1Produced by David Widger. The previous edition was updated by Jose
2Menendez.
3
4
5
6
7
8 THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER
9 BY
10 MARK TWAIN
11 (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
12
13
14
15
16 P R E F A C E
17
18MOST of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or
19two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were
20schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but
21not from an individual--he is a combination of the characteristics of
22three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of
23architecture.
24
25The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children
26and slaves in the West at the period of this story--that is to say,
27thirty or forty years ago.
28
29Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and
30girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account,
31for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what
32they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked,
33and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.
34
35 THE AUTHOR.
36
37HARTFORD, 1876.
38
39
40
41 T O M S A W Y E R
42
43
44
45CHAPTER I
46
47"TOM!"
48
49No answer.
50
51"TOM!"
52
53No answer.
54
55"What's gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!"
56
57No answer.
58
59The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the
60room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or
61never looked THROUGH them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her
62state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for "style," not
63service--she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well.
64She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but
65still loud enough for the furniture to hear:
66
67"Well, I lay if I get hold of you I'll--"
68
69She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching
70under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the
71punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.
72
73"I never did see the beat of that boy!"
74
75She went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the
76tomato vines and "jimpson" weeds that constituted the garden. No Tom.
77So she lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for distance and
78shouted:
79
80"Y-o-u-u TOM!"
81
82There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to
83seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight.
84
85"There! I might 'a' thought of that closet. What you been doing in
86there?"
87
88"Nothing."
89
90"Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What IS that
91truck?"
92
93"I don't know, aunt."
94
95"Well, I know. It's jam--that's what it is. Forty times I've said if
96you didn't let that jam alone I'd skin you. Hand me that switch."
97
98The switch hovered in the air--the peril was desperate--
99
100"My! Look behind you, aunt!"
101
102The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger. The
103lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and
104disappeared over it.
105
106His aunt Polly stood surprised a moment, and then broke into a gentle
107laugh.
108
109"Hang the boy, can't I never learn anything? Ain't he played me tricks
110enough like that for me to be looking out for him by this time? But old
111fools is the biggest fools there is. Can't learn an old dog new tricks,
112as the saying is. But my goodness, he never plays them alike, two days,
113and how is a body to know what's coming? He 'pears to know just how
114long he can torment me before I get my dander up, and he knows if he
115can make out to put me off for a minute or make me laugh, it's all down
116again and I can't hit him a lick. I ain't doing my duty by that boy,
117and that's the Lord's truth, goodness knows. Spare the rod and spile
118the child, as the Good Book says. I'm a laying up sin and suffering for
119us both, I know. He's full of the Old Scratch, but laws-a-me! he's my
120own dead sister's boy, poor thing, and I ain't got the heart to lash
121him, somehow. Every time I let him off, my conscience does hurt me so,
122and every time I hit him my old heart most breaks. Well-a-well, man
123that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble, as the
124Scripture says, and I reckon it's so. He'll play hookey this evening, *
125and [* Southwestern for "afternoon"] I'll just be obleeged to make him
126work, to-morrow, to punish him. It's mighty hard to make him work
127Saturdays, when all the boys is having holiday, but he hates work more
128than he hates anything else, and I've GOT to do some of my duty by him,
129or I'll be the ruination of the child."
130
131Tom did play hookey, and he had a very good time. He got back home
132barely in season to help Jim, the small colored boy, saw next-day's
133wood and split the kindlings before supper--at least he was there in
134time to tell his adventures to Jim while Jim did three-fourths of the
135work. Tom's younger brother (or rather half-brother) Sid was already
136through with his part of the work (picking up chips), for he was a
137quiet boy, and had no adventurous, troublesome ways.
138
139While Tom was eating his supper, and stealing sugar as opportunity
140offered, Aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile, and
141very deep--for she wanted to trap him into damaging revealments. Like
142many other simple-hearted souls, it was her pet vanity to believe she
143was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she
144loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low
145cunning. Said she:
146
147"Tom, it was middling warm in school, warn't it?"
148
149"Yes'm."
150
151"Powerful warm, warn't it?"
152
153"Yes'm."
154
155"Didn't you want to go in a-swimming, Tom?"
156
157A bit of a scare shot through Tom--a touch of uncomfortable suspicion.
158He searched Aunt Polly's face, but it told him nothing. So he said:
159
160"No'm--well, not very much."
161
162The old lady reached out her hand and felt Tom's shirt, and said:
163
164"But you ain't too warm now, though." And it flattered her to reflect
165that she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing
166that that was what she had in her mind. But in spite of her, Tom knew
167where the wind lay, now. So he forestalled what might be the next move:
168
169"Some of us pumped on our heads--mine's damp yet. See?"
170
171Aunt Polly was vexed to think she had overlooked that bit of
172circumstantial evidence, and missed a trick. Then she had a new
173inspiration:
174
175"Tom, you didn't have to undo your shirt collar where I sewed it, to
176pump on your head, did you? Unbutton your jacket!"
177
178The trouble vanished out of Tom's face. He opened his jacket. His
179shirt collar was securely sewed.
180
181"Bother! Well, go 'long with you. I'd made sure you'd played hookey
182and been a-swimming. But I forgive ye, Tom. I reckon you're a kind of a
183singed cat, as the saying is--better'n you look. THIS time."
184
185She was half sorry her sagacity had miscarried, and half glad that Tom
186had stumbled into obedient conduct for once.
187
188But Sidney said:
189
190"Well, now, if I didn't think you sewed his collar with white thread,
191but it's black."
192
193"Why, I did sew it with white! Tom!"
194
195But Tom did not wait for the rest. As he went out at the door he said:
196
197"Siddy, I'll lick you for that."
198
199In a safe place Tom examined two large needles which were thrust into
200the lapels of his jacket, and had thread bound about them--one needle
201carried white thread and the other black. He said:
202
203"She'd never noticed if it hadn't been for Sid. Confound it! sometimes
204she sews it with white, and sometimes she sews it with black. I wish to
205geeminy she'd stick to one or t'other--I can't keep the run of 'em. But
206I bet you I'll lam Sid for that. I'll learn him!"
207
208He was not the Model Boy of the village. He knew the model boy very
209well though--and loathed him.
210
211Within two minutes, or even less, he had forgotten all his troubles.
212Not because his troubles were one whit less heavy and bitter to him
213than a man's are to a man, but because a new and powerful interest bore
214them down and drove them out of his mind for the time--just as men's
215misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises. This
216new interest was a valued novelty in whistling, which he had just
217acquired from a negro, and he was suffering to practise it undisturbed.
218It consisted in a peculiar bird-like turn, a sort of liquid warble,
219produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short
220intervals in the midst of the music--the reader probably remembers how
221to do it, if he has ever been a boy. Diligence and attention soon gave
222him the knack of it, and he strode down the street with his mouth full
223of harmony and his soul full of gratitude. He felt much as an
224astronomer feels who has discovered a new planet--no doubt, as far as
225strong, deep, unalloyed pleasure is concerned, the advantage was with
226the boy, not the astronomer.
227
228The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tom
229checked his whistle. A stranger was before him--a boy a shade larger
230than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive
231curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy
232was well dressed, too--well dressed on a week-day. This was simply
233astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth
234roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes
235on--and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of
236ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom's vitals. The
237more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his
238nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed
239to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved--but
240only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all
241the time. Finally Tom said:
242
243"I can lick you!"
244
245"I'd like to see you try it."
246
247"Well, I can do it."
248
249"No you can't, either."
250
251"Yes I can."
252
253"No you can't."
254
255"I can."
256
257"You can't."
258
259"Can!"
260
261"Can't!"
262
263An uncomfortable pause. Then Tom said:
264
265"What's your name?"
266
267"'Tisn't any of your business, maybe."
268
269"Well I 'low I'll MAKE it my business."
270
271"Well why don't you?"
272
273"If you say much, I will."
274
275"Much--much--MUCH. There now."
276
277"Oh, you think you're mighty smart, DON'T you? I could lick you with
278one hand tied behind me, if I wanted to."
279
280"Well why don't you DO it? You SAY you can do it."
281
282"Well I WILL, if you fool with me."
283
284"Oh yes--I've seen whole families in the same fix."
285
286"Smarty! You think you're SOME, now, DON'T you? Oh, what a hat!"
287
288"You can lump that hat if you don't like it. I dare you to knock it
289off--and anybody that'll take a dare will suck eggs."
290
291"You're a liar!"
292
293"You're another."
294
295"You're a fighting liar and dasn't take it up."
296
297"Aw--take a walk!"
298
299"Say--if you give me much more of your sass I'll take and bounce a
300rock off'n your head."
301
302"Oh, of COURSE you will."
303
304"Well I WILL."
305
306"Well why don't you DO it then? What do you keep SAYING you will for?
307Why don't you DO it? It's because you're afraid."
308
309"I AIN'T afraid."
310
311"You are."
312
313"I ain't."
314
315"You are."
316
317Another pause, and more eying and sidling around each other. Presently
318they were shoulder to shoulder. Tom said:
319
320"Get away from here!"
321
322"Go away yourself!"
323
324"I won't."
325
326"I won't either."
327
328So they stood, each with a foot placed at an angle as a brace, and
329both shoving with might and main, and glowering at each other with
330hate. But neither could get an advantage. After struggling till both
331were hot and flushed, each relaxed his strain with watchful caution,
332and Tom said:
333
334"You're a coward and a pup. I'll tell my big brother on you, and he
335can thrash you with his little finger, and I'll make him do it, too."
336
337"What do I care for your big brother? I've got a brother that's bigger
338than he is--and what's more, he can throw him over that fence, too."
339[Both brothers were imaginary.]
340
341"That's a lie."
342
343"YOUR saying so don't make it so."
344
345Tom drew a line in the dust with his big toe, and said:
346
347"I dare you to step over that, and I'll lick you till you can't stand
348up. Anybody that'll take a dare will steal sheep."
349
350The new boy stepped over promptly, and said:
351
352"Now you said you'd do it, now let's see you do it."
353
354"Don't you crowd me now; you better look out."
355
356"Well, you SAID you'd do it--why don't you do it?"
357
358"By jingo! for two cents I WILL do it."
359
360The new boy took two broad coppers out of his pocket and held them out
361with derision. Tom struck them to the ground. In an instant both boys
362were rolling and tumbling in the dirt, gripped together like cats; and
363for the space of a minute they tugged and tore at each other's hair and
364clothes, punched and scratched each other's nose, and covered
365themselves with dust and glory. Presently the confusion took form, and
366through the fog of battle Tom appeared, seated astride the new boy, and
367pounding him with his fists. "Holler 'nuff!" said he.
368
369The boy only struggled to free himself. He was crying--mainly from rage.
370
371"Holler 'nuff!"--and the pounding went on.
372
373At last the stranger got out a smothered "'Nuff!" and Tom let him up
374and said:
375
376"Now that'll learn you. Better look out who you're fooling with next
377time."
378
379The new boy went off brushing the dust from his clothes, sobbing,
380snuffling, and occasionally looking back and shaking his head and
381threatening what he would do to Tom the "next time he caught him out."
382To which Tom responded with jeers, and started off in high feather, and
383as soon as his back was turned the new boy snatched up a stone, threw
384it and hit him between the shoulders and then turned tail and ran like
385an antelope. Tom chased the traitor home, and thus found out where he
386lived. He then held a position at the gate for some time, daring the
387enemy to come outside, but the enemy only made faces at him through the
388window and declined. At last the enemy's mother appeared, and called
389Tom a bad, vicious, vulgar child, and ordered him away. So he went
390away; but he said he "'lowed" to "lay" for that boy.
391
392He got home pretty late that night, and when he climbed cautiously in
393at the window, he uncovered an ambuscade, in the person of his aunt;
394and when she saw the state his clothes were in her resolution to turn
395his Saturday holiday into captivity at hard labor became adamantine in
396its firmness.
397
398
399
400CHAPTER II
401
402SATURDAY morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and
403fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if
404the heart was young the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in
405every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom
406and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond
407the village and above it, was green with vegetation and it lay just far
408enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.
409
410Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a
411long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and
412a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board
413fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a
414burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost
415plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the insignificant
416whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed
417fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged. Jim came skipping out at
418the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals. Bringing water from
419the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom's eyes, before, but
420now it did not strike him so. He remembered that there was company at
421the pump. White, mulatto, and negro boys and girls were always there
422waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling,
423fighting, skylarking. And he remembered that although the pump was only
424a hundred and fifty yards off, Jim never got back with a bucket of
425water under an hour--and even then somebody generally had to go after
426him. Tom said:
427
428"Say, Jim, I'll fetch the water if you'll whitewash some."
429
430Jim shook his head and said:
431
432"Can't, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an' git dis
433water an' not stop foolin' roun' wid anybody. She say she spec' Mars
434Tom gwine to ax me to whitewash, an' so she tole me go 'long an' 'tend
435to my own business--she 'lowed SHE'D 'tend to de whitewashin'."
436
437"Oh, never you mind what she said, Jim. That's the way she always
438talks. Gimme the bucket--I won't be gone only a a minute. SHE won't
439ever know."
440
441"Oh, I dasn't, Mars Tom. Ole missis she'd take an' tar de head off'n
442me. 'Deed she would."
443
444"SHE! She never licks anybody--whacks 'em over the head with her
445thimble--and who cares for that, I'd like to know. She talks awful, but
446talk don't hurt--anyways it don't if she don't cry. Jim, I'll give you
447a marvel. I'll give you a white alley!"
448
449Jim began to waver.
450
451"White alley, Jim! And it's a bully taw."
452
453"My! Dat's a mighty gay marvel, I tell you! But Mars Tom I's powerful
454'fraid ole missis--"
455
456"And besides, if you will I'll show you my sore toe."
457
458Jim was only human--this attraction was too much for him. He put down
459his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing
460interest while the bandage was being unwound. In another moment he was
461flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was
462whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field
463with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.
464
465But Tom's energy did not last. He began to think of the fun he had
466planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the free boys
467would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and
468they would make a world of fun of him for having to work--the very
469thought of it burnt him like fire. He got out his worldly wealth and
470examined it--bits of toys, marbles, and trash; enough to buy an
471exchange of WORK, maybe, but not half enough to buy so much as half an
472hour of pure freedom. So he returned his straitened means to his
473pocket, and gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys. At this dark
474and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him! Nothing less than a
475great, magnificent inspiration.
476
477He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. Ben Rogers hove in
478sight presently--the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been
479dreading. Ben's gait was the hop-skip-and-jump--proof enough that his
480heart was light and his anticipations high. He was eating an apple, and
481giving a long, melodious whoop, at intervals, followed by a deep-toned
482ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-dong, for he was personating a steamboat. As
483he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned
484far over to starboard and rounded to ponderously and with laborious
485pomp and circumstance--for he was personating the Big Missouri, and
486considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water. He was boat and
487captain and engine-bells combined, so he had to imagine himself
488standing on his own hurricane-deck giving the orders and executing them:
489
490"Stop her, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling!" The headway ran almost out, and he
491drew up slowly toward the sidewalk.
492
493"Ship up to back! Ting-a-ling-ling!" His arms straightened and
494stiffened down his sides.
495
496"Set her back on the stabboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow! ch-chow-wow!
497Chow!" His right hand, meantime, describing stately circles--for it was
498representing a forty-foot wheel.
499
500"Let her go back on the labboard! Ting-a-lingling! Chow-ch-chow-chow!"
501The left hand began to describe circles.
502
503"Stop the stabboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! Stop the labboard! Come ahead
504on the stabboard! Stop her! Let your outside turn over slow!
505Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow-ow-ow! Get out that head-line! LIVELY now!
506Come--out with your spring-line--what're you about there! Take a turn
507round that stump with the bight of it! Stand by that stage, now--let her
508go! Done with the engines, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling! SH'T! S'H'T! SH'T!"
509(trying the gauge-cocks).
510
511Tom went on whitewashing--paid no attention to the steamboat. Ben
512stared a moment and then said: "Hi-YI! YOU'RE up a stump, ain't you!"
513
514No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then
515he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as
516before. Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom's mouth watered for the
517apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said:
518
519"Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?"
520
521Tom wheeled suddenly and said:
522
523"Why, it's you, Ben! I warn't noticing."
524
525"Say--I'm going in a-swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of
526course you'd druther WORK--wouldn't you? Course you would!"
527
528Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:
529
530"What do you call work?"
531
532"Why, ain't THAT work?"
533
534Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:
535
536"Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain't. All I know, is, it suits Tom
537Sawyer."
538
539"Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you LIKE it?"
540
541The brush continued to move.
542
543"Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get
544a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
545
546That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom
547swept his brush daintily back and forth--stepped back to note the
548effect--added a touch here and there--criticised the effect again--Ben
549watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more
550absorbed. Presently he said:
551
552"Say, Tom, let ME whitewash a little."
553
554Tom considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind:
555
556"No--no--I reckon it wouldn't hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly's
557awful particular about this fence--right here on the street, you know
558--but if it was the back fence I wouldn't mind and SHE wouldn't. Yes,
559she's awful particular about this fence; it's got to be done very
560careful; I reckon there ain't one boy in a thousand, maybe two
561thousand, that can do it the way it's got to be done."
562
563"No--is that so? Oh come, now--lemme just try. Only just a little--I'd
564let YOU, if you was me, Tom."
565
566"Ben, I'd like to, honest injun; but Aunt Polly--well, Jim wanted to
567do it, but she wouldn't let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn't
568let Sid. Now don't you see how I'm fixed? If you was to tackle this
569fence and anything was to happen to it--"
570
571"Oh, shucks, I'll be just as careful. Now lemme try. Say--I'll give
572you the core of my apple."
573
574"Well, here--No, Ben, now don't. I'm afeard--"
575
576"I'll give you ALL of it!"
577
578Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his
579heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in
580the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by,
581dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more
582innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every
583little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time
584Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for
585a kite, in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought in
586for a dead rat and a string to swing it with--and so on, and so on,
587hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being
588a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling
589in wealth. He had besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles,
590part of a jews-harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a
591spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk,
592a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six
593fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass doorknob, a
594dog-collar--but no dog--the handle of a knife, four pieces of
595orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash.
596
597He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while--plenty of company
598--and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn't run out
599of whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
600
601Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He
602had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it--namely,
603that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only
604necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great
605and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have
606comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do,
607and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And
608this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers
609or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or
610climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. There are wealthy gentlemen in
611England who drive four-horse passenger-coaches twenty or thirty miles
612on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them
613considerable money; but if they were offered wages for the service,
614that would turn it into work and then they would resign.
615
616The boy mused awhile over the substantial change which had taken place
617in his worldly circumstances, and then wended toward headquarters to
618report.
619
620
621
622CHAPTER III
623
624TOM presented himself before Aunt Polly, who was sitting by an open
625window in a pleasant rearward apartment, which was bedroom,
626breakfast-room, dining-room, and library, combined. The balmy summer
627air, the restful quiet, the odor of the flowers, and the drowsing murmur
628of the bees had had their effect, and she was nodding over her knitting
629--for she had no company but the cat, and it was asleep in her lap. Her
630spectacles were propped up on her gray head for safety. She had thought
631that of course Tom had deserted long ago, and she wondered at seeing him
632place himself in her power again in this intrepid way. He said: "Mayn't
633I go and play now, aunt?"
634
635"What, a'ready? How much have you done?"
636
637"It's all done, aunt."
638
639"Tom, don't lie to me--I can't bear it."
640
641"I ain't, aunt; it IS all done."
642
643Aunt Polly placed small trust in such evidence. She went out to see
644for herself; and she would have been content to find twenty per cent.
645of Tom's statement true. When she found the entire fence whitewashed,
646and not only whitewashed but elaborately coated and recoated, and even
647a streak added to the ground, her astonishment was almost unspeakable.
648She said:
649
650"Well, I never! There's no getting round it, you can work when you're
651a mind to, Tom." And then she diluted the compliment by adding, "But
652it's powerful seldom you're a mind to, I'm bound to say. Well, go 'long
653and play; but mind you get back some time in a week, or I'll tan you."
654
655She was so overcome by the splendor of his achievement that she took
656him into the closet and selected a choice apple and delivered it to
657him, along with an improving lecture upon the added value and flavor a
658treat took to itself when it came without sin through virtuous effort.
659And while she closed with a happy Scriptural flourish, he "hooked" a
660doughnut.
661
662Then he skipped out, and saw Sid just starting up the outside stairway
663that led to the back rooms on the second floor. Clods were handy and
664the air was full of them in a twinkling. They raged around Sid like a
665hail-storm; and before Aunt Polly could collect her surprised faculties
666and sally to the rescue, six or seven clods had taken personal effect,
667and Tom was over the fence and gone. There was a gate, but as a general
668thing he was too crowded for time to make use of it. His soul was at
669peace, now that he had settled with Sid for calling attention to his
670black thread and getting him into trouble.
671
672Tom skirted the block, and came round into a muddy alley that led by
673the back of his aunt's cow-stable. He presently got safely beyond the
674reach of capture and punishment, and hastened toward the public square
675of the village, where two "military" companies of boys had met for
676conflict, according to previous appointment. Tom was General of one of
677these armies, Joe Harper (a bosom friend) General of the other. These
678two great commanders did not condescend to fight in person--that being
679better suited to the still smaller fry--but sat together on an eminence
680and conducted the field operations by orders delivered through
681aides-de-camp. Tom's army won a great victory, after a long and
682hard-fought battle. Then the dead were counted, prisoners exchanged,
683the terms of the next disagreement agreed upon, and the day for the
684necessary battle appointed; after which the armies fell into line and
685marched away, and Tom turned homeward alone.
686
687As he was passing by the house where Jeff Thatcher lived, he saw a new
688girl in the garden--a lovely little blue-eyed creature with yellow hair
689plaited into two long-tails, white summer frock and embroidered
690pantalettes. The fresh-crowned hero fell without firing a shot. A
691certain Amy Lawrence vanished out of his heart and left not even a
692memory of herself behind. He had thought he loved her to distraction;
693he had regarded his passion as adoration; and behold it was only a poor
694little evanescent partiality. He had been months winning her; she had
695confessed hardly a week ago; he had been the happiest and the proudest
696boy in the world only seven short days, and here in one instant of time
697she had gone out of his heart like a casual stranger whose visit is
698done.
699
700He worshipped this new angel with furtive eye, till he saw that she
701had discovered him; then he pretended he did not know she was present,
702and began to "show off" in all sorts of absurd boyish ways, in order to
703win her admiration. He kept up this grotesque foolishness for some
704time; but by-and-by, while he was in the midst of some dangerous
705gymnastic performances, he glanced aside and saw that the little girl
706was wending her way toward the house. Tom came up to the fence and
707leaned on it, grieving, and hoping she would tarry yet awhile longer.
708She halted a moment on the steps and then moved toward the door. Tom
709heaved a great sigh as she put her foot on the threshold. But his face
710lit up, right away, for she tossed a pansy over the fence a moment
711before she disappeared.
712
713The boy ran around and stopped within a foot or two of the flower, and
714then shaded his eyes with his hand and began to look down street as if
715he had discovered something of interest going on in that direction.
