where it lay peacefully sleeping beyond the
vague vast sweep of stargemmed water unconscious of the tremendous event that
was happening The Black Avenger stood still with folded arms looking his last
upon the scene of his former joys and his later sufferings and wishing she
could see him now abroad on the wild sea facing peril and death with dauntless
heart going to his doom with a grim smile on his lips It was but a small
strain on his imagination to remove Jacksons Island beyond eyeshot of the
village and so he looked his last with a broken and satisfied heart The other
pirates were looking their last too and they all looked so long that they came
near letting the current drift them out of the range of the island But they
discovered the danger in time and made shift to avert it About two oclock in
the morning the raft grounded on the bar two hundred yards above the head of the
island and they waded back and forth until they had landed their freight Part
of the little rafts belongings consisted of an old sail and this they spread
over a nook in the bushes for a tent to shelter their provisions but they
themselves would sleep in the open air in good weather as became outlaws
They built a fire against the side of a great log twenty or thirty steps
within the sombre depths of the forest and then cooked some bacon in the frying
pan for supper and used up half of the corn pone stock they had brought It
seemed glorious sport to be feasting in that wild free way in the virgin forest
of an unexplored and uninhabited island far from the haunts of men and they
said they never would return to civilization The climbing fire lit up their
faces and threw its ruddy glare upon the pillared tree trunks of their forest
temple and upon the varnished foliage and festooning vines
When the last crisp slice of bacon was gone and the last allowance of corn
pone devoured the boys stretched themselves out on the grass filled with
contentment They could have found a cooler place but they would not deny
themselves such a romantic feature as the roasting campfire
»Aint it gay« said Joe
»Its nuts« said Tom »What would the boys say if they could see us«
»Say Well theyd just die to be here hey Hucky«
»I reckon so« said Huckleberry »anyways Im suited I dont want nothing
bettern this I dont ever get enough to eat genally and here they cant
come and pick at a feller and bullyrag him so«
»Its just the life for me« said Tom »You dont have to get up mornings
and you dont have to go to school and wash and all that blame foolishness
You see a pirate dont have to do anything Joe when hes ashore but a hermit
he has to be praying considerable and then he dont have any fun anyway all
by himself that way«
»O yes thats so« said Joe »but I hadnt thought much about it you know
Id a good deal ruther be a pirate now that Ive tried it«
»You see« said Tom »people dont go much on hermits nowadays like they
used to in old times but a pirates always respected And a hermits got to
sleep on the hardest place he can find and put sackcloth and ashes on his
head and stand out in the rain and «
»What does he put sackcloth and ashes on his head for« inquired Huck
»I dono But theyve got to do it Hermits always do Youd have to do that
if you was a hermit«
»Dernd if I would« said Huck
»Well what would you do«
»I dono But I wouldnt do that«
»Why Huck youd have to Howd you get around it«
»Why I just wouldnt stand it Id run away«
»Run away Well you would be a nice old slouch of a hermit Youd be a
disgrace«
The RedHanded made no response being better employed He had finished
gouging out a cob and now he fitted a weed stem to it loaded it with tobacco
and was pressing a coal to the charge and blowing a cloud of fragrant smoke he
was in the full bloom of luxurious contentment The other pirates envied him
this majestic vice and secretly resolved to acquire it shortly Presently Huck
said
»What does pirates have to do«
Tom said
»Oh they have just a bully time take ships and burn them and get the
money and bury it in awful places in their island where theres ghosts and
things to watch it and kill everybody in the ships make em walk a plank«
»And they carry the women to the island« said Joe »they dont kill the
women«
»No« assented Tom »they dont kill the women theyre too noble And the
womens always beautiful too«
»And dont they wear the bulliest clothes Oh no All gold and silver and
dimonds« said Joe with enthusiasm
»Who« said Huck
»Why the pirates«
Huck scanned his own clothing forlornly
»I reckon I aint dressed fitten for a pirate« said he with a regretful
pathos in his voice »but I aint got none but these«
But the other boys told him the fine clothes would come fast enough after
they should have begun their adventures They made him understand that his poor
rags would do to begin with though it was customary for wealthy pirates to
start with a proper wardrobe
Gradually their talk died out and drowsiness began to steal upon the eyelids
of the little waifs The pipe dropped from the fingers of the RedHanded and he
slept the sleep of the consciencefree and the weary The Terror of the Seas and
the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main had more difficulty in getting to sleep
They said their prayers inwardly and lying down since there was nobody there
with authority to make them kneel and recite aloud in truth they had a mind not
to say them at all but they were afraid to proceed to such lengths as that
lest they might call down a sudden and special thunderbolt from Heaven Then at
once they reached and hovered upon the imminent verge of sleep but an intruder
came now that would not down It was conscience They began to feel a vague
fear that they had been doing wrong to run away and next they thought of the
stolen meat and then the real torture came They tried to argue it away by
reminding conscience that they had purloined sweetmeats and apples scores of
times but conscience was not to be appeased by such thin plausibilities It
seemed to them in the end that there was no getting around the stubborn fact
that taking sweetmeats was only hooking while taking bacon and hams and such
valuables was plain simple stealing and there was a command against that in
the Bible So they inwardly resolved that so long as they remained in the
business their piracies should not again be sullied with the crime of stealing
Then conscience granted a truce and these curiously inconsistent pirates fell
peacefully to sleep
Chapter 14
When Tom awoke in the morning he wondered where he was He sat up and rubbed
his eyes and looked around Then he comprehended It was the cool gray dawn and
there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in the deep pervading calm and
silence of the woods Not a leaf stirred not a sound obtruded upon great
Natures meditation Beaded dewdrops stood upon the leaves and grasses A white
layer of ashes covered the fire and a thin blue breath of smoke rose straight
into the air Joe and Huck still slept
Now far away in the woods a bird called another answered presently the
hammering of a woodpecker was heard Gradually the cool dim gray of the morning
whitened and as gradually sounds multiplied and life manifested itself The
marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to work unfolded itself to the
musing boy A little green worm came crawling over a dewy leaf lifting
twothirds of his body into the air from time to time and sniffing around then
proceeding again for he was measuring Tom said and when the worm approached
him of its own accord he sat as still as a stone with his hopes rising and
falling by turns as the creature still came toward him or seemed inclined to
go elsewhere and when at last it considered a painful moment with its curved
body in the air and then came decisively down upon Toms leg and began a journey
over him his whole heart was glad for that meant that he was going to have a
new suit of clothes without the shadow of a doubt a gaudy piratical uniform
Now a procession of ants appeared from nowhere in particular and went about
their labors one struggled manfully by with a dead spider five times as big as
itself in its arms and lugged it straight up a treetrunk A brown spotted
ladybug climbed the dizzy height of a grassblade and Tom bent down close to
it and said »Ladybug ladybug fly away home your house is on fire your
childrens alone« and she took wing and went off to see about it which did
not surprise the boy for he knew of old that this insect was credulous about
conflagrations and he had practiced upon its simplicity more than once A
tumblebug came next heaving sturdily at its ball and Tom touched the
creature to see it shut its legs against its body and pretend to be dead The
birds were fairly rioting by this time A catbird the northern mocker lit in
a tree over Toms head and trilled out her imitations of her neighbors in a
rapture of enjoyment then a shrill jay swept down a flash of blue flame and
stopped on a twig almost within the boys reach cocked his head to one side and
eyed the strangers with a consuming curiosity a gray squirrel and a big fellow
of the fox kind came skurrying along sitting up at intervals to inspect and
chatter at the boys for the wild things had probably never seen a human being
before and scarcely knew whether to be afraid or not All Nature was wide awake
and stirring now long lances of sunlight pierced down through the dense
foliage far and near and a few butterflies came fluttering upon the scene
Tom stirred up the other pirates and they all clattered away with a shout
and in a minute or two were stripped and chasing after and tumbling over each
other in the shallow limpid water of the white sandbar They felt no longing
for the little village sleeping in the distance beyond the majestic waste of
water A vagrant current or a slight rise in the river had carried off their
raft but this only gratified them since its going was something like burning
the bridge between them and civilization
They came back to camp wonderfully refreshed gladhearted and ravenous
and they soon had the campfire blazing up again Huck found a spring of clear
cold water close by and the boys made cups of broad oak or hickory leaves and
felt that water sweetened with such a wildwood charm as that would be a good
enough substitute for coffee While Joe was slicing bacon for breakfast Tom and
Huck asked him to hold on a minute they stepped to a promising nook in the
river bank and threw in their lines almost immediately they had reward Joe had
not had time to get impatient before they were back again with some handsome
bass a couple of sunperch and a small catfish provision enough for quite a
family They fried the fish with the bacon and were astonished for no fish had
ever seemed so delicious before They did not know that the quicker a fresh
water fish is on the fire after he is caught the better he is and they
reflected little upon what a sauce open air sleeping open air exercise
bathing and a large ingredient of hunger makes too
They lay around in the shade after breakfast while Huck had a smoke and
then went off through the woods on an exploring expedition They tramped gaily
along over decaying logs through tangled underbrush among solemn monarchs of
the forest hung from their crowns to the ground with a drooping regalia of
grapevines Now and then they came upon snug nooks carpeted with grass and
jeweled with flowers
They found plenty of things to be delighted with but nothing to be
astonished at They discovered that the island was about three miles long and a
quarter of a mile wide and that the shore it lay closest to was only separated
from it by a narrow channel hardly two hundred yards wide They took a swim
about every hour so it was close upon the middle of the afternoon when they got
back to camp They were too hungry to stop to fish but they fared sumptuously
upon cold ham and then threw themselves down in the shade to talk But the talk
soon began to drag and then died The stillness the solemnity that brooded in
the woods and the sense of loneliness began to tell upon the spirits of the
boys They fell to thinking A sort of undefined longing crept upon them This
took dim shape presently it was budding homesickness Even Finn the
RedHanded was dreaming of his doorsteps and empty hogsheads But they were all
ashamed of their weakness and none was brave enough to speak his thought
For some time now the boys had been dully conscious of a peculiar sound in
the distance just as one sometimes is of the ticking of a clock which he takes
no distinct note of But now this mysterious sound became more pronounced and
forced a recognition The boys started glanced at each other and then each
assumed a listening attitude There was a long silence profound and unbroken
then a deep sullen boom came floating down out of the distance
»What is it« exclaimed Joe under his breath
»I wonder« said Tom in a whisper
»Taint thunder« said Huckleberry in an awed tone »becuz thunder «
»Hark« said Tom »Listen dont talk«
They waited a time that seemed an age and then the same muffled boom
troubled the solemn hush
»Lets go and see«
They sprang to their feet and hurried to the shore toward the town They
parted the bushes on the bank and peered out over the water The little steam
ferry boat was about a mile below the village drifting with the current Her
broad deck seemed crowded with people There were a great many skiffs rowing
about or floating with the stream in the neighborhood of the ferry boat but the
boys could not determine what the men in them were doing Presently a great jet
of white smoke burst from the ferryboats side and as it expanded and rose in
a lazy cloud that same dull throb of sound was borne to the listeners again
»I know now« exclaimed Tom »somebodys drownded«
»Thats it« said Huck »they done that last summer when Bill Turner got
drownded they shoot a cannon over the water and that makes him come up to the
top Yes and they take loaves of bread and put quicksilver in em and set em
afloat and wherever theres anybody thats drownded theyll float right there
and stop«
»Yes Ive heard about that« said Joe »I wonder what makes the bread do
that«
»Oh it aint the bread so much« said Tom »I reckon its mostly what they
say over it before they start it out«
»But they dont say anything over it« said Huck »Ive seen em and they
dont«
»Well thats funny« said Tom »But maybe they say it to themselves Of
course they do Anybody might know that«
The other boys agreed that there was reason in what Tom said because an
ignorant lump of bread uninstructed by an incantation could not be expected to
act very intelligently when sent upon an errand of such gravity
»By jings I wish I was over there now« said Joe
»I do too« said Huck »Id give heaps to know who it is«
The boys still listened and watched Presently a revealing thought flashed
through Toms mind and he exclaimed
»Boys I know whos drownded its us«
They felt like heroes in an instant Here was a gorgeous triumph they were
missed they were mourned hearts were breaking on their account tears were
being shed accusing memories of unkindnesses to these poor lost lads were
rising up and unavailing regrets and remorse were being indulged and best of
all the departed were the talk of the whole town and the envy of all the boys
as far as this dazzling notoriety was concerned This was fine It was worth
while to be a pirate after all
As twilight drew on the ferry boat went back to her accustomed business and
the skiffs disappeared The pirates returned to camp They were jubilant with
vanity over their new grandeur and the illustrious trouble they were making
They caught fish cooked supper and ate it and then fell to guessing at what
the village was thinking and saying about them and the pictures they drew of
the public distress on their account were gratifying to look upon from their
point of view But when the shadows of night closed them in they gradually
ceased to talk and sat gazing into the fire with their minds evidently
wandering elsewhere The excitement was gone now and Tom and Joe could not
keep back thoughts of certain persons at home who were not enjoying this fine
frolic as much as they were Misgivings came they grew troubled and unhappy a
sigh or two escaped unawares By and by Joe timidly ventured upon a roundabout
feeler as to how the others might look upon a return to civilization not right
now but
Tom withered him with derision Huck being uncommitted as yet joined in
with Tom and the waverer quickly explained and was glad to get out of the
scrape with as little taint of chickenhearted homesickness clinging to his
garments as he could Mutiny was effectually laid to rest for the moment
As the night deepened Huck began to nod and presently to snore Joe
followed next Tom lay upon his elbow motionless for some time watching the
two intently At last he got up cautiously on his knees and went searching
among the grass and the flickering reflections flung by the campfire He picked
up and inspected several large semicylinders of the thin white bark of a
sycamore and finally chose two which seemed to suit him Then he knelt by the
fire and painfully wrote something upon each of these with his red keel one he
rolled up and put in his jacket pocket and the other he put in Joes hat and
removed it to a little distance from the owner And he also put into the hat
certain schoolboy treasures of almost inestimable value among them a lump of
chalk an India rubber ball three fishhooks and one of that kind of marbles
known as a sure nough crystal Then he tiptoed his way cautiously among the
trees till he felt that he was out of hearing and straightway broke into a keen
run in the direction of the sandbar
Chapter 15
A few minutes later Tom was in the shoal water of the bar wading toward the
Illinois shore Before the depth reached his middle he was halfway over the
current would permit no more wading now so he struck out confidently to swim
the remaining hundred yards He swam quartering up stream but still was swept
downward rather faster than he had expected However he reached the shore
finally and drifted along till he found a low place and drew himself out He
put his hand on his jacket pocket found his piece of bark safe and then struck
through the woods following the shore with streaming garments Shortly before
ten oclock he came out into an open place opposite the village and saw the
ferry boat lying in the shadow of the trees and the high bank Everything was
quiet under the blinking stars He crept down the bank watching with all his
eyes slipped into the water swam three or four strokes and climbed into the
skiff that did yawl duty at the boats stern He laid himself down under the
thwarts and waited panting
Presently the cracked bell tapped and a voice gave the order to cast off A
minute or two later the skiffs head was standing high up against the boats
swell and the voyage was begun Tom felt happy in his success for he knew it
was the boats last trip for the night At the end of a long twelve or fifteen
minutes the wheels stopped and Tom slipped overboard and swam ashore in the
dusk landing fifty yards down stream out of danger of possible stragglers
He flew along unfrequented alleys and shortly found himself at his aunts
back fence He climbed over approached the ell and looked in at the
sittingroom window for a light was burning there There sat Aunt Polly Sid
Mary and Joe Harpers mother grouped together talking They were by the bed
and the bed was between them and the door Tom went to the door and began to
softly lift the latch then he pressed gently and the door yielded a crack he
continued pushing cautiously and quaking every time it creaked till he judged
he might squeeze through on his knees and so he put his head through and began
warily
»What makes the candle blow so« said Aunt Polly Tom hurried up »Why that
doors open I believe Why of course it is No end of strange things now Go
long and shut it Sid«
Tom disappeared under the bed just in time He lay and breathed himself for
a time and then crept to where he could almost touch his aunts foot
»But as I was saying« said aunt Polly »he warnt bad so to say only
mischeevous Only just giddy and harumscarum you know He warnt any more
responsible than a colt He never meant any harm and he was the besthearted
boy that ever was« and she began to cry
»It was just so with my Joe always full of his devilment and up to every
kind of mischief but he was just as unselfish and kind as he could be and
laws bless me to think I went and whipped him for taking that cream never once
recollecting that I throwed it out myself because it was sour and I never to
see him again in this world never never never poor abused boy« And Mrs
Harper sobbed as if her heart would break
»I hope Toms better off where he is« said Sid »but if hed been better in
some ways «
»Sid« Tom felt the glare of the old ladys eye though he could not see it
»Not a word against my Tom now that hes gone Godll take care of him never
you trouble yourself sir Oh Mrs Harper I dont know how to give him up I
dont know how to give him up He was such a comfort to me although he
tormented my old heart out of me most«
»The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the name of the
Lord But its so hard Oh its so hard Only last Saturday my Joe busted a
firecracker right under my nose and I knocked him sprawling Little did I know
then how soon O if it was to do over again Id hug him and bless him for
it«
»Yes yes yes I know just how you feel Mrs Harper I know just exactly
how you feel No longer ago than yesterday noon my Tom took and filled the cat
full of PainKiller and I did think the cretur would tear the house down And
God forgive me I cracked Toms head with my thimble poor boy poor dead boy
But hes out of all his troubles now And the last words I ever heard him say
was to reproach «
But this memory was too much for the old lady and she broke entirely down
Tom was snuffling now himself and more in pity of himself than anybody else
He could hear Mary crying and putting in a kindly word for him from time to
time He began to have a nobler opinion of himself than ever before Still he
was sufficiently touched by his aunts grief to long to rush out from under the
bed and overwhelm her with joy and the theatrical gorgeousness of the thing
appealed strongly to his nature too but he resisted and lay still
He went on listening and gathered by odds and ends that it was conjectured
at first that the boys had got drowned while taking a swim then the small raft
had been missed next certain boys said the missing lads had promised that the
village should hear something soon the wiseheads had put this and that
together and decided that the lads had gone off on that raft and would turn up
at the next town below presently but toward noon the raft had been found
lodged against the Missouri shore some five or six miles below the village
and then hope perished they must be drowned else hunger would have driven them
home by nightfall if not sooner It was believed that the search for the bodies
had been a fruitless effort merely because the drowning must have occurred in
midchannel since the boys being good swimmers would otherwise have escaped
to shore This was Wednesday night If the bodies continued missing until
Sunday all hope would be given over and the funerals would be preached on that
morning Tom shuddered
Mrs Harper gave a sobbing goodnight and turned to go Then with a mutual
impulse the two bereaved women flung themselves into each others arms and had a
good consoling cry and then parted Aunt Polly was tender far beyond her wont
in her goodnight to Sid and Mary Sid snuffled a bit and Mary went off crying
with all her heart
Aunt Polly knelt down and prayed for Tom so touchingly so appealingly and
with such measureless love in her words and her old trembling voice that he was
weltering in tears again long before she was through
He had to keep still long after she went to bed for she kept making
brokenhearted ejaculations from time to time tossing unrestfully and turning
over But at last she was still only moaning a little in her sleep Now the boy
stole out rose gradually by the bedside shaded the candlelight with his hand
and stood regarding her His heart was full of pity for her He took out his
sycamore scroll and placed it by the candle But something occurred to him and
he lingered considering His face lighted with a happy solution of his thought
he put the bark hastily in his pocket Then he bent over and kissed the faded
lips and straightway made his stealthy exit latching the door behind him
He threaded his way back to the ferry landing found nobody at large there
and walked boldly on board the boat for he knew she was tenantless except that
there was a watchman who always turned in and slept like a graven image He
untied the skiff at the stern slipped into it and was soon rowing cautiously
up stream When he had pulled a mile above the village he started quartering
across and bent himself stoutly to his work He hit the landing on the other
side neatly for this was a familiar bit of work to him He was moved to capture
the skiff arguing that it might be considered a ship and therefore legitimate
prey for a pirate but he knew a thorough search would be made for it and that
might end in revelations So he stepped ashore and entered the wood
He sat down and took a long rest torturing himself meantime to keep awake
and then started wearily down the homestretch The night was far spent It was
broad daylight before he found himself fairly abreast the island bar He rested
again until the sun was well up and gilding the great river with its splendor
and then he plunged into the stream A little later he paused dripping upon
the threshold of the camp and heard Joe say
»No Toms trueblue Huck and hell come back He wont desert He knows
that would be a disgrace to a pirate and Toms too proud for that sort of
thing Hes up to something or other Now I wonder what«
»Well the things is ours anyway aint they«
»Pretty near but not yet Huck The writing says they are if he aint back
here to breakfast«
»Which he is« exclaimed Tom with fine dramatic effect stepping grandly
into camp
A sumptuous breakfast of bacon and fish was shortly provided and as the
boys set to work upon it Tom recounted and adorned his adventures They were
a vain and boastful company of heroes when the tale was done Then Tom hid
himself away in a shady nook to sleep till noon and the other pirates got ready
to fish and explore
Chapter 16
After dinner all the gang turned out to hunt for turtle eggs on the bar They
went about poking sticks into the sand and when they found a soft place they
went down on their knees and dug with their hands Sometimes they would take
fifty or sixty eggs out of one hole They were perfectly round white things a
trifle smaller than an English walnut They had a famous friedegg feast that
night and another on Friday morning
After breakfast they went whooping and prancing out on the bar and chased
each other round and round shedding clothes as they went until they were
naked and then continued the frolic far away up the shoal water of the bar
against the stiff current which latter tripped their legs from under them from
time to time and greatly increased the fun And now and then they stooped in a
group and splashed water in each others faces with their palms gradually
approaching each other with averted faces to avoid the strangling sprays and
finally gripping and struggling till the best man ducked his neighbor and then
they all went under in a tangle of white legs and arms and came up blowing
sputtering laughing and gasping for breath at one and the same time
When they were well exhausted they would run out and sprawl on the dry hot
sand and lie there and cover themselves up with it and by and by break for the
water again and go through the original performance once more Finally it
occurred to them that their naked skin represented fleshcolored tights very
