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diff --git a/7196.txt b/7196.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b8e40b --- /dev/null +++ b/7196.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1544 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 4. +by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 4. + +Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) + +Release Date: June 29, 2004 [EBook #7196] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SAWYER *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER + BY + MARK TWAIN + (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) + + Part 4 + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +TOM'S 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 shouldn't 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 soul's sworn comrade, Joe Harper +--hard-eyed, 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, some time, 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 Jackson's +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 +meeting-place. 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 Red-Handed, 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 Red-Handed had stolen a +skillet and a quantity of half-cured leaf tobacco, and had also brought +a few corn-cobs 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 +dagger-hilts; 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, gloomy-browed, and with folded +arms, and gave his orders in a low, stern whisper: + +"Luff, and bring her to the wind!" + +"Aye-aye, sir!" + +"Steady, steady-y-y-y!" + +"Steady it is, sir!" + +"Let her go off a point!" + +"Point it is, sir!" + +As the boys steadily and monotonously drove the raft toward mid-stream +it was no doubt understood that these orders were given only for +"style," and were not intended to mean anything in particular. + +"What sail's she carrying?" + +"Courses, tops'ls, and flying-jib, sir." + +"Send the r'yals up! Lay out aloft, there, half a dozen of ye +--foretopmaststuns'l! Lively, now!" + +"Aye-aye, sir!" + +"Shake out that maintogalans'l! Sheets and braces! NOW my hearties!" + +"Aye-aye, sir!" + +"Hellum-a-lee--hard a port! Stand by to meet her when she comes! Port, +port! NOW, men! With a will! Stead-y-y-y!" + +"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 three mile current. Hardly a word was +said during the next three-quarters 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 +star-gemmed 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 Jackson's 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 o'clock 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 raft's 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 +camp-fire. + +"AIN'T it gay?" said Joe. + +"It's NUTS!" said Tom. "What would the boys say if they could see us?" + +"Say? Well, they'd just die to be here--hey, Hucky!" + +"I reckon so," said Huckleberry; "anyways, I'm suited. I don't want +nothing better'n this. I don't ever get enough to eat, gen'ally--and +here they can't come and pick at a feller and bullyrag him so." + +"It's just the life for me," said Tom. "You don't have to get up, +mornings, and you don't have to go to school, and wash, and all that +blame foolishness. You see a pirate don't have to do ANYTHING, Joe, +when he's ashore, but a hermit HE has to be praying considerable, and +then he don't have any fun, anyway, all by himself that way." + +"Oh yes, that's so," said Joe, "but I hadn't thought much about it, +you know. I'd a good deal rather be a pirate, now that I've tried it." + +"You see," said Tom, "people don't go much on hermits, nowadays, like +they used to in old times, but a pirate's always respected. And a +hermit's 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 they've GOT to do it. Hermits always do. You'd have to do +that if you was a hermit." + +"Dern'd if I would," said Huck. + +"Well, what would you do?" + +"I dono. But I wouldn't do that." + +"Why, Huck, you'd HAVE to. How'd you get around it?" + +"Why, I just wouldn't stand it. I'd run away." + +"Run away! Well, you WOULD be a nice old slouch of a hermit. You'd be +a disgrace." + +The Red-Handed 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 there's +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 don't kill +the women." + +"No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women--they're too noble. And +the women's always beautiful, too. + +"And don't they wear the bulliest clothes! Oh no! All gold and silver +and di'monds," said Joe, with enthusiasm. + +"Who?" said Huck. + +"Why, the pirates." + +Huck scanned his own clothing forlornly. + +"I reckon I ain't dressed fitten for a pirate," said he, with a +regretful pathos in his voice; "but I ain't 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 +Red-Handed, and he slept the sleep of the conscience-free 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 XIV + +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 Nature's 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 two-thirds 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 Tom's 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 tree-trunk. A brown spotted lady-bug +climbed the dizzy height of a grass blade, and Tom bent down close to +it and said, "Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, your house is on fire, +your children's 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 practised 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 Tom's 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 boy's 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, glad-hearted, and +ravenous; and they soon had the camp-fire 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 sun-perch and a small catfish--provisions +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 make, 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 gayly 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 grape-vines. 