716Presently he picked up a straw and began trying to balance it on his
717nose, with his head tilted far back; and as he moved from side to side,
718in his efforts, he edged nearer and nearer toward the pansy; finally
719his bare foot rested upon it, his pliant toes closed upon it, and he
720hopped away with the treasure and disappeared round the corner. But
721only for a minute--only while he could button the flower inside his
722jacket, next his heart--or next his stomach, possibly, for he was not
723much posted in anatomy, and not hypercritical, anyway.
724
725He returned, now, and hung about the fence till nightfall, "showing
726off," as before; but the girl never exhibited herself again, though Tom
727comforted himself a little with the hope that she had been near some
728window, meantime, and been aware of his attentions. Finally he strode
729home reluctantly, with his poor head full of visions.
730
731All through supper his spirits were so high that his aunt wondered
732"what had got into the child." He took a good scolding about clodding
733Sid, and did not seem to mind it in the least. He tried to steal sugar
734under his aunt's very nose, and got his knuckles rapped for it. He said:
735
736"Aunt, you don't whack Sid when he takes it."
737
738"Well, Sid don't torment a body the way you do. You'd be always into
739that sugar if I warn't watching you."
740
741Presently she stepped into the kitchen, and Sid, happy in his
742immunity, reached for the sugar-bowl--a sort of glorying over Tom which
743was wellnigh unbearable. But Sid's fingers slipped and the bowl dropped
744and broke. Tom was in ecstasies. In such ecstasies that he even
745controlled his tongue and was silent. He said to himself that he would
746not speak a word, even when his aunt came in, but would sit perfectly
747still till she asked who did the mischief; and then he would tell, and
748there would be nothing so good in the world as to see that pet model
749"catch it." He was so brimful of exultation that he could hardly hold
750himself when the old lady came back and stood above the wreck
751discharging lightnings of wrath from over her spectacles. He said to
752himself, "Now it's coming!" And the next instant he was sprawling on
753the floor! The potent palm was uplifted to strike again when Tom cried
754out:
755
756"Hold on, now, what 'er you belting ME for?--Sid broke it!"
757
758Aunt Polly paused, perplexed, and Tom looked for healing pity. But
759when she got her tongue again, she only said:
760
761"Umf! Well, you didn't get a lick amiss, I reckon. You been into some
762other audacious mischief when I wasn't around, like enough."
763
764Then her conscience reproached her, and she yearned to say something
765kind and loving; but she judged that this would be construed into a
766confession that she had been in the wrong, and discipline forbade that.
767So she kept silence, and went about her affairs with a troubled heart.
768Tom sulked in a corner and exalted his woes. He knew that in her heart
769his aunt was on her knees to him, and he was morosely gratified by the
770consciousness of it. He would hang out no signals, he would take notice
771of none. He knew that a yearning glance fell upon him, now and then,
772through a film of tears, but he refused recognition of it. He pictured
773himself lying sick unto death and his aunt bending over him beseeching
774one little forgiving word, but he would turn his face to the wall, and
775die with that word unsaid. Ah, how would she feel then? And he pictured
776himself brought home from the river, dead, with his curls all wet, and
777his sore heart at rest. How she would throw herself upon him, and how
778her tears would fall like rain, and her lips pray God to give her back
779her boy and she would never, never abuse him any more! But he would lie
780there cold and white and make no sign--a poor little sufferer, whose
781griefs were at an end. He so worked upon his feelings with the pathos
782of these dreams, that he had to keep swallowing, he was so like to
783choke; and his eyes swam in a blur of water, which overflowed when he
784winked, and ran down and trickled from the end of his nose. And such a
785luxury to him was this petting of his sorrows, that he could not bear
786to have any worldly cheeriness or any grating delight intrude upon it;
787it was too sacred for such contact; and so, presently, when his cousin
788Mary danced in, all alive with the joy of seeing home again after an
789age-long visit of one week to the country, he got up and moved in
790clouds and darkness out at one door as she brought song and sunshine in
791at the other.
792
793He wandered far from the accustomed haunts of boys, and sought
794desolate places that were in harmony with his spirit. A log raft in the
795river invited him, and he seated himself on its outer edge and
796contemplated the dreary vastness of the stream, wishing, the while,
797that he could only be drowned, all at once and unconsciously, without
798undergoing the uncomfortable routine devised by nature. Then he thought
799of his flower. He got it out, rumpled and wilted, and it mightily
800increased his dismal felicity. He wondered if she would pity him if she
801knew? Would she cry, and wish that she had a right to put her arms
802around his neck and comfort him? Or would she turn coldly away like all
803the hollow world? This picture brought such an agony of pleasurable
804suffering that he worked it over and over again in his mind and set it
805up in new and varied lights, till he wore it threadbare. At last he
806rose up sighing and departed in the darkness.
807
808About half-past nine or ten o'clock he came along the deserted street
809to where the Adored Unknown lived; he paused a moment; no sound fell
810upon his listening ear; a candle was casting a dull glow upon the
811curtain of a second-story window. Was the sacred presence there? He
812climbed the fence, threaded his stealthy way through the plants, till
813he stood under that window; he looked up at it long, and with emotion;
814then he laid him down on the ground under it, disposing himself upon
815his back, with his hands clasped upon his breast and holding his poor
816wilted flower. And thus he would die--out in the cold world, with no
817shelter over his homeless head, no friendly hand to wipe the
818death-damps from his brow, no loving face to bend pityingly over him
819when the great agony came. And thus SHE would see him when she looked
820out upon the glad morning, and oh! would she drop one little tear upon
821his poor, lifeless form, would she heave one little sigh to see a bright
822young life so rudely blighted, so untimely cut down?
823
824The window went up, a maid-servant's discordant voice profaned the
825holy calm, and a deluge of water drenched the prone martyr's remains!
826
827The strangling hero sprang up with a relieving snort. There was a whiz
828as of a missile in the air, mingled with the murmur of a curse, a sound
829as of shivering glass followed, and a small, vague form went over the
830fence and shot away in the gloom.
831
832Not long after, as Tom, all undressed for bed, was surveying his
833drenched garments by the light of a tallow dip, Sid woke up; but if he
834had any dim idea of making any "references to allusions," he thought
835better of it and held his peace, for there was danger in Tom's eye.
836
837Tom turned in without the added vexation of prayers, and Sid made
838mental note of the omission.
839
840
841
842CHAPTER IV
843
844THE sun rose upon a tranquil world, and beamed down upon the peaceful
845village like a benediction. Breakfast over, Aunt Polly had family
846worship: it began with a prayer built from the ground up of solid
847courses of Scriptural quotations, welded together with a thin mortar of
848originality; and from the summit of this she delivered a grim chapter
849of the Mosaic Law, as from Sinai.
850
851Then Tom girded up his loins, so to speak, and went to work to "get
852his verses." Sid had learned his lesson days before. Tom bent all his
853energies to the memorizing of five verses, and he chose part of the
854Sermon on the Mount, because he could find no verses that were shorter.
855At the end of half an hour Tom had a vague general idea of his lesson,
856but no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field of human
857thought, and his hands were busy with distracting recreations. Mary
858took his book to hear him recite, and he tried to find his way through
859the fog:
860
861"Blessed are the--a--a--"
862
863"Poor"--
864
865"Yes--poor; blessed are the poor--a--a--"
866
867"In spirit--"
868
869"In spirit; blessed are the poor in spirit, for they--they--"
870
871"THEIRS--"
872
873"For THEIRS. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
874of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they--they--"
875
876"Sh--"
877
878"For they--a--"
879
880"S, H, A--"
881
882"For they S, H--Oh, I don't know what it is!"
883
884"SHALL!"
885
886"Oh, SHALL! for they shall--for they shall--a--a--shall mourn--a--a--
887blessed are they that shall--they that--a--they that shall mourn, for
888they shall--a--shall WHAT? Why don't you tell me, Mary?--what do you
889want to be so mean for?"
890
891"Oh, Tom, you poor thick-headed thing, I'm not teasing you. I wouldn't
892do that. You must go and learn it again. Don't you be discouraged, Tom,
893you'll manage it--and if you do, I'll give you something ever so nice.
894There, now, that's a good boy."
895
896"All right! What is it, Mary, tell me what it is."
897
898"Never you mind, Tom. You know if I say it's nice, it is nice."
899
900"You bet you that's so, Mary. All right, I'll tackle it again."
901
902And he did "tackle it again"--and under the double pressure of
903curiosity and prospective gain he did it with such spirit that he
904accomplished a shining success. Mary gave him a brand-new "Barlow"
905knife worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that
906swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would
907not cut anything, but it was a "sure-enough" Barlow, and there was
908inconceivable grandeur in that--though where the Western boys ever got
909the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its
910injury is an imposing mystery and will always remain so, perhaps. Tom
911contrived to scarify the cupboard with it, and was arranging to begin
912on the bureau, when he was called off to dress for Sunday-school.
913
914Mary gave him a tin basin of water and a piece of soap, and he went
915outside the door and set the basin on a little bench there; then he
916dipped the soap in the water and laid it down; turned up his sleeves;
917poured out the water on the ground, gently, and then entered the
918kitchen and began to wipe his face diligently on the towel behind the
919door. But Mary removed the towel and said:
920
921"Now ain't you ashamed, Tom. You mustn't be so bad. Water won't hurt
922you."
923
924Tom was a trifle disconcerted. The basin was refilled, and this time
925he stood over it a little while, gathering resolution; took in a big
926breath and began. When he entered the kitchen presently, with both eyes
927shut and groping for the towel with his hands, an honorable testimony
928of suds and water was dripping from his face. But when he emerged from
929the towel, he was not yet satisfactory, for the clean territory stopped
930short at his chin and his jaws, like a mask; below and beyond this line
931there was a dark expanse of unirrigated soil that spread downward in
932front and backward around his neck. Mary took him in hand, and when she
933was done with him he was a man and a brother, without distinction of
934color, and his saturated hair was neatly brushed, and its short curls
935wrought into a dainty and symmetrical general effect. [He privately
936smoothed out the curls, with labor and difficulty, and plastered his
937hair close down to his head; for he held curls to be effeminate, and
938his own filled his life with bitterness.] Then Mary got out a suit of
939his clothing that had been used only on Sundays during two years--they
940were simply called his "other clothes"--and so by that we know the
941size of his wardrobe. The girl "put him to rights" after he had dressed
942himself; she buttoned his neat roundabout up to his chin, turned his
943vast shirt collar down over his shoulders, brushed him off and crowned
944him with his speckled straw hat. He now looked exceedingly improved and
945uncomfortable. He was fully as uncomfortable as he looked; for there
946was a restraint about whole clothes and cleanliness that galled him. He
947hoped that Mary would forget his shoes, but the hope was blighted; she
948coated them thoroughly with tallow, as was the custom, and brought them
949out. He lost his temper and said he was always being made to do
950everything he didn't want to do. But Mary said, persuasively:
951
952"Please, Tom--that's a good boy."
953
954So he got into the shoes snarling. Mary was soon ready, and the three
955children set out for Sunday-school--a place that Tom hated with his
956whole heart; but Sid and Mary were fond of it.
957
958Sabbath-school hours were from nine to half-past ten; and then church
959service. Two of the children always remained for the sermon
960voluntarily, and the other always remained too--for stronger reasons.
961The church's high-backed, uncushioned pews would seat about three
962hundred persons; the edifice was but a small, plain affair, with a sort
963of pine board tree-box on top of it for a steeple. At the door Tom
964dropped back a step and accosted a Sunday-dressed comrade:
965
966"Say, Billy, got a yaller ticket?"
967
968"Yes."
969
970"What'll you take for her?"
971
972"What'll you give?"
973
974"Piece of lickrish and a fish-hook."
975
976"Less see 'em."
977
978Tom exhibited. They were satisfactory, and the property changed hands.
979Then Tom traded a couple of white alleys for three red tickets, and
980some small trifle or other for a couple of blue ones. He waylaid other
981boys as they came, and went on buying tickets of various colors ten or
982fifteen minutes longer. He entered the church, now, with a swarm of
983clean and noisy boys and girls, proceeded to his seat and started a
984quarrel with the first boy that came handy. The teacher, a grave,
985elderly man, interfered; then turned his back a moment and Tom pulled a
986boy's hair in the next bench, and was absorbed in his book when the boy
987turned around; stuck a pin in another boy, presently, in order to hear
988him say "Ouch!" and got a new reprimand from his teacher. Tom's whole
989class were of a pattern--restless, noisy, and troublesome. When they
990came to recite their lessons, not one of them knew his verses
991perfectly, but had to be prompted all along. However, they worried
992through, and each got his reward--in small blue tickets, each with a
993passage of Scripture on it; each blue ticket was pay for two verses of
994the recitation. Ten blue tickets equalled a red one, and could be
995exchanged for it; ten red tickets equalled a yellow one; for ten yellow
996tickets the superintendent gave a very plainly bound Bible (worth forty
997cents in those easy times) to the pupil. How many of my readers would
998have the industry and application to memorize two thousand verses, even
999for a Dore Bible? And yet Mary had acquired two Bibles in this way--it
1000was the patient work of two years--and a boy of German parentage had
1001won four or five. He once recited three thousand verses without
1002stopping; but the strain upon his mental faculties was too great, and
1003he was little better than an idiot from that day forth--a grievous
1004misfortune for the school, for on great occasions, before company, the
1005superintendent (as Tom expressed it) had always made this boy come out
1006and "spread himself." Only the older pupils managed to keep their
1007tickets and stick to their tedious work long enough to get a Bible, and
1008so the delivery of one of these prizes was a rare and noteworthy
1009circumstance; the successful pupil was so great and conspicuous for
1010that day that on the spot every scholar's heart was fired with a fresh
1011ambition that often lasted a couple of weeks. It is possible that Tom's
1012mental stomach had never really hungered for one of those prizes, but
1013unquestionably his entire being had for many a day longed for the glory
1014and the eclat that came with it.
1015
1016In due course the superintendent stood up in front of the pulpit, with
1017a closed hymn-book in his hand and his forefinger inserted between its
1018leaves, and commanded attention. When a Sunday-school superintendent
1019makes his customary little speech, a hymn-book in the hand is as
1020necessary as is the inevitable sheet of music in the hand of a singer
1021who stands forward on the platform and sings a solo at a concert
1022--though why, is a mystery: for neither the hymn-book nor the sheet of
1023music is ever referred to by the sufferer. This superintendent was a
1024slim creature of thirty-five, with a sandy goatee and short sandy hair;
1025he wore a stiff standing-collar whose upper edge almost reached his
1026ears and whose sharp points curved forward abreast the corners of his
1027mouth--a fence that compelled a straight lookout ahead, and a turning
1028of the whole body when a side view was required; his chin was propped
1029on a spreading cravat which was as broad and as long as a bank-note,
1030and had fringed ends; his boot toes were turned sharply up, in the
1031fashion of the day, like sleigh-runners--an effect patiently and
1032laboriously produced by the young men by sitting with their toes
1033pressed against a wall for hours together. Mr. Walters was very earnest
1034of mien, and very sincere and honest at heart; and he held sacred
1035things and places in such reverence, and so separated them from worldly
1036matters, that unconsciously to himself his Sunday-school voice had
1037acquired a peculiar intonation which was wholly absent on week-days. He
1038began after this fashion:
1039
1040"Now, children, I want you all to sit up just as straight and pretty
1041as you can and give me all your attention for a minute or two. There
1042--that is it. That is the way good little boys and girls should do. I see
1043one little girl who is looking out of the window--I am afraid she
1044thinks I am out there somewhere--perhaps up in one of the trees making
1045a speech to the little birds. [Applausive titter.] I want to tell you
1046how good it makes me feel to see so many bright, clean little faces
1047assembled in a place like this, learning to do right and be good." And
1048so forth and so on. It is not necessary to set down the rest of the
1049oration. It was of a pattern which does not vary, and so it is familiar
1050to us all.
1051
1052The latter third of the speech was marred by the resumption of fights
1053and other recreations among certain of the bad boys, and by fidgetings
1054and whisperings that extended far and wide, washing even to the bases
1055of isolated and incorruptible rocks like Sid and Mary. But now every
1056sound ceased suddenly, with the subsidence of Mr. Walters' voice, and
1057the conclusion of the speech was received with a burst of silent
1058gratitude.
1059
1060A good part of the whispering had been occasioned by an event which
1061was more or less rare--the entrance of visitors: lawyer Thatcher,
1062accompanied by a very feeble and aged man; a fine, portly, middle-aged
1063gentleman with iron-gray hair; and a dignified lady who was doubtless
1064the latter's wife. The lady was leading a child. Tom had been restless
1065and full of chafings and repinings; conscience-smitten, too--he could
1066not meet Amy Lawrence's eye, he could not brook her loving gaze. But
1067when he saw this small new-comer his soul was all ablaze with bliss in
1068a moment. The next moment he was "showing off" with all his might
1069--cuffing boys, pulling hair, making faces--in a word, using every art
1070that seemed likely to fascinate a girl and win her applause. His
1071exaltation had but one alloy--the memory of his humiliation in this
1072angel's garden--and that record in sand was fast washing out, under
1073the waves of happiness that were sweeping over it now.
1074
1075The visitors were given the highest seat of honor, and as soon as Mr.
1076Walters' speech was finished, he introduced them to the school. The
1077middle-aged man turned out to be a prodigious personage--no less a one
1078than the county judge--altogether the most august creation these
1079children had ever looked upon--and they wondered what kind of material
1080he was made of--and they half wanted to hear him roar, and were half
1081afraid he might, too. He was from Constantinople, twelve miles away--so
1082he had travelled, and seen the world--these very eyes had looked upon
1083the county court-house--which was said to have a tin roof. The awe
1084which these reflections inspired was attested by the impressive silence
1085and the ranks of staring eyes. This was the great Judge Thatcher,
1086brother of their own lawyer. Jeff Thatcher immediately went forward, to
1087be familiar with the great man and be envied by the school. It would
1088have been music to his soul to hear the whisperings:
1089
1090"Look at him, Jim! He's a going up there. Say--look! he's a going to
1091shake hands with him--he IS shaking hands with him! By jings, don't you
1092wish you was Jeff?"
1093
1094Mr. Walters fell to "showing off," with all sorts of official
1095bustlings and activities, giving orders, delivering judgments,
1096discharging directions here, there, everywhere that he could find a
1097target. The librarian "showed off"--running hither and thither with his
1098arms full of books and making a deal of the splutter and fuss that
1099insect authority delights in. The young lady teachers "showed off"
1100--bending sweetly over pupils that were lately being boxed, lifting
1101pretty warning fingers at bad little boys and patting good ones
1102lovingly. The young gentlemen teachers "showed off" with small
1103scoldings and other little displays of authority and fine attention to
1104discipline--and most of the teachers, of both sexes, found business up
1105at the library, by the pulpit; and it was business that frequently had
1106to be done over again two or three times (with much seeming vexation).
1107The little girls "showed off" in various ways, and the little boys
1108"showed off" with such diligence that the air was thick with paper wads
1109and the murmur of scufflings. And above it all the great man sat and
1110beamed a majestic judicial smile upon all the house, and warmed himself
1111in the sun of his own grandeur--for he was "showing off," too.
1112
1113There was only one thing wanting to make Mr. Walters' ecstasy
1114complete, and that was a chance to deliver a Bible-prize and exhibit a
1115prodigy. Several pupils had a few yellow tickets, but none had enough
1116--he had been around among the star pupils inquiring. He would have given
1117worlds, now, to have that German lad back again with a sound mind.
1118
1119And now at this moment, when hope was dead, Tom Sawyer came forward
1120with nine yellow tickets, nine red tickets, and ten blue ones, and
1121demanded a Bible. This was a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. Walters
1122was not expecting an application from this source for the next ten
1123years. But there was no getting around it--here were the certified
1124checks, and they were good for their face. Tom was therefore elevated
1125to a place with the Judge and the other elect, and the great news was
1126announced from headquarters. It was the most stunning surprise of the
1127decade, and so profound was the sensation that it lifted the new hero
1128up to the judicial one's altitude, and the school had two marvels to
1129gaze upon in place of one. The boys were all eaten up with envy--but
1130those that suffered the bitterest pangs were those who perceived too
1131late that they themselves had contributed to this hated splendor by
1132trading tickets to Tom for the wealth he had amassed in selling
1133whitewashing privileges. These despised themselves, as being the dupes
1134of a wily fraud, a guileful snake in the grass.
1135
1136The prize was delivered to Tom with as much effusion as the
1137superintendent could pump up under the circumstances; but it lacked
1138somewhat of the true gush, for the poor fellow's instinct taught him
1139that there was a mystery here that could not well bear the light,
1140perhaps; it was simply preposterous that this boy had warehoused two
1141thousand sheaves of Scriptural wisdom on his premises--a dozen would
1142strain his capacity, without a doubt.
1143
1144Amy Lawrence was proud and glad, and she tried to make Tom see it in
1145her face--but he wouldn't look. She wondered; then she was just a grain
1146troubled; next a dim suspicion came and went--came again; she watched;
1147a furtive glance told her worlds--and then her heart broke, and she was
1148jealous, and angry, and the tears came and she hated everybody. Tom
1149most of all (she thought).
1150
1151Tom was introduced to the Judge; but his tongue was tied, his breath
1152would hardly come, his heart quaked--partly because of the awful
1153greatness of the man, but mainly because he was her parent. He would
1154have liked to fall down and worship him, if it were in the dark. The
1155Judge put his hand on Tom's head and called him a fine little man, and
1156asked him what his name was. The boy stammered, gasped, and got it out:
1157
1158"Tom."
1159
1160"Oh, no, not Tom--it is--"
1161
1162"Thomas."
1163
1164"Ah, that's it. I thought there was more to it, maybe. That's very
1165well. But you've another one I daresay, and you'll tell it to me, won't
1166you?"
1167
1168"Tell the gentleman your other name, Thomas," said Walters, "and say
1169sir. You mustn't forget your manners."
1170
1171"Thomas Sawyer--sir."
1172
1173"That's it! That's a good boy. Fine boy. Fine, manly little fellow.
1174Two thousand verses is a great many--very, very great many. And you
1175never can be sorry for the trouble you took to learn them; for
1176knowledge is worth more than anything there is in the world; it's what
1177makes great men and good men; you'll be a great man and a good man
1178yourself, some day, Thomas, and then you'll look back and say, It's all
1179owing to the precious Sunday-school privileges of my boyhood--it's all
1180owing to my dear teachers that taught me to learn--it's all owing to
1181the good superintendent, who encouraged me, and watched over me, and
1182gave me a beautiful Bible--a splendid elegant Bible--to keep and have
1183it all for my own, always--it's all owing to right bringing up! That is
1184what you will say, Thomas--and you wouldn't take any money for those
1185two thousand verses--no indeed you wouldn't. And now you wouldn't mind
1186telling me and this lady some of the things you've learned--no, I know
1187you wouldn't--for we are proud of little boys that learn. Now, no
1188doubt you know the names of all the twelve disciples. Won't you tell us
1189the names of the first two that were appointed?"