fairly so they drew a ring in the sand and had a circus with three clowns in
it for none would yield this proudest post to his neighbor
Next they got their marbles and played knucks and ringtaw and keeps till
that amusement grew stale Then Joe and Huck had another swim but Tom would not
venture because he found that in kicking off his trousers he had kicked his
string of rattlesnake rattles off his ankle and he wondered how he had escaped
cramp so long without the protection of this mysterious charm He did not
venture again until he had found it and by that time the other boys were tired
and ready to rest They gradually wandered apart dropped into the dumps and
fell to gazing longingly across the wide river to where the village lay drowsing
in the sun Tom found himself writing »BECKY« in the sand with his big toe he
scratched it out and was angry with himself for his weakness But he wrote it
again nevertheless he could not help it He erased it once more and then took
himself out of temptation by driving the other boys together and joining them
But Joes spirits had gone down almost beyond resurrection He was so
homesick that he could hardly endure the misery of it The tears lay very near
the surface Huck was melancholy too Tom was downhearted but tried hard not
to show it He had a secret which he was not ready to tell yet but if this
mutinous depression was not broken up soon he would have to bring it out He
said with a great show of cheerfulness
»I bet theres been pirates on this island before boys Well explore it
again Theyve hid treasures here somewhere Howd you feel to light on a rotten
chest full of gold and silver hey«
But it roused only a faint enthusiasm which faded out with no reply Tom
tried one or two other seductions but they failed too It was discouraging
work Joe sat poking up the sand with a stick and looking very gloomy Finally
he said
»O boys lets give it up I want to go home Its so lonesome«
»Oh no Joe youll feel better by and by« said Tom »Just think of the
fishing thats here«
»I dont care for fishing I want to go home«
»But Joe there aint such another swimming place anywhere«
»Swimmings no good I dont seem to care for it somehow when there aint
anybody to say I shant go in I mean to go home«
»O shucks Baby You want to see your mother I reckon«
»Yes I do want to see my mother and you would too if you had one I
aint any more baby than you are« And Joe snuffled a little
»Well well let the crybaby go home to his mother wont we Huck Poor
thing does it want to see its mother And so it shall You like it here dont
you Huck Well stay wont we«
Huck said »Yes« without any heart in it
»Ill never speak to you again as long as I live« said Joe rising »There
now« And he moved moodily away and began to dress himself
»Who cares« said Tom »Nobody wants you to Go long home and get laughed
at O youre a nice pirate Huck and me aint crybabies Well stay wont we
Huck Let him go if he wants to I reckon we can get along without him
peraps«
But Tom was uneasy nevertheless and was alarmed to see Joe go sullenly on
with his dressing And then it was discomforting to see Huck eyeing Joes
preparations so wistfully and keeping up such an ominous silence Presently
without a parting word Joe began to wade off toward the Illinois shore Toms
heart began to sink He glanced at Huck Huck could not bear the look and
dropped his eyes Then he said
»I want to go too Tom It was getting so lonesome anyway and now itll be
worse Lets us go too Tom«
»I wont You can all go if you want to I mean to stay«
»Tom I better go«
»Well go long whos hendering you«
Huck began to pick up his scattered clothes He said
»Tom I wisht youd come too Now you think it over Well wait for you when
we get to shore«
»Well youll wait a blame long time thats all«
Huck started sorrowfully away and Tom stood looking after him with a
strong desire tugging at his heart to yield his pride and go along too He hoped
the boys would stop but they still waded slowly on It suddenly dawned on Tom
that it was become very lonely and still He made one final struggle with his
pride and then darted after his comrades yelling
»Wait Wait I want to tell you something«
They presently stopped and turned around When he got to where they were he
began unfolding his secret and they listened moodily till at last they saw the
point he was driving at and then they set up a warwhoop of applause and said
it was splendid and said if he had told them that at first they wouldnt have
started away He made a plausible excuse but his real reason had been the fear
that not even the secret would keep them with him any very great length of time
and so he had meant to hold it in reserve as a last seduction
The lads came gaily back and went at their sports again with a will
chattering all the time about Toms stupendous plan and admiring the genius of
it After a dainty egg and fish dinner Tom said he wanted to learn to smoke
now Joe caught at the idea and said he would like to try too So Huck made
pipes and filled them These novices had never smoked anything before but cigars
made of grapevine and they bit the tongue and were not considered manly
anyway
Now they stretched themselves out on their elbows and began to puff
charily and with slender confidence The smoke had an unpleasant taste and
they gagged a little but Tom said
»Why its just as easy If Id a knowed this was all Id a learnt long
ago«
»So would I« said Joe »Its just nothing«
»Why many a time Ive looked at people smoking and thought well I wish I
could do that but I never thought I could« said Tom
»Thats just the way with me haint it Huck Youve heard me talk just that
away havent you Huck Ill leave it to Huck if I havent«
»Yes heaps of times« said Huck
»Well I have too« said Tom »O hundreds of times Once down there by the
slaughterhouse Dont you remember Huck Bob Tanner was there and Johnny
Miller and Jeff Thatcher when I said it Dont you remember Huck bout me
saying that«
»Yes thats so« said Huck »That was the day after I lost a white alley
No twas the day before«
»There I told you so« said Tom »Huck recollects it«
»I bleeve I could smoke this pipe all day« said Joe »I dont feel sick«
»Neither do I« said Tom »I could smoke it all day But I bet you Jeff
Thatcher couldnt«
»Jeff Thatcher Why hed keel over just with two draws Just let him try it
once Hed see«
»I bet he would And Johnny Miller I wish I could see Johnny Miller tackle
it once«
»O dont I« said Joe »Why I bet you Johnny Miller couldnt any more do
this than nothing Just one little snifter would fetch him«
»Deed it would Joe Say I wish the boys could see us now«
»So do I«
»Say boys dont say anything about it and some time when theyre
around Ill come up to you and say Joe got a pipe I want a smoke And youll
say kind of careless like as if it warnt anything youll say Yes I got my
old pipe and another one but my tobacker aint very good And Ill say Oh
thats all right if its strong enough And then youll out with the pipes and
well light up just as cam and then just see em look«
»By jings thatll be gay Tom I wish it was now«
»So do I And when we tell em we learned when we was off pirating wont
they wish theyd been along«
»O I reckon not Ill just bet they will«
So the talk ran on But presently it began to flag a trifle and grow
disjointed The silences widened the expectoration marvelously increased Every
pore inside the boys cheeks became a spouting fountain they could scarcely
bail out the cellars under their tongues fast enough to prevent an inundation
little overflowings down their throats occurred in spite of all they could do
and sudden retchings followed every time Both boys were looking very pale and
miserable now Joes pipe dropped from his nerveless fingers Toms followed
Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might and main
Joe said feebly
»Ive lost my knife I reckon I better go and find it«
Tom said with quivering lip and halting utterance
»Ill help you You go over that way and Ill hunt around by the spring No
you neednt come Huck we can find it«
So Huck sat down again and waited an hour Then he found it lonesome and
went to find his comrades They were wide apart in the woods both very pale
both fast asleep But something informed him that if they had had any trouble
they had got rid of it
They were not talkative at supper that night They had a humble look and
when Huck prepared his pipe after the meal and was going to prepare theirs they
said no they were not feeling very well something they ate at dinner had
disagreed with them
About midnight Joe awoke and called the boys There was a brooding
oppressiveness in the air that seemed to bode something The boys huddled
themselves together and sought the friendly companionship of the fire though
the dull dead heat of the breathless atmosphere was stifling They sat still
intent and waiting The solemn hush continued Beyond the light of the fire
everything was swallowed up in the blackness of darkness Presently there came a
quivering glow that vaguely revealed the foliage for a moment and then vanished
By and by another came a little stronger Then another Then a faint moan came
sighing through the branches of the forest and the boys felt a fleeting breath
upon their cheeks and shuddered with the fancy that the Spirit of the Night had
gone by There was a pause Now a weird flash turned night into day and showed
every little grassblade separate and distinct that grew about their feet And
it showed three white startled faces too A deep peal of thunder went rolling
and tumbling down the heavens and lost itself in sullen rumblings in the
distance A sweep of chilly air passed by rustling all the leaves and snowing
the flaky ashes broadcast about the fire Another fierce glare lit up the forest
and an instant crash followed that seemed to rend the treetops right over the
boys heads They clung together in terror in the thick gloom that followed A
few big raindrops fell pattering upon the leaves
»Quick boys go for the tent« exclaimed Tom
They sprang away stumbling over roots and among vines in the dark no two
plunging in the same direction A furious blast roared through the trees making
everything sing as it went One blinding flash after another came and peal on
peal of deafening thunder And now a drenching rain poured down and the rising
hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground The boys cried out to each other
but the roaring wind and the booming thunderblasts drowned their voices
utterly However one by one they straggled in at last and took shelter under
the tent cold scared and streaming with water but to have company in misery
seemed something to be grateful for They could not talk the old sail flapped
so furiously even if the other noises would have allowed them The tempest rose
higher and higher and presently the sail tore loose from its fastenings and
went winging away on the blast The boys seized each others hands and fled
with many tumblings and bruises to the shelter of a great oak that stood upon
the river bank Now the battle was at its highest Under the ceaseless
conflagration of lightnings that flamed in the skies everything below stood out
in cleancut and shadowless distinctness the bending trees the billowy river
white with foam the driving spray of spumeflakes the dim outlines of the high
bluffs on the other side glimpsed through the drifting cloudrack and the
slanting veil of rain Every little while some giant tree yielded the fight and
fell crashing through the younger growth and the unflagging thunderpeals came
now in earsplitting explosive bursts keen and sharp and unspeakably
appalling The storm culminated in one matchless effort that seemed likely to
tear the island to pieces burn it up drown it to the tree tops blow it away
and deafen every creature in it all at one and the same moment It was a wild
night for homeless young heads to be out in
But at last the battle was done and the forces retired with weaker and
weaker threatenings and grumblings and peace resumed her sway The boys went
back to camp a good deal awed but they found there was still something to be
thankful for because the great sycamore the shelter of their beds was a ruin
now blasted by the lightnings and they were not under it when the catastrophe
happened
Everything in camp was drenched the campfire as well for they were but
heedless lads like their generation and had made no provision against rain
Here was matter for dismay for they were soaked through and chilled They were
eloquent in their distress but they presently discovered that the fire had
eaten so far up under the great log it had been built against where it curved
upward and separated itself from the ground that a handbreadth or so of it
had escaped wetting so they patiently wrought until with shreds and bark
gathered from the under sides of sheltered logs they coaxed the fire to burn
again Then they piled on great dead boughs till they had a roaring furnace and
were gladhearted once more They dried their boiled ham and had a feast and
after that they sat by the fire and expanded and glorified their midnight
adventure until morning for there was not a dry spot to sleep on anywhere
around
As the sun began to steal in upon the boys drowsiness came over them and
they went out on the sandbar and lay down to sleep They got scorched out by
and by and drearily set about getting breakfast After the meal they felt
rusty and stiffjointed and a little homesick once more Tom saw the signs
and fell to cheering up the pirates as well as he could But they cared nothing
for marbles or circus or swimming or anything He reminded them of the
imposing secret and raised a ray of cheer While it lasted he got them
interested in a new device This was to knock off being pirates for a while
and be Indians for a change They were attracted by this idea so it was not
long before they were stripped and striped from head to heel with black mud
like so many zebras all of them chiefs of course and then they went
tearing through the woods to attack an English settlement
By and by they separated into three hostile tribes and darted upon each
other from ambush with dreadful warwhoops and killed and scalped each other by
thousands It was a gory day Consequently it was an extremely satisfactory one
They assembled in camp toward supper time hungry and happy but now a
difficulty arose hostile Indians could not break the bread of hospitality
together without first making peace and this was a simple impossibility without
smoking a pipe of peace There was no other process that ever they had heard of
Two of the savages almost wished they had remained pirates However there was
no other way so with such show of cheerfulness as they could muster they called
for the pipe and took their whiff as it passed in due form
And behold they were glad they had gone into savagery for they had gained
something they found that they could now smoke a little without having to go
and hunt for a lost knife they did not get sick enough to be seriously
uncomfortable They were not likely to fool away this high promise for lack of
effort No they practiced cautiously after supper with right fair success
and so they spent a jubilant evening They were prouder and happier in their new
acquirement than they would have been in the scalping and skinning of the Six
Nations We will leave them to smoke and chatter and brag since we have no
further use for them at present
Chapter 17
But there was no hilarity in the little town that same tranquil Saturday
afternoon The Harpers and Aunt Pollys family were being put into mourning
with great grief and many tears An unusual quiet possessed the village
although it was ordinarily quiet enough in all conscience The villagers
conducted their concerns with an absent air and talked little but they sighed
often The Saturday holiday seemed a burden to the children They had no heart
in their sports and gradually gave them up
In the afternoon Becky Thatcher found herself moping about the deserted
schoolhouse yard and feeling very melancholy But she found nothing there to
comfort her She soliloquised
»Oh if I only had his brass andironknob again But I havent got anything
now to remember him by« And she choked back a little sob
Presently she stopped and said to herself
»It was right here O if it was to do over again I wouldnt say that I
wouldnt say it for the whole world But hes gone now Ill never never never
see him any more«
This thought broke her down and she wandered away with the tears rolling
down her cheeks Then quite a group of boys and girls playmates of Toms and
Joes came by and stood looking over the paling fence and talking in reverent
tones of how Tom did soandso the last time they saw him and how Joe said
this and that small trifle pregnant with awful prophecy as they could easily
see now and each speaker pointed out the exact spot where the lost lads
stood at the time and then added something like »and I was astanding just so
just as I am now and as if you was him I was as close as that and he
smiled just this way and then something seemed to go all over me like
awful you know and I never thought what it meant of course but I can see
now«
Then there was a dispute about who saw the dead boys last in life and many
claimed that dismal distinction and offered evidences more or less tampered
with by the witness and when it was ultimately decided who did see the departed
last and exchanged the last words with them the lucky parties took upon
themselves a sort of sacred importance and were gaped at and envied by all the
rest One poor chap who had no other grandeur to offer said with tolerably
manifest pride in the remembrance
»Well Tom Sawyer he licked me once«
But that bid for glory was a failure Most of the boys could say that and
so that cheapened the distinction too much The group loitered away still
recalling memories of the lost heroes in awed voices
When the Sundayschool hour was finished the next morning the bell began
to toll instead of ringing in the usual way It was a very still Sabbath and
the mournful sound seemed in keeping with the musing hush that lay upon nature
The villagers began to gather loitering a moment in the vestibule to converse
in whispers about the sad event But there was no whispering in the house only
the funereal rustling of dresses as the women gathered to their seats disturbed
the silence there None could remember when the little church had been so full
before There was finally a waiting pause an expectant dumbness and then Aunt
Polly entered followed by Sid and Mary and they by the Harper family all in
deep black and the whole congregation the old minister as well rose
reverently and stood until the mourners were seated in the front pew There was
another communing silence broken at intervals by muffled sobs and then the
minister spread his hands abroad and prayed A moving hymn was sung and the
text followed »I am the resurrection and the life«
As the service proceeded the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces
the winning ways and the rare promise of the lost lads that every soul there
thinking he recognized these pictures felt a pang in remembering that he had
persistently blinded himself to them always before and had as persistently
seen only faults and flaws in the poor boys The minister related many a
touching incident in the lives of the departed too which illustrated their
sweet generous natures and the people could easily see now how noble and
beautiful those episodes were and remembered with grief that at the time they
occurred they had seemed rank rascalities well deserving of the cowhide The
congregation became more and more moved as the pathetic tale went on till at
last the whole company broke down and joined the weeping mourners in a chorus of
anguished sobs the preacher himself giving way to his feelings and crying in
the pulpit
There was a rustle in the gallery which nobody noticed a moment later the
church door creaked the minister raised his streaming eyes above his
handkerchief and stood transfixed First one and then another pair of eyes
followed the ministers and then almost with one impulse the congregation rose
and stared while the three dead boys came marching up the aisle Tom in the
lead Joe next and Huck a ruin of drooping rags sneaking sheepishly in the
rear They had been hid in the unused gallery listening to their own funeral
sermon
Aunt Polly Mary and the Harpers threw themselves upon their restored ones
smothered them with kisses and poured out thanksgivings while poor Huck stood
abashed and uncomfortable not knowing exactly what to do or where to hide from
so many unwelcoming eyes He wavered and started to slink away but Tom seized
him and said
»Aunt Polly it aint fair Somebodys got to be glad to see Huck«
»And so they shall Im glad to see him poor motherless thing« And the
loving attentions Aunt Polly lavished upon him were the one thing capable of
making him more uncomfortable than he was before
Suddenly the minister shouted at the top of his voice
»Praise God from whom all blessings flow SING and put your hearts in
it«
And they did Old Hundred swelled up with a triumphant burst and while it
shook the rafters Tom Sawyer the Pirate looked around upon the envying juveniles
about him and confessed in his heart that this was the proudest moment of his
life
As the sold congregation trooped out they said they would almost be willing
to be made ridiculous again to hear Old Hundred sung like that once more
Tom got more cuffs and kisses that day according to Aunt Pollys varying
moods than he had earned before in a year and he hardly knew which expressed
the most gratefulness to God and affection for himself
Chapter 18
That was Toms great secret the scheme to return home with his brother pirates
and attend their own funerals They had paddled over to the Missouri shore on a
log at dusk on Saturday landing five or six miles below the village they had
slept in the woods at the edge of town till nearly daylight and had then crept
through back lanes and alleys and finished their sleep in the gallery of the
church among a chaos of invalided benches
At breakfast Monday morning Aunt Polly and Mary were very loving to Tom
and very attentive to his wants There was an unusual amount of talk In the
course of it Aunt Polly said
»Well I dont say it wasnt a fine joke Tom to keep everybody suffering
most a week so you boys had a good time but it is a pity you could be so
hardhearted as to let me suffer so If you could come over on a log to go to
your funeral you could have come over and give me a hint some way that you
warnt dead but only run off«
»Yes you could have done that Tom« said Mary »and I believe you would if
you had thought of it«
»Would you Tom« said Aunt Polly her face lighting wistfully »Say now
would you if youd thought of it«
»I well I dont know Twould a spoiled everything«
»Tom I hoped you loved me that much« said Aunt Polly with a grieved tone
that discomforted the boy »It would been something if youd cared enough to
think of it even if you didnt do it«
»Now auntie that aint any harm« pleaded Mary »its only Toms giddy way
he is always in such a rush that he never thinks of anything«
»Mores the pity Sid would have thought And Sid would have come and done
it too Tom youll look back some day when its too late and wish youd
cared a little more for me when it would have cost you so little«
»Now auntie you know I do care for you« said Tom
»Id know it better if you acted more like it«
»I wish now Id thought« said Tom with a repentant tone »but I dreamed
about you anyway Thats something aint it«
»It aint much a cat does that much but its better than nothing What
did you dream«
»Why Wednesday night I dreamt that you was sitting over there by the bed
and Sid was sitting by the woodbox and Mary next to him«
»Well so we did So we always do Im glad your dreams could take even that
much trouble about us«
»And I dreamt that Joe Harpers mother was here«
»Why she was here Did you dream any more«
»O lots But its so dim now«
»Well try to recollect cant you«
»Somehow it seems to me that the wind the wind blowed the the «
»Try harder Tom The wind did blow something Come«
Tom pressed his fingers on his forehead an anxious minute and then said
»Ive got it now Ive got it now It blowed the candle«
»Mercy on us Go on Tom go on«
»And it seems to me that you said Why I believe that that door «
»Go on Tom«
»Just let me study a moment just a moment Oh yes you said you believed
the door was open«
»As Im asitting here I did Didnt I Mary Go on«
»And then and then well I wont be certain but it seems like as if you
made Sid go and and «
»Well Well What did I make him do Tom What did I make him do«
»You made him you O you made him shut it«
»Well for the lands sake I never heard the beat of that in all my days
Dont tell me there aint anything in dreams any more Sereny Harper shall know
of this before Im an hour older Id like to see her get around this with her
rubbage bout superstition Go on Tom«
»Oh its all getting just as bright as day now Next you said I warnt
bad only mischeevous and harumscarum and not any more responsible than than
I think it was a colt or something«
»And so it was Well goodness gracious Go on Tom«
»And then you began to cry«
»So I did So I did Not the first time neither And then «
»Then Mrs Harper she began to cry and said Joe was just the same and she
wished she hadnt whipped him for taking cream when shed throwed it out her own
self «
»Tom The sperrit was upon you You was aprophecying thats what you was
doing Land alive go on Tom«
»Then Sid he said he said «
»I dont think I said anything« said Sid
»Yes you did Sid« said Mary
»Shut your heads and let Tom go on What did he say Tom«
»He said I think he said he hoped I was better off where I was gone to
but if Id been better sometimes «
»There dyou hear that It was his very words«
»And you shut him up sharp«
»I lay I did There must a been an angel there There was an angel there
somewheres«
»And Mrs Harper told about Joe scaring her with a firecracker and you
told about Peter and the PainKiller «
»Just as true as I live«
»And then there was a whole lot of talk bout dragging the river for us and
bout having the funeral Sunday and then you and old Miss Harper hugged and
cried and she went«
»It happened just so It happened just so as sure as Im asitting in these
very tracks Tom you couldnt told it more like if youd a seen it And then
what Go on Tom«
»Then I thought you prayed for me and I could see you and hear every word
you said And you went to bed and I was so sorry that I took and wrote on a
piece of sycamore bark We aint dead we are only off being pirates and put
it on the table by the candle and then you looked so good laying there asleep
that I thought I went and leaned over and kissed you on the lips«
»Did you Tom did you I just forgive you everything for that« And she
seized the boy in a crushing embrace that made him feel like the guiltiest of
villains
»It was very kind even though it was only a dream« Sid soliloquised just
audibly
»Shut up Sid A body does just the same in a dream as hed do if he was
awake Heres a big Milum apple Ive been saving for you Tom if you was ever
found again now go long to school Im thankful to the good God and Father of
us all Ive got you back thats longsuffering and merciful to them that
believe on Him and keep His word though goodness knows Im unworthy of it but
if only the worthy ones got His blessings and had His hand to help them over the
rough places theres few enough would smile here or ever enter into His rest
when the long night comes Go long Sid Mary Tom take yourselves off
youve hendered me long enough«
The children left for school and the old lady to call on Mrs Harper and
vanquish her realism with Toms marvelous dream Sid had better judgment than to
utter the thought that was in his mind as he left the house It was this
»Pretty thin as long a dream as that without any mistakes in it«
What a hero Tom was become now He did not go skipping and prancing but
moved with a dignified swagger as became a pirate who felt that the public eye