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 Red-Handed 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. + +"'Tain't thunder," said Huckleberry, in an awed tone, "becuz thunder--" + +"Hark!" said Tom. "Listen--don't talk." + +They waited a time that seemed an age, and then the same muffled boom +troubled the solemn hush. + +"Let's 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 ferryboat 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 ferryboat, but the boys could not determine what +the men in them were doing. Presently a great jet of white smoke burst +from the ferryboat's 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; "somebody's drownded!" + +"That's 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 there's anybody +that's drownded, they'll float right there and stop." + +"Yes, I've heard about that," said Joe. "I wonder what makes the bread +do that." + +"Oh, it ain't the bread, so much," said Tom; "I reckon it's mostly +what they SAY over it before they start it out." + +"But they don't say anything over it," said Huck. "I've seen 'em and +they don't." + +"Well, that's 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 set upon an errand of such +gravity. + +"By jings, I wish I was over there, now," said Joe. + +"I do too" said Huck "I'd give heaps to know who it is." + +The boys still listened and watched. Presently a revealing thought +flashed through Tom's mind, and he exclaimed: + +"Boys, I know who's drownded--it's 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 unkindness 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 ferryboat 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 chicken-hearted 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 camp-fire. He picked up and inspected several large +semi-cylinders 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 Joe's 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 XV + +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 +half-way over; the current would permit no more wading, now, so he +struck out confidently to swim the remaining hundred yards. He swam +quartering upstream, 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 o'clock he came out into an open place opposite the village, and +saw the ferryboat 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 boat's +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 skiff's head was standing high up, +against the boat's swell, and the voyage was begun. Tom felt happy in +his success, for he knew it was the boat's 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 +downstream, out of danger of possible stragglers. + +He flew along unfrequented alleys, and shortly found himself at his +aunt's back fence. He climbed over, approached the "ell," and looked in +at the sitting-room window, for a light was burning there. There sat +Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and Joe Harper's 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; so he put his head through and began, +warily. + +"What makes the candle blow so?" said Aunt Polly. Tom hurried up. +"Why, that door's 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 +aunt's foot. + +"But as I was saying," said Aunt Polly, "he warn't BAD, so to say +--only mischEEvous. Only just giddy, and harum-scarum, you know. He +warn't any more responsible than a colt. HE never meant any harm, and +he was the best-hearted 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 Tom's better off where he is," said Sid, "but if he'd been +better in some ways--" + +"SID!" Tom felt the glare of the old lady's eye, though he could not +see it. "Not a word against my Tom, now that he's gone! God'll take +care of HIM--never you trouble YOURself, sir! Oh, Mrs. Harper, I don't +know how to give him up! I don't 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 it's so hard--Oh, it's 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--Oh, if it was to do over +again I'd 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 Pain-killer, and I did think the cretur +would tear the house down. And God forgive me, I cracked Tom's head +with my thimble, poor boy, poor dead boy. But he's 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 aunt's +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 wise-heads 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 mid-channel, 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 good-night and turned to go. Then with a +mutual impulse the two bereaved women flung themselves into each +other's arms and had a good, consoling cry, and then parted. Aunt Polly +was tender far beyond her wont, in her good-night 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 +broken-hearted 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 +candle-light 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 upstream. 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 woods. + +He sat down and took a long rest, torturing himself meanwhile to keep +awake, and then started warily down the home-stretch. 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, Tom's true-blue, Huck, and he'll come back. He won't desert. He +knows that would be a disgrace to a pirate, and Tom's too proud for +that sort of thing. He's up to something or other. Now I wonder what?" + +"Well, the things is ours, anyway, ain't they?" + +Pretty near, but not yet, Huck. The writing says they are if he ain't +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 XVI + +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 fried-egg 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 +other's 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 flesh-colored "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 "ring-taw" 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 Joe's 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 there's been pirates on this island before, boys. We'll explore +it again. They've hid treasures here somewhere. How'd you feel to light +on a rotten chest full of gold and silver--hey?" + +But it roused only 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: + +"Oh, boys, let's give it up. I want to go home. It's so lonesome." + +"Oh no, Joe, you'll feel better by and by," said Tom. "Just think of +the fishing that's here." + +"I don't care for fishing. I want to go home." + +"But, Joe, there ain't such another swimming-place anywhere." + +"Swimming's no good. I don't seem to care for it, somehow, when there +ain't anybody to say I sha'n't go in. I mean to go home." + +"Oh, 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 ain't any more baby than you are." And Joe snuffled a little. + +"Well, we'll let the cry-baby go home to his mother, won't we, Huck? +Poor thing--does it want to see its