1190
1191Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. He blushed,
1192now, and his eyes fell. Mr. Walters' heart sank within him. He said to
1193himself, it is not possible that the boy can answer the simplest
1194question--why DID the Judge ask him? Yet he felt obliged to speak up
1195and say:
1196
1197"Answer the gentleman, Thomas--don't be afraid."
1198
1199Tom still hung fire.
1200
1201"Now I know you'll tell me," said the lady. "The names of the first
1202two disciples were--"
1203
1204"DAVID AND GOLIAH!"
1205
1206Let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene.
1207
1208
1209
1210CHAPTER V
1211
1212ABOUT half-past ten the cracked bell of the small church began to
1213ring, and presently the people began to gather for the morning sermon.
1214The Sunday-school children distributed themselves about the house and
1215occupied pews with their parents, so as to be under supervision. Aunt
1216Polly came, and Tom and Sid and Mary sat with her--Tom being placed
1217next the aisle, in order that he might be as far away from the open
1218window and the seductive outside summer scenes as possible. The crowd
1219filed up the aisles: the aged and needy postmaster, who had seen better
1220days; the mayor and his wife--for they had a mayor there, among other
1221unnecessaries; the justice of the peace; the widow Douglass, fair,
1222smart, and forty, a generous, good-hearted soul and well-to-do, her
1223hill mansion the only palace in the town, and the most hospitable and
1224much the most lavish in the matter of festivities that St. Petersburg
1225could boast; the bent and venerable Major and Mrs. Ward; lawyer
1226Riverson, the new notable from a distance; next the belle of the
1227village, followed by a troop of lawn-clad and ribbon-decked young
1228heart-breakers; then all the young clerks in town in a body--for they
1229had stood in the vestibule sucking their cane-heads, a circling wall of
1230oiled and simpering admirers, till the last girl had run their gantlet;
1231and last of all came the Model Boy, Willie Mufferson, taking as heedful
1232care of his mother as if she were cut glass. He always brought his
1233mother to church, and was the pride of all the matrons. The boys all
1234hated him, he was so good. And besides, he had been "thrown up to them"
1235so much. His white handkerchief was hanging out of his pocket behind, as
1236usual on Sundays--accidentally. Tom had no handkerchief, and he looked
1237upon boys who had as snobs.
1238
1239The congregation being fully assembled, now, the bell rang once more,
1240to warn laggards and stragglers, and then a solemn hush fell upon the
1241church which was only broken by the tittering and whispering of the
1242choir in the gallery. The choir always tittered and whispered all
1243through service. There was once a church choir that was not ill-bred,
1244but I have forgotten where it was, now. It was a great many years ago,
1245and I can scarcely remember anything about it, but I think it was in
1246some foreign country.
1247
1248The minister gave out the hymn, and read it through with a relish, in
1249a peculiar style which was much admired in that part of the country.
1250His voice began on a medium key and climbed steadily up till it reached
1251a certain point, where it bore with strong emphasis upon the topmost
1252word and then plunged down as if from a spring-board:
1253
1254 Shall I be car-ri-ed toe the skies, on flow'ry BEDS of ease,
1255
1256 Whilst others fight to win the prize, and sail thro' BLOODY seas?
1257
1258He was regarded as a wonderful reader. At church "sociables" he was
1259always called upon to read poetry; and when he was through, the ladies
1260would lift up their hands and let them fall helplessly in their laps,
1261and "wall" their eyes, and shake their heads, as much as to say, "Words
1262cannot express it; it is too beautiful, TOO beautiful for this mortal
1263earth."
1264
1265After the hymn had been sung, the Rev. Mr. Sprague turned himself into
1266a bulletin-board, and read off "notices" of meetings and societies and
1267things till it seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of
1268doom--a queer custom which is still kept up in America, even in cities,
1269away here in this age of abundant newspapers. Often, the less there is
1270to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.
1271
1272And now the minister prayed. A good, generous prayer it was, and went
1273into details: it pleaded for the church, and the little children of the
1274church; for the other churches of the village; for the village itself;
1275for the county; for the State; for the State officers; for the United
1276States; for the churches of the United States; for Congress; for the
1277President; for the officers of the Government; for poor sailors, tossed
1278by stormy seas; for the oppressed millions groaning under the heel of
1279European monarchies and Oriental despotisms; for such as have the light
1280and the good tidings, and yet have not eyes to see nor ears to hear
1281withal; for the heathen in the far islands of the sea; and closed with
1282a supplication that the words he was about to speak might find grace
1283and favor, and be as seed sown in fertile ground, yielding in time a
1284grateful harvest of good. Amen.
1285
1286There was a rustling of dresses, and the standing congregation sat
1287down. The boy whose history this book relates did not enjoy the prayer,
1288he only endured it--if he even did that much. He was restive all
1289through it; he kept tally of the details of the prayer, unconsciously
1290--for he was not listening, but he knew the ground of old, and the
1291clergyman's regular route over it--and when a little trifle of new
1292matter was interlarded, his ear detected it and his whole nature
1293resented it; he considered additions unfair, and scoundrelly. In the
1294midst of the prayer a fly had lit on the back of the pew in front of
1295him and tortured his spirit by calmly rubbing its hands together,
1296embracing its head with its arms, and polishing it so vigorously that
1297it seemed to almost part company with the body, and the slender thread
1298of a neck was exposed to view; scraping its wings with its hind legs
1299and smoothing them to its body as if they had been coat-tails; going
1300through its whole toilet as tranquilly as if it knew it was perfectly
1301safe. As indeed it was; for as sorely as Tom's hands itched to grab for
1302it they did not dare--he believed his soul would be instantly destroyed
1303if he did such a thing while the prayer was going on. But with the
1304closing sentence his hand began to curve and steal forward; and the
1305instant the "Amen" was out the fly was a prisoner of war. His aunt
1306detected the act and made him let it go.
1307
1308The minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through
1309an argument that was so prosy that many a head by and by began to nod
1310--and yet it was an argument that dealt in limitless fire and brimstone
1311and thinned the predestined elect down to a company so small as to be
1312hardly worth the saving. Tom counted the pages of the sermon; after
1313church he always knew how many pages there had been, but he seldom knew
1314anything else about the discourse. However, this time he was really
1315interested for a little while. The minister made a grand and moving
1316picture of the assembling together of the world's hosts at the
1317millennium when the lion and the lamb should lie down together and a
1318little child should lead them. But the pathos, the lesson, the moral of
1319the great spectacle were lost upon the boy; he only thought of the
1320conspicuousness of the principal character before the on-looking
1321nations; his face lit with the thought, and he said to himself that he
1322wished he could be that child, if it was a tame lion.
1323
1324Now he lapsed into suffering again, as the dry argument was resumed.
1325Presently he bethought him of a treasure he had and got it out. It was
1326a large black beetle with formidable jaws--a "pinchbug," he called it.
1327It was in a percussion-cap box. The first thing the beetle did was to
1328take him by the finger. A natural fillip followed, the beetle went
1329floundering into the aisle and lit on its back, and the hurt finger
1330went into the boy's mouth. The beetle lay there working its helpless
1331legs, unable to turn over. Tom eyed it, and longed for it; but it was
1332safe out of his reach. Other people uninterested in the sermon found
1333relief in the beetle, and they eyed it too. Presently a vagrant poodle
1334dog came idling along, sad at heart, lazy with the summer softness and
1335the quiet, weary of captivity, sighing for change. He spied the beetle;
1336the drooping tail lifted and wagged. He surveyed the prize; walked
1337around it; smelt at it from a safe distance; walked around it again;
1338grew bolder, and took a closer smell; then lifted his lip and made a
1339gingerly snatch at it, just missing it; made another, and another;
1340began to enjoy the diversion; subsided to his stomach with the beetle
1341between his paws, and continued his experiments; grew weary at last,
1342and then indifferent and absent-minded. His head nodded, and little by
1343little his chin descended and touched the enemy, who seized it. There
1344was a sharp yelp, a flirt of the poodle's head, and the beetle fell a
1345couple of yards away, and lit on its back once more. The neighboring
1346spectators shook with a gentle inward joy, several faces went behind
1347fans and handkerchiefs, and Tom was entirely happy. The dog looked
1348foolish, and probably felt so; but there was resentment in his heart,
1349too, and a craving for revenge. So he went to the beetle and began a
1350wary attack on it again; jumping at it from every point of a circle,
1351lighting with his fore-paws within an inch of the creature, making even
1352closer snatches at it with his teeth, and jerking his head till his
1353ears flapped again. But he grew tired once more, after a while; tried
1354to amuse himself with a fly but found no relief; followed an ant
1355around, with his nose close to the floor, and quickly wearied of that;
1356yawned, sighed, forgot the beetle entirely, and sat down on it. Then
1357there was a wild yelp of agony and the poodle went sailing up the
1358aisle; the yelps continued, and so did the dog; he crossed the house in
1359front of the altar; he flew down the other aisle; he crossed before the
1360doors; he clamored up the home-stretch; his anguish grew with his
1361progress, till presently he was but a woolly comet moving in its orbit
1362with the gleam and the speed of light. At last the frantic sufferer
1363sheered from its course, and sprang into its master's lap; he flung it
1364out of the window, and the voice of distress quickly thinned away and
1365died in the distance.
1366
1367By this time the whole church was red-faced and suffocating with
1368suppressed laughter, and the sermon had come to a dead standstill. The
1369discourse was resumed presently, but it went lame and halting, all
1370possibility of impressiveness being at an end; for even the gravest
1371sentiments were constantly being received with a smothered burst of
1372unholy mirth, under cover of some remote pew-back, as if the poor
1373parson had said a rarely facetious thing. It was a genuine relief to
1374the whole congregation when the ordeal was over and the benediction
1375pronounced.
1376
1377Tom Sawyer went home quite cheerful, thinking to himself that there
1378was some satisfaction about divine service when there was a bit of
1379variety in it. He had but one marring thought; he was willing that the
1380dog should play with his pinchbug, but he did not think it was upright
1381in him to carry it off.
1382
1383
1384
1385CHAPTER VI
1386
1387MONDAY morning found Tom Sawyer miserable. Monday morning always found
1388him so--because it began another week's slow suffering in school. He
1389generally began that day with wishing he had had no intervening
1390holiday, it made the going into captivity and fetters again so much
1391more odious.
1392
1393Tom lay thinking. Presently it occurred to him that he wished he was
1394sick; then he could stay home from school. Here was a vague
1395possibility. He canvassed his system. No ailment was found, and he
1396investigated again. This time he thought he could detect colicky
1397symptoms, and he began to encourage them with considerable hope. But
1398they soon grew feeble, and presently died wholly away. He reflected
1399further. Suddenly he discovered something. One of his upper front teeth
1400was loose. This was lucky; he was about to begin to groan, as a
1401"starter," as he called it, when it occurred to him that if he came
1402into court with that argument, his aunt would pull it out, and that
1403would hurt. So he thought he would hold the tooth in reserve for the
1404present, and seek further. Nothing offered for some little time, and
1405then he remembered hearing the doctor tell about a certain thing that
1406laid up a patient for two or three weeks and threatened to make him
1407lose a finger. So the boy eagerly drew his sore toe from under the
1408sheet and held it up for inspection. But now he did not know the
1409necessary symptoms. However, it seemed well worth while to chance it,
1410so he fell to groaning with considerable spirit.
1411
1412But Sid slept on unconscious.
1413
1414Tom groaned louder, and fancied that he began to feel pain in the toe.
1415
1416No result from Sid.
1417
1418Tom was panting with his exertions by this time. He took a rest and
1419then swelled himself up and fetched a succession of admirable groans.
1420
1421Sid snored on.
1422
1423Tom was aggravated. He said, "Sid, Sid!" and shook him. This course
1424worked well, and Tom began to groan again. Sid yawned, stretched, then
1425brought himself up on his elbow with a snort, and began to stare at
1426Tom. Tom went on groaning. Sid said:
1427
1428"Tom! Say, Tom!" [No response.] "Here, Tom! TOM! What is the matter,
1429Tom?" And he shook him and looked in his face anxiously.
1430
1431Tom moaned out:
1432
1433"Oh, don't, Sid. Don't joggle me."
1434
1435"Why, what's the matter, Tom? I must call auntie."
1436
1437"No--never mind. It'll be over by and by, maybe. Don't call anybody."
1438
1439"But I must! DON'T groan so, Tom, it's awful. How long you been this
1440way?"
1441
1442"Hours. Ouch! Oh, don't stir so, Sid, you'll kill me."
1443
1444"Tom, why didn't you wake me sooner? Oh, Tom, DON'T! It makes my
1445flesh crawl to hear you. Tom, what is the matter?"
1446
1447"I forgive you everything, Sid. [Groan.] Everything you've ever done
1448to me. When I'm gone--"
1449
1450"Oh, Tom, you ain't dying, are you? Don't, Tom--oh, don't. Maybe--"
1451
1452"I forgive everybody, Sid. [Groan.] Tell 'em so, Sid. And Sid, you
1453give my window-sash and my cat with one eye to that new girl that's
1454come to town, and tell her--"
1455
1456But Sid had snatched his clothes and gone. Tom was suffering in
1457reality, now, so handsomely was his imagination working, and so his
1458groans had gathered quite a genuine tone.
1459
1460Sid flew down-stairs and said:
1461
1462"Oh, Aunt Polly, come! Tom's dying!"
1463
1464"Dying!"
1465
1466"Yes'm. Don't wait--come quick!"
1467
1468"Rubbage! I don't believe it!"
1469
1470But she fled up-stairs, nevertheless, with Sid and Mary at her heels.
1471And her face grew white, too, and her lip trembled. When she reached
1472the bedside she gasped out:
1473
1474"You, Tom! Tom, what's the matter with you?"
1475
1476"Oh, auntie, I'm--"
1477
1478"What's the matter with you--what is the matter with you, child?"
1479
1480"Oh, auntie, my sore toe's mortified!"
1481
1482The old lady sank down into a chair and laughed a little, then cried a
1483little, then did both together. This restored her and she said:
1484
1485"Tom, what a turn you did give me. Now you shut up that nonsense and
1486climb out of this."
1487
1488The groans ceased and the pain vanished from the toe. The boy felt a
1489little foolish, and he said:
1490
1491"Aunt Polly, it SEEMED mortified, and it hurt so I never minded my
1492tooth at all."
1493
1494"Your tooth, indeed! What's the matter with your tooth?"
1495
1496"One of them's loose, and it aches perfectly awful."
1497
1498"There, there, now, don't begin that groaning again. Open your mouth.
1499Well--your tooth IS loose, but you're not going to die about that.
1500Mary, get me a silk thread, and a chunk of fire out of the kitchen."
1501
1502Tom said:
1503
1504"Oh, please, auntie, don't pull it out. It don't hurt any more. I wish
1505I may never stir if it does. Please don't, auntie. I don't want to stay
1506home from school."
1507
1508"Oh, you don't, don't you? So all this row was because you thought
1509you'd get to stay home from school and go a-fishing? Tom, Tom, I love
1510you so, and you seem to try every way you can to break my old heart
1511with your outrageousness." By this time the dental instruments were
1512ready. The old lady made one end of the silk thread fast to Tom's tooth
1513with a loop and tied the other to the bedpost. Then she seized the
1514chunk of fire and suddenly thrust it almost into the boy's face. The
1515tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now.
1516
1517But all trials bring their compensations. As Tom wended to school
1518after breakfast, he was the envy of every boy he met because the gap in
1519his upper row of teeth enabled him to expectorate in a new and
1520admirable way. He gathered quite a following of lads interested in the
1521exhibition; and one that had cut his finger and had been a centre of
1522fascination and homage up to this time, now found himself suddenly
1523without an adherent, and shorn of his glory. His heart was heavy, and
1524he said with a disdain which he did not feel that it wasn't anything to
1525spit like Tom Sawyer; but another boy said, "Sour grapes!" and he
1526wandered away a dismantled hero.
1527
1528Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, Huckleberry
1529Finn, son of the town drunkard. Huckleberry was cordially hated and
1530dreaded by all the mothers of the town, because he was idle and lawless
1531and vulgar and bad--and because all their children admired him so, and
1532delighted in his forbidden society, and wished they dared to be like
1533him. Tom was like the rest of the respectable boys, in that he envied
1534Huckleberry his gaudy outcast condition, and was under strict orders
1535not to play with him. So he played with him every time he got a chance.
1536Huckleberry was always dressed in the cast-off clothes of full-grown
1537men, and they were in perennial bloom and fluttering with rags. His hat
1538was a vast ruin with a wide crescent lopped out of its brim; his coat,
1539when he wore one, hung nearly to his heels and had the rearward buttons
1540far down the back; but one suspender supported his trousers; the seat
1541of the trousers bagged low and contained nothing, the fringed legs
1542dragged in the dirt when not rolled up.
1543
1544Huckleberry came and went, at his own free will. He slept on doorsteps
1545in fine weather and in empty hogsheads in wet; he did not have to go to
1546school or to church, or call any being master or obey anybody; he could
1547go fishing or swimming when and where he chose, and stay as long as it
1548suited him; nobody forbade him to fight; he could sit up as late as he
1549pleased; he was always the first boy that went barefoot in the spring
1550and the last to resume leather in the fall; he never had to wash, nor
1551put on clean clothes; he could swear wonderfully. In a word, everything
1552that goes to make life precious that boy had. So thought every
1553harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg.
1554
1555Tom hailed the romantic outcast:
1556
1557"Hello, Huckleberry!"
1558
1559"Hello yourself, and see how you like it."
1560
1561"What's that you got?"
1562
1563"Dead cat."
1564
1565"Lemme see him, Huck. My, he's pretty stiff. Where'd you get him?"
1566
1567"Bought him off'n a boy."
1568
1569"What did you give?"
1570
1571"I give a blue ticket and a bladder that I got at the slaughter-house."
1572
1573"Where'd you get the blue ticket?"
1574
1575"Bought it off'n Ben Rogers two weeks ago for a hoop-stick."
1576
1577"Say--what is dead cats good for, Huck?"
1578
1579"Good for? Cure warts with."
1580
1581"No! Is that so? I know something that's better."
1582
1583"I bet you don't. What is it?"
1584
1585"Why, spunk-water."
1586
1587"Spunk-water! I wouldn't give a dern for spunk-water."
1588
1589"You wouldn't, wouldn't you? D'you ever try it?"
1590
1591"No, I hain't. But Bob Tanner did."
1592
1593"Who told you so!"
1594
1595"Why, he told Jeff Thatcher, and Jeff told Johnny Baker, and Johnny
1596told Jim Hollis, and Jim told Ben Rogers, and Ben told a nigger, and
1597the nigger told me. There now!"
1598
1599"Well, what of it? They'll all lie. Leastways all but the nigger. I
1600don't know HIM. But I never see a nigger that WOULDN'T lie. Shucks! Now
1601you tell me how Bob Tanner done it, Huck."
1602
1603"Why, he took and dipped his hand in a rotten stump where the
1604rain-water was."
1605
1606"In the daytime?"
1607
1608"Certainly."
1609
1610"With his face to the stump?"
1611
1612"Yes. Least I reckon so."
1613
1614"Did he say anything?"
1615
1616"I don't reckon he did. I don't know."
1617
1618"Aha! Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame
1619fool way as that! Why, that ain't a-going to do any good. You got to go
1620all by yourself, to the middle of the woods, where you know there's a
1621spunk-water stump, and just as it's midnight you back up against the
1622stump and jam your hand in and say:
1623
1624 'Barley-corn, barley-corn, injun-meal shorts,
1625 Spunk-water, spunk-water, swaller these warts,'
1626
1627and then walk away quick, eleven steps, with your eyes shut, and then
1628turn around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody.
1629Because if you speak the charm's busted."
1630
1631"Well, that sounds like a good way; but that ain't the way Bob Tanner
1632done."
1633
1634"No, sir, you can bet he didn't, becuz he's the wartiest boy in this
1635town; and he wouldn't have a wart on him if he'd knowed how to work
1636spunk-water. I've took off thousands of warts off of my hands that way,
1637Huck. I play with frogs so much that I've always got considerable many
1638warts. Sometimes I take 'em off with a bean."
1639
1640"Yes, bean's good. I've done that."
1641
1642"Have you? What's your way?"
1643
1644"You take and split the bean, and cut the wart so as to get some
1645blood, and then you put the blood on one piece of the bean and take and
1646dig a hole and bury it 'bout midnight at the crossroads in the dark of
1647the moon, and then you burn up the rest of the bean. You see that piece
1648that's got the blood on it will keep drawing and drawing, trying to
1649fetch the other piece to it, and so that helps the blood to draw the
1650wart, and pretty soon off she comes."
1651
1652"Yes, that's it, Huck--that's it; though when you're burying it if you
1653say 'Down bean; off wart; come no more to bother me!' it's better.
1654That's the way Joe Harper does, and he's been nearly to Coonville and
1655most everywheres. But say--how do you cure 'em with dead cats?"
1656
1657"Why, you take your cat and go and get in the graveyard 'long about
1658midnight when somebody that was wicked has been buried; and when it's
1659midnight a devil will come, or maybe two or three, but you can't see
1660'em, you can only hear something like the wind, or maybe hear 'em talk;
1661and when they're taking that feller away, you heave your cat after 'em
1662and say, 'Devil follow corpse, cat follow devil, warts follow cat, I'm
1663done with ye!' That'll fetch ANY wart."
1664
1665"Sounds right. D'you ever try it, Huck?"
1666
1667"No, but old Mother Hopkins told me."
1668
1669"Well, I reckon it's so, then. Becuz they say she's a witch."
1670
1671"Say! Why, Tom, I KNOW she is. She witched pap. Pap says so his own
1672self. He come along one day, and he see she was a-witching him, so he
1673took up a rock, and if she hadn't dodged, he'd a got her. Well, that
1674very night he rolled off'n a shed wher' he was a layin drunk, and broke
1675his arm."
1676
1677"Why, that's awful. How did he know she was a-witching him?"
1678
1679"Lord, pap can tell, easy. Pap says when they keep looking at you
1680right stiddy, they're a-witching you. Specially if they mumble. Becuz
1681when they mumble they're saying the Lord's Prayer backards."
1682
1683"Say, Hucky, when you going to try the cat?"
1684
1685"To-night. I reckon they'll come after old Hoss Williams to-night."
1686
1687"But they buried him Saturday. Didn't they get him Saturday night?"
1688
1689"Why, how you talk! How could their charms work till midnight?--and
1690THEN it's Sunday. Devils don't slosh around much of a Sunday, I don't
1691reckon."
1692
1693"I never thought of that. That's so. Lemme go with you?"
1694
1695"Of course--if you ain't afeard."
1696
1697"Afeard! 'Tain't likely. Will you meow?"
1698
1699"Yes--and you meow back, if you get a chance. Last time, you kep' me
1700a-meowing around till old Hays went to throwing rocks at me and says
1701'Dern that cat!' and so I hove a brick through his window--but don't
1702you tell."
1703
1704"I won't. I couldn't meow that night, becuz auntie was watching me,
1705but I'll meow this time. Say--what's that?"
1706
1707"Nothing but a tick."
1708
1709"Where'd you get him?"
1710
1711"Out in the woods."