was on him And indeed it was he tried not to seem to see the looks or hear the
remarks as he passed along but they were food and drink to him Smaller boys
than himself flocked at his heels as proud to be seen with him and tolerated by
him as if he had been the drummer at the head of a procession or the elephant
leading a menagerie into town Boys of his own size pretended not to know he had
been away at all but they were consuming with envy nevertheless They would
have given anything to have that swarthy suntanned skin of his and his
glittering notoriety and Tom would not have parted with either for a circus
At school the children made so much of him and of Joe and delivered such
eloquent admiration from their eyes that the two heroes were not long in
becoming insufferably stuckup They began to tell their adventures to hungry
listeners but they only began it was not a thing likely to have an end with
imaginations like theirs to furnish material And finally when they got out
their pipes and went serenely puffing around the very summit of glory was
reached
Tom decided that he could be independent of Becky Thatcher now Glory was
sufficient He would live for glory Now that he was distinguished maybe she
would be wanting to make up Well let her she should see that he could be as
indifferent as some other people Presently she arrived Tom pretended not to
see her He moved away and joined a group of boys and girls and began to talk
Soon he observed that she was tripping gayly back and forth with flushed face
and dancing eyes pretending to be busy chasing schoolmates and screaming with
laughter when she made a capture but he noticed that she always made her
captures in his vicinity and that she seemed to cast a conscious eye in his
direction at such times too It gratified all the vicious vanity that was in
him and so instead of winning him it only set him up the more and made him the
more diligent to avoid betraying that he knew she was about Presently she gave
over skylarking and moved irresolutely about sighing once or twice and
glancing furtively and wistfully toward Tom Then she observed that now Tom was
talking more particularly to Amy Lawrence than to any one else She felt a sharp
pang and grew disturbed and uneasy at once She tried to go away but her feet
were treacherous and carried her to the group instead She said to a girl
almost at Toms elbow with sham vivacity
»Why Mary Austin you bad girl why didnt you come to Sundayschool«
»I did come didnt you see me«
»Why no Did you Where did you sit«
»I was in Miss Peterss class where I always go I saw you«
»Did you Why its funny I didnt see you I wanted to tell you about the
picnic«
»O thats jolly Whos going to give it«
»My mas going to let me have one«
»O goody I hope shell let me come«
»Well she will The picnics for me Shell let anybody come that I want
and I want you«
»Thats ever so nice When is it going to be«
»By and by Maybe about vacation«
»O wont it be fun You going to have all the girls and boys«
»Yes every one thats friends to me or wants to be« and she glanced ever
so furtively at Tom but he talked right along to Amy Lawrence about the
terrible storm on the island and how the lightning tore the great sycamore tree
all to flinders while he was standing within three feet of it
»O may I come« said Gracie Miller
»Yes«
»And me« said Sally Rogers
»Yes«
»And me too« said Susy Harper »And Joe«
»Yes«
And so on with clapping of joyful hands till all the group had begged for
invitations but Tom and Amy Then Tom turned coolly away still talking and
took Amy with him Beckys lip trembled and the tears came to her eyes she hid
these signs with a forced gayety and went on chattering but the life had gone
out of the picnic now and out of everything else she got away as soon as she
could and hid herself and had what her sex call a good cry Then she sat moody
with wounded pride till the bell rang She roused up now with a vindictive
cast in her eye and gave her plaited tails a shake and said she knew what shed
do
At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant
selfsatisfaction And he kept drifting about to find Becky and lacerate her
with the performance At last he spied her but there was a sudden falling of
his mercury She was sitting cosily on a little bench behind the schoolhouse
looking at a picture book with Alfred Temple and so absorbed were they and
their heads so close together over the book that they did not seem to be
conscious of anything in the world beside Jealousy ran red hot through Toms
veins He began to hate himself for throwing away the chance Becky had offered
for a reconciliation He called himself a fool and all the hard names he could
think of He wanted to cry with vexation Amy chatted happily along as they
walked for her heart was singing but Toms tongue had lost its function He
did not hear what Amy was saying and whenever she paused expectantly he could
only stammer an awkward assent which was as often misplaced as otherwise He
kept drifting to the rear of the schoolhouse again and again to sear his
eyeballs with the hateful spectacle there He could not help it And it
maddened him to see as he thought he saw that Becky Thatcher never once
suspected that he was even in the land of the living But she did see
nevertheless and she knew she was winning her fight too and was glad to see
him suffer as she had suffered
Amys happy prattle became intolerable Tom hinted at things he had to
attend to things that must be done and time was fleeting But in vain the
girl chirped on Tom thought »O hang her aint I ever going to get rid of
her« At last he must be attending to those things she said artlessly that she
would be around when school let out And he hastened away hating her for it
»Any other boy« Tom thought grating his teeth »Any boy in the whole town
but that Saint Louis smarty that thinks he dresses so fine and is aristocracy
O all right I licked you the first day you ever saw this town mister and
Ill lick you again You just wait till I catch you out Ill just take and «
And he went through the motions of thrashing an imaginary boy pummeling
the air and kicking and gouging »Oh you do do you You holler nough do
you Now then let that learn you« And so the imaginary flogging was finished
to his satisfaction
Tom fled home at noon His conscience could not endure any more of Amys
grateful happiness and his jealousy could bear no more of the other distress
Becky resumed her pictureinspections with Alfred but as the minutes dragged
along and no Tom came to suffer her triumph began to cloud and she lost
interest gravity and absentmindedness followed and then melancholy two or
three times she pricked up her ear at a footstep but it was a false hope no
Tom came At last she grew entirely miserable and wished she hadnt carried it
so far When poor Alfred seeing that he was losing her he did not know how
and kept exclaiming »O heres a jolly one look at this« she lost patience at
last and said »Oh dont bother me I dont care for them« and burst into
tears and got up and walked away
Alfred dropped alongside and was going to try to comfort her but she said
»Go away and leave me alone cant you I hate you«
So the boy halted wondering what he could have done for she had said she
would look at pictures all through the nooning and she walked on crying Then
Alfred went musing into the deserted school He was humiliated and angry He
easily guessed his way to the truth the girl had simply made a convenience of
him to vent her spite upon Tom Sawyer He was far from hating Tom the less when
this thought occurred to him He wished there was some way to get that boy into
trouble without much risk to himself Toms spelling book fell under his eye
Here was his opportunity He gratefully opened to the lesson for the afternoon
and poured ink upon the page
Becky glancing in at a window behind him at the moment saw the act and
moved on without discovering herself She started homeward now intending to
find Tom and tell him Tom would be thankful and their troubles would be healed
Before she was half way home however she had changed her mind The thought of
Toms treatment of her when she was talking about her picnic came scorching
back and filled her with shame She resolved to let him get whipped on the
damaged spellingbooks account and to hate him forever into the bargain
Chapter 19
Tom arrived at home in a dreary mood and the first thing his aunt said to him
showed him that he had brought his sorrows to an unpromising market
»Tom Ive a notion to skin you alive«
»Auntie what have I done«
»Well youve done enough Here I go over to Sereny Harper like an old
softy expecting Im going to make her believe all that rubbage about that
dream when lo and behold you shed found out from Joe that you was over here
and heard all the talk we had that night Tom I dont know what is to become of
a boy that will act like that It makes me feel so bad to think you could let me
go to Sereny Harper and make such a fool of myself and never say a word«
This was a new aspect of the thing His smartness of the morning had seemed
to Tom a good joke before and very ingenious It merely looked mean and shabby
now He hung his head and could not think of anything to say for a moment Then
he said
»Auntie I wish I hadnt done it but I didnt think«
»O child you never think You never think of anything but your own
selfishness You could think to come all the way over here from Jacksons Island
in the night to laugh at our troubles and you could think to fool me with a lie
about a dream but you couldnt ever think to pity us and save us from sorrow«
»Auntie I know now it was mean but I didnt mean to be mean I didnt
honest And besides I didnt come over here to laugh at you that night«
»What did you come for then«
»It was to tell you not to be uneasy about us because we hadnt got
drowned«
»Tom Tom I would be the thankfullest soul in this world if I could believe
you ever had as good a thought as that but you know you never did and I know
it Tom«
»Indeed and deed I did auntie I wish I may never stir if I didnt«
»O Tom dont lie dont do it It only makes things a hundred times
worse«
»It aint a lie auntie its the truth I wanted to keep you from grieving
that was all that made me come«
»Id give the whole world to believe that it would cover up a power of
sins Tom Id most be glad youd run off and acted so bad But it aint
reasonable because why didnt you tell me child«
»Why you see auntie when you got to talking about the funeral I just got
all full of the idea of our coming and hiding in the church and I couldnt
somehow bear to spoil it So I just put the bark back in my pocket and kept
mum«
»What bark«
»The bark I had wrote on to tell you wed gone pirating I wish now youd
waked up when I kissed you I do honest«
The hard lines in his aunts face relaxed and a sudden tenderness dawned in
her eyes
»Did you kiss me Tom«
»Why yes I did«
»Are you sure you did Tom«
»Why yes I did auntie certain sure«
»What did you kiss me for Tom«
»Because I loved you so and you laid there moaning and I was so sorry«
The words sounded like truth The old lady could not hide a tremor in her
voice when she said
»Kiss me again Tom and be off with you to school now and dont bother
me any more«
The moment he was gone she ran to a closet and got out the ruin of a jacket
which Tom had gone pirating in Then she stopped with it in her hand and said
to herself
»No I dont dare Poor boy I reckon hes lied about it but its a
blessed blessed lie theres such comfort come from it I hope the Lord I
know the Lord will forgive him because it was such goodheartedness in him to
tell it But I dont want to find out its a lie I wont look«
She put the jacket away and stood by musing a minute Twice she put out her
hand to take the garment again and twice she refrained Once more she ventured
and this time she fortified herself with the thought »Its a good lie its a
good lie I wont let it grieve me« So she sought the jacket pocket A moment
later she was reading Toms piece of bark through flowing tears and saying »I
could forgive the boy now if hed committed a million sins«
Chapter 20
There was something about aunt Pollys manner when she kissed Tom that swept
away his low spirits and made him lighthearted and happy again He started to
school and had the luck of coming upon Becky Thatcher at the head of Meadow
Lane His mood always determined his manner Without a moments hesitation he
ran to her and said
»I acted mighty mean today Becky and Im so sorry I wont ever ever do
that way again as long as ever I live please make up wont you«
The girl stopped and looked him scornfully in the face
»Ill thank you to keep yourself to yourself Mr Thomas Sawyer Ill never
speak to you again«
She tossed her head and passed on Tom was so stunned that he had not even
presence of mind enough to say »Who cares Miss Smarty« until the right time to
say it had gone by So he said nothing But he was in a fine rage nevertheless
He moped into the schoolyard wishing she were a boy and imagining how he would
trounce her if she were He presently encountered her and delivered a stinging
remark as he passed She hurled one in return and the angry breach was
complete It seemed to Becky in her hot resentment that she could hardly wait
for school to take in she was so impatient to see Tom flogged for the injured
spellingbook If she had had any lingering notion of exposing Alfred Temple
Toms offensive fling had driven it entirely away
Poor girl she did not know how fast she was nearing trouble herself The
master Mr Dobbins had reached middle age with an unsatisfied ambition The
darling of his desires was to be a doctor but poverty had decreed that he
should be nothing higher than a village schoolmaster Every day he took a
mysterious book out of his desk and absorbed himself in it at times when no
classes were reciting He kept that book under lock and key There was not an
urchin in school but was perishing to have a glimpse of it but the chance never
came Every boy and girl had a theory about the nature of that book but no two
theories were alike and there was no way of getting at the facts in the case.
Now as Becky was passing by the desk which stood near the door she noticed
that the key was in the lock It was a precious moment She glanced around
found herself alone and the next instant she had the book in her hands The
titlepage Professor somebodys »Anatomy« carried no information to her
mind so she began to turn the leaves She came at once upon a handsomely
engraved and colored frontispiece a human figure stark naked At that moment
a shadow fell on the page and Tom Sawyer stepped in at the door and caught a
glimpse of the picture Becky snatched at the book to close it and had the hard
luck to tear the pictured page half down the middle She thrust the volume into
the desk turned the key and burst out crying with shame and vexation
»Tom Sawyer you are just as mean as you can be to sneak up on a person and
look at what theyre looking at«
»How could I know you was looking at anything«
»You ought to be ashamed of yourself Tom Sawyer you know youre going to
tell on me and O what shall I do what shall I do Ill be whipped and I
never was whipped in school«
Then she stamped her little foot and said
»Be so mean if you want to I know something thats going to happen You
just wait and youll see Hateful hateful hateful« and she flung out of the
house with a new explosion of crying
Tom stood still rather flustered by this onslaught Presently he said to
himself
»What a curious kind of a fool a girl is Never been licked in school
Shucks whats a licking Thats just like a girl theyre so thinskinned and
chickenhearted Well of course I aint going to tell old Dobbins on this
little fool because theres other ways of getting even on her that aint so
mean but what of it Old Dobbins will ask who it was tore his book Nobodyll
answer Then hell do just the way he always does ask first one and then
tother and when he comes to the right girl hell know it without any telling
Girls faces always tell on them They aint got any backbone Shell get
licked Well its a kind of a tight place for Becky Thatcher because there
aint any way out of it« Tom conned the thing a moment longer and then added
»All right though shed like to see me in just such a fix let her sweat it
out«
Tom joined the mob of skylarking scholars outside In a few moments the
master arrived and school took in Tom did not feel a strong interest in his
studies Every time he stole a glance at the girls side of the room Beckys
face troubled him Considering all things he did not want to pity her and yet
it was all he could do to help it He could get up no exultation that was really
worthy the name Presently the spellingbook discovery was made and Toms mind
was entirely full of his own matters for a while after that Becky roused up
from her lethargy of distress and showed good interest in the proceedings She
did not expect that Tom could get out of his trouble by denying that he spilt
the ink on the book himself and she was right The denial only seemed to make
the thing worse for Tom Becky supposed she would be glad of that and she tried
to believe she was glad of it but she found she was not certain When the worst
came to the worst she had an impulse to get up and tell on Alfred Temple but
she made an effort and forced herself to keep still because said she to
herself »hell tell about me tearing the picture sure I wouldnt say a word
not to save his life«
Tom took his whipping and went back to his seat not at all brokenhearted
for he thought it was possible that he had unknowingly upset the ink on the
spellingbook himself in some skylarking bout he had denied it for forms
sake and because it was custom and had stuck to the denial from principle
A whole hour drifted by the master sat nodding in his throne the air was
drowsy with the hum of study By and by Mr Dobbins straightened himself up
yawned then unlocked his desk and reached for his book but seemed undecided
whether to take it out or leave it Most of the pupils glanced up languidly but
there were two among them that watched his movements with intent eyes Mr
Dobbins fingered his book absently for a while then took it out and settled
himself in his chair to read Tom shot a glance at Becky He had seen a hunted
and helpless rabbit look as she did with a gun leveled at its head Instantly
he forgot his quarrel with her Quick something must be done done in a
flash too But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention
Good he had an inspiration He would run and snatch the book spring through
the door and fly But his resolution shook for one little instant and the
chance was lost the master opened the volume If Tom only had the wasted
opportunity back again Too late there was no help for Becky now he said The
next moment the master faced the school Every eye sunk under his gaze There
was that in it which smote even the innocent with fear There was silence while
one might count ten the master was gathering his wrath Then he spoke
»Who tore this book«
There was not a sound One could have heard a pin drop The stillness
continued the master searched face after face for signs of guilt
»Benjamin Rogers did you tear this book«
A denial Another pause
»Joseph Harper did you«
Another denial Toms uneasiness grew more and more intense under the slow
torture of these proceedings The master scanned the ranks of boys considered
a while then turned to the girls
»Amy Lawrence«
A shake of the head
»Gracie Miller«
The same sign
»Susan Harper did you do this«
Another negative The next girl was Becky Thatcher Tom was trembling from
head to foot with excitement and a sense of the hopelessness of the situation
»Rebecca Thatcher« Tom glanced at her face it was white with terror
»did you tear no look me in the face« her hands rose in appeal »did you
tear this book«
A thought shot like lightning through Toms brain He sprang to his feet and
shouted
»I done it«
The school stared in perplexity at this incredible folly Tom stood a
moment to gather his dismembered faculties and when he stepped forward to go
to his punishment the surprise the gratitude the adoration that shone upon him
out of poor Beckys eyes seemed pay enough for a hundred floggings Inspired by
the splendor of his own act he took without an outcry the most merciless
flaying that even Mr Dobbins had ever administered and also received with
indifference the added cruelty of a command to remain two hours after school
should be dismissed for he knew who would wait for him outside till his
captivity was done and not count the tedious time as loss either
Tom went to bed that night planning vengeance against Alfred Temple for
with shame and repentance Becky had told him all not forgetting her own
treachery but even the longing for vengeance had to give way soon to
pleasanter musings and he fell asleep at last with Beckys latest words
lingering dreamily in his ear
»Tom how could you be so noble«
Chapter 21
Vacation was approaching The schoolmaster always severe grew severer and more
exacting than ever for he wanted the school to make a good showing on
Examination day His rod and his ferule were seldom idle now at least among
the smaller pupils Only the biggest boys and young ladies of eighteen and
twenty escaped lashing Mr Dobbinss lashings were very vigorous ones too for
although he carried under his wig a perfectly bald and shiny head he had only
reached middle age and there was no sign of feebleness in his muscle As the
great day approached all the tyranny that was in him came to the surface he
seemed to take a vindictive pleasure in punishing the least shortcomings The
consequence was that the smaller boys spent their days in terror and suffering
and their nights in plotting revenge They threw away no opportunity to do the
master a mischief But he kept ahead all the time The retribution that followed
every vengeful success was so sweeping and majestic that the boys always retired
from the field badly worsted At last they conspired together and hit upon a
plan that promised a dazzling victory They sworein the signpainters boy
told him the scheme and asked his help He had his own reasons for being
delighted for the master boarded in his fathers family and had given the boy
ample cause to hate him The masters wife would go on a visit to the country in
a few days and there would be nothing to interfere with the plan the master
always prepared himself for great occasions by getting pretty well fuddled and
the signpainters boy said that when the dominie had reached the proper
condition on Examination Evening he would manage the thing while he napped in
his chair then he would have him awakened at the right time and hurried away to
school
In the fulness of time the interesting occasion arrived At eight in the
evening the schoolhouse was brilliantly lighted and adorned with wreaths and
festoons of foliage and flowers The master sat throned in his great chair upon
a raised platform with his blackboard behind him He was looking tolerably
mellow Three rows of benches on each side and six rows in front of him were
occupied by the dignitaries of the town and by the parents of the pupils To his
left back of the rows of citizens was a spacious temporary platform upon which
were seated the scholars who were to take part in the exercises of the evening
rows of small boys washed and dressed to an intolerable state of discomfort
rows of gawky big boys snowbanks of girls and young ladies clad in lawn and
muslin and conspicuously conscious of their bare arms their grandmothers
ancient trinkets their bits of pink and blue ribbon and the flowers in their
hair All the rest of the house was filled with nonparticipating scholars
The exercises began A very little boy stood up and sheepishly recited
»Youd scarce expect one of my age to speak in public on the stage etc«
accompanying himself with the painfully exact and spasmodic gestures which a
machine might have used supposing the machine to be a trifle out of order But
he got through safely though cruelly scared and got a fine round of applause
when he made his manufactured bow and retired
A little shamefaced girl lisped Mary had a little lamb etc performed a
compassioninspiring curtsy got her meed of applause and sat down flushed and
happy
Tom Sawyer stepped forward with conceited confidence and soared into the
unquenchable and indestructible Give me liberty or give me death speech with
fine fury and frantic gesticulation and broke down in the middle of it A
ghastly stagefright seized him his legs quaked under him and he was like to
choke True he had the manifest sympathy of the house but he had the houses
silence too which was even worse than its sympathy The master frowned and
this completed the disaster Tom struggled a while and then retired utterly
defeated There was a weak attempt at applause but it died early
»The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck« followed also »The Assyrian Came Down«
and other declamatory gems Then there were reading exercises and a spelling
fight The meagre Latin class recited with honor The prime feature of the
evening was in order now original compositions by the young ladies Each in
her turn stepped forward to the edge of the platform cleared her throat held
up her manuscript tied with dainty ribbon and proceeded to read with labored
attention to expression and punctuation The themes were the same that had been
illuminated upon similar occasions by their mothers before them their
grandmothers and doubtless all their ancestors in the female line clear back to
the Crusades »Friendship« was one »Memories of Other Days« »Religion in
History« »Dream Land« »The Advantages of Culture« »Forms of Political
Government Compared and Contrasted« »Melancholy« »Filial Love« »Heart
Longings« etc etc
A prevalent feature in these compositions was a nursed and petted
melancholy another was a wasteful and opulent gush of fine language another
was a tendency to lug in by the ears particularly prized words and phrases until
they were worn entirely out and a peculiarity that conspicuously marked and
marred them was the inveterate and intolerable sermon that wagged its crippled
tail at the end of each and every one of them No matter what the subject might
be a brainracking effort was made to squirm it into some aspect or other that
the moral and religious mind could contemplate with edification The glaring
insincerity of these sermons was not sufficient to compass the banishment of the
fashion from the schools and it is not sufficient today it never will be
sufficient while the world stands perhaps There is no school in all our land
where the young ladies do not feel obliged to close their compositions with a
sermon and you will find that the sermon of the most frivolous and least
religious girl in the school is always the longest and the most relentlessly
pious But enough of this Homely truth is unpalatable
Let us return to the Examination The first composition that was read was
one entitled »Is this then Life« Perhaps the reader can endure an extract
from it
»In the common walks of life with what delightful emotions does the
youthful mind look forward to some anticipated scene of festivity
Imagination is busy sketching rosetinted pictures of joy In fancy the
voluptuous votary of fashion sees herself amid the festive throng the
observed of all observers Her graceful form arrayed in snowy robes is
whirling through the mazes of the joyous dance her eye is brightest
her step is lightest in the gay assembly
In such delicious fancies time quickly glides by and the welcome
hour arrives for her entrance into the elysian world of which she has
had such bright dreams How fairylike does every thing appear to her
enchanted vision each new scene is more charming than the last But
after a while she finds that beneath this goodly exterior all is
vanity the flattery which once charmed her soul now grates harshly
upon her ear the ballroom has lost its charms and with wasted health