mother? And so it shall. You like +it here, don't you, Huck? We'll stay, won't we?" + +Huck said, "Y-e-s"--without any heart in it. + +"I'll 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. Oh, you're a nice pirate. Huck and me ain't cry-babies. +We'll stay, won't we, Huck? Let him go if he wants to. I reckon we can +get along without him, per'aps." + +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 eying Joe's preparations so wistfully, and keeping up such an +ominous silence. Presently, without a parting word, Joe began to wade +off toward the Illinois shore. Tom's 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 +it'll be worse. Let's us go, too, Tom." + +"I won't! You can all go, if you want to. I mean to stay." + +"Tom, I better go." + +"Well, go 'long--who's hendering you." + +Huck began to pick up his scattered clothes. He said: + +"Tom, I wisht you'd come, too. Now you think it over. We'll wait for +you when we get to shore." + +"Well, you'll wait a blame long time, that's 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 +war-whoop of applause and said it was "splendid!" and said if he had +told them at first, they wouldn't 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 gayly back and went at their sports again with a will, +chattering all the time about Tom's 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 grape-vine, 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, it's just as easy! If I'd a knowed this was all, I'd a learnt +long ago." + +"So would I," said Joe. "It's just nothing." + +"Why, many a time I've looked at people smoking, and thought well I +wish I could do that; but I never thought I could," said Tom. + +"That's just the way with me, hain't it, Huck? You've heard me talk +just that way--haven't you, Huck? I'll leave it to Huck if I haven't." + +"Yes--heaps of times," said Huck. + +"Well, I have too," said Tom; "oh, hundreds of times. Once down by the +slaughter-house. Don't you remember, Huck? Bob Tanner was there, and +Johnny Miller, and Jeff Thatcher, when I said it. Don't you remember, +Huck, 'bout me saying that?" + +"Yes, that's 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 don't feel +sick." + +"Neither do I," said Tom. "I could smoke it all day. But I bet you +Jeff Thatcher couldn't." + +"Jeff Thatcher! Why, he'd keel over just with two draws. Just let him +try it once. HE'D see!" + +"I bet he would. And Johnny Miller--I wish could see Johnny Miller +tackle it once." + +"Oh, don't I!" said Joe. "Why, I bet you Johnny Miller couldn't 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, don't say anything about it, and some time when they're +around, I'll come up to you and say, 'Joe, got a pipe? I want a smoke.' +And you'll say, kind of careless like, as if it warn't anything, you'll +say, 'Yes, I got my OLD pipe, and another one, but my tobacker ain't +very good.' And I'll say, 'Oh, that's all right, if it's STRONG +enough.' And then you'll out with the pipes, and we'll light up just as +ca'm, and then just see 'em look!" + +"By jings, that'll be gay, Tom! I wish it was NOW!" + +"So do I! And when we tell 'em we learned when we was off pirating, +won't they wish they'd been along?" + +"Oh, I reckon not! I'll 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 marvellously +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. Joe's pipe dropped from his nerveless fingers. Tom's followed. +Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might +and main. Joe said feebly: + +"I've lost my knife. I reckon I better go and find it." + +Tom said, with quivering lips and halting utterance: + +"I'll help you. You go over that way and I'll hunt around by the +spring. No, you needn't 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 grass-blade, 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 tree-tops +right over the boys' heads. They clung together in terror, in the thick +gloom that followed. A few big rain-drops 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 thunder-blasts 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 +lightning that flamed in the skies, everything below stood out in +clean-cut and shadowless distinctness: the bending trees, the billowy +river, white with foam, the driving spray of spume-flakes, the dim +outlines of the high bluffs on the other side, glimpsed through the +drifting cloud-rack 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 thunder-peals came now in ear-splitting +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 camp-fire 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 glad-hearted 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 stiff-jointed, 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 war-whoops, 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 practised 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 XVII + +BUT there was no hilarity in the little town that same tranquil +Saturday afternoon. The Harpers, and Aunt Polly's 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 soliloquized: + +"Oh, if I only had a brass andiron-knob again! But I haven't 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. Oh, if it was to do over again, I wouldn't say +that--I wouldn't say it for the whole world. But he's gone now; I'll +never, never, never see him any more." + +This thought broke her down, and she wandered away, with tears rolling +down her cheeks. Then quite a group of boys and girls--playmates of +Tom's and Joe's--came by, and stood looking over the paling fence and +talking in reverent tones of how Tom did so-and-so 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 a-standing 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 Sunday-school 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 minister's, 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 ain't fair. Somebody's got to be glad to see Huck." + +"And so they shall. I'm 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 Polly's +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. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 4. +by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SAWYER *** + +***** This file should be named 7196.txt or 7196.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/1/9/7196/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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