1712
1713"What'll you take for him?"
1714
1715"I don't know. I don't want to sell him."
1716
1717"All right. It's a mighty small tick, anyway."
1718
1719"Oh, anybody can run a tick down that don't belong to them. I'm
1720satisfied with it. It's a good enough tick for me."
1721
1722"Sho, there's ticks a plenty. I could have a thousand of 'em if I
1723wanted to."
1724
1725"Well, why don't you? Becuz you know mighty well you can't. This is a
1726pretty early tick, I reckon. It's the first one I've seen this year."
1727
1728"Say, Huck--I'll give you my tooth for him."
1729
1730"Less see it."
1731
1732Tom got out a bit of paper and carefully unrolled it. Huckleberry
1733viewed it wistfully. The temptation was very strong. At last he said:
1734
1735"Is it genuwyne?"
1736
1737Tom lifted his lip and showed the vacancy.
1738
1739"Well, all right," said Huckleberry, "it's a trade."
1740
1741Tom enclosed the tick in the percussion-cap box that had lately been
1742the pinchbug's prison, and the boys separated, each feeling wealthier
1743than before.
1744
1745When Tom reached the little isolated frame schoolhouse, he strode in
1746briskly, with the manner of one who had come with all honest speed.
1747He hung his hat on a peg and flung himself into his seat with
1748business-like alacrity. The master, throned on high in his great
1749splint-bottom arm-chair, was dozing, lulled by the drowsy hum of study.
1750The interruption roused him.
1751
1752"Thomas Sawyer!"
1753
1754Tom knew that when his name was pronounced in full, it meant trouble.
1755
1756"Sir!"
1757
1758"Come up here. Now, sir, why are you late again, as usual?"
1759
1760Tom was about to take refuge in a lie, when he saw two long tails of
1761yellow hair hanging down a back that he recognized by the electric
1762sympathy of love; and by that form was THE ONLY VACANT PLACE on the
1763girls' side of the schoolhouse. He instantly said:
1764
1765"I STOPPED TO TALK WITH HUCKLEBERRY FINN!"
1766
1767The master's pulse stood still, and he stared helplessly. The buzz of
1768study ceased. The pupils wondered if this foolhardy boy had lost his
1769mind. The master said:
1770
1771"You--you did what?"
1772
1773"Stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn."
1774
1775There was no mistaking the words.
1776
1777"Thomas Sawyer, this is the most astounding confession I have ever
1778listened to. No mere ferule will answer for this offence. Take off your
1779jacket."
1780
1781The master's arm performed until it was tired and the stock of
1782switches notably diminished. Then the order followed:
1783
1784"Now, sir, go and sit with the girls! And let this be a warning to you."
1785
1786The titter that rippled around the room appeared to abash the boy, but
1787in reality that result was caused rather more by his worshipful awe of
1788his unknown idol and the dread pleasure that lay in his high good
1789fortune. He sat down upon the end of the pine bench and the girl
1790hitched herself away from him with a toss of her head. Nudges and winks
1791and whispers traversed the room, but Tom sat still, with his arms upon
1792the long, low desk before him, and seemed to study his book.
1793
1794By and by attention ceased from him, and the accustomed school murmur
1795rose upon the dull air once more. Presently the boy began to steal
1796furtive glances at the girl. She observed it, "made a mouth" at him and
1797gave him the back of her head for the space of a minute. When she
1798cautiously faced around again, a peach lay before her. She thrust it
1799away. Tom gently put it back. She thrust it away again, but with less
1800animosity. Tom patiently returned it to its place. Then she let it
1801remain. Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it--I got more." The
1802girl glanced at the words, but made no sign. Now the boy began to draw
1803something on the slate, hiding his work with his left hand. For a time
1804the girl refused to notice; but her human curiosity presently began to
1805manifest itself by hardly perceptible signs. The boy worked on,
1806apparently unconscious. The girl made a sort of noncommittal attempt to
1807see, but the boy did not betray that he was aware of it. At last she
1808gave in and hesitatingly whispered:
1809
1810"Let me see it."
1811
1812Tom partly uncovered a dismal caricature of a house with two gable
1813ends to it and a corkscrew of smoke issuing from the chimney. Then the
1814girl's interest began to fasten itself upon the work and she forgot
1815everything else. When it was finished, she gazed a moment, then
1816whispered:
1817
1818"It's nice--make a man."
1819
1820The artist erected a man in the front yard, that resembled a derrick.
1821He could have stepped over the house; but the girl was not
1822hypercritical; she was satisfied with the monster, and whispered:
1823
1824"It's a beautiful man--now make me coming along."
1825
1826Tom drew an hour-glass with a full moon and straw limbs to it and
1827armed the spreading fingers with a portentous fan. The girl said:
1828
1829"It's ever so nice--I wish I could draw."
1830
1831"It's easy," whispered Tom, "I'll learn you."
1832
1833"Oh, will you? When?"
1834
1835"At noon. Do you go home to dinner?"
1836
1837"I'll stay if you will."
1838
1839"Good--that's a whack. What's your name?"
1840
1841"Becky Thatcher. What's yours? Oh, I know. It's Thomas Sawyer."
1842
1843"That's the name they lick me by. I'm Tom when I'm good. You call me
1844Tom, will you?"
1845
1846"Yes."
1847
1848Now Tom began to scrawl something on the slate, hiding the words from
1849the girl. But she was not backward this time. She begged to see. Tom
1850said:
1851
1852"Oh, it ain't anything."
1853
1854"Yes it is."
1855
1856"No it ain't. You don't want to see."
1857
1858"Yes I do, indeed I do. Please let me."
1859
1860"You'll tell."
1861
1862"No I won't--deed and deed and double deed won't."
1863
1864"You won't tell anybody at all? Ever, as long as you live?"
1865
1866"No, I won't ever tell ANYbody. Now let me."
1867
1868"Oh, YOU don't want to see!"
1869
1870"Now that you treat me so, I WILL see." And she put her small hand
1871upon his and a little scuffle ensued, Tom pretending to resist in
1872earnest but letting his hand slip by degrees till these words were
1873revealed: "I LOVE YOU."
1874
1875"Oh, you bad thing!" And she hit his hand a smart rap, but reddened
1876and looked pleased, nevertheless.
1877
1878Just at this juncture the boy felt a slow, fateful grip closing on his
1879ear, and a steady lifting impulse. In that wise he was borne across the
1880house and deposited in his own seat, under a peppering fire of giggles
1881from the whole school. Then the master stood over him during a few
1882awful moments, and finally moved away to his throne without saying a
1883word. But although Tom's ear tingled, his heart was jubilant.
1884
1885As the school quieted down Tom made an honest effort to study, but the
1886turmoil within him was too great. In turn he took his place in the
1887reading class and made a botch of it; then in the geography class and
1888turned lakes into mountains, mountains into rivers, and rivers into
1889continents, till chaos was come again; then in the spelling class, and
1890got "turned down," by a succession of mere baby words, till he brought
1891up at the foot and yielded up the pewter medal which he had worn with
1892ostentation for months.
1893
1894
1895
1896CHAPTER VII
1897
1898THE harder Tom tried to fasten his mind on his book, the more his
1899ideas wandered. So at last, with a sigh and a yawn, he gave it up. It
1900seemed to him that the noon recess would never come. The air was
1901utterly dead. There was not a breath stirring. It was the sleepiest of
1902sleepy days. The drowsing murmur of the five and twenty studying
1903scholars soothed the soul like the spell that is in the murmur of bees.
1904Away off in the flaming sunshine, Cardiff Hill lifted its soft green
1905sides through a shimmering veil of heat, tinted with the purple of
1906distance; a few birds floated on lazy wing high in the air; no other
1907living thing was visible but some cows, and they were asleep. Tom's
1908heart ached to be free, or else to have something of interest to do to
1909pass the dreary time. His hand wandered into his pocket and his face
1910lit up with a glow of gratitude that was prayer, though he did not know
1911it. Then furtively the percussion-cap box came out. He released the
1912tick and put him on the long flat desk. The creature probably glowed
1913with a gratitude that amounted to prayer, too, at this moment, but it
1914was premature: for when he started thankfully to travel off, Tom turned
1915him aside with a pin and made him take a new direction.
1916
1917Tom's bosom friend sat next him, suffering just as Tom had been, and
1918now he was deeply and gratefully interested in this entertainment in an
1919instant. This bosom friend was Joe Harper. The two boys were sworn
1920friends all the week, and embattled enemies on Saturdays. Joe took a
1921pin out of his lapel and began to assist in exercising the prisoner.
1922The sport grew in interest momently. Soon Tom said that they were
1923interfering with each other, and neither getting the fullest benefit of
1924the tick. So he put Joe's slate on the desk and drew a line down the
1925middle of it from top to bottom.
1926
1927"Now," said he, "as long as he is on your side you can stir him up and
1928I'll let him alone; but if you let him get away and get on my side,
1929you're to leave him alone as long as I can keep him from crossing over."
1930
1931"All right, go ahead; start him up."
1932
1933The tick escaped from Tom, presently, and crossed the equator. Joe
1934harassed him awhile, and then he got away and crossed back again. This
1935change of base occurred often. While one boy was worrying the tick with
1936absorbing interest, the other would look on with interest as strong,
1937the two heads bowed together over the slate, and the two souls dead to
1938all things else. At last luck seemed to settle and abide with Joe. The
1939tick tried this, that, and the other course, and got as excited and as
1940anxious as the boys themselves, but time and again just as he would
1941have victory in his very grasp, so to speak, and Tom's fingers would be
1942twitching to begin, Joe's pin would deftly head him off, and keep
1943possession. At last Tom could stand it no longer. The temptation was
1944too strong. So he reached out and lent a hand with his pin. Joe was
1945angry in a moment. Said he:
1946
1947"Tom, you let him alone."
1948
1949"I only just want to stir him up a little, Joe."
1950
1951"No, sir, it ain't fair; you just let him alone."
1952
1953"Blame it, I ain't going to stir him much."
1954
1955"Let him alone, I tell you."
1956
1957"I won't!"
1958
1959"You shall--he's on my side of the line."
1960
1961"Look here, Joe Harper, whose is that tick?"
1962
1963"I don't care whose tick he is--he's on my side of the line, and you
1964sha'n't touch him."
1965
1966"Well, I'll just bet I will, though. He's my tick and I'll do what I
1967blame please with him, or die!"
1968
1969A tremendous whack came down on Tom's shoulders, and its duplicate on
1970Joe's; and for the space of two minutes the dust continued to fly from
1971the two jackets and the whole school to enjoy it. The boys had been too
1972absorbed to notice the hush that had stolen upon the school awhile
1973before when the master came tiptoeing down the room and stood over
1974them. He had contemplated a good part of the performance before he
1975contributed his bit of variety to it.
1976
1977When school broke up at noon, Tom flew to Becky Thatcher, and
1978whispered in her ear:
1979
1980"Put on your bonnet and let on you're going home; and when you get to
1981the corner, give the rest of 'em the slip, and turn down through the
1982lane and come back. I'll go the other way and come it over 'em the same
1983way."
1984
1985So the one went off with one group of scholars, and the other with
1986another. In a little while the two met at the bottom of the lane, and
1987when they reached the school they had it all to themselves. Then they
1988sat together, with a slate before them, and Tom gave Becky the pencil
1989and held her hand in his, guiding it, and so created another surprising
1990house. When the interest in art began to wane, the two fell to talking.
1991Tom was swimming in bliss. He said:
1992
1993"Do you love rats?"
1994
1995"No! I hate them!"
1996
1997"Well, I do, too--LIVE ones. But I mean dead ones, to swing round your
1998head with a string."
1999
2000"No, I don't care for rats much, anyway. What I like is chewing-gum."
2001
2002"Oh, I should say so! I wish I had some now."
2003
2004"Do you? I've got some. I'll let you chew it awhile, but you must give
2005it back to me."
2006
2007That was agreeable, so they chewed it turn about, and dangled their
2008legs against the bench in excess of contentment.
2009
2010"Was you ever at a circus?" said Tom.
2011
2012"Yes, and my pa's going to take me again some time, if I'm good."
2013
2014"I been to the circus three or four times--lots of times. Church ain't
2015shucks to a circus. There's things going on at a circus all the time.
2016I'm going to be a clown in a circus when I grow up."
2017
2018"Oh, are you! That will be nice. They're so lovely, all spotted up."
2019
2020"Yes, that's so. And they get slathers of money--most a dollar a day,
2021Ben Rogers says. Say, Becky, was you ever engaged?"
2022
2023"What's that?"
2024
2025"Why, engaged to be married."
2026
2027"No."
2028
2029"Would you like to?"
2030
2031"I reckon so. I don't know. What is it like?"
2032
2033"Like? Why it ain't like anything. You only just tell a boy you won't
2034ever have anybody but him, ever ever ever, and then you kiss and that's
2035all. Anybody can do it."
2036
2037"Kiss? What do you kiss for?"
2038
2039"Why, that, you know, is to--well, they always do that."
2040
2041"Everybody?"
2042
2043"Why, yes, everybody that's in love with each other. Do you remember
2044what I wrote on the slate?"
2045
2046"Ye--yes."
2047
2048"What was it?"
2049
2050"I sha'n't tell you."
2051
2052"Shall I tell YOU?"
2053
2054"Ye--yes--but some other time."
2055
2056"No, now."
2057
2058"No, not now--to-morrow."
2059
2060"Oh, no, NOW. Please, Becky--I'll whisper it, I'll whisper it ever so
2061easy."
2062
2063Becky hesitating, Tom took silence for consent, and passed his arm
2064about her waist and whispered the tale ever so softly, with his mouth
2065close to her ear. And then he added:
2066
2067"Now you whisper it to me--just the same."
2068
2069She resisted, for a while, and then said:
2070
2071"You turn your face away so you can't see, and then I will. But you
2072mustn't ever tell anybody--WILL you, Tom? Now you won't, WILL you?"
2073
2074"No, indeed, indeed I won't. Now, Becky."
2075
2076He turned his face away. She bent timidly around till her breath
2077stirred his curls and whispered, "I--love--you!"
2078
2079Then she sprang away and ran around and around the desks and benches,
2080with Tom after her, and took refuge in a corner at last, with her
2081little white apron to her face. Tom clasped her about her neck and
2082pleaded:
2083
2084"Now, Becky, it's all done--all over but the kiss. Don't you be afraid
2085of that--it ain't anything at all. Please, Becky." And he tugged at her
2086apron and the hands.
2087
2088By and by she gave up, and let her hands drop; her face, all glowing
2089with the struggle, came up and submitted. Tom kissed the red lips and
2090said:
2091
2092"Now it's all done, Becky. And always after this, you know, you ain't
2093ever to love anybody but me, and you ain't ever to marry anybody but
2094me, ever never and forever. Will you?"
2095
2096"No, I'll never love anybody but you, Tom, and I'll never marry
2097anybody but you--and you ain't to ever marry anybody but me, either."
2098
2099"Certainly. Of course. That's PART of it. And always coming to school
2100or when we're going home, you're to walk with me, when there ain't
2101anybody looking--and you choose me and I choose you at parties, because
2102that's the way you do when you're engaged."
2103
2104"It's so nice. I never heard of it before."
2105
2106"Oh, it's ever so gay! Why, me and Amy Lawrence--"
2107
2108The big eyes told Tom his blunder and he stopped, confused.
2109
2110"Oh, Tom! Then I ain't the first you've ever been engaged to!"
2111
2112The child began to cry. Tom said:
2113
2114"Oh, don't cry, Becky, I don't care for her any more."
2115
2116"Yes, you do, Tom--you know you do."
2117
2118Tom tried to put his arm about her neck, but she pushed him away and
2119turned her face to the wall, and went on crying. Tom tried again, with
2120soothing words in his mouth, and was repulsed again. Then his pride was
2121up, and he strode away and went outside. He stood about, restless and
2122uneasy, for a while, glancing at the door, every now and then, hoping
2123she would repent and come to find him. But she did not. Then he began
2124to feel badly and fear that he was in the wrong. It was a hard struggle
2125with him to make new advances, now, but he nerved himself to it and
2126entered. She was still standing back there in the corner, sobbing, with
2127her face to the wall. Tom's heart smote him. He went to her and stood a
2128moment, not knowing exactly how to proceed. Then he said hesitatingly:
2129
2130"Becky, I--I don't care for anybody but you."
2131
2132No reply--but sobs.
2133
2134"Becky"--pleadingly. "Becky, won't you say something?"
2135
2136More sobs.
2137
2138Tom got out his chiefest jewel, a brass knob from the top of an
2139andiron, and passed it around her so that she could see it, and said:
2140
2141"Please, Becky, won't you take it?"
2142
2143She struck it to the floor. Then Tom marched out of the house and over
2144the hills and far away, to return to school no more that day. Presently
2145Becky began to suspect. She ran to the door; he was not in sight; she
2146flew around to the play-yard; he was not there. Then she called:
2147
2148"Tom! Come back, Tom!"
2149
2150She listened intently, but there was no answer. She had no companions
2151but silence and loneliness. So she sat down to cry again and upbraid
2152herself; and by this time the scholars began to gather again, and she
2153had to hide her griefs and still her broken heart and take up the cross
2154of a long, dreary, aching afternoon, with none among the strangers
2155about her to exchange sorrows with.
2156
2157
2158
2159CHAPTER VIII
2160
2161TOM dodged hither and thither through lanes until he was well out of
2162the track of returning scholars, and then fell into a moody jog. He
2163crossed a small "branch" two or three times, because of a prevailing
2164juvenile superstition that to cross water baffled pursuit. Half an hour
2165later he was disappearing behind the Douglas mansion on the summit of
2166Cardiff Hill, and the schoolhouse was hardly distinguishable away off
2167in the valley behind him. He entered a dense wood, picked his pathless
2168way to the centre of it, and sat down on a mossy spot under a spreading
2169oak. There was not even a zephyr stirring; the dead noonday heat had
2170even stilled the songs of the birds; nature lay in a trance that was
2171broken by no sound but the occasional far-off hammering of a
2172woodpecker, and this seemed to render the pervading silence and sense
2173of loneliness the more profound. The boy's soul was steeped in
2174melancholy; his feelings were in happy accord with his surroundings. He
2175sat long with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands,
2176meditating. It seemed to him that life was but a trouble, at best, and
2177he more than half envied Jimmy Hodges, so lately released; it must be
2178very peaceful, he thought, to lie and slumber and dream forever and
2179ever, with the wind whispering through the trees and caressing the
2180grass and the flowers over the grave, and nothing to bother and grieve
2181about, ever any more. If he only had a clean Sunday-school record he
2182could be willing to go, and be done with it all. Now as to this girl.
2183What had he done? Nothing. He had meant the best in the world, and been
2184treated like a dog--like a very dog. She would be sorry some day--maybe
2185when it was too late. Ah, if he could only die TEMPORARILY!
2186
2187But the elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one
2188constrained shape long at a time. Tom presently began to drift
2189insensibly back into the concerns of this life again. What if he turned
2190his back, now, and disappeared mysteriously? What if he went away--ever
2191so far away, into unknown countries beyond the seas--and never came
2192back any more! How would she feel then! The idea of being a clown
2193recurred to him now, only to fill him with disgust. For frivolity and
2194jokes and spotted tights were an offense, when they intruded themselves
2195upon a spirit that was exalted into the vague august realm of the
2196romantic. No, he would be a soldier, and return after long years, all
2197war-worn and illustrious. No--better still, he would join the Indians,
2198and hunt buffaloes and go on the warpath in the mountain ranges and the
2199trackless great plains of the Far West, and away in the future come
2200back a great chief, bristling with feathers, hideous with paint, and
2201prance into Sunday-school, some drowsy summer morning, with a
2202bloodcurdling war-whoop, and sear the eyeballs of all his companions
2203with unappeasable envy. But no, there was something gaudier even than
2204this. He would be a pirate! That was it! NOW his future lay plain
2205before him, and glowing with unimaginable splendor. How his name would
2206fill the world, and make people shudder! How gloriously he would go
2207plowing the dancing seas, in his long, low, black-hulled racer, the
2208Spirit of the Storm, with his grisly flag flying at the fore! And at
2209the zenith of his fame, how he would suddenly appear at the old village
2210and stalk into church, brown and weather-beaten, in his black velvet
2211doublet and trunks, his great jack-boots, his crimson sash, his belt
2212bristling with horse-pistols, his crime-rusted cutlass at his side, his
2213slouch hat with waving plumes, his black flag unfurled, with the skull
2214and crossbones on it, and hear with swelling ecstasy the whisperings,
2215"It's Tom Sawyer the Pirate!--the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main!"
2216
2217Yes, it was settled; his career was determined. He would run away from
2218home and enter upon it. He would start the very next morning. Therefore
2219he must now begin to get ready. He would collect his resources
2220together. He went to a rotten log near at hand and began to dig under
2221one end of it with his Barlow knife. He soon struck wood that sounded
2222hollow. He put his hand there and uttered this incantation impressively:
2223
2224"What hasn't come here, come! What's here, stay here!"
2225
2226Then he scraped away the dirt, and exposed a pine shingle. He took it
2227up and disclosed a shapely little treasure-house whose bottom and sides
2228were of shingles. In it lay a marble. Tom's astonishment was boundless!
2229He scratched his head with a perplexed air, and said:
2230
2231"Well, that beats anything!"
2232
2233Then he tossed the marble away pettishly, and stood cogitating. The
2234truth was, that a superstition of his had failed, here, which he and
2235all his comrades had always looked upon as infallible. If you buried a
2236marble with certain necessary incantations, and left it alone a
2237fortnight, and then opened the place with the incantation he had just
2238used, you would find that all the marbles you had ever lost had
2239gathered themselves together there, meantime, no matter how widely they
2240had been separated. But now, this thing had actually and unquestionably
2241failed. Tom's whole structure of faith was shaken to its foundations.
2242He had many a time heard of this thing succeeding but never of its
2243failing before. It did not occur to him that he had tried it several
2244times before, himself, but could never find the hiding-places
2245afterward. He puzzled over the matter some time, and finally decided
2246that some witch had interfered and broken the charm. He thought he
2247would satisfy himself on that point; so he searched around till he
2248found a small sandy spot with a little funnel-shaped depression in it.
2249He laid himself down and put his mouth close to this depression and
2250called--
2251
2252"Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know! Doodle-bug,
2253doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know!"
2254
2255The sand began to work, and presently a small black bug appeared for a
2256second and then darted under again in a fright.
2257
2258"He dasn't tell! So it WAS a witch that done it. I just knowed it."
2259
2260He well knew the futility of trying to contend against witches, so he
2261gave up discouraged. But it occurred to him that he might as well have
2262the marble he had just thrown away, and therefore he went and made a
2263patient search for it. But he could not find it. Now he went back to
2264his treasure-house and carefully placed himself just as he had been
2265standing when he tossed the marble away; then he took another marble
2266from his pocket and tossed it in the same way, saying:
2267
2268"Brother, go find your brother!"
2269
2270He watched where it stopped, and went there and looked. But it must
2271have fallen short or gone too far; so he tried twice more. The last
2272repetition was successful. The two marbles lay within a foot of each
2273other.