and imbittered heart she turns away with the conviction that earthly
pleasures cannot satisfy the longings of the soul«
And so forth and so on There was a buzz of gratification from time to time
during the reading accompanied by whispered ejaculations of »How sweet« »How
eloquent« »So true« etc and after the thing had closed with a peculiarly
afflicting sermon the applause was enthusiastic
Then arose a slim melancholy girl whose face had the interesting paleness
that comes of pills and indigestion and read a poem Two stanzas of it will do
A Missouri Maidens Farewell to Alabama
Alabama goodbye I love thee well
But yet for awhile do I leave thee now
Sad yes sad thoughts of thee my heart doth swell
And burning recollections throng my brow
For I have wandered through thy flowery woods
Have roamed and read near Tallapoosas stream
Have listened to Tallassees warring floods
And wooed on Coosas side Auroras beam
Yet shame I not to bear an oerfull heart
Nor blush to turn behind my tearful eyes
Tis from no stranger land I now must part
Tis to no strangers left I yield these sighs
Welcome and home were mine within this State
Whose vales I leave whose spires fade fast from me
And cold must be mine eyes and heart and tête
When dear Alabama they turn cold on thee
There were very few there who knew what tête meant but the poem was very
satisfactory nevertheless
Next appeared a dark complexioned black eyed black haired young lady who
paused an impressive moment assumed a tragic expression and began to read in a
measured solemn tone
A Vision
Dark and tempestuous was night Around the throne on high not a single star
quivered but the deep intonations of the heavy thunder constantly vibrated upon
the ear whilst the terrific lightning revelled in angry mood through the cloudy
chambers of heaven seeming to scorn the power exerted over its terror by the
illustrious Franklin Even the boisterous winds unanimously came forth from
their mystic homes and blustered about as if to enhance by their aid the
wildness of the scene
At such a time so dark so dreary for human sympathy my very spirit
sighed but instead thereof
»My dearest friend my counsellor my comforter and guide
My joy in grief my second bliss in joy« came to my side
She moved like one of those bright beings pictured in the sunny walks of fancys
Eden by the romantic and young a queen of beauty unadorned save by her own
transcendent loveliness So soft was her step it failed to make even a sound
and but for the magical thrill imparted by her genial touch as other
unobtrusive beauties she would have glided away unperceived unsought A
strange sadness rested upon her features like icy tears upon the robe of
December as she pointed to the contending elements without and bade me
contemplate the two beings presented
This nightmare occupied some ten pages of manuscript and wound up with a sermon
so destructive of all hope to nonPresbyterians that it took the first prize
This composition was considered to be the very finest effort of the evening The
mayor of the village in delivering the prize to the author of it made a warm
speech in which he said that it was by far the most eloquent thing he had ever
listened to and that Daniel Webster himself might well be proud of it
It may be remarked in passing that the number of compositions in which the
word beauteous was overfondled and human experience referred to as lifes
page was up to the usual average
Now the master mellow almost to the verge of geniality put his chair
aside turned his back to the audience and began to draw a map of America on
the blackboard to exercise the geography class upon But he made a sad business
of it with his unsteady hand and a smothered titter rippled over the house He
knew what the matter was and set himself to right it He sponged out lines and
remade them but he only distorted them more than ever and the tittering was
more pronounced He threw his entire attention upon his work now as if
determined not to be put down by the mirth He felt that all eyes were fastened
upon him he imagined he was succeeding and yet the tittering continued it
even manifestly increased And well it might There was a garret above pierced
with a scuttle over his head down through this scuttle came a cat suspended
around the haunches by a string she had a rag tied about her head and jaws to
keep her from mewing as she slowly descended she curved upward and clawed at
the string she swung downward and clawed at the intangible air The tittering
rose higher and higher the cat was within six inches of the absorbed teachers
head down down a little lower and she grabbed his wig with her desperate
claws clung to it and was snatched up into the garret in an instant with her
trophy still in her possession And how the light did blaze abroad from the
masters bald pate for the signpainters boy had gilded it
That broke up the meeting The boys were avenged Vacation had come
NOTE The pretended compositions quoted in this chapter are taken without
alteration from a volume entitled »Prose and Poetry by a Western Lady« but
they are exactly and precisely after the schoolgirl pattern and hence are much
happier than any mere imitations could be
Chapter 22
Tom joined the new order of Cadets of Temperance being attracted by the showy
character of their regalia He promised to abstain from smoking chewing and
profanity as long as he remained a member Now he found out a new thing
namely that to promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make
a body want to go and do that very thing Tom soon found himself tormented with
a desire to drink and swear the desire grew to be so intense that nothing but
the hope of a chance to display himself in his red sash kept him from
withdrawing from the order Fourth of July was coming but he soon gave that up
gave it up before he had worn his shackles over fortyeight hours and fixed
his hopes upon old Judge Frazer justice of the peace who was apparently on his
deathbed and would have a big public funeral since he was so high an official
During three days Tom was deeply concerned about the Judges condition and
hungry for news of it Sometimes his hopes ran high so high that he would
venture to get out his regalia and practice before the lookingglass But the
Judge had a most discouraging way of fluctuating At last he was pronounced upon
the mend and then convalescent Tom was disgusted and felt a sense of injury
too He handed in his resignation at once and that night the Judge suffered a
relapse and died Tom resolved that he would never trust a man like that again
The funeral was a fine thing The Cadets paraded in a style calculated to kill
the late member with envy Tom was a free boy again however there was
something in that He could drink and swear now but found to his surprise
that he did not want to The simple fact that he could took the desire away
and the charm of it
Tom presently wondered to find that his coveted vacation was beginning to
hang a little heavily on his hands
He attempted a diary but nothing happened during three days and so he
abandoned it
The first of all the negro minstrel shows came to town and made a
sensation Tom and Joe Harper got up a band of performers and were happy for two
days
Even the Glorious Fourth was in some sense a failure for it rained hard
there was no procession in consequence and the greatest man in the world as
Tom supposed Mr Benton an actual United States Senator proved an
overwhelming disappointment for he was not twentyfive feet high nor even
anywhere in the neighborhood of it
A circus came The boys played circus for three days afterward in tents made
of rag carpeting admission three pins for boys two for girls and then
circusing was abandoned
A phrenologist and a mesmerizer came and went again and left the village
duller and drearier than ever
There were some boysandgirls parties but they were so few and so
delightful that they only made the aching voids between ache the harder
Becky Thatcher was gone to her Constantinople home to stay with her parents
during vacation so there was no bright side to life anywhere
The dreadful secret of the murder was a chronic misery It was a very cancer
for permanency and pain
Then came the measles
During two long weeks Tom lay a prisoner dead to the world and its
happenings He was very ill he was interested in nothing When he got upon his
feet at last and moved feebly down town a melancholy change had come over
everything and every creature There had been a revival and everybody had got
religion not only the adults but even the boys and girls Tom went about
hoping against hope for the sight of one blessed sinful face but disappointment
crossed him everywhere He found Joe Harper studying a Testament and turned
sadly away from the depressing spectacle He sought Ben Rogers and found him
visiting the poor with a basket of tracts He hunted up Jim Hollis who called
his attention to the precious blessing of his late measles as a warning Every
boy he encountered added another ton to his depression and when in
desperation he flew for refuge at last to the bosom of Huckleberry Finn and was
received with a Scriptural quotation his heart broke and he crept home and to
bed realizing that he alone of all the town was lost forever and forever
And that night there came on a terrific storm with driving rain awful
claps of thunder and blinding sheets of lightning He covered his head with the
bedclothes and waited in a horror of suspense for his doom for he had not the
shadow of a doubt that all this hubbub was about him He believed he had taxed
the forbearance of the powers above to the extremity of endurance and that this
was the result It might have seemed to him a waste of pomp and ammunition to
kill a bug with a battery of artillery but there seemed nothing incongruous
about the getting up such an expensive thunderstorm as this to knock the turf
from under an insect like himself
By and by the tempest spent itself and died without accomplishing its
object The boys first impulse was to be grateful and reform His second was
to wait for there might not be any more storms
The next day the doctors were back Tom had relapsed The three weeks he
spent on his back this time seemed an entire age When he got abroad at last he
was hardly grateful that he had been spared remembering how lonely was his
estate how companionless and forlorn he was He drifted listlessly down the
street and found Jim Hollis acting as judge in a juvenile court that was trying
a cat for murder in the presence of her victim a bird He found Joe Harper and
Huck Finn up an alley eating a stolen melon Poor lads they like Tom had
suffered a relapse
Chapter 23
At last the sleepy atmosphere was stirred and vigorously the murder trial
came on in the court It became the absorbing topic of village talk immediately
Tom could not get away from it Every reference to the murder sent a shudder to
his heart for his troubled conscience and his fears almost persuaded him that
these remarks were put forth in his hearing as feelers he did not see how he
could be suspected of knowing anything about the murder but still he could not
be comfortable in the midst of this gossip It kept him in a cold shiver all the
time He took Huck to a lonely place to have a talk with him It would be some
relief to unseal his tongue for a little while to divide his burden of distress
with another sufferer Moreover he wanted to assure himself that Huck had
remained discreet
»Huck have you ever told anybody about that«
»Bout what«
»You know what«
»Oh course I havent«
»Never a word«
»Never a solitry word so help me What makes you ask«
»Well I was afeard«
»Why Tom Sawyer we wouldnt be alive two days if that got found out You
know that«
Tom felt more comfortable After a pause
»Huck they couldnt anybody get you to tell could they«
»Get me to tell Why if I wanted that halfbreed devil to drownd me they
could get me to tell They aint no different way«
»Well thats all right then I reckon were safe as long as we keep mum
But lets swear again anyway Its more surer«
»Im agreed«
So they swore again with dread solemnities
»What is the talk around Huck Ive heard a power of it«
»Talk Well its just Muff Potter Muff Potter Muff Potter all the time
It keeps me in a sweat constant sos I want to hide somers«
»Thats just the same way they go on round me I reckon hes a goner Dont
you feel sorry for him sometimes«
»Most always most always He aint no account but then he haint ever
done anything to hurt anybody Just fishes a little to get money to get drunk
on and loafs around considerable but lord we all do that leastways most of
us preachers and such like But hes kind of good he give me half a fish
once when there warnt enough for two and lots of times hes kind of stood by
me when I was out of luck«
»Well hes mended kites for me Huck and knitted hooks on to my line I
wish we could get him out of there«
»My we couldnt get him out Tom And besides twouldnt do any good theyd
ketch him again«
»Yes so they would But I hate to hear em abuse him so like the dickens
when he never done that«
»I do too Tom Lord I hear em say hes the bloodiest looking villain in
this country and they wonder he wasnt ever hung before«
»Yes they talk like that all the time Ive heard em say that if he was
to get free theyd lynch him«
»And theyd do it too«
The boys had a long talk but it brought them little comfort As the
twilight drew on they found themselves hanging about the neighborhood of the
little isolated jail perhaps with an undefined hope that something would happen
that might clear away their difficulties But nothing happened there seemed to
be no angels or fairies interested in this luckless captive
The boys did as they had often done before went to the cell grating and
gave Potter some tobacco and matches He was on the ground floor and there were
no guards
His gratitude for their gifts had always smote their consciences before it
cut deeper than ever this time They felt cowardly and treacherous to the last
degree when Potter said
»Youve been mighty good to me boys bettern anybody else in this town
And I dont forget it I dont Often I says to myself says I I used to mend
all the boys kites and things and show em where the good fishin places was
and befriend em what I could and now theyve all forgot old Muff when hes in
trouble but Tom dont and Huck dont they dont forget him says I and I
dont forget them Well boys I done an awful thing drunk and crazy at the
time thats the only way I account for it and now I got to swing for it and
its right Right and best too I reckon hope so anyway Well we wont talk
about that I dont want to make you feel bad youve befriended me But what I
want to say is dont you ever get drunk then you wont ever get here Stand
a little furder west so thats it its a prime comfort to see faces thats
friendly when a bodys in such a muck of trouble and there dont none come
here but yourn Good friendly faces good friendly faces Git up on one
anothers backs and let me touch em Thats it Shake hands yournll come
through the bars but mines too big Little hands and weak but theyve
helped Muff Potter a power and theyd help him more if they could«
Tom went home miserable and his dreams that night were full of horrors The
next day and the day after he hung about the court room drawn by an almost
irresistible impulse to go in but forcing himself to stay out Huck was having
the same experience They studiously avoided each other Each wandered away
from time to time but the same dismal fascination always brought them back
presently Tom kept his ears open when idlers sauntered out of the court room
but invariably heard distressing news the toils were closing more and more
relentlessly around poor Potter At the end of the second day the village talk
was to the effect that Injun Joes evidence stood firm and unshaken and that
there was not the slightest question as to what the jurys verdict would be
Tom was out late that night and came to bed through the window He was in
a tremendous state of excitement It was hours before he got to sleep All the
village flocked to the Court house the next morning for this was to be the
great day Both sexes were about equally represented in the packed audience
After a long wait the jury filed in and took their places shortly afterward
Potter pale and haggard timid and hopeless was brought in with chains upon
him and seated where all the curious eyes could stare at him no less
conspicuous was Injun Joe stolid as ever There was another pause and then the
judge arrived and the sheriff proclaimed the opening of the court The usual
whisperings among the lawyers and gathering together of papers followed These
details and accompanying delays worked up an atmosphere of preparation that was
as impressive as it was fascinating
Now a witness was called who testified that he found Muff Potter washing in
the brook at an early hour of the morning that the murder was discovered and
that he immediately sneaked away After some further questioning counsel for
the prosecution said
»Take the witness«
The prisoner raised his eyes for a moment but dropped them again when his
own counsel said
»I have no questions to ask him«
The next witness proved the finding of the knife near the corpse Counsel
for the prosecution said
»Take the witness«
»I have no questions to ask him« Potters lawyer replied
A third witness swore he had often seen the knife in Potters possession
»Take the witness«
Counsel for Potter declined to question him The faces of the audience began
to betray annoyance Did this attorney mean to throw away his clients life
without an effort
Several witnesses deposed concerning Potters guilty behavior when brought
to the scene of the murder They were allowed to leave the stand without being
crossquestioned
Every detail of the damaging circumstances that occurred in the graveyard
upon that morning which all present remembered so well was brought out by
credible witnesses but none of them were crossexamined by Potters lawyer The
perplexity and dissatisfaction of the house expressed itself in murmurs and
provoked a reproof from the bench Counsel for the prosecution now said
»By the oaths of citizens whose simple word is above suspicion we have
fastened this awful crime beyond all possibility of question upon the unhappy
prisoner at the bar We rest our case here«
A groan escaped from poor Potter and he put his face in his hands and
rocked his body softly to and fro while a painful silence reigned in the court
room Many men were moved and many womens compassion testified itself in
tears Counsel for the defence rose and said
»Your honor in our remarks at the opening of this trial we foreshadowed
our purpose to prove that our client did this fearful deed while under the
influence of a blind and irresponsible delirium produced by drink We have
changed our mind We shall not offer that plea« Then to the clerk »Call
Thomas Sawyer«
A puzzled amazement awoke in every face in the house not even excepting
Potters Every eye fastened itself with wondering interest upon Tom as he rose
and took his place upon the stand The boy looked wild enough for he was badly
scared The oath was administered
»Thomas Sawyer where were you on the seventeenth of June about the hour of
midnight«
Tom glanced at Injun Joes iron face and his tongue failed him The audience
listened breathless but the words refused to come After a few moments
however the boy got a little of his strength back and managed to put enough of
it into his voice to make part of the house hear
»In the graveyard«
»A little bit louder please Dont be afraid You were «
»In the graveyard«
A contemptuous smile flitted across Injun Joes face
»Were you anywhere near Horse Williamss grave«
»Yes sir«
»Speak up just a trifle louder How near were you«
»Near as I am to you«
»Were you hidden or not«
»I was hid«
»Where«
»Behind the elms thats on the edge of the grave«
Injun Joe gave a barely perceptible start
»Any one with you«
»Yes sir I went there with «
»Wait wait a moment Never mind mentioning your companions name We will
produce him at the proper time Did you carry anything there with you«
Tom hesitated and looked confused
»Speak out my boy dont be diffident The truth is always respectable
What did you take there«
»Only a a dead cat«
There was a ripple of mirth which the court checked
»We will produce the skeleton of that cat Now my boy tell us everything
that occurred tell it in your own way dont skip anything and dont be
afraid«
Tom began hesitatingly at first but as he warmed to his subject his words
flowed more and more easily in a little while every sound ceased but his own
voice every eye fixed itself upon him with parted lips and bated breath the
audience hung upon his words taking no note of time rapt in the ghastly
fascinations of the tale The strain upon pent emotion reached its climax when
the boy said
» and as the doctor fetched the board around and Muff Potter fell Injun
Joe jumped with the knife and «
Crash quick as lightning the halfbreed sprang for a window tore his way
through all opposers and was gone
Chapter 24
Tom was a glittering hero once more the pet of the old the envy of the young
His name even went into immortal print for the village paper magnified him
There were some that believed he would be President yet if he escaped hanging
As usual the fickle unreasoning world took Muff Potter to its bosom and
fondled him as lavishly as it had abused him before But that sort of conduct is
to the worlds credit therefore it is not well to find fault with it
Toms days were days of splendor and exultation to him but his nights were
seasons of horror Injun Joe infested all his dreams and always with doom in
his eye Hardly any temptation could persuade the boy to stir abroad after
nightfall Poor Huck was in the same state of wretchedness and terror for Tom
had told the whole story to the lawyer the night before the great day of the
trial and Huck was sore afraid that his share in the business might leak out
yet notwithstanding Injun Joes flight had saved him the suffering of
testifying in court The poor fellow had got the attorney to promise secrecy
but what of that Since Toms harassed conscience had managed to drive him to
the lawyers house by night and wring a dread tale from lips that had been
sealed with the dismalest and most formidable of oaths Hucks confidence in the
human race was well nigh obliterated Daily Muff Potters gratitude made Tom
glad he had spoken but nightly he wished he had sealed up his tongue
Half the time Tom was afraid Injun Joe would never be captured the other
half he was afraid he would be He felt sure he never could draw a safe breath
again until that man was dead and he had seen the corpse
Rewards had been offered the country had been scoured but no Injun Joe was
found One of those omniscient and aweinspiring marvels a detective came up
from St Louis moused around shook his head looked wise and made that sort
of astounding success which members of that craft usually achieve That is to
say he found a clew But you cant hang a clew for murder and so after that
detective had got through and gone home Tom felt just as insecure as he was
before
The slow days drifted on and each left behind it a slightly lightened
weight of apprehension
Chapter 25
There comes a time in every rightly constructed boys life when he has a raging
desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure This desire suddenly came
upon Tom one day He sallied out to find Joe Harper but failed of success Next
he sought Ben Rogers he had gone fishing Presently he stumbled upon Huck Finn
the RedHanded Huck would answer Tom took him to a private place and opened
the matter to him confidentially Huck was willing Huck was always willing to
take a hand in any enterprise that offered entertainment and required no
capital for he had a troublesome superabundance of that sort of time which is
not money
»Wherell we dig« said Huck
»O most anywhere«
»Why is it hid all around«
»No indeed it aint Its hid in mighty particular places Huck sometimes
on islands sometimes in rotten chests under the end of a limb of an old dead
tree just where the shadow falls at midnight but mostly under the floor in
hanted houses«
»Who hides it«
»Why robbers of course whod you reckon Sundayschool suprintendents«
»I dont know If twas mine I wouldnt hide it Id spend it and have a
good time«
»So would I But robbers dont do that way They always hide it and leave it
there«
»Dont they come after it any more«
»No they think they will but they generally forget the marks or else they
die Anyway it lays there a long time and gets rusty and by and by somebody
finds an old yellow paper that tells how to find the marks a paper thats got
to be ciphered over about a week because its mostly signs and hyrogliphics«
»Hyro which«
»Hyrogliphics pictures and things you know that dont seem to mean
anything«
»Have you got one of them papers Tom«
»No«
»Well then how you going to find the marks«
»I dont want any marks They always bury it under a hanted house or on an
island or under a dead tree thats got one limb sticking out Well weve tried
Jacksons Island a little and we can try it again some time and theres the
old hanted house up the StillHouse branch and theres lots of deadlimb trees
dead loads of em«
»Is it under all of them«
»How you talk No«
»Then how you going to know which one to go for«
»Go for all of em«
»Why Tom itll take all summer«
»Well what of that Suppose you find a brass pot with a hundred dollars in
it all rusty and gay or a rotten chest full of dimonds Hows that«
Hucks eyes glowed
»Thats bully Plenty bully enough for me Just you gimme the hundred
dollars and I dont want no dimonds«
»All right But I bet you I aint going to throw off on dimonds Some of
ems worth twenty dollars apiece there aint any hardly buts worth six
bits or a dollar«
»No Is that so«
»Certnly anybodyll tell you so Haint you ever seen one Huck«
»Not as I remember«
»O kings have slathers of them«
»Well I dont know no kings Tom«
»I reckon you dont But if you was to go to Europe youd see a raft of em
hopping around«
»Do they hop«
»Hop your granny No«
»Well what did you say they did for«
»Shucks I only meant youd see em not hopping of course what do they
want to hop for but I mean youd just see em scattered around you know
in a kind of a general way Like that old humpbacked Richard«
»Richard Whats his other name«
»He didnt have any other name Kings dont have any but a given name«
»No«
»But they dont«
»Well if they like it Tom all right but I dont want to be a king and
have only just a given name like a nigger But say where you going to dig
first«
»Well I dont know Spose we tackle that old deadlimb tree on the hill
tother side of StillHouse branch«
»Im agreed«
So they got a crippled pick and a shovel and set out on their threemile
tramp They arrived hot and panting and threw themselves down in the shade of a
neighboring elm to rest and have a smoke
»I like this« said Tom
»So do I«
»Say Huck if we find a treasure here what you going to do with your
share«
»Well Ill have pie and a glass of soda every day and Ill go to every
circus that comes along I bet Ill have a gay time«
»Well aint you going to save any of it«
»Save it What for«
»Why so as to have something to live on by and by«
»O that aint any use Pap would come back to thishyer town some day and
get his claws on it if I didnt hurry up and I tell you hed clean it out
pretty quick What you going to do with yourn Tom«
»Im going to buy a new drum and a surenough sword and a red necktie
and a bull pup and get married«
»Married«
»Thats it«
»Tom you why you aint in your right mind«
»Wait youll see«
»Well thats the foolishest thing you could do Tom Look at pap and my
mother Fight Why they used to fight all the time I remember mighty well«
»That aint anything The girl Im going to marry wont fight«
»Tom I reckon theyre all alike Theyll all comb a body Now you better
think bout this a while I tell you you better Whats the name of the gal«
»It aint a gal at all its a girl«