2274
2275Just here the blast of a toy tin trumpet came faintly down the green
2276aisles of the forest. Tom flung off his jacket and trousers, turned a
2277suspender into a belt, raked away some brush behind the rotten log,
2278disclosing a rude bow and arrow, a lath sword and a tin trumpet, and in
2279a moment had seized these things and bounded away, barelegged, with
2280fluttering shirt. He presently halted under a great elm, blew an
2281answering blast, and then began to tiptoe and look warily out, this way
2282and that. He said cautiously--to an imaginary company:
2283
2284"Hold, my merry men! Keep hid till I blow."
2285
2286Now appeared Joe Harper, as airily clad and elaborately armed as Tom.
2287Tom called:
2288
2289"Hold! Who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass?"
2290
2291"Guy of Guisborne wants no man's pass. Who art thou that--that--"
2292
2293"Dares to hold such language," said Tom, prompting--for they talked
2294"by the book," from memory.
2295
2296"Who art thou that dares to hold such language?"
2297
2298"I, indeed! I am Robin Hood, as thy caitiff carcase soon shall know."
2299
2300"Then art thou indeed that famous outlaw? Right gladly will I dispute
2301with thee the passes of the merry wood. Have at thee!"
2302
2303They took their lath swords, dumped their other traps on the ground,
2304struck a fencing attitude, foot to foot, and began a grave, careful
2305combat, "two up and two down." Presently Tom said:
2306
2307"Now, if you've got the hang, go it lively!"
2308
2309So they "went it lively," panting and perspiring with the work. By and
2310by Tom shouted:
2311
2312"Fall! fall! Why don't you fall?"
2313
2314"I sha'n't! Why don't you fall yourself? You're getting the worst of
2315it."
2316
2317"Why, that ain't anything. I can't fall; that ain't the way it is in
2318the book. The book says, 'Then with one back-handed stroke he slew poor
2319Guy of Guisborne.' You're to turn around and let me hit you in the
2320back."
2321
2322There was no getting around the authorities, so Joe turned, received
2323the whack and fell.
2324
2325"Now," said Joe, getting up, "you got to let me kill YOU. That's fair."
2326
2327"Why, I can't do that, it ain't in the book."
2328
2329"Well, it's blamed mean--that's all."
2330
2331"Well, say, Joe, you can be Friar Tuck or Much the miller's son, and
2332lam me with a quarter-staff; or I'll be the Sheriff of Nottingham and
2333you be Robin Hood a little while and kill me."
2334
2335This was satisfactory, and so these adventures were carried out. Then
2336Tom became Robin Hood again, and was allowed by the treacherous nun to
2337bleed his strength away through his neglected wound. And at last Joe,
2338representing a whole tribe of weeping outlaws, dragged him sadly forth,
2339gave his bow into his feeble hands, and Tom said, "Where this arrow
2340falls, there bury poor Robin Hood under the greenwood tree." Then he
2341shot the arrow and fell back and would have died, but he lit on a
2342nettle and sprang up too gaily for a corpse.
2343
2344The boys dressed themselves, hid their accoutrements, and went off
2345grieving that there were no outlaws any more, and wondering what modern
2346civilization could claim to have done to compensate for their loss.
2347They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than
2348President of the United States forever.
2349
2350
2351
2352CHAPTER IX
2353
2354AT half-past nine, that night, Tom and Sid were sent to bed, as usual.
2355They said their prayers, and Sid was soon asleep. Tom lay awake and
2356waited, in restless impatience. When it seemed to him that it must be
2357nearly daylight, he heard the clock strike ten! This was despair. He
2358would have tossed and fidgeted, as his nerves demanded, but he was
2359afraid he might wake Sid. So he lay still, and stared up into the dark.
2360Everything was dismally still. By and by, out of the stillness, little,
2361scarcely perceptible noises began to emphasize themselves. The ticking
2362of the clock began to bring itself into notice. Old beams began to
2363crack mysteriously. The stairs creaked faintly. Evidently spirits were
2364abroad. A measured, muffled snore issued from Aunt Polly's chamber. And
2365now the tiresome chirping of a cricket that no human ingenuity could
2366locate, began. Next the ghastly ticking of a deathwatch in the wall at
2367the bed's head made Tom shudder--it meant that somebody's days were
2368numbered. Then the howl of a far-off dog rose on the night air, and was
2369answered by a fainter howl from a remoter distance. Tom was in an
2370agony. At last he was satisfied that time had ceased and eternity
2371begun; he began to doze, in spite of himself; the clock chimed eleven,
2372but he did not hear it. And then there came, mingling with his
2373half-formed dreams, a most melancholy caterwauling. The raising of a
2374neighboring window disturbed him. A cry of "Scat! you devil!" and the
2375crash of an empty bottle against the back of his aunt's woodshed
2376brought him wide awake, and a single minute later he was dressed and
2377out of the window and creeping along the roof of the "ell" on all
2378fours. He "meow'd" with caution once or twice, as he went; then jumped
2379to the roof of the woodshed and thence to the ground. Huckleberry Finn
2380was there, with his dead cat. The boys moved off and disappeared in the
2381gloom. At the end of half an hour they were wading through the tall
2382grass of the graveyard.
2383
2384It was a graveyard of the old-fashioned Western kind. It was on a
2385hill, about a mile and a half from the village. It had a crazy board
2386fence around it, which leaned inward in places, and outward the rest of
2387the time, but stood upright nowhere. Grass and weeds grew rank over the
2388whole cemetery. All the old graves were sunken in, there was not a
2389tombstone on the place; round-topped, worm-eaten boards staggered over
2390the graves, leaning for support and finding none. "Sacred to the memory
2391of" So-and-So had been painted on them once, but it could no longer
2392have been read, on the most of them, now, even if there had been light.
2393
2394A faint wind moaned through the trees, and Tom feared it might be the
2395spirits of the dead, complaining at being disturbed. The boys talked
2396little, and only under their breath, for the time and the place and the
2397pervading solemnity and silence oppressed their spirits. They found the
2398sharp new heap they were seeking, and ensconced themselves within the
2399protection of three great elms that grew in a bunch within a few feet
2400of the grave.
2401
2402Then they waited in silence for what seemed a long time. The hooting
2403of a distant owl was all the sound that troubled the dead stillness.
2404Tom's reflections grew oppressive. He must force some talk. So he said
2405in a whisper:
2406
2407"Hucky, do you believe the dead people like it for us to be here?"
2408
2409Huckleberry whispered:
2410
2411"I wisht I knowed. It's awful solemn like, AIN'T it?"
2412
2413"I bet it is."
2414
2415There was a considerable pause, while the boys canvassed this matter
2416inwardly. Then Tom whispered:
2417
2418"Say, Hucky--do you reckon Hoss Williams hears us talking?"
2419
2420"O' course he does. Least his sperrit does."
2421
2422Tom, after a pause:
2423
2424"I wish I'd said Mister Williams. But I never meant any harm.
2425Everybody calls him Hoss."
2426
2427"A body can't be too partic'lar how they talk 'bout these-yer dead
2428people, Tom."
2429
2430This was a damper, and conversation died again.
2431
2432Presently Tom seized his comrade's arm and said:
2433
2434"Sh!"
2435
2436"What is it, Tom?" And the two clung together with beating hearts.
2437
2438"Sh! There 'tis again! Didn't you hear it?"
2439
2440"I--"
2441
2442"There! Now you hear it."
2443
2444"Lord, Tom, they're coming! They're coming, sure. What'll we do?"
2445
2446"I dono. Think they'll see us?"
2447
2448"Oh, Tom, they can see in the dark, same as cats. I wisht I hadn't
2449come."
2450
2451"Oh, don't be afeard. I don't believe they'll bother us. We ain't
2452doing any harm. If we keep perfectly still, maybe they won't notice us
2453at all."
2454
2455"I'll try to, Tom, but, Lord, I'm all of a shiver."
2456
2457"Listen!"
2458
2459The boys bent their heads together and scarcely breathed. A muffled
2460sound of voices floated up from the far end of the graveyard.
2461
2462"Look! See there!" whispered Tom. "What is it?"
2463
2464"It's devil-fire. Oh, Tom, this is awful."
2465
2466Some vague figures approached through the gloom, swinging an
2467old-fashioned tin lantern that freckled the ground with innumerable
2468little spangles of light. Presently Huckleberry whispered with a
2469shudder:
2470
2471"It's the devils sure enough. Three of 'em! Lordy, Tom, we're goners!
2472Can you pray?"
2473
2474"I'll try, but don't you be afeard. They ain't going to hurt us. 'Now
2475I lay me down to sleep, I--'"
2476
2477"Sh!"
2478
2479"What is it, Huck?"
2480
2481"They're HUMANS! One of 'em is, anyway. One of 'em's old Muff Potter's
2482voice."
2483
2484"No--'tain't so, is it?"
2485
2486"I bet I know it. Don't you stir nor budge. He ain't sharp enough to
2487notice us. Drunk, the same as usual, likely--blamed old rip!"
2488
2489"All right, I'll keep still. Now they're stuck. Can't find it. Here
2490they come again. Now they're hot. Cold again. Hot again. Red hot!
2491They're p'inted right, this time. Say, Huck, I know another o' them
2492voices; it's Injun Joe."
2493
2494"That's so--that murderin' half-breed! I'd druther they was devils a
2495dern sight. What kin they be up to?"
2496
2497The whisper died wholly out, now, for the three men had reached the
2498grave and stood within a few feet of the boys' hiding-place.
2499
2500"Here it is," said the third voice; and the owner of it held the
2501lantern up and revealed the face of young Doctor Robinson.
2502
2503Potter and Injun Joe were carrying a handbarrow with a rope and a
2504couple of shovels on it. They cast down their load and began to open
2505the grave. The doctor put the lantern at the head of the grave and came
2506and sat down with his back against one of the elm trees. He was so
2507close the boys could have touched him.
2508
2509"Hurry, men!" he said, in a low voice; "the moon might come out at any
2510moment."
2511
2512They growled a response and went on digging. For some time there was
2513no noise but the grating sound of the spades discharging their freight
2514of mould and gravel. It was very monotonous. Finally a spade struck
2515upon the coffin with a dull woody accent, and within another minute or
2516two the men had hoisted it out on the ground. They pried off the lid
2517with their shovels, got out the body and dumped it rudely on the
2518ground. The moon drifted from behind the clouds and exposed the pallid
2519face. The barrow was got ready and the corpse placed on it, covered
2520with a blanket, and bound to its place with the rope. Potter took out a
2521large spring-knife and cut off the dangling end of the rope and then
2522said:
2523
2524"Now the cussed thing's ready, Sawbones, and you'll just out with
2525another five, or here she stays."
2526
2527"That's the talk!" said Injun Joe.
2528
2529"Look here, what does this mean?" said the doctor. "You required your
2530pay in advance, and I've paid you."
2531
2532"Yes, and you done more than that," said Injun Joe, approaching the
2533doctor, who was now standing. "Five years ago you drove me away from
2534your father's kitchen one night, when I come to ask for something to
2535eat, and you said I warn't there for any good; and when I swore I'd get
2536even with you if it took a hundred years, your father had me jailed for
2537a vagrant. Did you think I'd forget? The Injun blood ain't in me for
2538nothing. And now I've GOT you, and you got to SETTLE, you know!"
2539
2540He was threatening the doctor, with his fist in his face, by this
2541time. The doctor struck out suddenly and stretched the ruffian on the
2542ground. Potter dropped his knife, and exclaimed:
2543
2544"Here, now, don't you hit my pard!" and the next moment he had
2545grappled with the doctor and the two were struggling with might and
2546main, trampling the grass and tearing the ground with their heels.
2547Injun Joe sprang to his feet, his eyes flaming with passion, snatched
2548up Potter's knife, and went creeping, catlike and stooping, round and
2549round about the combatants, seeking an opportunity. All at once the
2550doctor flung himself free, seized the heavy headboard of Williams'
2551grave and felled Potter to the earth with it--and in the same instant
2552the half-breed saw his chance and drove the knife to the hilt in the
2553young man's breast. He reeled and fell partly upon Potter, flooding him
2554with his blood, and in the same moment the clouds blotted out the
2555dreadful spectacle and the two frightened boys went speeding away in
2556the dark.
2557
2558Presently, when the moon emerged again, Injun Joe was standing over
2559the two forms, contemplating them. The doctor murmured inarticulately,
2560gave a long gasp or two and was still. The half-breed muttered:
2561
2562"THAT score is settled--damn you."
2563
2564Then he robbed the body. After which he put the fatal knife in
2565Potter's open right hand, and sat down on the dismantled coffin. Three
2566--four--five minutes passed, and then Potter began to stir and moan. His
2567hand closed upon the knife; he raised it, glanced at it, and let it
2568fall, with a shudder. Then he sat up, pushing the body from him, and
2569gazed at it, and then around him, confusedly. His eyes met Joe's.
2570
2571"Lord, how is this, Joe?" he said.
2572
2573"It's a dirty business," said Joe, without moving.
2574
2575"What did you do it for?"
2576
2577"I! I never done it!"
2578
2579"Look here! That kind of talk won't wash."
2580
2581Potter trembled and grew white.
2582
2583"I thought I'd got sober. I'd no business to drink to-night. But it's
2584in my head yet--worse'n when we started here. I'm all in a muddle;
2585can't recollect anything of it, hardly. Tell me, Joe--HONEST, now, old
2586feller--did I do it? Joe, I never meant to--'pon my soul and honor, I
2587never meant to, Joe. Tell me how it was, Joe. Oh, it's awful--and him
2588so young and promising."
2589
2590"Why, you two was scuffling, and he fetched you one with the headboard
2591and you fell flat; and then up you come, all reeling and staggering
2592like, and snatched the knife and jammed it into him, just as he fetched
2593you another awful clip--and here you've laid, as dead as a wedge til
2594now."
2595
2596"Oh, I didn't know what I was a-doing. I wish I may die this minute if
2597I did. It was all on account of the whiskey and the excitement, I
2598reckon. I never used a weepon in my life before, Joe. I've fought, but
2599never with weepons. They'll all say that. Joe, don't tell! Say you
2600won't tell, Joe--that's a good feller. I always liked you, Joe, and
2601stood up for you, too. Don't you remember? You WON'T tell, WILL you,
2602Joe?" And the poor creature dropped on his knees before the stolid
2603murderer, and clasped his appealing hands.
2604
2605"No, you've always been fair and square with me, Muff Potter, and I
2606won't go back on you. There, now, that's as fair as a man can say."
2607
2608"Oh, Joe, you're an angel. I'll bless you for this the longest day I
2609live." And Potter began to cry.
2610
2611"Come, now, that's enough of that. This ain't any time for blubbering.
2612You be off yonder way and I'll go this. Move, now, and don't leave any
2613tracks behind you."
2614
2615Potter started on a trot that quickly increased to a run. The
2616half-breed stood looking after him. He muttered:
2617
2618"If he's as much stunned with the lick and fuddled with the rum as he
2619had the look of being, he won't think of the knife till he's gone so
2620far he'll be afraid to come back after it to such a place by himself
2621--chicken-heart!"
2622
2623Two or three minutes later the murdered man, the blanketed corpse, the
2624lidless coffin, and the open grave were under no inspection but the
2625moon's. The stillness was complete again, too.
2626
2627
2628
2629CHAPTER X
2630
2631THE two boys flew on and on, toward the village, speechless with
2632horror. They glanced backward over their shoulders from time to time,
2633apprehensively, as if they feared they might be followed. Every stump
2634that started up in their path seemed a man and an enemy, and made them
2635catch their breath; and as they sped by some outlying cottages that lay
2636near the village, the barking of the aroused watch-dogs seemed to give
2637wings to their feet.
2638
2639"If we can only get to the old tannery before we break down!"
2640whispered Tom, in short catches between breaths. "I can't stand it much
2641longer."
2642
2643Huckleberry's hard pantings were his only reply, and the boys fixed
2644their eyes on the goal of their hopes and bent to their work to win it.
2645They gained steadily on it, and at last, breast to breast, they burst
2646through the open door and fell grateful and exhausted in the sheltering
2647shadows beyond. By and by their pulses slowed down, and Tom whispered:
2648
2649"Huckleberry, what do you reckon'll come of this?"
2650
2651"If Doctor Robinson dies, I reckon hanging'll come of it."
2652
2653"Do you though?"
2654
2655"Why, I KNOW it, Tom."
2656
2657Tom thought a while, then he said:
2658
2659"Who'll tell? We?"
2660
2661"What are you talking about? S'pose something happened and Injun Joe
2662DIDN'T hang? Why, he'd kill us some time or other, just as dead sure as
2663we're a laying here."
2664
2665"That's just what I was thinking to myself, Huck."
2666
2667"If anybody tells, let Muff Potter do it, if he's fool enough. He's
2668generally drunk enough."
2669
2670Tom said nothing--went on thinking. Presently he whispered:
2671
2672"Huck, Muff Potter don't know it. How can he tell?"
2673
2674"What's the reason he don't know it?"
2675
2676"Because he'd just got that whack when Injun Joe done it. D'you reckon
2677he could see anything? D'you reckon he knowed anything?"
2678
2679"By hokey, that's so, Tom!"
2680
2681"And besides, look-a-here--maybe that whack done for HIM!"
2682
2683"No, 'taint likely, Tom. He had liquor in him; I could see that; and
2684besides, he always has. Well, when pap's full, you might take and belt
2685him over the head with a church and you couldn't phase him. He says so,
2686his own self. So it's the same with Muff Potter, of course. But if a
2687man was dead sober, I reckon maybe that whack might fetch him; I dono."
2688
2689After another reflective silence, Tom said:
2690
2691"Hucky, you sure you can keep mum?"
2692
2693"Tom, we GOT to keep mum. You know that. That Injun devil wouldn't
2694make any more of drownding us than a couple of cats, if we was to
2695squeak 'bout this and they didn't hang him. Now, look-a-here, Tom, less
2696take and swear to one another--that's what we got to do--swear to keep
2697mum."
2698
2699"I'm agreed. It's the best thing. Would you just hold hands and swear
2700that we--"
2701
2702"Oh no, that wouldn't do for this. That's good enough for little
2703rubbishy common things--specially with gals, cuz THEY go back on you
2704anyway, and blab if they get in a huff--but there orter be writing
2705'bout a big thing like this. And blood."
2706
2707Tom's whole being applauded this idea. It was deep, and dark, and
2708awful; the hour, the circumstances, the surroundings, were in keeping
2709with it. He picked up a clean pine shingle that lay in the moonlight,
2710took a little fragment of "red keel" out of his pocket, got the moon on
2711his work, and painfully scrawled these lines, emphasizing each slow
2712down-stroke by clamping his tongue between his teeth, and letting up
2713the pressure on the up-strokes. [See next page.]
2714
2715 "Huck Finn and
2716 Tom Sawyer swears
2717 they will keep mum
2718 about This and They
2719 wish They may Drop
2720 down dead in Their
2721 Tracks if They ever
2722 Tell and Rot."
2723
2724Huckleberry was filled with admiration of Tom's facility in writing,
2725and the sublimity of his language. He at once took a pin from his lapel
2726and was going to prick his flesh, but Tom said:
2727
2728"Hold on! Don't do that. A pin's brass. It might have verdigrease on
2729it."
2730
2731"What's verdigrease?"
2732
2733"It's p'ison. That's what it is. You just swaller some of it once
2734--you'll see."
2735
2736So Tom unwound the thread from one of his needles, and each boy
2737pricked the ball of his thumb and squeezed out a drop of blood. In
2738time, after many squeezes, Tom managed to sign his initials, using the
2739ball of his little finger for a pen. Then he showed Huckleberry how to
2740make an H and an F, and the oath was complete. They buried the shingle
2741close to the wall, with some dismal ceremonies and incantations, and
2742the fetters that bound their tongues were considered to be locked and
2743the key thrown away.
2744
2745A figure crept stealthily through a break in the other end of the
2746ruined building, now, but they did not notice it.
2747
2748"Tom," whispered Huckleberry, "does this keep us from EVER telling
2749--ALWAYS?"
2750
2751"Of course it does. It don't make any difference WHAT happens, we got
2752to keep mum. We'd drop down dead--don't YOU know that?"
2753
2754"Yes, I reckon that's so."
2755
2756They continued to whisper for some little time. Presently a dog set up
2757a long, lugubrious howl just outside--within ten feet of them. The boys
2758clasped each other suddenly, in an agony of fright.
2759
2760"Which of us does he mean?" gasped Huckleberry.
2761
2762"I dono--peep through the crack. Quick!"
2763
2764"No, YOU, Tom!"
2765
2766"I can't--I can't DO it, Huck!"
2767
2768"Please, Tom. There 'tis again!"
2769
2770"Oh, lordy, I'm thankful!" whispered Tom. "I know his voice. It's Bull
2771Harbison." *
2772
2773[* If Mr. Harbison owned a slave named Bull, Tom would have spoken of
2774him as "Harbison's Bull," but a son or a dog of that name was "Bull
2775Harbison."]
2776
2777"Oh, that's good--I tell you, Tom, I was most scared to death; I'd a
2778bet anything it was a STRAY dog."
2779
2780The dog howled again. The boys' hearts sank once more.
2781
2782"Oh, my! that ain't no Bull Harbison!" whispered Huckleberry. "DO, Tom!"
2783
2784Tom, quaking with fear, yielded, and put his eye to the crack. His
2785whisper was hardly audible when he said:
2786
2787"Oh, Huck, IT S A STRAY DOG!"
2788
2789"Quick, Tom, quick! Who does he mean?"
2790
2791"Huck, he must mean us both--we're right together."
2792
2793"Oh, Tom, I reckon we're goners. I reckon there ain't no mistake 'bout
2794where I'LL go to. I been so wicked."
2795
2796"Dad fetch it! This comes of playing hookey and doing everything a
2797feller's told NOT to do. I might a been good, like Sid, if I'd a tried
2798--but no, I wouldn't, of course. But if ever I get off this time, I lay
2799I'll just WALLER in Sunday-schools!" And Tom began to snuffle a little.
2800
2801"YOU bad!" and Huckleberry began to snuffle too. "Consound it, Tom
2802Sawyer, you're just old pie, 'longside o' what I am. Oh, LORDY, lordy,
2803lordy, I wisht I only had half your chance."
2804
2805Tom choked off and whispered:
2806
2807"Look, Hucky, look! He's got his BACK to us!"
2808
2809Hucky looked, with joy in his heart.
2810
2811"Well, he has, by jingoes! Did he before?"
2812
2813"Yes, he did. But I, like a fool, never thought. Oh, this is bully,
2814you know. NOW who can he mean?"
2815
2816The howling stopped. Tom pricked up his ears.
2817
2818"Sh! What's that?" he whispered.
2819
2820"Sounds like--like hogs grunting. No--it's somebody snoring, Tom."
2821
2822"That IS it! Where 'bouts is it, Huck?"
2823
2824"I bleeve it's down at 'tother end. Sounds so, anyway. Pap used to
2825sleep there, sometimes, 'long with the hogs, but laws bless you, he
2826just lifts things when HE snores. Besides, I reckon he ain't ever
2827coming back to this town any more."