»Its all the same I reckon some says gal some says girl boths right
like enough Anyway whats her name Tom«
»Ill tell you some time not now«
»All right thatll do Only if you get married Ill be more lonesomer than
ever«
»No you wont Youll come and live with me Now stir out of this and well
go to digging«
They worked and sweated for half an hour No result They toiled another
half hour Still no result Huck said
»Do they always bury it as deep as this«
»Sometimes not always Not generally I reckon we havent got the right
place«
So they chose a new spot and began again The labor dragged a little but
still they made progress They pegged away in silence for some time Finally
Huck leaned on his shovel swabbed the beaded drops from his brow with his
sleeve and said
»Where you going to dig next after we get this one«
»I reckon maybe well tackle the old tree thats over yonder on Cardiff Hill
back of the widows«
»I reckon thatll be a good one But wont the widow take it away from us
Tom Its on her land«
»She take it away Maybe shed like to try it once Whoever finds one of
these hid treasures it belongs to him It dont make any difference whose land
its on«
That was satisfactory The work went on By and by Huck said
»Blame it we must be in the wrong place again What do you think«
»It is mighty curious Huck I dont understand it Sometimes witches
interfere I reckon maybe thats whats the trouble now«
»Shucks witches aint got no power in the daytime«
»Well thats so I didnt think of that Oh I know what the matter is
What a blamed lot of fools we are You got to find out where the shadow of the
limb falls at midnight and thats where you dig«
»Then consound it weve fooled away all this work for nothing Now hang it
all we got to come back in the night Its an awful long way Can you get out«
»I bet I will Weve got to do it tonight too because if somebody sees
these holes theyll know in a minute whats here and theyll go for it«
»Well Ill come around and maow tonight«
»All right Lets hide the tools in the bushes«
The boys were there that night about the appointed time They sat in the
shadow waiting It was a lonely place and an hour made solemn by old
traditions Spirits whispered in the rustling leaves ghosts lurked in the murky
nooks the deep baying of a hound floated up out of the distance an owl
answered with his sepulchral note The boys were subdued by these solemnities
and talked little By and by they judged that twelve had come they marked where
the shadow fell and began to dig Their hopes commenced to rise Their interest
grew stronger and their industry kept pace with it The hole deepened and still
deepened but every time their hearts jumped to hear the pick strike upon
something they only suffered a new disappointment It was only a stone or a
chunk At last Tom said
»It aint any use Huck were wrong again«
»Well but we cant be wrong We spotted the shadder to a dot«
»I know it but then theres another thing«
»Whats that«
»Why we only guessed at the time Like enough it was too late or too early«
Huck dropped his shovel
»Thats it« said he »Thats the very trouble We got to give this one up
We cant ever tell the right time and besides this kind of things too awful
here this time of night with witches and ghosts afluttering around so I feel
as if somethings behind me all the time and Im afeard to turn around becuz
maybe theres others in front awaiting for a chance I been creeping all over
ever since I got here«
»Well Ive been pretty much so too Huck They most always put in a dead
man when they bury a treasure under a tree to look out for it«
»Lordy«
»Yes they do Ive always heard that«
»Tom I dont like to fool around much where theres dead people A bodys
bound to get into trouble with em sure«
»I dont like to stir em up either Huck Spose this one here was to
stick his skull out and say something«
»Dont Tom Its awful«
»Well it just is Huck I dont feel comfortable a bit«
»Say Tom lets give this place up and try somewheres else«
»All right I reckon we better«
»Whatll it be«
Tom considered a while and then said
»The hanted house Thats it«
»Blame it I dont like hanted houses Tom Why theyre a dern sight
worsen dead people Dead people might talk maybe but they dont come sliding
around in a shroud when you aint noticing and peep over your shoulder all of
a sudden and grit their teeth the way a ghost does I couldnt stand such a
thing as that Tom nobody could«
»Yes but Huck ghosts dont travel around only at night they wont hender
us from digging there in the daytime«
»Well thats so But you know mighty well people dont go about that hanted
house in the day nor the night«
»Well thats mostly because they dont like to go where a mans been
murdered anyway but nothings ever been seen around that house except in the
night just some blue lights slipping by the windows no regular ghosts«
»Well where you see one of them blue lights flickering around Tom you can
bet theres a ghost mighty close behind it It stands to reason Becuz you know
that they dont anybody but ghosts use em«
»Yes thats so But anyway they dont come around in the daytime so whats
the use of our being afeard«
»Well all right Well tackle the hanted house if you say so but I
reckon its taking chances«
They had started down the hill by this time There in the middle of the
moonlit valley below them stood the hanted house utterly isolated its fences
gone long ago rank weeds smothering the very doorstep the chimney crumbled to
ruin the windowsashes vacant a corner of the roof caved in The boys gazed a
while half expecting to see a blue light flit past a window then talking in a
low tone as befitted the time and the circumstances they struck far off to the
right to give the haunted house a wide berth and took their way homeward
through the woods that adorned the rearward side of Cardiff Hill
Chapter 26
About noon the next day the boys arrived at the dead tree they had come for
their tools Tom was impatient to go to the haunted house Huck was measurably
so also but suddenly said
»Lookyhere Tom do you know what day it is«
Tom mentally ran over the days of the week and then quickly lifted his eyes
with a startled look in them
»My I never once thought of it Huck«
»Well I didnt neither but all at once it popped onto me that it was
Friday«
»Blame it a body cant be too careful Huck We might a got into an awful
scrape tackling such a thing on a Friday«
»Might Better say we would Theres some lucky days maybe but Friday
aint«
»Any fool knows that I dont reckon you was the first that found it out
Huck«
»Well I never said I was did I And Friday aint all neither I had a
rotten bad dream last night dreampt about rats«
»No Sure sign of trouble Did they fight«
»No«
»Well thats good Huck When they dont fight its only a sign that theres
trouble around you know All we got to do is to look mighty sharp and keep out
of it Well drop this thing for today and play Do you know Robin Hood
Huck«
»No Whos Robin Hood«
»Why he was one of the greatest men that was ever in England and the best
He was a robber«
»Cracky I wisht I was Who did he rob«
»Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings and such like But he
never bothered the poor He loved em He always divided up with em perfectly
square«
»Well he must a ben a brick«
»I bet you he was Huck Oh he was the noblest man that ever was They
aint any such men now I can tell you He could lick any man in England with
one hand tied behind him and he could take his yew bow and plug a ten cent
piece every time a mile and a half«
»Whats a yew bow«
»I dont know Its some kind of a bow of course And if he hit that dime
only on the edge he would set down and cry and curse But well play Robin
Hood its noble fun Ill learn you«
»Im agreed«
So they played Robin Hood all the afternoon now and then casting a yearning
eye down upon the haunted house and passing a remark about the morrows
prospects and possibilities there As the sun began to sink into the west they
took their way homeward athwart the long shadows of the trees and soon were
buried from sight in the forests of Cardiff Hill
On Saturday shortly after noon the boys were at the dead tree again They
had a smoke and a chat in the shade and then dug a little in their last hole
not with great hope but merely because Tom said there were so many cases where
people had given up a treasure after getting down within six inches of it and
then somebody else had come along and turned it up with a single thrust of a
shovel The thing failed this time however so the boys shouldered their tools
and went away feeling that they had not trifled with fortune but had fulfilled
all the requirements that belong to the business of treasurehunting
When they reached the haunted house there was something so weird and grisly
about the dead silence that reigned there under the baking sun and something so
depressing about the loneliness and desolation of the place that they were
afraid for a moment to venture in Then they crept to the door and took a
trembling peep They saw a weedgrown floorless room unplastered an ancient
fireplace vacant windows a ruinous staircase and here there and everywhere
hung ragged and abandoned cobwebs They presently entered softly with
quickened pulses talking in whispers ears alert to catch the slightest sound
and muscles tense and ready for instant retreat
In a little while familiarity modified their fears and they gave the place a
critical and interested examination rather admiring their own boldness and
wondering at it too Next they wanted to look up stairs This was something
like cutting off retreat but they got to daring each other and of course there
could be but one result they threw their tools into a corner and made the
ascent Up there were the same signs of decay In one corner they found a closet
that promised mystery but the promise was a fraud there was nothing in it
Their courage was up now and well in hand They were about to go down and
begin work when
»Sh« said Tom
»What is it« whispered Huck blanching with fright
»Sh There Hear it«
»Yes O my Lets run«
»Keep still Dont you budge Theyre coming right toward the door«
The boys stretched themselves upon the floor with their eyes to knot holes
in the planking and lay waiting in a misery of fear
»Theyve stopped No coming Here they are Dont whisper
another word Huck My goodness I wish I was out of this«
Two men entered Each boy said to himself »Theres the old deef and dumb
Spaniard thats been about town once or twice lately never saw tother man
before«
Tother was a ragged unkempt creature with nothing very pleasant in his
face The Spaniard was wrapped in a serape he had bushy white whiskers long
white hair flowed from under his sombrero and he wore green goggles When they
came in tother was talking in a low voice they sat down on the ground facing
the door with their backs to the wall and the speaker continued his remarks
His manner became less guarded and his words more distinct as he proceeded
»No« said he »Ive thought it all over and I dont like it Its
dangerous«
»Dangerous« grunted the »deaf and dumb« Spaniard to the vast surprise of
the boys »Milksop«
This voice made the boys gasp and quake It was Injun Joes There was
silence for some time Then Joe said
»Whats any more dangerous than that job up yonder but nothings come of
it«
»Thats different Away up the river so and not another house about
Twont ever be known that we tried anyway long as we didnt succeed«
»Well whats more dangerous than coming here in the daytime anybody
would suspicion us that saw us«
»I know that But there warnt any other place as handy after that fool of a
job I want to quit this shanty I wanted to yesterday only it warnt any use
trying to stir out of here with those infernal boys playing over there on the
hill right in full view«
»Those infernal boys« quaked again under the inspiration of this remark and
thought how lucky it was that they had remembered it was Friday and concluded to
wait a day They wished in their hearts they had waited a year
The two men got out some food and made a luncheon After a long and
thoughtful silence Injun Joe said
»Look here lad you go back up the river where you belong Wait there till
you hear from me Ill take the chances on dropping into this town just once
more for a look Well do that dangerous job after Ive spied around a little
and think things look well for it Then for Texas Well leg it together«
This was satisfactory Both men presently fell to yawning and Injun Joe
said
»Im dead for sleep Its your turn to watch«
He curled down in the weeds and soon began to snore His comrade stirred him
once or twice and he became quiet Presently the watcher began to nod his head
drooped lower and lower both men began to snore now
The boys drew a long grateful breath Tom whispered
»Nows our chance come«
Huck said
»I cant Id die if they was to wake«
Tom urged Huck held back At last Tom rose slowly and softly and started
alone But the first step he made wrung such a hideous creak from the crazy
floor that he sank down almost dead with fright He never made a second attempt
The boys lay there counting the dragging moments till it seemed to them that
time must be done and eternity growing gray and then they were grateful to note
that at last the sun was setting
Now one snore ceased Injun Joe sat up stared around smiled grimly upon
his comrade whose head was drooping upon his knees stirred him up with his
foot and said
»Here Youre a watchman aint you All right though nothings
happened«
»My Have I been asleep«
»Oh partly partly Nearly time for us to be moving pard Whatll we do
with what little swag weve got left«
»I dont know leave it here as weve always done I reckon No use to take
it away till we start south Six hundred and fifty in silvers something to
carry«
»Well all right it wont matter to come here once more«
»No but Id say come in the night as we used to do its better«
»Yes but look here it may be a good while before I get the right chance at
that job accidents might happen taint in such a very good place well just
regularly bury it and bury it deep«
»Good idea« said the comrade who walked across the room knelt down
raised one of the rearward hearthstones and took out a bag that jingled
pleasantly He subtracted from it twenty or thirty dollars for himself and as
much for Injun Joe and passed the bag to the latter who was on his knees in the
corner now digging with his bowie knife
The boys forgot all their fears all their miseries in an instant With
gloating eyes they watched every movement Luck the splendor of it was beyond
all imagination Six hundred dollars was money enough to make half a dozen boys
rich Here was treasure under the happiest auspices there would not be any
bothersome uncertainty as to where to dig They nudged each other every moment
eloquent nudges and easily understood for they simply meant »O but aint you
glad now were here«
Joes knife struck upon something
»Hello« said he
»What is it« said his comrade
»Halfrotten plank no its a box I believe Here bear a hand and well
see what its here for Never mind Ive broke a hole«
He reached his hand in and drew it out
»Man its money«
The two men examined the handful of coins They were gold The boys above
were as excited as themselves and as delighted
Joes comrade said
»Well make quick work of this Theres an old rusty pick over amongst the
weeds in the corner the other side of the fireplace I saw it a minute ago«
He ran and brought the boys pick and shovel Injun Joe took the pick
looked it over critically shook his head muttered something to himself and
then began to use it The box was soon unearthed It was not very large it was
iron bound and had been very strong before the slow years had injured it The
men contemplated the treasure a while in blissful silence
»Pard theres thousands of dollars here« said Injun Joe
»Twas always said that Murrels gang used around here one summer« the
stranger observed
»I know it« said Injun Joe »and this looks like it I should say«
»Now you wont need to do that job«
The halfbreed frowned Said he
»You dont know me Least you dont know all about that thing Taint
robbery altogether its revenge« and a wicked light flamed in his eyes »Ill
need your help in it When its finished then Texas Go home to your Nance and
your kids and stand by till you hear from me«
»Well if you say so Whatll we do with this bury it again«
»Yes« Ravishing delight overhead »No by the great Sachem no«
Profound distress overhead »Id nearly forgot That pick had fresh earth on
it« The boys were sick with terror in a moment »What business has a pick and
a shovel here What business with fresh earth on them Who brought them here
and where are they gone Have you heard anybody seen anybody What bury it
again and leave them to come and see the ground disturbed Not exactly not
exactly Well take it to my den«
»Why of course Might have thought of that before You mean Number One«
»No Number Two under the cross The other place is bad too common«
»All right Its nearly dark enough to start«
Injun Joe got up and went about from window to window cautiously peeping
out Presently he said
»Who could have brought those tools here Do you reckon they can be up
stairs«
The boys breath forsook them Injun Joe put his hand on his knife halted a
moment undecided and then turned toward the stairway The boys thought of the
closet but their strength was gone The steps came creaking up the stairs the
intolerable distress of the situation woke the stricken resolution of the lads
they were about to spring for the closet when there was a crash of rotten
timbers and Injun Joe landed on the ground amid the debris of the ruined
stairway He gathered himself up cursing and his comrade said
»Now whats the use of all that If its anybody and theyre up there let
them stay there who cares If they want to jump down now and get into
trouble who objects It will be dark in fifteen minutes and then let them
follow us if they want to Im willing In my opinion whoever hove those things
in here caught a sight of us and took us for ghosts or devils or something Ill
bet theyre running yet«
Joe grumbled a while then he agreed with his friend that what daylight was
left ought to be economised in getting things ready for leaving Shortly
afterward they slipped out of the house in the deepening twilight and moved
toward the river with their precious box
Tom and Huck rose up weak but vastly relieved and stared after them
through the chinks between the logs of the house Follow Not they They were
content to reach ground again without broken necks and take the townward track
over the hill They did not talk much They were too much absorbed in hating
themselves hating the ill luck that made them take the spade and the pick
there But for that Injun Joe never would have suspected He would have hidden
the silver with the gold to wait there till his revenge was satisfied and then
he would have had the misfortune to find that money turn up missing Bitter
bitter luck that the tools were ever brought there
They resolved to keep a lookout for that Spaniard when he should come to
town spying out for chances to do his revengeful job and follow him to Number
Two wherever that might be Then a ghastly thought occurred to Tom
»Revenge What if he means us Huck«
»O dont« said Huck nearly fainting
They talked it all over and as they entered town they agreed to believe
that he might possibly mean somebody else at least that he might at least mean
nobody but Tom since only Tom had testified
Very very small comfort it was to Tom to be alone in danger Company would
be a palpable improvement he thought
Chapter 27
The adventure of the day mightily tormented Toms dreams that night Four times
he had his hands on that rich treasure and four times it wasted to nothingness
in his fingers as sleep forsook him and wakefulness brought back the hard
reality of his misfortune As he lay in the early morning recalling the
incidents of his great adventure he noticed that they seemed curiously subdued
and far away somewhat as if they had happened in another world or in a time
long gone by Then it occurred to him that the great adventure itself must be a
dream There was one very strong argument in favor of this idea namely that
the quantity of coin he had seen was too vast to be real He had never seen as
much as fifty dollars in one mass before and he was like all boys of his age
and station in life in that he imagined that all references to hundreds and
thousands were mere fanciful forms of speech and that no such sums really
existed in the world He never had supposed for a moment that so large a sum as
a hundred dollars was to be found in actual money in any ones possession If
his notions of hidden treasure had been analyzed they would have been found to
consist of a handful of real dimes and a bushel of vague splendid ungraspable
dollars
But the incidents of his adventure grew sensibly sharper and clearer under
the attrition of thinking them over and so he presently found himself leaning
to the impression that the thing might not have been a dream after all This
uncertainty must be swept away He would snatch a hurried breakfast and go and
find Huck
Huck was sitting on the gunwale of a flatboat listlessly dangling his feet
in the water and looking very melancholy Tom concluded to let Huck lead up to
the subject If he did not do it then the adventure would be proved to have
been only a dream
»Hello Huck«
»Hello yourself«
Silence for a minute
»Tom if wed a left the blame tools at the dead tree wed a got the
money O aint it awful«
»Taint a dream then taint a dream Somehow I most wish it was Dogd
if I dont Huck«
»What aint a dream«
»Oh that thing yesterday I been half thinking it was«
»Dream If them stairs hadnt broke down youd a seen how much dream it
was Ive had dreams enough all night with that patcheyed Spanish devil going
for me all through em rot him«
»No not rot him Find him Track the money«
»Tom well never find him A feller dont have only one chance for such a
pile and that ones lost Id feel mighty shaky if I was to see him anyway«
»Well sod I but Id like to see him anyway and track him out to his
Number Two«
»Number Two yes thats it I ben thinking bout that But I cant make
nothing out of it What do you reckon it is«
»I dono Its too deep Say Huck maybe its the number of a house«
»Goody No Tom that aint it If it is it aint in this
onehorse town They aint no numbers here«
»Well thats so Lemme think a minute Here its the number of a room
in a tavern you know«
»O thats the trick They aint only two taverns We can find out quick«
»You stay here Huck till I come«
Tom was off at once He did not care to have Hucks company in public
places He was gone half an hour He found that in the best tavern No 2 had
long been occupied by a young lawyer and was still so occupied In the less
ostentatious house No 2 was a mystery The tavernkeepers young son said it
was kept locked all the time and he never saw anybody go into it or come out of
it except at night he did not know any particular reason for this state of
things had had some little curiosity but it was rather feeble had made the
most of the mystery by entertaining himself with the idea that that room was
hanted had noticed that there was a light in there the night before
»Thats what Ive found out Huck I reckon thats the very No 2 were
after«
»I reckon it is Tom Now what you going to do«
»Lemme think«
Tom thought a long time Then he said
»Ill tell you The back door of that No 2 is the door that comes out into
that little close alley between the tavern and the old rattletrap of a brick
store Now you get hold of all the doorkeys you can find and Ill nip all of
Aunties and the first dark night well go there and try em And mind you keep
a lookout for Injun Joe because he said he was going to drop into town and spy
around once more for a chance to get his revenge If you see him you just
follow him and if he dont go to that No 2 that aint the place«
»Lordy I dont want to foller him by myself«
»Why itll be night sure He mightnt ever see you and if he did maybe
hed never think anything«
»Well if its pretty dark I reckon Ill track him I dono I dono Ill
try«
»You bet Ill follow him if its dark Huck Why he might a found out he
couldnt get his revenge and be going right after that money«
»Its so Tom its so Ill foller him I will by jingoes«
»Now youre talking Dont you ever weaken Huck and I wont«
Chapter 28
That night Tom and Huck were ready for their adventure They hung about the
neighborhood of the tavern until after nine one watching the alley at a
distance and the other the tavern door Nobody entered the alley or left it
nobody resembling the Spaniard entered or left the tavern door The night
promised to be a fair one so Tom went home with the understanding that if a
considerable degree of darkness came on Huck was to come and maow whereupon he
would slip out and try the keys But the night remained clear and Huck closed
his watch and retired to bed in an empty sugarhogshead about twelve
Tuesday the boys had the same ill luck Also Wednesday But Thursday night
promised better Tom slipped out in good season with his aunts old tin lantern
and a large towel to blindfold it with He hid the lantern in Hucks sugar
hogshead and the watch began An hour before midnight the tavern closed up and
its lights the only ones thereabouts were put out No Spaniard had been seen
Nobody had entered or left the alley Everything was auspicious The blackness
of darkness reigned the perfect stillness was interrupted only by occasional
mutterings of distant thunder
Tom got his lantern lit it in the hogshead wrapped it closely in the
towel and the two adventurers crept in the gloom toward the tavern Huck stood
sentry and Tom felt his way into the alley Then there was a season of waiting
anxiety that weighed upon Hucks spirits like a mountain He began to wish he
could see a flash from the lantern it would frighten him but it would at
least tell him that Tom was alive yet It seemed hours since Tom had
disappeared Surely he must have fainted maybe he was dead maybe his heart had
burst under terror and excitement In his uneasiness Huck found himself drawing
closer and closer to the alley fearing all sorts of dreadful things and
momentarily expecting some catastrophe to happen that would take away his
breath There was not much to take away for he seemed only able to inhale it by
thimblefuls and his heart would soon wear itself out the way it was beating
Suddenly there was a flash of light and Tom came tearing by him
»Run« said he »run for your life«
He neednt have repeated it once was enough Huck was making thirty or
forty miles an hour before the repetition was uttered The boys never stopped
till they reached the shed of a deserted slaughterhouse at the lower end of the
village Just as they got within its shelter the storm burst and the rain poured
down As soon as Tom got his breath he said
»Huck it was awful I tried two of the keys just as soft as I could but
they seemed to make such a power of racket that I couldnt hardly get my breath
I was so scared They wouldnt turn in the lock either Well without noticing
what I was doing I took hold of the knob and open comes the door It warnt
locked I hopped in and shook off the towel and great Caesars ghost«
»What what d you see Tom«
»Huck I most stepped onto Injun Joes hand«
»No«
»Yes He was laying there sound asleep on the floor with his old patch on
his eye and his arms spread out«
»Lordy what did you do Did he wake up«
»No never budged Drunk I reckon I just grabbed that towel and started«
»Id never a thought of the towel I bet«
»Well I would My aunt would make me mighty sick if I lost it«
»Say Tom did you see that box«
»Huck I didnt wait to look around I didnt see the box I didnt see the
cross I didnt see anything but a bottle and a tin cup on the floor by Injun
Joe yes and I saw two barrels and lots more bottles in the room Dont you
see now whats the matter with that hanted room«
»How«
»Why its hanted with whisky Maybe all the Temperance Taverns have got a
hanted room hey Huck«