2828
2829The spirit of adventure rose in the boys' souls once more.
2830
2831"Hucky, do you das't to go if I lead?"
2832
2833"I don't like to, much. Tom, s'pose it's Injun Joe!"
2834
2835Tom quailed. But presently the temptation rose up strong again and the
2836boys agreed to try, with the understanding that they would take to
2837their heels if the snoring stopped. So they went tiptoeing stealthily
2838down, the one behind the other. When they had got to within five steps
2839of the snorer, Tom stepped on a stick, and it broke with a sharp snap.
2840The man moaned, writhed a little, and his face came into the moonlight.
2841It was Muff Potter. The boys' hearts had stood still, and their hopes
2842too, when the man moved, but their fears passed away now. They tiptoed
2843out, through the broken weather-boarding, and stopped at a little
2844distance to exchange a parting word. That long, lugubrious howl rose on
2845the night air again! They turned and saw the strange dog standing
2846within a few feet of where Potter was lying, and FACING Potter, with
2847his nose pointing heavenward.
2848
2849"Oh, geeminy, it's HIM!" exclaimed both boys, in a breath.
2850
2851"Say, Tom--they say a stray dog come howling around Johnny Miller's
2852house, 'bout midnight, as much as two weeks ago; and a whippoorwill
2853come in and lit on the banisters and sung, the very same evening; and
2854there ain't anybody dead there yet."
2855
2856"Well, I know that. And suppose there ain't. Didn't Gracie Miller fall
2857in the kitchen fire and burn herself terrible the very next Saturday?"
2858
2859"Yes, but she ain't DEAD. And what's more, she's getting better, too."
2860
2861"All right, you wait and see. She's a goner, just as dead sure as Muff
2862Potter's a goner. That's what the niggers say, and they know all about
2863these kind of things, Huck."
2864
2865Then they separated, cogitating. When Tom crept in at his bedroom
2866window the night was almost spent. He undressed with excessive caution,
2867and fell asleep congratulating himself that nobody knew of his
2868escapade. He was not aware that the gently-snoring Sid was awake, and
2869had been so for an hour.
2870
2871When Tom awoke, Sid was dressed and gone. There was a late look in the
2872light, a late sense in the atmosphere. He was startled. Why had he not
2873been called--persecuted till he was up, as usual? The thought filled
2874him with bodings. Within five minutes he was dressed and down-stairs,
2875feeling sore and drowsy. The family were still at table, but they had
2876finished breakfast. There was no voice of rebuke; but there were
2877averted eyes; there was a silence and an air of solemnity that struck a
2878chill to the culprit's heart. He sat down and tried to seem gay, but it
2879was up-hill work; it roused no smile, no response, and he lapsed into
2880silence and let his heart sink down to the depths.
2881
2882After breakfast his aunt took him aside, and Tom almost brightened in
2883the hope that he was going to be flogged; but it was not so. His aunt
2884wept over him and asked him how he could go and break her old heart so;
2885and finally told him to go on, and ruin himself and bring her gray
2886hairs with sorrow to the grave, for it was no use for her to try any
2887more. This was worse than a thousand whippings, and Tom's heart was
2888sorer now than his body. He cried, he pleaded for forgiveness, promised
2889to reform over and over again, and then received his dismissal, feeling
2890that he had won but an imperfect forgiveness and established but a
2891feeble confidence.
2892
2893He left the presence too miserable to even feel revengeful toward Sid;
2894and so the latter's prompt retreat through the back gate was
2895unnecessary. He moped to school gloomy and sad, and took his flogging,
2896along with Joe Harper, for playing hookey the day before, with the air
2897of one whose heart was busy with heavier woes and wholly dead to
2898trifles. Then he betook himself to his seat, rested his elbows on his
2899desk and his jaws in his hands, and stared at the wall with the stony
2900stare of suffering that has reached the limit and can no further go.
2901His elbow was pressing against some hard substance. After a long time
2902he slowly and sadly changed his position, and took up this object with
2903a sigh. It was in a paper. He unrolled it. A long, lingering, colossal
2904sigh followed, and his heart broke. It was his brass andiron knob!
2905
2906This final feather broke the camel's back.
2907
2908
2909
2910CHAPTER XI
2911
2912CLOSE upon the hour of noon the whole village was suddenly electrified
2913with the ghastly news. No need of the as yet undreamed-of telegraph;
2914the tale flew from man to man, from group to group, from house to
2915house, with little less than telegraphic speed. Of course the
2916schoolmaster gave holiday for that afternoon; the town would have
2917thought strangely of him if he had not.
2918
2919A gory knife had been found close to the murdered man, and it had been
2920recognized by somebody as belonging to Muff Potter--so the story ran.
2921And it was said that a belated citizen had come upon Potter washing
2922himself in the "branch" about one or two o'clock in the morning, and
2923that Potter had at once sneaked off--suspicious circumstances,
2924especially the washing which was not a habit with Potter. It was also
2925said that the town had been ransacked for this "murderer" (the public
2926are not slow in the matter of sifting evidence and arriving at a
2927verdict), but that he could not be found. Horsemen had departed down
2928all the roads in every direction, and the Sheriff "was confident" that
2929he would be captured before night.
2930
2931All the town was drifting toward the graveyard. Tom's heartbreak
2932vanished and he joined the procession, not because he would not a
2933thousand times rather go anywhere else, but because an awful,
2934unaccountable fascination drew him on. Arrived at the dreadful place,
2935he wormed his small body through the crowd and saw the dismal
2936spectacle. It seemed to him an age since he was there before. Somebody
2937pinched his arm. He turned, and his eyes met Huckleberry's. Then both
2938looked elsewhere at once, and wondered if anybody had noticed anything
2939in their mutual glance. But everybody was talking, and intent upon the
2940grisly spectacle before them.
2941
2942"Poor fellow!" "Poor young fellow!" "This ought to be a lesson to
2943grave robbers!" "Muff Potter'll hang for this if they catch him!" This
2944was the drift of remark; and the minister said, "It was a judgment; His
2945hand is here."
2946
2947Now Tom shivered from head to heel; for his eye fell upon the stolid
2948face of Injun Joe. At this moment the crowd began to sway and struggle,
2949and voices shouted, "It's him! it's him! he's coming himself!"
2950
2951"Who? Who?" from twenty voices.
2952
2953"Muff Potter!"
2954
2955"Hallo, he's stopped!--Look out, he's turning! Don't let him get away!"
2956
2957People in the branches of the trees over Tom's head said he wasn't
2958trying to get away--he only looked doubtful and perplexed.
2959
2960"Infernal impudence!" said a bystander; "wanted to come and take a
2961quiet look at his work, I reckon--didn't expect any company."
2962
2963The crowd fell apart, now, and the Sheriff came through,
2964ostentatiously leading Potter by the arm. The poor fellow's face was
2965haggard, and his eyes showed the fear that was upon him. When he stood
2966before the murdered man, he shook as with a palsy, and he put his face
2967in his hands and burst into tears.
2968
2969"I didn't do it, friends," he sobbed; "'pon my word and honor I never
2970done it."
2971
2972"Who's accused you?" shouted a voice.
2973
2974This shot seemed to carry home. Potter lifted his face and looked
2975around him with a pathetic hopelessness in his eyes. He saw Injun Joe,
2976and exclaimed:
2977
2978"Oh, Injun Joe, you promised me you'd never--"
2979
2980"Is that your knife?" and it was thrust before him by the Sheriff.
2981
2982Potter would have fallen if they had not caught him and eased him to
2983the ground. Then he said:
2984
2985"Something told me 't if I didn't come back and get--" He shuddered;
2986then waved his nerveless hand with a vanquished gesture and said, "Tell
2987'em, Joe, tell 'em--it ain't any use any more."
2988
2989Then Huckleberry and Tom stood dumb and staring, and heard the
2990stony-hearted liar reel off his serene statement, they expecting every
2991moment that the clear sky would deliver God's lightnings upon his head,
2992and wondering to see how long the stroke was delayed. And when he had
2993finished and still stood alive and whole, their wavering impulse to
2994break their oath and save the poor betrayed prisoner's life faded and
2995vanished away, for plainly this miscreant had sold himself to Satan and
2996it would be fatal to meddle with the property of such a power as that.
2997
2998"Why didn't you leave? What did you want to come here for?" somebody
2999said.
3000
3001"I couldn't help it--I couldn't help it," Potter moaned. "I wanted to
3002run away, but I couldn't seem to come anywhere but here." And he fell
3003to sobbing again.
3004
3005Injun Joe repeated his statement, just as calmly, a few minutes
3006afterward on the inquest, under oath; and the boys, seeing that the
3007lightnings were still withheld, were confirmed in their belief that Joe
3008had sold himself to the devil. He was now become, to them, the most
3009balefully interesting object they had ever looked upon, and they could
3010not take their fascinated eyes from his face.
3011
3012They inwardly resolved to watch him nights, when opportunity should
3013offer, in the hope of getting a glimpse of his dread master.
3014
3015Injun Joe helped to raise the body of the murdered man and put it in a
3016wagon for removal; and it was whispered through the shuddering crowd
3017that the wound bled a little! The boys thought that this happy
3018circumstance would turn suspicion in the right direction; but they were
3019disappointed, for more than one villager remarked:
3020
3021"It was within three feet of Muff Potter when it done it."
3022
3023Tom's fearful secret and gnawing conscience disturbed his sleep for as
3024much as a week after this; and at breakfast one morning Sid said:
3025
3026"Tom, you pitch around and talk in your sleep so much that you keep me
3027awake half the time."
3028
3029Tom blanched and dropped his eyes.
3030
3031"It's a bad sign," said Aunt Polly, gravely. "What you got on your
3032mind, Tom?"
3033
3034"Nothing. Nothing 't I know of." But the boy's hand shook so that he
3035spilled his coffee.
3036
3037"And you do talk such stuff," Sid said. "Last night you said, 'It's
3038blood, it's blood, that's what it is!' You said that over and over. And
3039you said, 'Don't torment me so--I'll tell!' Tell WHAT? What is it
3040you'll tell?"
3041
3042Everything was swimming before Tom. There is no telling what might
3043have happened, now, but luckily the concern passed out of Aunt Polly's
3044face and she came to Tom's relief without knowing it. She said:
3045
3046"Sho! It's that dreadful murder. I dream about it most every night
3047myself. Sometimes I dream it's me that done it."
3048
3049Mary said she had been affected much the same way. Sid seemed
3050satisfied. Tom got out of the presence as quick as he plausibly could,
3051and after that he complained of toothache for a week, and tied up his
3052jaws every night. He never knew that Sid lay nightly watching, and
3053frequently slipped the bandage free and then leaned on his elbow
3054listening a good while at a time, and afterward slipped the bandage
3055back to its place again. Tom's distress of mind wore off gradually and
3056the toothache grew irksome and was discarded. If Sid really managed to
3057make anything out of Tom's disjointed mutterings, he kept it to himself.
3058
3059It seemed to Tom that his schoolmates never would get done holding
3060inquests on dead cats, and thus keeping his trouble present to his
3061mind. Sid noticed that Tom never was coroner at one of these inquiries,
3062though it had been his habit to take the lead in all new enterprises;
3063he noticed, too, that Tom never acted as a witness--and that was
3064strange; and Sid did not overlook the fact that Tom even showed a
3065marked aversion to these inquests, and always avoided them when he
3066could. Sid marvelled, but said nothing. However, even inquests went out
3067of vogue at last, and ceased to torture Tom's conscience.
3068
3069Every day or two, during this time of sorrow, Tom watched his
3070opportunity and went to the little grated jail-window and smuggled such
3071small comforts through to the "murderer" as he could get hold of. The
3072jail was a trifling little brick den that stood in a marsh at the edge
3073of the village, and no guards were afforded for it; indeed, it was
3074seldom occupied. These offerings greatly helped to ease Tom's
3075conscience.
3076
3077The villagers had a strong desire to tar-and-feather Injun Joe and
3078ride him on a rail, for body-snatching, but so formidable was his
3079character that nobody could be found who was willing to take the lead
3080in the matter, so it was dropped. He had been careful to begin both of
3081his inquest-statements with the fight, without confessing the
3082grave-robbery that preceded it; therefore it was deemed wisest not
3083to try the case in the courts at present.
3084
3085
3086
3087CHAPTER XII
3088
3089ONE of the reasons why Tom's mind had drifted away from its secret
3090troubles was, that it had found a new and weighty matter to interest
3091itself about. Becky Thatcher had stopped coming to school. Tom had
3092struggled with his pride a few days, and tried to "whistle her down the
3093wind," but failed. He began to find himself hanging around her father's
3094house, nights, and feeling very miserable. She was ill. What if she
3095should die! There was distraction in the thought. He no longer took an
3096interest in war, nor even in piracy. The charm of life was gone; there
3097was nothing but dreariness left. He put his hoop away, and his bat;
3098there was no joy in them any more. His aunt was concerned. She began to
3099try all manner of remedies on him. She was one of those people who are
3100infatuated with patent medicines and all new-fangled methods of
3101producing health or mending it. She was an inveterate experimenter in
3102these things. When something fresh in this line came out she was in a
3103fever, right away, to try it; not on herself, for she was never ailing,
3104but on anybody else that came handy. She was a subscriber for all the
3105"Health" periodicals and phrenological frauds; and the solemn ignorance
3106they were inflated with was breath to her nostrils. All the "rot" they
3107contained about ventilation, and how to go to bed, and how to get up,
3108and what to eat, and what to drink, and how much exercise to take, and
3109what frame of mind to keep one's self in, and what sort of clothing to
3110wear, was all gospel to her, and she never observed that her
3111health-journals of the current month customarily upset everything they
3112had recommended the month before. She was as simple-hearted and honest
3113as the day was long, and so she was an easy victim. She gathered
3114together her quack periodicals and her quack medicines, and thus armed
3115with death, went about on her pale horse, metaphorically speaking, with
3116"hell following after." But she never suspected that she was not an
3117angel of healing and the balm of Gilead in disguise, to the suffering
3118neighbors.
3119
3120The water treatment was new, now, and Tom's low condition was a
3121windfall to her. She had him out at daylight every morning, stood him
3122up in the woodshed and drowned him with a deluge of cold water; then
3123she scrubbed him down with a towel like a file, and so brought him to;
3124then she rolled him up in a wet sheet and put him away under blankets
3125till she sweated his soul clean and "the yellow stains of it came
3126through his pores"--as Tom said.
3127
3128Yet notwithstanding all this, the boy grew more and more melancholy
3129and pale and dejected. She added hot baths, sitz baths, shower baths,
3130and plunges. The boy remained as dismal as a hearse. She began to
3131assist the water with a slim oatmeal diet and blister-plasters. She
3132calculated his capacity as she would a jug's, and filled him up every
3133day with quack cure-alls.
3134
3135Tom had become indifferent to persecution by this time. This phase
3136filled the old lady's heart with consternation. This indifference must
3137be broken up at any cost. Now she heard of Pain-killer for the first
3138time. She ordered a lot at once. She tasted it and was filled with
3139gratitude. It was simply fire in a liquid form. She dropped the water
3140treatment and everything else, and pinned her faith to Pain-killer. She
3141gave Tom a teaspoonful and watched with the deepest anxiety for the
3142result. Her troubles were instantly at rest, her soul at peace again;
3143for the "indifference" was broken up. The boy could not have shown a
3144wilder, heartier interest, if she had built a fire under him.
3145
3146Tom felt that it was time to wake up; this sort of life might be
3147romantic enough, in his blighted condition, but it was getting to have
3148too little sentiment and too much distracting variety about it. So he
3149thought over various plans for relief, and finally hit pon that of
3150professing to be fond of Pain-killer. He asked for it so often that he
3151became a nuisance, and his aunt ended by telling him to help himself
3152and quit bothering her. If it had been Sid, she would have had no
3153misgivings to alloy her delight; but since it was Tom, she watched the
3154bottle clandestinely. She found that the medicine did really diminish,
3155but it did not occur to her that the boy was mending the health of a
3156crack in the sitting-room floor with it.
3157
3158One day Tom was in the act of dosing the crack when his aunt's yellow
3159cat came along, purring, eying the teaspoon avariciously, and begging
3160for a taste. Tom said:
3161
3162"Don't ask for it unless you want it, Peter."
3163
3164But Peter signified that he did want it.
3165
3166"You better make sure."
3167
3168Peter was sure.
3169
3170"Now you've asked for it, and I'll give it to you, because there ain't
3171anything mean about me; but if you find you don't like it, you mustn't
3172blame anybody but your own self."
3173
3174Peter was agreeable. So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the
3175Pain-killer. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air, and then
3176delivered a war-whoop and set off round and round the room, banging
3177against furniture, upsetting flower-pots, and making general havoc.
3178Next he rose on his hind feet and pranced around, in a frenzy of
3179enjoyment, with his head over his shoulder and his voice proclaiming
3180his unappeasable happiness. Then he went tearing around the house again
3181spreading chaos and destruction in his path. Aunt Polly entered in time
3182to see him throw a few double summersets, deliver a final mighty
3183hurrah, and sail through the open window, carrying the rest of the
3184flower-pots with him. The old lady stood petrified with astonishment,
3185peering over her glasses; Tom lay on the floor expiring with laughter.
3186
3187"Tom, what on earth ails that cat?"
3188
3189"I don't know, aunt," gasped the boy.
3190
3191"Why, I never see anything like it. What did make him act so?"
3192
3193"Deed I don't know, Aunt Polly; cats always act so when they're having
3194a good time."
3195
3196"They do, do they?" There was something in the tone that made Tom
3197apprehensive.
3198
3199"Yes'm. That is, I believe they do."
3200
3201"You DO?"
3202
3203"Yes'm."
3204
3205The old lady was bending down, Tom watching, with interest emphasized
3206by anxiety. Too late he divined her "drift." The handle of the telltale
3207teaspoon was visible under the bed-valance. Aunt Polly took it, held it
3208up. Tom winced, and dropped his eyes. Aunt Polly raised him by the
3209usual handle--his ear--and cracked his head soundly with her thimble.
3210
3211"Now, sir, what did you want to treat that poor dumb beast so, for?"
3212
3213"I done it out of pity for him--because he hadn't any aunt."
3214
3215"Hadn't any aunt!--you numskull. What has that got to do with it?"
3216
3217"Heaps. Because if he'd had one she'd a burnt him out herself! She'd a
3218roasted his bowels out of him 'thout any more feeling than if he was a
3219human!"
3220
3221Aunt Polly felt a sudden pang of remorse. This was putting the thing
3222in a new light; what was cruelty to a cat MIGHT be cruelty to a boy,
3223too. She began to soften; she felt sorry. Her eyes watered a little,
3224and she put her hand on Tom's head and said gently:
3225
3226"I was meaning for the best, Tom. And, Tom, it DID do you good."
3227
3228Tom looked up in her face with just a perceptible twinkle peeping
3229through his gravity.
3230
3231"I know you was meaning for the best, aunty, and so was I with Peter.
3232It done HIM good, too. I never see him get around so since--"
3233
3234"Oh, go 'long with you, Tom, before you aggravate me again. And you
3235try and see if you can't be a good boy, for once, and you needn't take
3236any more medicine."
3237
3238Tom reached school ahead of time. It was noticed that this strange
3239thing had been occurring every day latterly. And now, as usual of late,
3240he hung about the gate of the schoolyard instead of playing with his
3241comrades. He was sick, he said, and he looked it. He tried to seem to
3242be looking everywhere but whither he really was looking--down the road.
3243Presently Jeff Thatcher hove in sight, and Tom's face lighted; he gazed
3244a moment, and then turned sorrowfully away. When Jeff arrived, Tom
3245accosted him; and "led up" warily to opportunities for remark about
3246Becky, but the giddy lad never could see the bait. Tom watched and
3247watched, hoping whenever a frisking frock came in sight, and hating the
3248owner of it as soon as he saw she was not the right one. At last frocks
3249ceased to appear, and he dropped hopelessly into the dumps; he entered
3250the empty schoolhouse and sat down to suffer. Then one more frock
3251passed in at the gate, and Tom's heart gave a great bound. The next
3252instant he was out, and "going on" like an Indian; yelling, laughing,
3253chasing boys, jumping over the fence at risk of life and limb, throwing
3254handsprings, standing on his head--doing all the heroic things he could
3255conceive of, and keeping a furtive eye out, all the while, to see if
3256Becky Thatcher was noticing. But she seemed to be unconscious of it
3257all; she never looked. Could it be possible that she was not aware that
3258he was there? He carried his exploits to her immediate vicinity; came
3259war-whooping around, snatched a boy's cap, hurled it to the roof of the
3260schoolhouse, broke through a group of boys, tumbling them in every
3261direction, and fell sprawling, himself, under Becky's nose, almost
3262upsetting her--and she turned, with her nose in the air, and he heard
3263her say: "Mf! some people think they're mighty smart--always showing
3264off!"
3265
3266Tom's cheeks burned. He gathered himself up and sneaked off, crushed
3267and crestfallen.
3268
3269
3270
3271CHAPTER XIII
3272
3273TOM'S mind was made up now. He was gloomy and desperate. He was a
3274forsaken, friendless boy, he said; nobody loved him; when they found
3275out what they had driven him to, perhaps they would be sorry; he had
3276tried to do right and get along, but they would not let him; since
3277nothing would do them but to be rid of him, let it be so; and let them
3278blame HIM for the consequences--why shouldn't they? What right had the
3279friendless to complain? Yes, they had forced him to it at last: he
3280would lead a life of crime. There was no choice.
3281
3282By this time he was far down Meadow Lane, and the bell for school to
3283"take up" tinkled faintly upon his ear. He sobbed, now, to think he
3284should never, never hear that old familiar sound any more--it was very
3285hard, but it was forced on him; since he was driven out into the cold
3286world, he must submit--but he forgave them. Then the sobs came thick
3287and fast.
3288
3289Just at this point he met his soul's sworn comrade, Joe Harper
3290--hard-eyed, and with evidently a great and dismal purpose in his heart.
3291Plainly here were "two souls with but a single thought." Tom, wiping
3292his eyes with his sleeve, began to blubber out something about a
3293resolution to escape from hard usage and lack of sympathy at home by
3294roaming abroad into the great world never to return; and ended by
3295hoping that Joe would not forget him.
3296
3297But it transpired that this was a request which Joe had just been
3298going to make of Tom, and had come to hunt him up for that purpose. His
3299mother had whipped him for drinking some cream which he had never
3300tasted and knew nothing about; it was plain that she was tired of him
3301and wished him to go; if she felt that way, there was nothing for him
3302to do but succumb; he hoped she would be happy, and never regret having
3303driven her poor boy out into the unfeeling world to suffer and die.
3304
3305As the two boys walked sorrowing along, they made a new compact to
3306stand by each other and be brothers and never separate till death
3307relieved them of their troubles. Then they began to lay their plans.
3308Joe was for being a hermit, and living on crusts in a remote cave, and
3309dying, some time, of cold and want and grief; but after listening to
3310Tom, he conceded that there were some conspicuous advantages about a
3311life of crime, and so he consented to be a pirate.