»Well I reckon maybe thats so Whod a thought such a thing But say
Tom nows a mighty good time to get that box if Injun Joes drunk«
»It is that You try it«
Huck shuddered
»Well no I reckon not«
»And I reckon not Huck Only one bottle alongside of Injun Joe aint
enough If thered been three hed be drunk enough and Id do it«
There was a long pause for reflection and then Tom said
»Lookyhere Huck less not try that thing any more till we know Injun Joes
not in there Its too scary Now if we watch every night well be dead sure to
see him go out some time or other and then well snatch that box quickern
lightning«
»Well Im agreed Ill watch the whole night long and Ill do it every
night too if youll do the other part of the job«
»All right I will All you got to do is to trot up Hooper street a block
and maow and if Im asleep you throw some gravel at the window and thatll
fetch me«
»Agreed and good as wheat«
»Now Huck the storms over and Ill go home Itll begin to be daylight in
a couple of hours You go back and watch that long will you«
»I said I would Tom and I will Ill hant that tavern every night for a
year Ill sleep all day and Ill stand watch all night«
»Thats all right Now where you going to sleep«
»In Ben Rogerss hayloft He lets me and so does his paps nigger man
Uncle Jake I tote water for Uncle Jake whenever he wants me to and any time I
ask him he gives me a little something to eat if he can spare it Thats a
mighty good nigger Tom He likes me becuz I dont ever act as if I was above
him Sometimes Ive set right down and eat with him But you neednt tell that
A bodys got to do things when hes awful hungry he wouldnt want to do as a
steady thing«
»Well if I dont want you in the daytime Huck Ill let you sleep I wont
come bothering around Any time you see somethings up in the night just skip
right around and maow«
Chapter 29
The first thing Tom heard on Friday morning was a glad piece of news Judge
Thatchers family had come back to town the night before Both Injun Joe and the
treasure sunk into secondary importance for a moment and Becky took the chief
place in the boys interest He saw her and they had an exhausting good time
playing hispy and gullykeeper with a crowd of their schoolmates The day was
completed and crowned in a peculiarly satisfactory way Becky teased her mother
to appoint the next day for the longpromised and longdelayed picnic and she
consented The childs delight was boundless and Toms not more moderate The
invitations were sent out before sunset and straightway the young folks of the
village were thrown into a fever of preparation and pleasurable anticipation
Toms excitement enabled him to keep awake until a pretty late hour and he had
good hopes of hearing Hucks maow and of having his treasure to astonish Becky
and the picnickers with next day but he was disappointed No signal came that
night
Morning came eventually and by ten or eleven oclock a giddy and
rollicking company were gathered at Judge Thatchers and everything was ready
for a start It was not the custom for elderly people to mar picnics with their
presence The children were considered safe enough under the wings of a few
young ladies of eighteen and a few young gentlemen of twentythree or
thereabouts The old steam ferry boat was chartered for the occasion presently
the gay throng filed up the main street laden with provision baskets Sid was
sick and had to miss the fun Mary remained at home to entertain him The last
thing Mrs Thatcher said to Becky was
»Youll not get back till late Perhaps youd better stay all night with
some of the girls that live near the ferry landing child«
»Then Ill stay with Susy Harper mamma«
»Very well And mind and behave yourself and dont be any trouble«
Presently as they tripped along Tom said to Becky
»Say Ill tell you what well do Stead of going to Joe Harpers well
climb right up the hill and stop at widow Douglass Shell have ice cream She
has it most every day dead loads of it And shell be awful glad to have us«
»O that will be fun«
Then Becky reflected a moment and said
»But what will mamma say«
»Howll she ever know«
The girl turned the idea over in her mind and said reluctantly
»I reckon its wrong but «
»But shucks Your mother wont know and so whats the harm All she wants
is that youll be safe and I bet you shed a said go there if shed a
thought of it I know she would«
The widow Douglass splendid hospitality was a tempting bait It and Toms
persuasions presently carried the day So it was decided to say nothing to
anybody about the nights programme Presently it occurred to Tom that maybe
Huck might come this very night and give the signal The thought took a deal of
the spirit out of his anticipations Still he could not bear to give up the fun
at widow Douglass And why should he give it up he reasoned the signal did
not come the night before so why should it be any more likely to come tonight
The sure fun of the evening outweighed the uncertain treasure and boy like he
determined to yield to the stronger inclination and not allow himself to think
of the box of money another time that day
Three miles below town the ferry boat stopped at the mouth of a woody hollow
and tied up The crowd swarmed ashore and soon the forest distances and craggy
heights echoed far and near with shoutings and laughter All the different ways
of getting hot and tired were gone through with and by and by the rovers
straggled back to camp fortified with responsible appetites and then the
destruction of the good things began After the feast there was a refreshing
season of rest and chat in the shade of spreading oaks By and by somebody
shouted
»Whos ready for the cave«
Everybody was Bundles of candles were produced and straightway there was a
general scamper up the hill The mouth of the cave was high up the hillside an
opening shaped like a letter A Its massive oaken door stood unbarred Within
was a small chamber chilly as an icehouse and walled by Nature with solid
limestone that was dewy with a cold sweat It was romantic and mysterious to
stand here in the deep gloom and look out upon the green valley shining in the
sun But the impressiveness of the situation quickly wore off and the romping
began again The moment a candle was lighted there was a general rush upon the
owner of it a struggle and a gallant defense followed but the candle was soon
knocked down or blown out and then there was a glad clamor of laughter and a
new chase But all things have an end By and by the procession went filing down
the steep descent of the main avenue the flickering rank of lights dimly
revealing the lofty walls of rock almost to their point of junction sixty feet
overhead This main avenue was not more than eight or ten feet wide Every few
steps other lofty and still narrower crevices branched from it on either hand
for McDougals cave was but a vast labyrinth of crooked aisles that ran into
each other and out again and led nowhere It was said that one might wander days
and nights together through its intricate tangle of rifts and chasms and never
find the end of the cave and that he might go down and down and still down
into the earth and it was just the same labyrinth underneath labyrinth and
no end to any of them No man knew the cave That was an impossible thing Most
of the young men knew a portion of it and it was not customary to venture much
beyond this known portion Tom Sawyer knew as much of the cave as any one
The procession moved along the main avenue some three quarters of a mile
and then groups and couples began to slip aside into branch avenues fly along
the dismal corridors and take each other by surprise at points where the
corridors joined again Parties were able to elude each other for the space of
half an hour without going beyond the known ground
By and by one group after another came straggling back to the mouth of the
cave panting hilarious smeared from head to foot with tallow drippings
daubed with clay and entirely delighted with the success of the day Then they
were astonished to find that they had been taking no note of time and that night
was about at hand The clanging bell had been calling for half an hour However
this sort of close to the days adventures was romantic and therefore
satisfactory When the ferryboat with her wild freight pushed into the stream
nobody cared sixpence for the wasted time but the captain of the craft
Huck was already upon his watch when the ferryboats lights went glinting
past the wharf He heard no noise on board for the young people were as subdued
and still as people usually are who are nearly tired to death He wondered what
boat it was and why she did not stop at the wharf and then he dropped her out
of his mind and put his attention upon his business The night was growing
cloudy and dark Ten oclock came and the noise of vehicles ceased scattered
lights began to wink out all straggling foot passengers disappeared the
village betook itself to its slumbers and left the small watcher alone with the
silence and the ghosts Eleven oclock came and the tavern lights were put out
darkness everywhere now Huck waited what seemed a weary long time but nothing
happened His faith was weakening Was there any use Was there really any use
Why not give it up and turn in
A noise fell upon his ear He was all attention in an instant The alley
door closed softly He sprang to the corner of the brick store The next moment
two men brushed by him and one seemed to have something under his arm It must
be that box So they were going to remove the treasure Why call Tom now It
would be absurd the men would get away with the box and never be found again
No he would stick to their wake and follow them he would trust to the darkness
for security from discovery So communing with himself Huck stepped out and
glided along behind the men catlike with bare feet allowing them to keep
just far enough ahead not to be invisible
They moved up the river street three blocks then turned to the left up a
cross street They went straight ahead then until they came to the path that
led up Cardiff Hill this they took They passed by the old Welchmans house
half way up the hill without hesitating and still climbed upward Good
thought Huck they will bury it in the old quarry But they never stopped at the
quarry They passed on up the summit They plunged into the narrow path between
the tall sumach bushes and were at once hidden in the gloom Huck closed up and
shortened his distance now for they would never be able to see him He trotted
along a while then slackened his pace fearing he was gaining too fast moved
on a piece then stopped altogether listened no sound none save that he
seemed to hear the beating of his own heart The hooting of an owl came from
over the hill ominous sound But no footsteps Heavens was everything lost
He was about to spring with winged feet when a man cleared his throat not four
feet from him Hucks heart shot into his throat but he swallowed it again and
then he stood there shaking as if a dozen agues had taken charge of him at once
and so weak that he thought he must surely fall to the ground He knew where he
was He knew he was within five steps of the stile leading into widow Douglass
grounds Very well he thought let them bury it there it wont be hard to
find
Now there was a voice a very low voice Injun Joes
»Damn her maybe shes got company theres lights late as it is«
»I cant see any«
This was that strangers voice the stranger of the haunted house A deadly
chill went to Hucks heart this then was the revenge job His thought was
to fly Then he remembered that the widow Douglas had been kind to him more than
once and maybe these men were going to murder her He wished he dared venture
to warn her but he knew he didnt dare they might come and catch him He
thought all this and more in the moment that lapsed between the strangers
remark and Injun Joes next which was
»Because the bush is in your way Now this way now you see dont you«
»Yes Well there is company there I reckon Better give it up«
»Give it up and I just leaving this country forever Give it up and maybe
never have another chance I tell you again as Ive told you before I dont
care for her swag you may have it But her husband was rough on me many
times he was rough on me and mainly he was the justice of the peace that
jugged me for a vagrant And that aint all It aint the millionth part of it
He had me horsewhipped horsewhipped in front of the jail like a nigger
with all the town looking on HORSEWHIPPED do you understand He took
advantage of me and died But Ill take it out of her«
»Oh dont kill her Dont do that«
»Kill Who said anything about killing I would kill him if he was here but
not her When you want to get revenge on a woman you dont kill her bosh you
go for her looks You slit her nostrils you notch her ears like a sows«
»By God thats «
»Keep your opinion to yourself It will be safest for you Ill tie her to
the bed If she bleeds to death is that my fault Ill not cry if she does My
friend youll help in this thing for my sake thats why youre here I
mightnt be able alone If you flinch Ill kill you Do you understand that
And if I have to kill you Ill kill her and then I reckon nobodyll ever know
much about who done this business«
»Well if its got to be done lets get at it The quicker the better Im
all in a shiver«
»Do it now And company there Look here Ill get suspicious of you first
thing you know No well wait till the lights are out theres no hurry«
Huck felt that a silence was going to ensue a thing still more awful than
any amount of murderous talk so he held his breath and stepped gingerly back
planted his foot carefully and firmly after balancing onelegged in a
precarious way and almost toppling over first on one side and then on the
other He took another step back with the same elaboration and the same risks
then another and another and a twig snapped under his foot His breath
stopped and he listened There was no sound the stillness was perfect His
gratitude was measureless Now he turned in his tracks between the walls of
sumach bushes turned himself as carefully as if he were a ship and then
stepped quickly but cautiously along When he emerged at the quarry he felt
secure and so he picked up his nimble heels and flew Down down he sped till
he reached the Welchmans He banged at the door and presently the heads of the
old man and his two stalwart sons were thrust from windows
»Whats the row there Whos banging What do you want«
»Let me in quick Ill tell everything«
»Why who are you«
»Huckleberry Finn quick let me in«
»Huckleberry Finn indeed It aint a name to open many doors I judge But
let him in lads and lets see whats the trouble«
»Please dont ever tell I told you« were Hucks first words when he got in
»Please dont Id be killed sure but the widows been good friends to me
sometimes and I want to tell I will tell if youll promise you wont ever say
it was me«
»By George he has got something to tell or he wouldnt act so« exclaimed
the old man »out with it and nobody herell ever tell lad«
Three minutes later the old man and his sons well armed were up the hill
and just entering the sumach path on tiptoe their weapons in their hands Huck
accompanied them no further He hid behind a great boulder and fell to
listening There was a lagging anxious silence and then all of a sudden there
was an explosion of firearms and a cry
Huck waited for no particulars He sprang away and sped down the hill as
fast as his legs could carry him
Chapter 30
As the earliest suspicion of dawn appeared on Sunday morning Huck came groping
up the hill and rapped gently at the old Welchmans door The inmates were
asleep but it was a sleep that was set on a hairtrigger on account of the
exciting episode of the night A call came from a window
»Whos there«
Hucks scared voice answered in a low tone
»Do please let me in Its only Huck Finn«
»Its a name that can open this door night or day lad and welcome«
These were strange words to the vagabond boys ears and the pleasantest he
had ever heard He could not recollect that the closing word had ever been
applied in his case before The door was quickly unlocked and he entered Huck
was given a seat and the old man and his brace of tall sons speedily dressed
themselves
»Now my boy I hope youre good and hungry because breakfast will be ready
as soon as the suns up and well have a piping hot one too make yourself
easy about that I and the boys hoped youd turn up and stop here last night«
»I was awful scared« said Huck »and I run I took out when the pistols
went off and I didnt stop for three mile Ive come now becuz I wanted to know
about it you know and I come before daylight becuz I didnt want to run acrost
them devils even if they was dead«
»Well poor chap you do look as if youd had a hard night of it but
theres a bed here for you when youve had your breakfast No they aint dead
lad we are sorry enough for that You see we knew right where to put our hands
on them by your description so we crept along on tiptoe till we got within
fifteen feet of them dark as a cellar that sumach path was and just then I
found I was going to sneeze It was the meanest kind of luck I tried to keep it
back but no use twas bound to come and it did come I was in the lead with
my pistol raised and when the sneeze started those scoundrels arustling to get
out of the path I sung out Fire boys and blazed away at the place where the
rustling was So did the boys But they were off in a jiffy those villains and
we after them down through the woods I judge we never touched them They fired
a shot apiece as they started but their bullets whizzed by and didnt do us any
harm As soon as we lost the sound of their feet we quit chasing and went down
and stirred up the constables They got a posse together and went off to guard
the river bank and as soon as it is light the sheriff and a gang are going to
beat up the woods My boys will be with them presently I wish we had some sort
of description of those rascals twould help a good deal But you couldnt see
what they were like in the dark lad I suppose«
»O yes I saw them down town and follered them«
»Splendid Describe them describe them my boy«
»Ones the old deef and dumb Spaniard thats ben around here once or twice
and tothers a mean looking ragged «
»Thats enough lad we know the men Happened on them in the woods back of
the widows one day and they slunk away Off with you boys and tell the
sheriff get your breakfast tomorrow morning«
The Welchmans sons departed at once As they were leaving the room Huck
sprang up and exclaimed
»Oh please dont tell anybody it was me that blowed on them Oh please«
»All right if you say it Huck but you ought to have the credit of what you
did«
»Oh no no Please dont tell«
When the young men were gone the old Welchman said
»They wont tell and I wont But why dont you want it known«
Huck would not explain further than to say that he already knew too much
about one of those men and would not have the man know that he knew anything
against him for the whole world he would be killed for knowing it sure
The old man promised secrecy once more and said
»How did you come to follow these fellows lad Were they looking
suspicious«
Huck was silent while he framed a duly cautious reply Then he said
»Well you see Im a kind of a hard lot least everybody says so and I
dont see nothing agin it and sometimes I cant sleep much on accounts of
thinking about it and sort of trying to strike out a new way of doing That was
the way of it last night I couldnt sleep and so I come along up street bout
midnight aturning it all over and when I got to that old shackly brick store
by the Temperance Tavern I backed up agin the wall to have another think Well
just then along comes these two chaps slipping along close by me with something
under their arm and I reckoned theyd stole it One was asmoking and tother
one wanted a light so they stopped right before me and the cigars lit up their
faces and I see that the big one was the deef and dumb Spaniard by his white
whiskers and the patch on his eye and tother one was a rusty ragged looking
devil«
»Could you see the rags by the light of the cigars«
This staggered Huck for a moment Then he said
»Well I dont know but somehow it seems as if I did«
»Then they went on and you «
»Follered em yes That was it I wanted to see what was up they sneaked
along so I dogged em to the widders stile and stood in the dark and heard
the ragged one beg for the widder and the Spaniard swear hed spile her looks
just as I told you and your two «
»What The deaf and dumb man said all that«
Huck had made another terrible mistake He was trying his best to keep the
old man from getting the faintest hint of who the Spaniard might be and yet his
tongue seemed determined to get him into trouble in spite of all he could do He
made several efforts to creep out of his scrape but the old mans eye was upon
him and he made blunder after blunder Presently the Welchman said
»My boy dont be afraid of me I wouldnt hurt a hair of your head for all
the world No Id protect you Id protect you This Spaniard is not deaf and
dumb youve let that slip without intending it you cant cover that up now
You know something about that Spaniard that you want to keep dark Now trust me
tell me what it is and trust me I wont betray you«
Huck looked into the old mans honest eyes a moment then bent over and
whispered in his ear
»Taint a Spaniard its Injun Joe«
The Welchman almost jumped out of his chair In a moment he said
»Its all plain enough now When you talked about notching ears and
slitting noses I judged that that was your own embellishment because white men
dont take that sort of revenge But an Injun Thats a different matter
altogether«
During breakfast the talk went on and in the course of it the old man said
that the last thing which he and his sons had done before going to bed was to
get a lantern and examine the stile and its vicinity for marks of blood They
found none but captured a bulky bundle of
»Of WHAT«
If the words had been lightning they could not have leaped with a more
stunning suddenness from Hucks blanched lips His eyes were staring wide now
and his breath suspended waiting for the answer The Welchman started stared
in return three seconds five seconds ten then replied
»Of burglars tools Why whats the matter with you«
Huck sank back panting gently but deeply unutterably grateful The
Welchman eyed him gravely curiously and presently said
»Yes burglars tools That appears to relieve you a good deal But what did
give you that turn What were you expecting wed found«
Huck was in a close place the inquiring eye was upon him he would have
given anything for material for a plausible answer nothing suggested itself
the inquiring eye was boring deeper and deeper a senseless reply offered
there was no time to weigh it so at a venture he uttered it feebly
»Sundayschool books maybe«
Poor Huck was too distressed to smile but the old man laughed loud and
joyously shook up the details of his anatomy from head to foot and ended by
saying that such a laugh was money in a mans pocket because it cut down the
doctors bills like everything Then he added
»Poor old chap youre white and jaded you aint well a bit no wonder
youre a little flighty and off your balance But youll come out of it Rest
and sleep will fetch you all right I hope«
Huck was irritated to think he had been such a goose and betrayed such a
suspicious excitement for he had dropped the idea that the parcel brought from
the tavern was the treasure as soon as he had heard the talk at the widows
stile He had only thought it was not the treasure however he had not known
that it wasnt and so the suggestion of a captured bundle was too much for his
selfpossession But on the whole he felt glad the little episode had happened
for now he knew beyond all question that that bundle was not the bundle and so
his mind was at rest and exceedingly comfortable In fact everything seemed to
be drifting just in the right direction now the treasure must be still in No
2 the men would be captured and jailed that day and he and Tom could seize the
gold that night without any trouble or any fear of interruption
Just as breakfast was completed there was a knock at the door Huck jumped
for a hiding place for he had no mind to be connected even remotely with the
late event The Welchman admitted several ladies and gentlemen among them the
widow Douglas and noticed that groups of citizens were climbing the hill to
stare at the stile So the news had spread
The Welchman had to tell the story of the night to the visitors The widows
gratitude for her preservation was outspoken
»Dont say a word about it madam Theres another that youre more beholden
to than you are to me and my boys maybe but he dont allow me to tell his
name We wouldnt ever have been there but for him«
Of course this excited a curiosity so vast that it almost belittled the main
matter but the Welchman allowed it to eat into the vitals of his visitors and
through them be transmitted to the whole town for he refused to part with his
secret When all else had been learned the widow said
»I went to sleep reading in bed and slept straight through all that noise
Why didnt you come and wake me«
»We judged it warnt worth while Those fellows warnt likely to come again
they hadnt any tools left to work with and what was the use of waking you up
and scaring you to death My three negro men stood guard at your house all the
rest of the night Theyve just come back«
More visitors came and the story had to be told and retold for a couple of
hours more
There was no Sabbath school during dayschool vacation but everybody was
early at church The stirring event was well canvassed News came that not a
sign of the two villains had been yet discovered When the sermon was finished
Judge Thatchers wife dropped alongside of Mrs Harper as she moved down the
aisle with the crowd and said
»Is my Becky going to sleep all day I just expected she would be tired to
death«
»Your Becky«
»Yes« with a startled look »didnt she stay with you last night«
»Why no«
Mrs Thatcher turned pale and sank into a pew just as aunt Polly talking
briskly with a friend passed by Aunt Polly said
»Good morning Mrs Thatcher Good morning Mrs Harper Ive got a boy
thats turned up missing I reckon my Tom staid at your house last night one
of you And now hes afraid to come to church Ive got to settle with him«
Mrs Thatcher shook her head feebly and turned paler than ever
»He didnt stay with us« said Mrs Harper beginning to look uneasy A
marked anxiety came into Aunt Pollys face
»Joe Harper have you seen my Tom this morning«
»Nom«
»When did you see him last«
Joe tried to remember but was not sure he could say The people had stopped
moving out of church Whispers passed along and a boding uneasiness took
possession of every countenance Children were anxiously questioned and young
teachers They all said they had not noticed whether Tom and Becky were on board
the ferryboat on the homeward trip it was dark no one thought of inquiring if
any one was missing One young man finally blurted out his fear that they were
still in the cave Mrs Thatcher swooned away Aunt Polly fell to crying and
wringing her hands
The alarm swept from lip to lip from group to group from street to street
and within five minutes the bells were wildly clanging and the whole town was
up The Cardiff Hill episode sank into instant insignificance the burglars were
forgotten horses were saddled skiffs were manned the ferry boat ordered out
and before the horror was half an hour old two hundred men were pouring down
highroad and river toward the cave
All the long afternoon the village seemed empty and dead Many women visited
Aunt Polly and Mrs Thatcher and tried to comfort them They cried with them
too and that was still better than words All the tedious night the town waited
for news but when the morning dawned at last all the word that came was »Send
more candles and send food« Mrs Thatcher was almost crazed and aunt Polly
also Judge Thatcher sent messages of hope and encouragement from the cave but
they conveyed no real cheer
The old Welchman came home toward daylight spattered with candle grease
smeared with clay and almost worn out He found Huck still in the bed that had
been provided for him and delirious with fever The physicians were all at the
cave so the widow Douglas came and took charge of the patient She said she
would do her best by him because whether he was good bad or indifferent he
was the Lords and nothing that was the Lords was a thing to be neglected The
Welchman said Huck had good spots in him and the widow said
»You can depend on it Thats the Lords mark He dont leave it off He
never does Puts it somewhere on every creature that comes from His hands«
Early in the forenoon parties of jaded men began to straggle into the
village but the strongest of the citizens continued searching All the news
that could be gained was that remotenesses of the cavern were being ransacked
that had never been visited before that every corner and crevice was going to
be thoroughly searched that wherever one wandered through the maze of passages
lights were to be seen flitting hither and thither in the distance and
shoutings and pistol shots sent their hollow reverberations to the ear down the
sombre aisles In one place far from the section usually traversed by tourists
the names BECKY amp TOM had been found traced upon the rocky wall with candle
smoke and near at hand a greasesoiled bit of ribbon Mrs Thatcher recognized
the ribbon and cried over it She said it was the last relic she should ever
have of her child and that no other memorial of her could ever be so precious
because this one parted latest from the living body before the awful death came
Some said that now and then in the cave a faraway speck of light would
glimmer and then a glorious shout would burst forth and a score of men go
trooping down the echoing aisle and then a sickening disappointment always
followed the children were not there it was only a searchers light
Three dreadful days and nights dragged their tedious hours along and the
village sank into a hopeless stupor No one had heart for anything The
accidental discovery just made that the proprietor of the Temperance Tavern
kept liquor on his premises scarcely fluttered the public pulse tremendous as
the fact was In a lucid interval Huck feebly led up to the subject of taverns
and finally asked dimly dreading the worst if anything had been discovered
at the Temperance Tavern since he had been ill
»Yes« said the widow
Huck started up in bed wildeyed
»What What was it«
»Liquor and the place has been shut up Lie down child what a turn you
did give me«
»Only tell me one thing only just one please Was it Tom Sawyer that
found it«
The widow burst into tears
»Hush hush child hush Ive told you before you must not talk You are
very very sick«
Then nothing but liquor had been found there would have been a great
powwow if it had been the gold So the treasure was gone forever gone
forever But what could she be crying about Curious that she should cry
These thoughts worked their dim way through Hucks mind and under the
weariness they gave him he fell asleep The widow said to herself
»There hes asleep poor wreck Tom Sawyer find it Pity but somebody
could find Tom Sawyer Ah there aint many left now thats got hope enough
or strength enough either to go on searching«
Chapter 31
Now to return to Tom and Beckys share in the picnic They tripped along the
murky aisles with the rest of the company visiting the familiar wonders of the
cave wonders dubbed with rather overdescriptive names such as »The Drawing
Room« »The Cathedral« »Aladdins Palace« and so on Presently the
hideandseek frolicking began and Tom and Becky engaged in it with zeal until
the exertion began to grow a trifle wearisome then they wandered down a sinuous
avenue holding their candles aloft and reading the tangled webwork of names
dates postoffice addresses and mottoes with which the rocky walls had been
frescoed in candle smoke Still drifting along and talking they scarcely
noticed that they were now in a part of the cave whose walls were not frescoed
They smoked their own names under an overhanging shelf and moved on Presently
they came to a place where a little stream of water trickling over a ledge and
carrying a limestone sediment with it had in the slowdragging ages formed a
laced and ruffled Niagara in gleaming and imperishable stone Tom squeezed his
small body behind it in order to illuminate it for Beckys gratification He
found that it curtained a sort of steep natural stairway which was enclosed
between narrow walls and at once the ambition to be a discoverer seized him
Becky responded to his call and they made a smokemark for future guidance and
started upon their quest They wound this way and that far down into the secret
depths of the cave made another mark and branched off in search of novelties
to tell the upper world about In one place they found a spacious cavern from
whose ceiling depended a multitude of shining stalactites of the length and
circumference of a mans leg they walked all about it wondering and admiring
and presently left it by one of the numerous passages that opened into it This
shortly brought them to a bewitching spring whose basin was encrusted with a
frost work of glittering crystals it was in the midst of a cavern whose walls
were supported by many fantastic pillars which had been formed by the joining of
great stalactites and stalagmites together the result of the ceaseless
waterdrip of centuries Under the roof vast knots of bats had packed themselves
together thousands in a bunch the lights disturbed the creatures and they came
flocking down by hundreds squeaking and darting furiously at the candles Tom
knew their ways and the danger of this sort of conduct He seized Beckys hand
and hurried her into the first corridor that offered and none too soon for a
bat struck Beckys light out with its wing while she was passing out of the
cavern The bats chased the children a good distance but the fugitives plunged
into every new passage that offered and at last got rid of the perilous things
Tom found a subterranean lake shortly which stretched its dim length away
until its shape was lost in the shadows He wanted to explore its borders but
concluded that it would be best to sit down and rest a while first Now for
the first time the deep stillness of the place laid a clammy hand upon the
spirits of the children Becky said
»Why I didnt notice but it seems ever so long since I heard any of the
others«
»Come to think Becky we are away down below them and I dont know how
far away north or south or east or whichever it is We couldnt hear them
here«
Becky grew apprehensive
»I wonder how long weve been down here Tom We better start back«
»Yes I reckon we better Praps we better«
»Can you find the way Tom Its all a mixedup crookedness to me«
»I reckon I could find it but then the bats If they put both our candles
out it will be an awful fix Lets try some other way so as not to go through
there«
»Well But I hope we wont get lost It would be so awful« and the child
shuddered at the thought of the dreadful possibilities
They started through a corridor and traversed it in silence a long way
glancing at each new opening to see if there was anything familiar about the
look of it but they were all strange Every time Tom made an examination Becky
would watch his face for an encouraging sign and he would say cheerily
»Oh its all right This aint the one but well come to it right away«
But he felt less and less hopeful with each failure and presently began to
turn off into diverging avenues at sheer random in the desperate hope of
finding the one that was wanted He still said it was all right but there was
such a leaden dread at his heart that the words had lost their ring and sounded
just as if he had said All is lost Becky clung to his side in an anguish of
fear and tried hard to keep back the tears but they would come At last she
said
»O Tom never mind the bats lets go back that way We seem to get worse
and worse off all the time«
Tom stopped
»Listen« said he
Profound silence silence so deep that even their breathings were
conspicuous in the hush Tom shouted The call went echoing down the empty
aisles and died out in the distance in a faint sound that resembled a ripple of
mocking laughter
»Oh dont do it again Tom it is too horrid« said Becky
»It is horrid but I better Becky they might hear us you know« and he
shouted again
The might was even a chillier horror than the ghostly laughter it so
confessed a perishing hope The children stood still and listened but there was
no result Tom turned upon the back track at once and hurried his steps It was
but a little while before a certain indecision in his manner revealed another
fearful fact to Becky he could not find his way back
»O Tom you didnt make any marks«
»Becky I was such a fool Such a fool I never thought we might want to come
back No I cant find the way Its all mixed up«
»Tom Tom were lost were lost We never never can get out of this awful
place O why did we ever leave the others«
She sank to the ground and burst into such a frenzy of crying that Tom was
appalled with the idea that she might die or lose her reason He sat down by
her and put his arms around her she buried her face in his bosom she clung to
him she poured out her terrors her unavailing regrets and the far echoes
turned them all to jeering laughter Tom begged her to pluck up hope again and
she said she could not He fell to blaming and abusing himself for getting her
into this miserable situation this had a better effect She said she would try
to hope again she would get up and follow wherever he might lead if only he
would not talk like that any more For he was no more to blame than she she
said
So they moved on again aimlessly simply at random all they could do
was to move keep moving For a little while hope made a show of reviving not
with any reason to back it but only because it is its nature to revive when the
spring has not been taken out of it by age and familiarity with failure
By and by Tom took Beckys candle and blew it out This economy meant so
much Words were not needed Becky understood and her hope died again She knew
that Tom had a whole candle and three or four pieces in his pockets yet he
must economise
By and by fatigue began to assert its claims the children tried to pay no
attention for it was dreadful to think of sitting down when time was grown to
be so precious moving in some direction in any direction was at least
progress and might bear fruit but to sit down was to invite death and shorten
its pursuit
At last Beckys frail limbs refused to carry her farther She sat down Tom
rested with her and they talked of home and the friends there and the
comfortable beds and above all the light Becky cried and Tom tried to think
of some way of comforting her but all his encouragements were grown threadbare
with use and sounded like sarcasms Fatigue bore so heavily upon Becky that she
drowsed off to sleep Tom was grateful He sat looking into her drawn face and
saw it grow smooth and natural under the influence of pleasant dreams and by
and by a smile dawned and rested there The peaceful face reflected somewhat of
peace and healing into his own spirit and his thoughts wandered away to bygone
times and dreamy memories While he was deep in his musings Becky woke up with
a breezy little laugh but it was stricken dead upon her lips and a groan
followed it
»Oh how could I sleep I wish I never never had waked No no I dont
Tom Dont look so I wont say it again«
»Im glad youve slept Becky youll feel rested now and well find the
way out«
»We can try Tom but Ive seen such a beautiful country in my dream I
reckon we are going there«
»Maybe not maybe not Cheer up Becky and lets go on trying«
They rose up and wandered along hand in hand and hopeless They tried to
estimate how long they had been in the cave but all they knew was that it
seemed days and weeks and yet it was plain that this could not be for their
candles were not gone yet
A long time after this they could not tell how long Tom said they must
go softly and listen for dripping water they must find a spring They found
one presently and Tom said it was time to rest again Both were cruelly tired
yet Becky said she thought she could go a little farther She was surprised to
hear Tom dissent She could not understand it They sat down and Tom fastened
his candle to the wall in front of them with some clay Thought was soon busy
nothing was said for some time Then Becky broke the silence
»Tom I am so hungry«
Tom took something out of his pocket
»Do you remember this« said he
Becky almost smiled
»Its our wedding cake Tom«
»Yes I wish it was as big as a barrel for its all weve got«
»I saved it from the picnic for us to dream on Tom the way grownup
people do with wedding cake but itll be our «
She dropped the sentence where it was Tom divided the cake and Becky ate
with good appetite while Tom nibbled at his moiety There was abundance of cold
water to finish the feast with By and by Becky suggested that they move on
again Tom was silent a moment Then he said
»Becky can you bear it if I tell you something«
Beckys face paled but she said she thought she could
»Well then Becky we must stay here where theres water to drink That
little piece is our last candle«
Becky gave loose to tears and wailings Tom did what he could to comfort her
but with little effect At length Becky said
»Tom«
»Well Becky«
»Theyll miss us and hunt for us«
»Yes they will Certainly they will«
»Maybe theyre hunting for us now Tom«
»Why I reckon maybe they are I hope they are«
»When would they miss us Tom«
»When they get back to the boat I reckon«
»Tom it might be dark then would they notice we hadnt come«
»I dont know But anyway your mother would miss you as soon as they got
home«
A frightened look in Beckys face brought Tom to his senses and he saw that
he had made a blunder Becky was not to have gone home that night The children
became silent and thoughtful In a moment a new burst of grief from Becky showed
Tom that the thing in his mind had struck hers also that the Sabbath morning
might be half spent before Mrs Thatcher discovered that Becky was not at Mrs
Harpers
The children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched it
melt slowly and pitilessly away saw the half inch of wick stand alone at last
saw the feeble flame rise and fall rise and fall climb the thin column of
smoke linger at its top a moment and then the horror of utter darkness
reigned
How long afterward it was that Becky came to a slow consciousness that she
was crying in Toms arms neither could tell All that they knew was that after
what seemed a mighty stretch of time both awoke out of a dead stupor of sleep
and resumed their miseries once more Tom said it might be Sunday now maybe
Monday He tried to get Becky to talk but her sorrows were too oppressive all
her hopes were gone Tom said that they must have been missed long ago and no
doubt the search was going on He would shout and maybe some one would come He
tried it but in the darkness the distant echoes sounded so hideously that he
tried it no more
The hours wasted away and hunger came to torment the captives again A
portion of Toms half of the cake was left they divided and ate it But they
seemed hungrier than before The poor morsel of food only whetted desire
By and by Tom said
»Sh Did you hear that«
Both held their breath and listened There was a sound like the faintest
faroff shout Instantly Tom answered it and leading Becky by the hand started
groping down the corridor in its direction Presently he listened again again
the sound was heard and apparently a little nearer
»Its them« said Tom »theyre coming Come along Becky were all right
now«
The joy of the prisoners was almost overwhelming Their speed was slow
however because pitfalls were somewhat common and had to be guarded against
They shortly came to one and had to stop It might be three feet deep it might
be a hundred there was no passing it at any rate Tom got down on his breast
and reached as far down as he could No bottom They must stay there and wait
until the searchers came They listened evidently the distant shoutings were
growing more distant a moment or two more and they had gone altogether The
heartsinking misery of it Tom whooped until he was hoarse but it was of no
use He talked hopefully to Becky but an age of anxious waiting passed and no
sounds came again
The children groped their way back to the spring The weary time dragged on
they slept again and awoke famished and woestricken Tom believed it must be
Tuesday by this time
Now an idea struck him There were some side passages near at hand It would
be better to explore some of these than bear the weight of the heavy time in
idleness He took a kiteline from his pocket tied it to a projection and he
and Becky started Tom in the lead unwinding the line as he groped along At
the end of twenty steps the corridor ended in a jumpingoff place Tom got down
on his knees and felt below and then as far around the corner as he could reach
with his hands conveniently he made an effort to stretch yet a little further
to the right and at that moment not twenty yards away a human hand holding a
candle appeared from behind a rock Tom lifted up a glorious shout and
instantly that hand was followed by the body it belonged to Injun Joes Tom
was paralyzed he could not move He was vastly gratified the next moment to
see the Spaniard take to his heels and get himself out of sight Tom wondered
that Joe had not recognized his voice and come over and killed him for
testifying in court But the echoes must have disguised the voice Without
doubt that was it he reasoned Toms fright weakened every muscle in his body
He said to himself that if he had strength enough to get back to the spring he
would stay there and nothing should tempt him to run the risk of meeting Injun
Joe again He was careful to keep from Becky what it was he had seen He told
her he had only shouted for luck
But hunger and wretchedness rise superior to fears in the long run Another
tedious wait at the spring and another long sleep brought changes The children
awoke tortured with a raging hunger Tom believed it must be Wednesday or
Thursday or even Friday or Saturday now and that the search had been given
over He proposed to explore another passage He felt willing to risk Injun Joe
and all other terrors But Becky was very weak She had sunk into a dreary
apathy and would not be roused She said she would wait now where she was and
die it would not be long She told Tom to go with the kiteline and explore if
he chose but she implored him to come back every little while and speak to her
and she made him promise that when the awful time came he would stay by her and
hold her hand until all was over
Tom kissed her with a choking sensation in his throat and made a show of
being confident of finding the searchers or an escape from the cave then he
took the kiteline in his hand and went groping down one of the passages on his
hands and knees distressed with hunger and sick with bodings of coming doom
Chapter 32
Tuesday afternoon came and waned to the twilight The village of St Petersburg
still mourned The lost children had not been found Public prayers had been
offered up for them and many and many a private prayer that had the
petitioners whole heart in it but still no good news came from the cave The
majority of the searchers had given up the quest and gone back to their daily
avocations saying that it was plain the children could never be found Mrs
Thatcher was very ill and a great part of the time delirious People said it
was heartbreaking to hear her call her child and raise her head and listen a
whole minute at a time then lay it wearily down again with a moan Aunt Polly
had drooped into a settled melancholy and her gray hair had grown almost white
The village went to its rest on Tuesday night sad and forlorn
Away in the middle of the night a wild peal burst from the village bells
and in a moment the streets were swarming with frantic halfclad people who
shouted »Turn out turn out theyre found theyre found« Tin pans and horns
were added to the din the population massed itself and moved toward the river
met the children coming in an open carriage drawn by shouting citizens thronged
around it joined its homeward march and swept magnificently up the main street
roaring huzzah after huzzah
The village was illuminated nobody went to bed again it was the greatest
night the little town had ever seen During the first half hour a procession of
villagers filed through Judge Thatchers house seized the saved ones and kissed
them squeezed Mrs Thatchers hand tried to speak but couldnt and drifted
out raining tears all over the place
Aunt Pollys happiness was complete and Mrs Thatchers nearly so It would
be complete however as soon as the messenger dispatched with the great news to
the cave should get the word to her husband Tom lay upon a sofa with an eager
auditory about him and told the history of the wonderful adventure putting in
many striking additions to adorn it withal and closed with a description of how
he left Becky and went on an exploring expedition how he followed two avenues
as far as his kiteline would reach how he followed a third to the fullest
stretch of the kiteline and was about to turn back when he glimpsed a faroff
speck that looked like daylight dropped the line and groped toward it pushed
his head and shoulders through a small hole and saw the broad Mississippi
rolling by And if it had only happened to be night he would not have seen that
speck of daylight and would not have explored that passage any more He told how
he went back for Becky and broke the good news and she told him not to fret her
with such stuff for she was tired and knew she was going to die and wanted
to He described how he labored with her and convinced her and how she almost
died for joy when she had groped to where she actually saw the blue speck of
daylight how he pushed his way out at the hole and then helped her out how
they sat there and cried for gladness how some men came along in a skiff and
Tom hailed them and told them their situation and their famished condition how
the men didnt believe the wild tale at first because said they you are five
miles down the river below the valley the cave is in then took them aboard
rowed to a house gave them supper made them rest till two or three hours after
dark and then brought them home
Before daydawn Judge Thatcher and the handful of searchers with him were
tracked out in the cave by the twine clews they had strung behind them and
informed of the great news
Three days and nights of toil and hunger in the cave were not to be shaken
off at once as Tom and Becky soon discovered They were bedridden all of
Wednesday and Thursday and seemed to grow more and more tired and worn all the
time Tom got about a little on Thursday was down town Friday and nearly as
whole as ever Saturday but Becky did not leave her room until Sunday and then
she looked as if she had passed through a wasting illness
Tom learned of Hucks sickness and went to see him on Friday but could not
be admitted to the bedroom neither could he on Saturday or Sunday He was
admitted daily after that but was warned to keep still about his adventure and
introduce no exciting topic The widow Douglas staid by to see that he obeyed
At home Tom learned of the Cardiff Hill event also that the ragged mans body
had eventually been found in the river near the ferry landing he had been
drowned while trying to escape perhaps
About a fortnight after Toms rescue from the cave he started off to visit
Huck who had grown plenty strong enough now to hear exciting talk and Tom
had some that would interest him he thought Judge Thatchers house was on
Toms way and he stopped to see Becky The Judge and some friends set Tom to
talking and some one asked him ironically if he wouldnt like to go to the cave
again Tom said yes he thought he wouldnt mind it The Judge said
»Well there are others just like you Tom Ive not the least doubt But we
have taken care of that Nobody will get lost in that cave any more«
»Why«
»Because I had its big door sheathed with boiler iron two weeks ago and
triplelocked and Ive got the keys«
Tom turned as white as a sheet
»Whats the matter boy Here run somebody Fetch a glass of water«
The water was brought and thrown into Toms face
»Ah now youre all right What was the matter with you Tom«
»Oh Judge Injun Joes in the cave«
Chapter 33
Within a few minutes the news had spread and a dozen skiffloads of men were on
their way to McDougals cave and the ferryboat well filled with passengers
soon followed Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher
When the cave door was unlocked a sorrowful sight presented itself in the
dim twilight of the place Injun Joe lay stretched upon the ground dead with
his face close to the crack of the door as if his longing eyes had been fixed
to the latest moment upon the light and the cheer of the free world outside
Tom was touched for he knew by his own experience how this wretch had suffered
His pity was moved but nevertheless he felt an abounding sense of relief and
security now which revealed to him in a degree which he had not fully
appreciated before how vast a weight of dread had been lying upon him since the
day he lifted his voice against this bloodyminded outcast
Injun Joes bowie knife lay close by its blade broken in two The great
foundationbeam of the door had been chipped and hacked through with tedious
labor useless labor too it was for the native rock formed a sill outside it
and upon that stubborn material the knife had wrought no effect the only damage
done was to the knife itself But if there had been no stony obstruction there
the labor would have been useless still for if the beam had been wholly cut
away Injun Joe could not have squeezed his body under the door and he knew it
So he had only hacked that place in order to be doing something in order to
pass the weary time in order to employ his tortured faculties Ordinarily one
could find half a dozen bits of candle stuck around in the crevices of this
vestibule left there by tourists but there were none now The prisoner had
searched them out and eaten them He had also contrived to catch a few bats and
these also he had eaten leaving only their claws The poor unfortunate had
starved to death In one place near at hand a stalagmite had been slowly
growing up from the ground for ages builded by the waterdrip from a stalactite
overhead The captive had broken off the stalagmite and upon the stump had
placed a stone wherein he had scooped a shallow hollow to catch the precious
drop that fell once in every three minutes with the dreary regularity of a
clocktick a dessert spoonful once in four and twenty hours That drop was
falling when the Pyramids were new when Troy fell when the foundations of Rome
were laid when Christ was crucified when the Conqueror created the British
empire when Columbus sailed when the massacre at Lexington was news It is
falling now it will still be falling when all these things shall have sunk down
the afternoon of history and the twilight of tradition and been swallowed up
in the thick night of oblivion Has everything a purpose and a mission Did this
drop fall patiently during five thousand years to be ready for this flitting
human insects need and has it another important object to accomplish ten
thousand years to come No matter It is many and many a year since the hapless
halfbreed scooped out the stone to catch the priceless drops but to this day
the tourist stares longest at that pathetic stone and that slow dropping water
when he comes to see the wonders of McDougals cave Injun Joes Cup stands
first in the list of the caverns marvels even Aladdins Palace cannot rival
it
Injun Joe was buried near the mouth of the cave and people flocked there in
boats and wagons from the town and from all the farms and hamlets for seven