3312
3313Three miles below St. Petersburg, at a point where the Mississippi
3314River was a trifle over a mile wide, there was a long, narrow, wooded
3315island, with a shallow bar at the head of it, and this offered well as
3316a rendezvous. It was not inhabited; it lay far over toward the further
3317shore, abreast a dense and almost wholly unpeopled forest. So Jackson's
3318Island was chosen. Who were to be the subjects of their piracies was a
3319matter that did not occur to them. Then they hunted up Huckleberry
3320Finn, and he joined them promptly, for all careers were one to him; he
3321was indifferent. They presently separated to meet at a lonely spot on
3322the river-bank two miles above the village at the favorite hour--which
3323was midnight. There was a small log raft there which they meant to
3324capture. Each would bring hooks and lines, and such provision as he
3325could steal in the most dark and mysterious way--as became outlaws. And
3326before the afternoon was done, they had all managed to enjoy the sweet
3327glory of spreading the fact that pretty soon the town would "hear
3328something." All who got this vague hint were cautioned to "be mum and
3329wait."
3330
3331About midnight Tom arrived with a boiled ham and a few trifles,
3332and stopped in a dense undergrowth on a small bluff overlooking the
3333meeting-place. It was starlight, and very still. The mighty river lay
3334like an ocean at rest. Tom listened a moment, but no sound disturbed the
3335quiet. Then he gave a low, distinct whistle. It was answered from under
3336the bluff. Tom whistled twice more; these signals were answered in the
3337same way. Then a guarded voice said:
3338
3339"Who goes there?"
3340
3341"Tom Sawyer, the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main. Name your names."
3342
3343"Huck Finn the Red-Handed, and Joe Harper the Terror of the Seas." Tom
3344had furnished these titles, from his favorite literature.
3345
3346"'Tis well. Give the countersign."
3347
3348Two hoarse whispers delivered the same awful word simultaneously to
3349the brooding night:
3350
3351"BLOOD!"
3352
3353Then Tom tumbled his ham over the bluff and let himself down after it,
3354tearing both skin and clothes to some extent in the effort. There was
3355an easy, comfortable path along the shore under the bluff, but it
3356lacked the advantages of difficulty and danger so valued by a pirate.
3357
3358The Terror of the Seas had brought a side of bacon, and had about worn
3359himself out with getting it there. Finn the Red-Handed had stolen a
3360skillet and a quantity of half-cured leaf tobacco, and had also brought
3361a few corn-cobs to make pipes with. But none of the pirates smoked or
3362"chewed" but himself. The Black Avenger of the Spanish Main said it
3363would never do to start without some fire. That was a wise thought;
3364matches were hardly known there in that day. They saw a fire
3365smouldering upon a great raft a hundred yards above, and they went
3366stealthily thither and helped themselves to a chunk. They made an
3367imposing adventure of it, saying, "Hist!" every now and then, and
3368suddenly halting with finger on lip; moving with hands on imaginary
3369dagger-hilts; and giving orders in dismal whispers that if "the foe"
3370stirred, to "let him have it to the hilt," because "dead men tell no
3371tales." They knew well enough that the raftsmen were all down at the
3372village laying in stores or having a spree, but still that was no
3373excuse for their conducting this thing in an unpiratical way.
3374
3375They shoved off, presently, Tom in command, Huck at the after oar and
3376Joe at the forward. Tom stood amidships, gloomy-browed, and with folded
3377arms, and gave his orders in a low, stern whisper:
3378
3379"Luff, and bring her to the wind!"
3380
3381"Aye-aye, sir!"
3382
3383"Steady, steady-y-y-y!"
3384
3385"Steady it is, sir!"
3386
3387"Let her go off a point!"
3388
3389"Point it is, sir!"
3390
3391As the boys steadily and monotonously drove the raft toward mid-stream
3392it was no doubt understood that these orders were given only for
3393"style," and were not intended to mean anything in particular.
3394
3395"What sail's she carrying?"
3396
3397"Courses, tops'ls, and flying-jib, sir."
3398
3399"Send the r'yals up! Lay out aloft, there, half a dozen of ye
3400--foretopmaststuns'l! Lively, now!"
3401
3402"Aye-aye, sir!"
3403
3404"Shake out that maintogalans'l! Sheets and braces! NOW my hearties!"
3405
3406"Aye-aye, sir!"
3407
3408"Hellum-a-lee--hard a port! Stand by to meet her when she comes! Port,
3409port! NOW, men! With a will! Stead-y-y-y!"
3410
3411"Steady it is, sir!"
3412
3413The raft drew beyond the middle of the river; the boys pointed her
3414head right, and then lay on their oars. The river was not high, so
3415there was not more than a two or three mile current. Hardly a word was
3416said during the next three-quarters of an hour. Now the raft was
3417passing before the distant town. Two or three glimmering lights showed
3418where it lay, peacefully sleeping, beyond the vague vast sweep of
3419star-gemmed water, unconscious of the tremendous event that was happening.
3420The Black Avenger stood still with folded arms, "looking his last" upon
3421the scene of his former joys and his later sufferings, and wishing
3422"she" could see him now, abroad on the wild sea, facing peril and death
3423with dauntless heart, going to his doom with a grim smile on his lips.
3424It was but a small strain on his imagination to remove Jackson's Island
3425beyond eyeshot of the village, and so he "looked his last" with a
3426broken and satisfied heart. The other pirates were looking their last,
3427too; and they all looked so long that they came near letting the
3428current drift them out of the range of the island. But they discovered
3429the danger in time, and made shift to avert it. About two o'clock in
3430the morning the raft grounded on the bar two hundred yards above the
3431head of the island, and they waded back and forth until they had landed
3432their freight. Part of the little raft's belongings consisted of an old
3433sail, and this they spread over a nook in the bushes for a tent to
3434shelter their provisions; but they themselves would sleep in the open
3435air in good weather, as became outlaws.
3436
3437They built a fire against the side of a great log twenty or thirty
3438steps within the sombre depths of the forest, and then cooked some
3439bacon in the frying-pan for supper, and used up half of the corn "pone"
3440stock they had brought. It seemed glorious sport to be feasting in that
3441wild, free way in the virgin forest of an unexplored and uninhabited
3442island, far from the haunts of men, and they said they never would
3443return to civilization. The climbing fire lit up their faces and threw
3444its ruddy glare upon the pillared tree-trunks of their forest temple,
3445and upon the varnished foliage and festooning vines.
3446
3447When the last crisp slice of bacon was gone, and the last allowance of
3448corn pone devoured, the boys stretched themselves out on the grass,
3449filled with contentment. They could have found a cooler place, but they
3450would not deny themselves such a romantic feature as the roasting
3451camp-fire.
3452
3453"AIN'T it gay?" said Joe.
3454
3455"It's NUTS!" said Tom. "What would the boys say if they could see us?"
3456
3457"Say? Well, they'd just die to be here--hey, Hucky!"
3458
3459"I reckon so," said Huckleberry; "anyways, I'm suited. I don't want
3460nothing better'n this. I don't ever get enough to eat, gen'ally--and
3461here they can't come and pick at a feller and bullyrag him so."
3462
3463"It's just the life for me," said Tom. "You don't have to get up,
3464mornings, and you don't have to go to school, and wash, and all that
3465blame foolishness. You see a pirate don't have to do ANYTHING, Joe,
3466when he's ashore, but a hermit HE has to be praying considerable, and
3467then he don't have any fun, anyway, all by himself that way."
3468
3469"Oh yes, that's so," said Joe, "but I hadn't thought much about it,
3470you know. I'd a good deal rather be a pirate, now that I've tried it."
3471
3472"You see," said Tom, "people don't go much on hermits, nowadays, like
3473they used to in old times, but a pirate's always respected. And a
3474hermit's got to sleep on the hardest place he can find, and put
3475sackcloth and ashes on his head, and stand out in the rain, and--"
3476
3477"What does he put sackcloth and ashes on his head for?" inquired Huck.
3478
3479"I dono. But they've GOT to do it. Hermits always do. You'd have to do
3480that if you was a hermit."
3481
3482"Dern'd if I would," said Huck.
3483
3484"Well, what would you do?"
3485
3486"I dono. But I wouldn't do that."
3487
3488"Why, Huck, you'd HAVE to. How'd you get around it?"
3489
3490"Why, I just wouldn't stand it. I'd run away."
3491
3492"Run away! Well, you WOULD be a nice old slouch of a hermit. You'd be
3493a disgrace."
3494
3495The Red-Handed made no response, being better employed. He had
3496finished gouging out a cob, and now he fitted a weed stem to it, loaded
3497it with tobacco, and was pressing a coal to the charge and blowing a
3498cloud of fragrant smoke--he was in the full bloom of luxurious
3499contentment. The other pirates envied him this majestic vice, and
3500secretly resolved to acquire it shortly. Presently Huck said:
3501
3502"What does pirates have to do?"
3503
3504Tom said:
3505
3506"Oh, they have just a bully time--take ships and burn them, and get
3507the money and bury it in awful places in their island where there's
3508ghosts and things to watch it, and kill everybody in the ships--make
3509'em walk a plank."
3510
3511"And they carry the women to the island," said Joe; "they don't kill
3512the women."
3513
3514"No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women--they're too noble. And
3515the women's always beautiful, too.
3516
3517"And don't they wear the bulliest clothes! Oh no! All gold and silver
3518and di'monds," said Joe, with enthusiasm.
3519
3520"Who?" said Huck.
3521
3522"Why, the pirates."
3523
3524Huck scanned his own clothing forlornly.
3525
3526"I reckon I ain't dressed fitten for a pirate," said he, with a
3527regretful pathos in his voice; "but I ain't got none but these."
3528
3529But the other boys told him the fine clothes would come fast enough,
3530after they should have begun their adventures. They made him understand
3531that his poor rags would do to begin with, though it was customary for
3532wealthy pirates to start with a proper wardrobe.
3533
3534Gradually their talk died out and drowsiness began to steal upon the
3535eyelids of the little waifs. The pipe dropped from the fingers of the
3536Red-Handed, and he slept the sleep of the conscience-free and the
3537weary. The Terror of the Seas and the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main
3538had more difficulty in getting to sleep. They said their prayers
3539inwardly, and lying down, since there was nobody there with authority
3540to make them kneel and recite aloud; in truth, they had a mind not to
3541say them at all, but they were afraid to proceed to such lengths as
3542that, lest they might call down a sudden and special thunderbolt from
3543heaven. Then at once they reached and hovered upon the imminent verge
3544of sleep--but an intruder came, now, that would not "down." It was
3545conscience. They began to feel a vague fear that they had been doing
3546wrong to run away; and next they thought of the stolen meat, and then
3547the real torture came. They tried to argue it away by reminding
3548conscience that they had purloined sweetmeats and apples scores of
3549times; but conscience was not to be appeased by such thin
3550plausibilities; it seemed to them, in the end, that there was no
3551getting around the stubborn fact that taking sweetmeats was only
3552"hooking," while taking bacon and hams and such valuables was plain
3553simple stealing--and there was a command against that in the Bible. So
3554they inwardly resolved that so long as they remained in the business,
3555their piracies should not again be sullied with the crime of stealing.
3556Then conscience granted a truce, and these curiously inconsistent
3557pirates fell peacefully to sleep.
3558
3559
3560
3561CHAPTER XIV
3562
3563WHEN Tom awoke in the morning, he wondered where he was. He sat up and
3564rubbed his eyes and looked around. Then he comprehended. It was the
3565cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in
3566the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods. Not a leaf stirred;
3567not a sound obtruded upon great Nature's meditation. Beaded dewdrops
3568stood upon the leaves and grasses. A white layer of ashes covered the
3569fire, and a thin blue breath of smoke rose straight into the air. Joe
3570and Huck still slept.
3571
3572Now, far away in the woods a bird called; another answered; presently
3573the hammering of a woodpecker was heard. Gradually the cool dim gray of
3574the morning whitened, and as gradually sounds multiplied and life
3575manifested itself. The marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to
3576work unfolded itself to the musing boy. A little green worm came
3577crawling over a dewy leaf, lifting two-thirds of his body into the air
3578from time to time and "sniffing around," then proceeding again--for he
3579was measuring, Tom said; and when the worm approached him, of its own
3580accord, he sat as still as a stone, with his hopes rising and falling,
3581by turns, as the creature still came toward him or seemed inclined to
3582go elsewhere; and when at last it considered a painful moment with its
3583curved body in the air and then came decisively down upon Tom's leg and
3584began a journey over him, his whole heart was glad--for that meant that
3585he was going to have a new suit of clothes--without the shadow of a
3586doubt a gaudy piratical uniform. Now a procession of ants appeared,
3587from nowhere in particular, and went about their labors; one struggled
3588manfully by with a dead spider five times as big as itself in its arms,
3589and lugged it straight up a tree-trunk. A brown spotted lady-bug
3590climbed the dizzy height of a grass blade, and Tom bent down close to
3591it and said, "Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, your house is on fire,
3592your children's alone," and she took wing and went off to see about it
3593--which did not surprise the boy, for he knew of old that this insect was
3594credulous about conflagrations, and he had practised upon its
3595simplicity more than once. A tumblebug came next, heaving sturdily at
3596its ball, and Tom touched the creature, to see it shut its legs against
3597its body and pretend to be dead. The birds were fairly rioting by this
3598time. A catbird, the Northern mocker, lit in a tree over Tom's head,
3599and trilled out her imitations of her neighbors in a rapture of
3600enjoyment; then a shrill jay swept down, a flash of blue flame, and
3601stopped on a twig almost within the boy's reach, cocked his head to one
3602side and eyed the strangers with a consuming curiosity; a gray squirrel
3603and a big fellow of the "fox" kind came skurrying along, sitting up at
3604intervals to inspect and chatter at the boys, for the wild things had
3605probably never seen a human being before and scarcely knew whether to
3606be afraid or not. All Nature was wide awake and stirring, now; long
3607lances of sunlight pierced down through the dense foliage far and near,
3608and a few butterflies came fluttering upon the scene.
3609
3610Tom stirred up the other pirates and they all clattered away with a
3611shout, and in a minute or two were stripped and chasing after and
3612tumbling over each other in the shallow limpid water of the white
3613sandbar. They felt no longing for the little village sleeping in the
3614distance beyond the majestic waste of water. A vagrant current or a
3615slight rise in the river had carried off their raft, but this only
3616gratified them, since its going was something like burning the bridge
3617between them and civilization.
3618
3619They came back to camp wonderfully refreshed, glad-hearted, and
3620ravenous; and they soon had the camp-fire blazing up again. Huck found
3621a spring of clear cold water close by, and the boys made cups of broad
3622oak or hickory leaves, and felt that water, sweetened with such a
3623wildwood charm as that, would be a good enough substitute for coffee.
3624While Joe was slicing bacon for breakfast, Tom and Huck asked him to
3625hold on a minute; they stepped to a promising nook in the river-bank
3626and threw in their lines; almost immediately they had reward. Joe had
3627not had time to get impatient before they were back again with some
3628handsome bass, a couple of sun-perch and a small catfish--provisions
3629enough for quite a family. They fried the fish with the bacon, and were
3630astonished; for no fish had ever seemed so delicious before. They did
3631not know that the quicker a fresh-water fish is on the fire after he is
3632caught the better he is; and they reflected little upon what a sauce
3633open-air sleeping, open-air exercise, bathing, and a large ingredient
3634of hunger make, too.
3635
3636They lay around in the shade, after breakfast, while Huck had a smoke,
3637and then went off through the woods on an exploring expedition. They
3638tramped gayly along, over decaying logs, through tangled underbrush,
3639among solemn monarchs of the forest, hung from their crowns to the
3640ground with a drooping regalia of grape-vines. Now and then they came
3641upon snug nooks carpeted with grass and jeweled with flowers.
3642
3643They found plenty of things to be delighted with, but nothing to be
3644astonished at. They discovered that the island was about three miles
3645long and a quarter of a mile wide, and that the shore it lay closest to
3646was only separated from it by a narrow channel hardly two hundred yards
3647wide. They took a swim about every hour, so it was close upon the
3648middle of the afternoon when they got back to camp. They were too
3649hungry to stop to fish, but they fared sumptuously upon cold ham, and
3650then threw themselves down in the shade to talk. But the talk soon
3651began to drag, and then died. The stillness, the solemnity that brooded
3652in the woods, and the sense of loneliness, began to tell upon the
3653spirits of the boys. They fell to thinking. A sort of undefined longing
3654crept upon them. This took dim shape, presently--it was budding
3655homesickness. Even Finn the Red-Handed was dreaming of his doorsteps
3656and empty hogsheads. But they were all ashamed of their weakness, and
3657none was brave enough to speak his thought.
3658
3659For some time, now, the boys had been dully conscious of a peculiar
3660sound in the distance, just as one sometimes is of the ticking of a
3661clock which he takes no distinct note of. But now this mysterious sound
3662became more pronounced, and forced a recognition. The boys started,
3663glanced at each other, and then each assumed a listening attitude.
3664There was a long silence, profound and unbroken; then a deep, sullen
3665boom came floating down out of the distance.
3666
3667"What is it!" exclaimed Joe, under his breath.
3668
3669"I wonder," said Tom in a whisper.
3670
3671"'Tain't thunder," said Huckleberry, in an awed tone, "becuz thunder--"
3672
3673"Hark!" said Tom. "Listen--don't talk."
3674
3675They waited a time that seemed an age, and then the same muffled boom
3676troubled the solemn hush.
3677
3678"Let's go and see."
3679
3680They sprang to their feet and hurried to the shore toward the town.
3681They parted the bushes on the bank and peered out over the water. The
3682little steam ferryboat was about a mile below the village, drifting
3683with the current. Her broad deck seemed crowded with people. There were
3684a great many skiffs rowing about or floating with the stream in the
3685neighborhood of the ferryboat, but the boys could not determine what
3686the men in them were doing. Presently a great jet of white smoke burst
3687from the ferryboat's side, and as it expanded and rose in a lazy cloud,
3688that same dull throb of sound was borne to the listeners again.
3689
3690"I know now!" exclaimed Tom; "somebody's drownded!"
3691
3692"That's it!" said Huck; "they done that last summer, when Bill Turner
3693got drownded; they shoot a cannon over the water, and that makes him
3694come up to the top. Yes, and they take loaves of bread and put
3695quicksilver in 'em and set 'em afloat, and wherever there's anybody
3696that's drownded, they'll float right there and stop."
3697
3698"Yes, I've heard about that," said Joe. "I wonder what makes the bread
3699do that."
3700
3701"Oh, it ain't the bread, so much," said Tom; "I reckon it's mostly
3702what they SAY over it before they start it out."
3703
3704"But they don't say anything over it," said Huck. "I've seen 'em and
3705they don't."
3706
3707"Well, that's funny," said Tom. "But maybe they say it to themselves.
3708Of COURSE they do. Anybody might know that."
3709
3710The other boys agreed that there was reason in what Tom said, because
3711an ignorant lump of bread, uninstructed by an incantation, could not be
3712expected to act very intelligently when set upon an errand of such
3713gravity.
3714
3715"By jings, I wish I was over there, now," said Joe.
3716
3717"I do too" said Huck "I'd give heaps to know who it is."
3718
3719The boys still listened and watched. Presently a revealing thought
3720flashed through Tom's mind, and he exclaimed:
3721
3722"Boys, I know who's drownded--it's us!"
3723
3724They felt like heroes in an instant. Here was a gorgeous triumph; they
3725were missed; they were mourned; hearts were breaking on their account;
3726tears were being shed; accusing memories of unkindness to these poor
3727lost lads were rising up, and unavailing regrets and remorse were being
3728indulged; and best of all, the departed were the talk of the whole
3729town, and the envy of all the boys, as far as this dazzling notoriety
3730was concerned. This was fine. It was worth while to be a pirate, after
3731all.
3732
3733As twilight drew on, the ferryboat went back to her accustomed
3734business and the skiffs disappeared. The pirates returned to camp. They
3735were jubilant with vanity over their new grandeur and the illustrious
3736trouble they were making. They caught fish, cooked supper and ate it,
3737and then fell to guessing at what the village was thinking and saying
3738about them; and the pictures they drew of the public distress on their
3739account were gratifying to look upon--from their point of view. But
3740when the shadows of night closed them in, they gradually ceased to
3741talk, and sat gazing into the fire, with their minds evidently
3742wandering elsewhere. The excitement was gone, now, and Tom and Joe
3743could not keep back thoughts of certain persons at home who were not
3744enjoying this fine frolic as much as they were. Misgivings came; they
3745grew troubled and unhappy; a sigh or two escaped, unawares. By and by
3746Joe timidly ventured upon a roundabout "feeler" as to how the others
3747might look upon a return to civilization--not right now, but--
3748
3749Tom withered him with derision! Huck, being uncommitted as yet, joined
3750in with Tom, and the waverer quickly "explained," and was glad to get
3751out of the scrape with as little taint of chicken-hearted homesickness
3752clinging to his garments as he could. Mutiny was effectually laid to
3753rest for the moment.
3754
3755As the night deepened, Huck began to nod, and presently to snore. Joe
3756followed next. Tom lay upon his elbow motionless, for some time,
3757watching the two intently. At last he got up cautiously, on his knees,
3758and went searching among the grass and the flickering reflections flung
3759by the camp-fire. He picked up and inspected several large
3760semi-cylinders of the thin white bark of a sycamore, and finally chose
3761two which seemed to suit him. Then he knelt by the fire and painfully
3762wrote something upon each of these with his "red keel"; one he rolled up
3763and put in his jacket pocket, and the other he put in Joe's hat and
3764removed it to a little distance from the owner. And he also put into the
3765hat certain schoolboy treasures of almost inestimable value--among them
3766a lump of chalk, an India-rubber ball, three fishhooks, and one of that
3767kind of marbles known as a "sure 'nough crystal." Then he tiptoed his
3768way cautiously among the trees till he felt that he was out of hearing,
3769and straightway broke into a keen run in the direction of the sandbar.
3770
3771
3772
3773CHAPTER XV
3774
3775A FEW minutes later Tom was in the shoal water of the bar, wading
3776toward the Illinois shore. Before the depth reached his middle he was
3777half-way over; the current would permit no more wading, now, so he
3778struck out confidently to swim the remaining hundred yards. He swam
3779quartering upstream, but still was swept downward rather faster than he
3780had expected. However, he reached the shore finally, and drifted along
3781till he found a low place and drew himself out. He put his hand on his
3782jacket pocket, found his piece of bark safe, and then struck through
3783the woods, following the shore, with streaming garments. Shortly before
3784ten o'clock he came out into an open place opposite the village, and
3785saw the ferryboat lying in the shadow of the trees and the high bank.
3786Everything was quiet under the blinking stars. He crept down the bank,
3787watching with all his eyes, slipped into the water, swam three or four
3788strokes and climbed into the skiff that did "yawl" duty at the boat's
3789stern. He laid himself down under the thwarts and waited, panting.
3790
3791Presently the cracked bell tapped and a voice gave the order to "cast
3792off." A minute or two later the skiff's head was standing high up,
3793against the boat's swell, and the voyage was begun. Tom felt happy in
3794his success, for he knew it was the boat's last trip for the night. At
3795the end of a long twelve or fifteen minutes the wheels stopped, and Tom
3796slipped overboard and swam ashore in the dusk, landing fifty yards
3797downstream, out of danger of possible stragglers.