miles around they brought their children and all sorts of provisions and
confessed that they had had almost as satisfactory a time at the funeral as they
could have had at the hanging
This funeral stopped the further growth of one thing the petition to the
Governor for Injun Joes pardon The petition had been largely signed many
tearful and eloquent meetings had been held and a committee of sappy women been
appointed to go in deep mourning and wail around the governor and implore him to
be a merciful ass and trample his duty under foot Injun Joe was believed to
have killed five citizens of the village but what of that If he had been Satan
himself there would have been plenty of weaklings ready to scribble their names
to a pardonpetition and drip a tear on it from their permanently impaired and
leaky waterworks
The morning after the funeral Tom took Huck to a private place to have an
important talk Huck had learned all about Toms adventure from the Welchman and
the widow Douglas by this time but Tom said he reckoned there was one thing
they had not told him that thing was what he wanted to talk about now Hucks
face saddened He said
»I know what it is You got into No 2 and never found anything but whisky
Nobody told me it was you but I just knowed it must a ben you soon as I
heard bout that whisky business and I knowed you hadnt got the money becuz
youd a got at me some way or other and told me even if you was mum to
everybody else Tom somethings always told me wed never get holt of that
swag«
»Why Huck I never told on that tavernkeeper You know his tavern was all
right the Saturday I went to the picnic Dont you remember you was to watch
there that night«
»Oh yes Why it seems bout a year ago It was that very night that I
follered Injun Joe to the widders«
»You followed him«
»Yes but you keep mum I reckon Injun Joes left friends behind him and I
dont want em souring on me and doing me mean tricks If it hadnt ben for me
hed be down in Texas now all right«
Then Huck told his entire adventure in confidence to Tom who had only heard
of the Welchmens part of it before
»Well« said Huck presently coming back to the main question »whoever
nipped the whisky in No 2 nipped the money too I reckon anyways its a
goner for us Tom«
»Huck that money wasnt ever in No 2«
»What« Huck searched his comrades face keenly »Tom have you got on the
track of that money again«
»Huck its in the cave«
Hucks eyes blazed
»Say it again Tom«
»The moneys in the cave«
»Tom honest injun now is it fun or earnest«
»Earnest Huck just as earnest as ever I was in my life Will you go in
there with me and help get it out«
»I bet I will I will if its where we can blaze our way to it and not get
lost«
»Huck we can do that without the least little bit of trouble in the world«
»Good as wheat What makes you think the moneys «
»Huck you just wait till we get in there If we dont find it Ill agree to
give you my drum and everything Ive got in the world I will by jings«
»All right its a whiz When do you say«
»Right now if you say it Are you strong enough«
»Is it far in the cave I ben on my pins a little three or four days now
but I cant walk moren a mile Tom least I dont think I could«
»Its about five mile into there the way anybody but me would go Huck but
theres a mighty short cut that they dont anybody but me know about Huck Ill
take you right to it in a skiff Ill float the skiff down there and Ill pull
it back again all by myself You neednt ever turn your hand over«
»Less start right off Tom«
»All right We want some bread and meat and our pipes and a little bag or
two and two or three kitestrings and some of these newfangled things they
call lucifer matches I tell you manys the time I wished I had some when I was
in there before«
A trifle after noon the boys borrowed a small skiff from a citizen who was
absent and got under way at once When they were several miles below Cave
Hollow Tom said
»Now you see this bluff here looks all alike all the way down from the cave
hollow no houses no woodyards bushes all alike But do you see that white
place up yonder where theres been a landslide Well thats one of my marks
Well get ashore now«
They landed
»Now Huck where were astanding you could touch that hole I got out of
with a fishingpole See if you can find it«
Huck searched all the place about and found nothing Tom proudly marched
into a thick clump of sumach bushes and said
»Here you are Look at it Huck its the snuggest hole in this country You
just keep mum about it All along Ive been wanting to be a robber but I knew
Id got to have a thing like this and where to run across it was the bother
Weve got it now and well keep it quiet only well let Joe Harper and Ben
Rogers in because of course theres got to be a Gang or else there wouldnt
be any style about it Tom Sawyers Gang it sounds splendid dont it Huck«
»Well it just does Tom And wholl we rob«
»Oh most anybody Waylay people thats mostly the way«
»And kill them«
»No not always Hive them in the cave till they raise a ransom«
»Whats a ransom«
»Money You make them raise all they can offn their friends and after
youve kept them a year if it aint raised then you kill them Thats the
general way Only you dont kill the women You shut up the women but you dont
kill them Theyre always beautiful and rich and awfully scared You take their
watches and things but you always take your hat off and talk polite They aint
anybody as polite as robbers youll see that in any book Well the women get
to loving you and after theyve been in the cave a week or two weeks they stop
crying and after that you couldnt get them to leave If you drove them out
theyd turn right around and come back Its so in all the books«
»Why its real bully Tom I blieve its bettern to be a pirate«
»Yes its better in some ways because its close to home and circuses and
all that«
By this time everything was ready and the boys entered the hole Tom in the
lead They toiled their way to the farther end of the tunnel then made their
spliced kitestrings fast and moved on A few steps brought them to the spring
and Tom felt a shudder quiver all through him He showed Huck the fragment of
candlewick perched on a lump of clay against the wall and described how he and
Becky had watched the flame struggle and expire
The boys began to quiet down to whispers now for the stillness and gloom
of the place oppressed their spirits They went on and presently entered and
followed Toms other corridor until they reached the jumpingoff place The
candles revealed the fact that it was not really a precipice but only a steep
clay hill twenty or thirty feet high Tom whispered
»Now Ill show you something Huck«
He held his candle aloft and said
»Look as far around the corner as you can Do you see that There on the
big rock over yonder done with candle smoke«
»Tom its a cross«
»Now wheres your Number Two Under the cross hey Right yonders where I
saw Injun Joe poke up his candle Huck«
Huck stared at the mystic sign a while and then said with a shaky voice
»Tom less git out of here«
»What and leave the treasure«
»Yes leave it Injun Joes ghost is round about there certain«
»No it aint Huck no it aint It would hant the place where he died
away out at the mouth of the cave five mile from here«
»No Tom it wouldnt It would hang round the money I know the ways of
ghosts and so do you«
Tom began to fear that Huck was right Misgivings gathered in his mind But
presently an idea occurred to him
»Lookyhere Huck what fools were making of ourselves Injun Joes ghost
aint agoing to come around where theres a cross«
The point was well taken It had its effect
»Tom I didnt think of that But thats so Its luck for us that cross is
I reckon well climb down there and have a hunt for that box«
Tom went first cutting rude steps in the clay hill as he descended Huck
followed Four avenues opened out of the small cavern which the great rock stood
in The boys examined three of them with no result They found a small recess in
the one nearest the base of the rock with a pallet of blankets spread down in
it also an old suspender some bacon rhind and the well gnawed bones of two or
three fowls But there was no money box The lads searched and researched this
place but in vain Tom said
»He said under the cross Well this comes nearest to being under the cross
It cant be under the rock itself because that sets solid on the ground«
They searched everywhere once more and then sat down discouraged Huck
could suggest nothing By and by Tom said
»Lookyhere Huck theres footprints and some candle grease on the clay
about one side of this rock but not on the other sides Now whats that for I
bet you the money is under the rock Im going to dig in the clay«
»That aint no bad notion Tom« said Huck with animation
Toms real Barlow was out at once and he had not dug four inches before he
struck wood
»Hey Huck you hear that«
Huck began to dig and scratch now Some boards were soon uncovered and
removed They had concealed a natural chasm which led under the rock Tom got
into this and held his candle as far under the rock as he could but said he
could not see to the end of the rift He proposed to explore He stooped and
passed under the narrow way descended gradually He followed its winding
course first to the right then to the left Huck at his heels Tom turned a
short curve by and by and exclaimed
»My goodness Huck lookyhere«
It was the treasure box sure enough occupying a snug little cavern along
with an empty powder keg a couple of guns in leather cases two or three pairs
of old moccasins a leather belt and some other rubbish well soaked with the
waterdrip
»Got it at last« said Huck plowing among the tarnished coins with his
hand »My but were rich Tom«
»Huck I always reckoned wed get it Its just too good to believe but we
have got it sure Say lets not fool around here Lets snake it out Lemme
see if I can lift the box«
It weighed about fifty pounds Tom could lift it after an awkward fashion
but could not carry it conveniently
»I thought so« he said »they carried it like it was heavy that day at the
hanted house I noticed that I reckon I was right to think of fetching the
little bags along«
The money was soon in the bags and the boys took it up to the crossrock
»Now less fetch the guns and things« said Huck
»No Huck leave them there Theyre just the tricks to have when we go to
robbing Well keep them there all the time and well hold our orgies there
too Its an awful snug place for orgies«
»Whats orgies«
»I dono But robbers always have orgies and of course weve got to have
them too Come along Huck weve been in here a long time Its getting late
I reckon Im hungry too Well eat and smoke when we get to the skiff«
They presently emerged into the clump of sumach bushes looked warily out
found the coast clear and were soon lunching and smoking in the skiff As the
sun dipped toward the horizon they pushed out and got under way Tom skimmed up
the shore through the long twilight chatting cheerily with Huck and landed
shortly after dark
»Now Huck« said Tom »well hide the money in the loft of the widows
woodshed and Ill come up in the morning and well count it and divide and
then well hunt up a place out in the woods for it where it will be safe Just
you lay quiet here and watch the stuff till I run and hook Benny Taylors little
wagon I wont be gone a minute«
He disappeared and presently returned with the wagon put the two small
sacks into it threw some old rags on top of them and started off dragging his
cargo behind him When the boys reached the Welchmans house they stopped to
rest Just as they were about to move on the Welchman stepped out and said
»Hallo whos that«
»Huck and Tom Sawyer«
»Good Come along with me boys you are keeping everybody waiting Here
hurry up trot ahead Ill haul the wagon for you Why its not as light as it
might be Got bricks in it or old metal«
»Old metal« said Tom
»I judged so the boys in this town will take more trouble and fool away
more time hunting up six bits worth of old iron to sell to the foundry than
they would to make twice the money at regular work But thats human nature
hurry along hurry along«
The boys wanted to know what the hurry was about
»Never mind youll see when we get to the widow Douglass«
Huck said with some apprehension for he was long used to being falsely
accused
»Mr Jones we havent been doing nothing«
The Welchman laughed
»Well I dont know Huck my boy I dont know about that Aint you and
the widow good friends«
»Yes Well shes ben good friends to me any ways«
»All right then What do you want to be afraid for«
This question was not entirely answered in Hucks slow mind before he found
himself pushed along with Tom into Mrs Douglass drawing room Mr Jones left
the wagon near the door and followed
The place was grandly lighted and everybody that was of any consequence in
the village was there The Thatchers were there the Harpers the Rogerses Aunt
Polly Sid Mary the minister the editor and a great many more and all
dressed in their best The widow received the boys as heartily as any one could
well receive two such looking beings They were covered with clay and candle
grease Aunt Polly blushed crimson with humiliation and frowned and shook her
head at Tom Nobody suffered half as much as the two boys did however Mr
Jones said
»Tom wasnt at home yet so I gave him up but I stumbled on him and Huck
right at my door and so I just brought them along in a hurry«
»And you did just right« said the widow »Come with me boys«
She took them to a bed chamber and said
»Now wash and dress yourselves Here are two new suits of clothes shirts
socks everything complete Theyre Hucks no no thanks Huck Mr Jones
bought one and I the other But theyll fit both of you Get into them Well
wait come down when you are slicked up enough«
Then she left
Chapter 34
Huck said
»Tom we can slope if we can find a rope The window aint high from the
ground«
»Shucks what do you want to slope for«
»Well I aint used to that kind of a crowd I cant stand it I aint going
down there Tom«
»O bother It aint anything I dont mind it a bit Ill take care of
you«
Sid appeared
»Tom« said he »Auntie has been waiting for you all the afternoon Mary got
your Sunday clothes ready and everybodys been fretting about you Say aint
this grease and clay on your clothes«
»Now Mr Siddy you jist tend to your own business Whats all this
blowout about anyway«
»Its one of the widows parties that shes always having This time its
for the Welchman and his sons on account of that scrape they helped her out of
the other night And say I can tell you something if you want to know«
»Well what«
»Why old Mr Jones is going to try to spring something on the people here
tonight but I overheard him tell auntie today about it as a secret but I
reckon its not much of a secret now Everybody knows the widow too for all
she tries to let on she dont Oh Mr Jones was bound Huck should be here
couldnt get along with his grand secret without Huck you know«
»Secret about what Sid«
»About Huck tracking the robbers to the widows I reckon Mr Jones was
going to make a grand time over his surprise but I bet you it will drop pretty
flat«
Sid chuckled in a very contented and satisfied way
»Sid was it you that told«
»O never mind who it was Somebody told thats enough«
»Sid theres only one person in this town mean enough to do that and
thats you If you had been in Hucks place youd a sneaked down the hill and
never told anybody on the robbers You cant do any but mean things and you
cant bear to see anybody praised for doing good ones There no thanks as the
widow says« and Tom cuffed Sids ears and helped him to the door with several
kicks »Now go and tell auntie if you dare and tomorrow youll catch it«
Some minutes later the widows guests were at the supper table and a dozen
children were propped up at little side tables in the same room after the
fashion of that country and that day At the proper time Mr Jones made his
little speech in which he thanked the widow for the honor she was doing himself
and his sons but said that there was another person whose modesty
And so forth and so on He sprung his secret about Hucks share in the
adventure in the finest dramatic manner he was master of but the surprise it
occasioned was largely counterfeit and not as clamorous and effusive as it might
have been under happier circumstances However the widow made a pretty fair
show of astonishment and heaped so many compliments and so much gratitude upon
Huck that he almost forgot the nearly intolerable discomfort of his new clothes
in the entirely intolerable discomfort of being set up as a target for
everybodys gaze and everybodys laudations
The widow said she meant to give Huck a home under her roof and have him
educated and that when she could spare the money she would start him in
business in a modest way Toms chance was come He said
»Huck dont need it Hucks rich«
Nothing but a heavy strain upon the good manners of the company kept back
the due and proper complimentary laugh at this pleasant joke But the silence
was a little awkward Tom broke it
»Hucks got money Maybe you dont believe it but hes got lots of it Oh
you neednt smile I reckon I can show you You just wait a minute«
Tom ran out of doors The company looked at each other with a perplexed
interest and inquiringly at Huck who was tonguetied
»Sid what ails Tom« said aunt Polly »He well there aint ever any
making of that boy out I never «
Tom entered struggling with the weight of his sacks and Aunt Polly did not
finish her sentence Tom poured the mass of yellow coin upon the table and said
»There what did I tell you Half of its Hucks and half of its mine«
The spectacle took the general breath away All gazed nobody spoke for a
moment Then there was a unanimous call for an explanation Tom said he could
furnish it and he did The tale was long but brim full of interest There was
scarcely an interruption from any one to break the charm of its flow When he
had finished Mr Jones said
»I thought I had fixed up a little surprise for this occasion but it dont
amount to anything now This one makes it sing mighty small Im willing to
allow«
The money was counted The sum amounted to a little over twelve thousand
dollars It was more than any one present had ever seen at one time before
though several persons were there who were worth considerably more than that in
property
Chapter 35
The reader may rest satisfied that Toms and Hucks windfall made a mighty stir
in the poor little village of St Petersburg So vast a sum all in actual cash
seemed next to incredible It was talked about gloated over glorified until
the reason of many of the citizens tottered under the strain of the unhealthy
excitement Every haunted house in St Petersburg and the neighboring villages
was dissected plank by plank and its foundations dug up and ransacked for
hidden treasure and not by boys but men pretty grave unromantic men too
some of them Wherever Tom and Huck appeared they were courted admired stared
at The boys were not able to remember that their remarks had possessed weight
before but now their sayings were treasured and repeated everything they did
seemed somehow to be regarded as remarkable they had evidently lost the power
of doing and saying commonplace things moreover their past history was raked
up and discovered to bear marks of conspicuous originality The village paper
published biographical sketches of the boys
The widow Douglas put Hucks money out at six per cent and Judge Thatcher
did the same with Toms at aunt Pollys request Each lad had an income now
that was simply prodigious a dollar for every weekday in the year and half of
the Sundays It was just what the minister got no it was what he was promised
he generally couldnt collect it A dollar and a quarter a week would board
lodge and school a boy in those old simple days and clothe him and wash him
too for that matter
Judge Thatcher had conceived a great opinion of Tom He said that no
commonplace boy would ever have got his daughter out of the cave When Becky
told her father in strict confidence how Tom had taken her whipping at school
the Judge was visibly moved and when she pleaded grace for the mighty lie which
Tom had told in order to shift that whipping from her shoulders to his own the
Judge said with a fine outburst that it was a noble a generous a magnanimous
lie a lie that was worthy to hold up its head and march down through history
breast to breast with George Washingtons lauded Truth about the hatchet Becky
thought her father had never looked so tall and so superb as when he walked the
floor and stamped his foot and said that She went straight off and told Tom
about it
Judge Thatcher hoped to see Tom a great lawyer or a great soldier some day
He said he meant to look to it that Tom should be admitted to the National
military academy and afterwards trained in the best law school in the country
in order that he might be ready for either career or both
Huck Finns wealth and the fact that he was now under the widow Douglass
protection introduced him into society no dragged him into it hurled him
into it and his sufferings were almost more than he could bear The widows
servants kept him clean and neat combed and brushed and they bedded him
nightly in unsympathetic sheets that had not one little spot or stain which he
could press to his heart and know for a friend He had to eat with knife and
fork he had to use napkin cup and plate he had to learn his book he had to
go to church he had to talk so properly that speech was become insipid in his
mouth whithersoever he turned the bars and shackles of civilization shut him
in and bound him hand and foot
He bravely bore his miseries three weeks and then one day turned up
missing For fortyeight hours the widow hunted for him everywhere in great
distress The public were profoundly concerned they searched high and low they
dragged the river for his body Early the third morning Tom Sawyer wisely went
poking among some old empty hogsheads down behind the abandoned slaughterhouse
and in one of them he found the refugee Huck had slept there he had just
breakfasted upon some stolen odds and ends of food and was lying off now in
comfort with his pipe He was unkempt uncombed and clad in the same old ruin
of rags that had made him picturesque in the days when he was free and happy
Tom routed him out told him the trouble he had been causing and urged him to
go home Hucks face lost its tranquil content and took a melancholy cast He
said
»Dont talk about it Tom Ive tried it and it dont work it dont work
Tom It aint for me I aint used to it The widders good to me and friendly
but I cant stand them ways She makes me git up just at the same time every
morning she makes me wash they comb me all to thunder she wont let me sleep
in the woodshed I got to wear them blamed clothes that just smothers me Tom
they dont seem to any air git through em somehow and theyre so rotten nice
that I cant set down nor lay down nor roll around anywhers I haint slid on
a cellardoor for well it pears to be years I got to go to church and sweat
and sweat I hate them ornery sermons I cant ketch a fly in there I cant
chaw I got to wear shoes all Sunday The widder eats by a bell she goes to bed
by a bell she gits up by a bell everythings so awful reglar a body cant
stand it«
»Well everybody does that way Huck«
»Tom it dont make no difference I aint everybody and I cant stand it
Its awful to be tied up so And grub comes too easy I dont take no interest
in vittles that way I got to ask to go afishing I got to ask to go in
aswimming dernd if I haint got to ask to do everything Well Id got to
talk so nice it wasnt no comfort Id got to go up in the attic and rip out a
while every day to git a taste in my mouth or Id a died Tom The widder
wouldnt let me smoke she wouldnt let me yell she wouldnt let me gape nor
stretch nor scratch before folks « Then with a spasm of special irritation
and injury »And dad fetch it she prayed all the time I never see such a
woman I had to shove Tom I just had to And besides that schools going to
open and Id a had to go to it well I wouldnt stand that Tom Lookyhere
Tom being rich aint what its cracked up to be Its just worry and worry and
sweat and sweat and awishing you was dead all the time Now these clothes
suits me and this barl suits me and I aint ever going to shake em any more
Tom I wouldnt ever got into all this trouble if it hadnt a ben for that
money now you just take my sheer of it along with yourn and gimme a tencenter
sometimes not many times becuz I dont give a dern for a thing thout its
tollable hard to git and you go and beg off for me with the widder«
»Oh Huck you know I cant do that Taint fair and besides if youll try
this thing just a while longer youll come to like it«
»Like it Yes the way Id like a hot stove if I was to set on it long
enough No Tom I wont be rich and I wont live in them cussed smothery
houses I like the woods and the river and hogsheads and Ill stick to em
too Blame it all just as wed got guns and a cave and all just fixed to rob
here this dern foolishness has got to come up and spile it all«
Tom saw his opportunity
»Lookyhere Huck being rich aint going to keep me back from turning
robber«
»No Oh goodlicks are you in real deadwood earnest Tom«
»Just as dead earnest as Im asitting here But Huck we cant let you into
the gang if you aint respectable you know«
Hucks joy was quenched
»Cant let me in Tom Didnt you let me go for a pirate«
»Yes but thats different A robber is more hightoned than what a pirate
is as a general thing In most countries theyre awful high up in the nobility
dukes and such«
»Now Tom haint you always ben friendly to me You wouldnt shet me out
would you Tom You wouldnt do that now would you Tom«
»Huck I wouldnt want to and I dont want to but what would people say
Why theyd say Mph Tom Sawyers Gang pretty low characters in it Theyd mean
you Huck You wouldnt like that and I wouldnt«
Huck was silent for some time engaged in a mental struggle Finally he
said
»Well Ill go back to the widder for a month and tackle it and see if I can
come to stand it if youll let me blong to the gang Tom«
»All right Huck its a whiz Come along old chap and Ill ask the widow
to let up on you a little Huck«
»Will you Tom now will you Thats good If shell let up on some of the
roughest things Ill smoke private and cuss private and crowd through or bust
When you going to start the gang and turn robbers«
»Oh right off Well get the boys together and have the initiation
tonight maybe«
»Have the which«
»Have the initiation«
»Whats that«
»Its to swear to stand by one another and never tell the gangs secrets
even if youre chopped all to flinders and kill anybody and all his family that
hurts one of the gang«
»Thats gay thats mighty gay Tom I tell you«
»Well I bet it is And all that swearings got to be done at midnight in
the lonesomest awfulest place you can find a hanted house is the best but
theyre all ripped up now«
»Well midnights good anyway Tom«
»Yes so it is And youve got to swear on a coffin and sign it with
blood«
»Now thats something like Why its a million times bullier than pirating
Ill stick to the widder till I rot Tom and if I git to be a reglar ripper of
a robber and everybody talking bout it I reckon shell be proud she snaked me
in out of the wet«
Conclusion
So endeth this chronicle It being strictly a history of a boy it must stop
here the story could not go much further without becoming the history of a man
When one writes a novel about grown people he knows exactly where to stop
that is with a marriage but when he writes of juveniles he must stop where he
best can
Most of the characters that perform in this book still live and are
prosperous and happy Some day it may seem worth while to take up the story of
the younger ones again and see what sort of men and women they turned out to be
therefore it will be wisest not to reveal any of that part of their lives at
present
1 Southwestern for afternoon
2 If Mr Harbison had owned a slave named Bull Tom would have spoken of him as
Harbisons Bull but a son or a dog of that name was Bull Harbison