3798
3799He flew along unfrequented alleys, and shortly found himself at his
3800aunt's back fence. He climbed over, approached the "ell," and looked in
3801at the sitting-room window, for a light was burning there. There sat
3802Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and Joe Harper's mother, grouped together,
3803talking. They were by the bed, and the bed was between them and the
3804door. Tom went to the door and began to softly lift the latch; then he
3805pressed gently and the door yielded a crack; he continued pushing
3806cautiously, and quaking every time it creaked, till he judged he might
3807squeeze through on his knees; so he put his head through and began,
3808warily.
3809
3810"What makes the candle blow so?" said Aunt Polly. Tom hurried up.
3811"Why, that door's open, I believe. Why, of course it is. No end of
3812strange things now. Go 'long and shut it, Sid."
3813
3814Tom disappeared under the bed just in time. He lay and "breathed"
3815himself for a time, and then crept to where he could almost touch his
3816aunt's foot.
3817
3818"But as I was saying," said Aunt Polly, "he warn't BAD, so to say
3819--only mischEEvous. Only just giddy, and harum-scarum, you know. He
3820warn't any more responsible than a colt. HE never meant any harm, and
3821he was the best-hearted boy that ever was"--and she began to cry.
3822
3823"It was just so with my Joe--always full of his devilment, and up to
3824every kind of mischief, but he was just as unselfish and kind as he
3825could be--and laws bless me, to think I went and whipped him for taking
3826that cream, never once recollecting that I throwed it out myself
3827because it was sour, and I never to see him again in this world, never,
3828never, never, poor abused boy!" And Mrs. Harper sobbed as if her heart
3829would break.
3830
3831"I hope Tom's better off where he is," said Sid, "but if he'd been
3832better in some ways--"
3833
3834"SID!" Tom felt the glare of the old lady's eye, though he could not
3835see it. "Not a word against my Tom, now that he's gone! God'll take
3836care of HIM--never you trouble YOURself, sir! Oh, Mrs. Harper, I don't
3837know how to give him up! I don't know how to give him up! He was such a
3838comfort to me, although he tormented my old heart out of me, 'most."
3839
3840"The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away--Blessed be the name of
3841the Lord! But it's so hard--Oh, it's so hard! Only last Saturday my
3842Joe busted a firecracker right under my nose and I knocked him
3843sprawling. Little did I know then, how soon--Oh, if it was to do over
3844again I'd hug him and bless him for it."
3845
3846"Yes, yes, yes, I know just how you feel, Mrs. Harper, I know just
3847exactly how you feel. No longer ago than yesterday noon, my Tom took
3848and filled the cat full of Pain-killer, and I did think the cretur
3849would tear the house down. And God forgive me, I cracked Tom's head
3850with my thimble, poor boy, poor dead boy. But he's out of all his
3851troubles now. And the last words I ever heard him say was to reproach--"
3852
3853But this memory was too much for the old lady, and she broke entirely
3854down. Tom was snuffling, now, himself--and more in pity of himself than
3855anybody else. He could hear Mary crying, and putting in a kindly word
3856for him from time to time. He began to have a nobler opinion of himself
3857than ever before. Still, he was sufficiently touched by his aunt's
3858grief to long to rush out from under the bed and overwhelm her with
3859joy--and the theatrical gorgeousness of the thing appealed strongly to
3860his nature, too, but he resisted and lay still.
3861
3862He went on listening, and gathered by odds and ends that it was
3863conjectured at first that the boys had got drowned while taking a swim;
3864then the small raft had been missed; next, certain boys said the
3865missing lads had promised that the village should "hear something"
3866soon; the wise-heads had "put this and that together" and decided that
3867the lads had gone off on that raft and would turn up at the next town
3868below, presently; but toward noon the raft had been found, lodged
3869against the Missouri shore some five or six miles below the village
3870--and then hope perished; they must be drowned, else hunger would have
3871driven them home by nightfall if not sooner. It was believed that the
3872search for the bodies had been a fruitless effort merely because the
3873drowning must have occurred in mid-channel, since the boys, being good
3874swimmers, would otherwise have escaped to shore. This was Wednesday
3875night. If the bodies continued missing until Sunday, all hope would be
3876given over, and the funerals would be preached on that morning. Tom
3877shuddered.
3878
3879Mrs. Harper gave a sobbing good-night and turned to go. Then with a
3880mutual impulse the two bereaved women flung themselves into each
3881other's arms and had a good, consoling cry, and then parted. Aunt Polly
3882was tender far beyond her wont, in her good-night to Sid and Mary. Sid
3883snuffled a bit and Mary went off crying with all her heart.
3884
3885Aunt Polly knelt down and prayed for Tom so touchingly, so
3886appealingly, and with such measureless love in her words and her old
3887trembling voice, that he was weltering in tears again, long before she
3888was through.
3889
3890He had to keep still long after she went to bed, for she kept making
3891broken-hearted ejaculations from time to time, tossing unrestfully, and
3892turning over. But at last she was still, only moaning a little in her
3893sleep. Now the boy stole out, rose gradually by the bedside, shaded the
3894candle-light with his hand, and stood regarding her. His heart was full
3895of pity for her. He took out his sycamore scroll and placed it by the
3896candle. But something occurred to him, and he lingered considering. His
3897face lighted with a happy solution of his thought; he put the bark
3898hastily in his pocket. Then he bent over and kissed the faded lips, and
3899straightway made his stealthy exit, latching the door behind him.
3900
3901He threaded his way back to the ferry landing, found nobody at large
3902there, and walked boldly on board the boat, for he knew she was
3903tenantless except that there was a watchman, who always turned in and
3904slept like a graven image. He untied the skiff at the stern, slipped
3905into it, and was soon rowing cautiously upstream. When he had pulled a
3906mile above the village, he started quartering across and bent himself
3907stoutly to his work. He hit the landing on the other side neatly, for
3908this was a familiar bit of work to him. He was moved to capture the
3909skiff, arguing that it might be considered a ship and therefore
3910legitimate prey for a pirate, but he knew a thorough search would be
3911made for it and that might end in revelations. So he stepped ashore and
3912entered the woods.
3913
3914He sat down and took a long rest, torturing himself meanwhile to keep
3915awake, and then started warily down the home-stretch. The night was far
3916spent. It was broad daylight before he found himself fairly abreast the
3917island bar. He rested again until the sun was well up and gilding the
3918great river with its splendor, and then he plunged into the stream. A
3919little later he paused, dripping, upon the threshold of the camp, and
3920heard Joe say:
3921
3922"No, Tom's true-blue, Huck, and he'll come back. He won't desert. He
3923knows that would be a disgrace to a pirate, and Tom's too proud for
3924that sort of thing. He's up to something or other. Now I wonder what?"
3925
3926"Well, the things is ours, anyway, ain't they?"
3927
3928"Pretty near, but not yet, Huck. The writing says they are if he ain't
3929back here to breakfast."
3930
3931"Which he is!" exclaimed Tom, with fine dramatic effect, stepping
3932grandly into camp.
3933
3934A sumptuous breakfast of bacon and fish was shortly provided, and as
3935the boys set to work upon it, Tom recounted (and adorned) his
3936adventures. They were a vain and boastful company of heroes when the
3937tale was done. Then Tom hid himself away in a shady nook to sleep till
3938noon, and the other pirates got ready to fish and explore.
3939
3940
3941
3942CHAPTER XVI
3943
3944AFTER dinner all the gang turned out to hunt for turtle eggs on the
3945bar. They went about poking sticks into the sand, and when they found a
3946soft place they went down on their knees and dug with their hands.
3947Sometimes they would take fifty or sixty eggs out of one hole. They
3948were perfectly round white things a trifle smaller than an English
3949walnut. They had a famous fried-egg feast that night, and another on
3950Friday morning.
3951
3952After breakfast they went whooping and prancing out on the bar, and
3953chased each other round and round, shedding clothes as they went, until
3954they were naked, and then continued the frolic far away up the shoal
3955water of the bar, against the stiff current, which latter tripped their
3956legs from under them from time to time and greatly increased the fun.
3957And now and then they stooped in a group and splashed water in each
3958other's faces with their palms, gradually approaching each other, with
3959averted faces to avoid the strangling sprays, and finally gripping and
3960struggling till the best man ducked his neighbor, and then they all
3961went under in a tangle of white legs and arms and came up blowing,
3962sputtering, laughing, and gasping for breath at one and the same time.
3963
3964When they were well exhausted, they would run out and sprawl on the
3965dry, hot sand, and lie there and cover themselves up with it, and by
3966and by break for the water again and go through the original
3967performance once more. Finally it occurred to them that their naked
3968skin represented flesh-colored "tights" very fairly; so they drew a
3969ring in the sand and had a circus--with three clowns in it, for none
3970would yield this proudest post to his neighbor.
3971
3972Next they got their marbles and played "knucks" and "ring-taw" and
3973"keeps" till that amusement grew stale. Then Joe and Huck had another
3974swim, but Tom would not venture, because he found that in kicking off
3975his trousers he had kicked his string of rattlesnake rattles off his
3976ankle, and he wondered how he had escaped cramp so long without the
3977protection of this mysterious charm. He did not venture again until he
3978had found it, and by that time the other boys were tired and ready to
3979rest. They gradually wandered apart, dropped into the "dumps," and fell
3980to gazing longingly across the wide river to where the village lay
3981drowsing in the sun. Tom found himself writing "BECKY" in the sand with
3982his big toe; he scratched it out, and was angry with himself for his
3983weakness. But he wrote it again, nevertheless; he could not help it. He
3984erased it once more and then took himself out of temptation by driving
3985the other boys together and joining them.
3986
3987But Joe's spirits had gone down almost beyond resurrection. He was so
3988homesick that he could hardly endure the misery of it. The tears lay
3989very near the surface. Huck was melancholy, too. Tom was downhearted,
3990but tried hard not to show it. He had a secret which he was not ready
3991to tell, yet, but if this mutinous depression was not broken up soon,
3992he would have to bring it out. He said, with a great show of
3993cheerfulness:
3994
3995"I bet there's been pirates on this island before, boys. We'll explore
3996it again. They've hid treasures here somewhere. How'd you feel to light
3997on a rotten chest full of gold and silver--hey?"
3998
3999But it roused only faint enthusiasm, which faded out, with no reply.
4000Tom tried one or two other seductions; but they failed, too. It was
4001discouraging work. Joe sat poking up the sand with a stick and looking
4002very gloomy. Finally he said:
4003
4004"Oh, boys, let's give it up. I want to go home. It's so lonesome."
4005
4006"Oh no, Joe, you'll feel better by and by," said Tom. "Just think of
4007the fishing that's here."
4008
4009"I don't care for fishing. I want to go home."
4010
4011"But, Joe, there ain't such another swimming-place anywhere."
4012
4013"Swimming's no good. I don't seem to care for it, somehow, when there
4014ain't anybody to say I sha'n't go in. I mean to go home."
4015
4016"Oh, shucks! Baby! You want to see your mother, I reckon."
4017
4018"Yes, I DO want to see my mother--and you would, too, if you had one.
4019I ain't any more baby than you are." And Joe snuffled a little.
4020
4021"Well, we'll let the cry-baby go home to his mother, won't we, Huck?
4022Poor thing--does it want to see its mother? And so it shall. You like
4023it here, don't you, Huck? We'll stay, won't we?"
4024
4025Huck said, "Y-e-s"--without any heart in it.
4026
4027"I'll never speak to you again as long as I live," said Joe, rising.
4028"There now!" And he moved moodily away and began to dress himself.
4029
4030"Who cares!" said Tom. "Nobody wants you to. Go 'long home and get
4031laughed at. Oh, you're a nice pirate. Huck and me ain't cry-babies.
4032We'll stay, won't we, Huck? Let him go if he wants to. I reckon we can
4033get along without him, per'aps."
4034
4035But Tom was uneasy, nevertheless, and was alarmed to see Joe go
4036sullenly on with his dressing. And then it was discomforting to see
4037Huck eying Joe's preparations so wistfully, and keeping up such an
4038ominous silence. Presently, without a parting word, Joe began to wade
4039off toward the Illinois shore. Tom's heart began to sink. He glanced at
4040Huck. Huck could not bear the look, and dropped his eyes. Then he said:
4041
4042"I want to go, too, Tom. It was getting so lonesome anyway, and now
4043it'll be worse. Let's us go, too, Tom."
4044
4045"I won't! You can all go, if you want to. I mean to stay."
4046
4047"Tom, I better go."
4048
4049"Well, go 'long--who's hendering you."
4050
4051Huck began to pick up his scattered clothes. He said:
4052
4053"Tom, I wisht you'd come, too. Now you think it over. We'll wait for
4054you when we get to shore."
4055
4056"Well, you'll wait a blame long time, that's all."
4057
4058Huck started sorrowfully away, and Tom stood looking after him, with a
4059strong desire tugging at his heart to yield his pride and go along too.
4060He hoped the boys would stop, but they still waded slowly on. It
4061suddenly dawned on Tom that it was become very lonely and still. He
4062made one final struggle with his pride, and then darted after his
4063comrades, yelling:
4064
4065"Wait! Wait! I want to tell you something!"
4066
4067They presently stopped and turned around. When he got to where they
4068were, he began unfolding his secret, and they listened moodily till at
4069last they saw the "point" he was driving at, and then they set up a
4070war-whoop of applause and said it was "splendid!" and said if he had
4071told them at first, they wouldn't have started away. He made a plausible
4072excuse; but his real reason had been the fear that not even the secret
4073would keep them with him any very great length of time, and so he had
4074meant to hold it in reserve as a last seduction.
4075
4076The lads came gayly back and went at their sports again with a will,
4077chattering all the time about Tom's stupendous plan and admiring the
4078genius of it. After a dainty egg and fish dinner, Tom said he wanted to
4079learn to smoke, now. Joe caught at the idea and said he would like to
4080try, too. So Huck made pipes and filled them. These novices had never
4081smoked anything before but cigars made of grape-vine, and they "bit"
4082the tongue, and were not considered manly anyway.
4083
4084Now they stretched themselves out on their elbows and began to puff,
4085charily, and with slender confidence. The smoke had an unpleasant
4086taste, and they gagged a little, but Tom said:
4087
4088"Why, it's just as easy! If I'd a knowed this was all, I'd a learnt
4089long ago."
4090
4091"So would I," said Joe. "It's just nothing."
4092
4093"Why, many a time I've looked at people smoking, and thought well I
4094wish I could do that; but I never thought I could," said Tom.
4095
4096"That's just the way with me, hain't it, Huck? You've heard me talk
4097just that way--haven't you, Huck? I'll leave it to Huck if I haven't."
4098
4099"Yes--heaps of times," said Huck.
4100
4101"Well, I have too," said Tom; "oh, hundreds of times. Once down by the
4102slaughter-house. Don't you remember, Huck? Bob Tanner was there, and
4103Johnny Miller, and Jeff Thatcher, when I said it. Don't you remember,
4104Huck, 'bout me saying that?"
4105
4106"Yes, that's so," said Huck. "That was the day after I lost a white
4107alley. No, 'twas the day before."
4108
4109"There--I told you so," said Tom. "Huck recollects it."
4110
4111"I bleeve I could smoke this pipe all day," said Joe. "I don't feel
4112sick."
4113
4114"Neither do I," said Tom. "I could smoke it all day. But I bet you
4115Jeff Thatcher couldn't."
4116
4117"Jeff Thatcher! Why, he'd keel over just with two draws. Just let him
4118try it once. HE'D see!"
4119
4120"I bet he would. And Johnny Miller--I wish could see Johnny Miller
4121tackle it once."
4122
4123"Oh, don't I!" said Joe. "Why, I bet you Johnny Miller couldn't any
4124more do this than nothing. Just one little snifter would fetch HIM."
4125
4126"'Deed it would, Joe. Say--I wish the boys could see us now."
4127
4128"So do I."
4129
4130"Say--boys, don't say anything about it, and some time when they're
4131around, I'll come up to you and say, 'Joe, got a pipe? I want a smoke.'
4132And you'll say, kind of careless like, as if it warn't anything, you'll
4133say, 'Yes, I got my OLD pipe, and another one, but my tobacker ain't
4134very good.' And I'll say, 'Oh, that's all right, if it's STRONG
4135enough.' And then you'll out with the pipes, and we'll light up just as
4136ca'm, and then just see 'em look!"
4137
4138"By jings, that'll be gay, Tom! I wish it was NOW!"
4139
4140"So do I! And when we tell 'em we learned when we was off pirating,
4141won't they wish they'd been along?"
4142
4143"Oh, I reckon not! I'll just BET they will!"
4144
4145So the talk ran on. But presently it began to flag a trifle, and grow
4146disjointed. The silences widened; the expectoration marvellously
4147increased. Every pore inside the boys' cheeks became a spouting
4148fountain; they could scarcely bail out the cellars under their tongues
4149fast enough to prevent an inundation; little overflowings down their
4150throats occurred in spite of all they could do, and sudden retchings
4151followed every time. Both boys were looking very pale and miserable,
4152now. Joe's pipe dropped from his nerveless fingers. Tom's followed.
4153Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might
4154and main. Joe said feebly:
4155
4156"I've lost my knife. I reckon I better go and find it."
4157
4158Tom said, with quivering lips and halting utterance:
4159
4160"I'll help you. You go over that way and I'll hunt around by the
4161spring. No, you needn't come, Huck--we can find it."
4162
4163So Huck sat down again, and waited an hour. Then he found it lonesome,
4164and went to find his comrades. They were wide apart in the woods, both
4165very pale, both fast asleep. But something informed him that if they
4166had had any trouble they had got rid of it.
4167
4168They were not talkative at supper that night. They had a humble look,
4169and when Huck prepared his pipe after the meal and was going to prepare
4170theirs, they said no, they were not feeling very well--something they
4171ate at dinner had disagreed with them.
4172
4173About midnight Joe awoke, and called the boys. There was a brooding
4174oppressiveness in the air that seemed to bode something. The boys
4175huddled themselves together and sought the friendly companionship of
4176the fire, though the dull dead heat of the breathless atmosphere was
4177stifling. They sat still, intent and waiting. The solemn hush
4178continued. Beyond the light of the fire everything was swallowed up in
4179the blackness of darkness. Presently there came a quivering glow that
4180vaguely revealed the foliage for a moment and then vanished. By and by
4181another came, a little stronger. Then another. Then a faint moan came
4182sighing through the branches of the forest and the boys felt a fleeting
4183breath upon their cheeks, and shuddered with the fancy that the Spirit
4184of the Night had gone by. There was a pause. Now a weird flash turned
4185night into day and showed every little grass-blade, separate and
4186distinct, that grew about their feet. And it showed three white,
4187startled faces, too. A deep peal of thunder went rolling and tumbling
4188down the heavens and lost itself in sullen rumblings in the distance. A
4189sweep of chilly air passed by, rustling all the leaves and snowing the
4190flaky ashes broadcast about the fire. Another fierce glare lit up the
4191forest and an instant crash followed that seemed to rend the tree-tops
4192right over the boys' heads. They clung together in terror, in the thick
4193gloom that followed. A few big rain-drops fell pattering upon the
4194leaves.
4195
4196"Quick! boys, go for the tent!" exclaimed Tom.
4197
4198They sprang away, stumbling over roots and among vines in the dark, no
4199two plunging in the same direction. A furious blast roared through the
4200trees, making everything sing as it went. One blinding flash after
4201another came, and peal on peal of deafening thunder. And now a
4202drenching rain poured down and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets
4203along the ground. The boys cried out to each other, but the roaring
4204wind and the booming thunder-blasts drowned their voices utterly.
4205However, one by one they straggled in at last and took shelter under
4206the tent, cold, scared, and streaming with water; but to have company
4207in misery seemed something to be grateful for. They could not talk, the
4208old sail flapped so furiously, even if the other noises would have
4209allowed them. The tempest rose higher and higher, and presently the
4210sail tore loose from its fastenings and went winging away on the blast.
4211The boys seized each others' hands and fled, with many tumblings and
4212bruises, to the shelter of a great oak that stood upon the river-bank.
4213Now the battle was at its highest. Under the ceaseless conflagration of
4214lightning that flamed in the skies, everything below stood out in
4215clean-cut and shadowless distinctness: the bending trees, the billowy
4216river, white with foam, the driving spray of spume-flakes, the dim
4217outlines of the high bluffs on the other side, glimpsed through the
4218drifting cloud-rack and the slanting veil of rain. Every little while
4219some giant tree yielded the fight and fell crashing through the younger
4220growth; and the unflagging thunder-peals came now in ear-splitting
4221explosive bursts, keen and sharp, and unspeakably appalling. The storm
4222culminated in one matchless effort that seemed likely to tear the island
4223to pieces, burn it up, drown it to the tree-tops, blow it away, and
4224deafen every creature in it, all at one and the same moment. It was a
4225wild night for homeless young heads to be out in.
4226
4227But at last the battle was done, and the forces retired with weaker
4228and weaker threatenings and grumblings, and peace resumed her sway. The
4229boys went back to camp, a good deal awed; but they found there was
4230still something to be thankful for, because the great sycamore, the
4231shelter of their beds, was a ruin, now, blasted by the lightnings, and
4232they were not under it when the catastrophe happened.
4233
4234Everything in camp was drenched, the camp-fire as well; for they were
4235but heedless lads, like their generation, and had made no provision
4236against rain. Here was matter for dismay, for they were soaked through
4237and chilled. They were eloquent in their distress; but they presently
4238discovered that the fire had eaten so far up under the great log it had
4239been built against (where it curved upward and separated itself from
4240the ground), that a handbreadth or so of it had escaped wetting; so
4241they patiently wrought until, with shreds and bark gathered from the
4242under sides of sheltered logs, they coaxed the fire to burn again. Then
4243they piled on great dead boughs till they had a roaring furnace, and
4244were glad-hearted once more. They dried their boiled ham and had a
4245feast, and after that they sat by the fire and expanded and glorified
4246their midnight adventure until morning, for there was not a dry spot to
4247sleep on, anywhere around.
4248
4249As the sun began to steal in upon the boys, drowsiness came over them,
4250and they went out on the sandbar and lay down to sleep. They got
4251scorched out by and by, and drearily set about getting breakfast. After
4252the meal they felt rusty, and stiff-jointed, and a little homesick once
4253more. Tom saw the signs, and fell to cheering up the pirates as well as
4254he could. But they cared nothing for marbles, or circus, or swimming,
4255or anything. He reminded them of the imposing secret, and raised a ray
4256of cheer. While it lasted, he got them interested in a new device. This
4257was to knock off being pirates, for a while, and be Indians for a
4258change. They were attracted by this idea; so it was not long before
4259they were stripped, and striped from head to heel with black mud, like
4260so many zebras--all of them chiefs, of course--and then they went
4261tearing through the woods to attack an English settlement.
4262
4263By and by they separated into three hostile tribes, and darted upon
4264each other from ambush with dreadful war-whoops, and killed and scalped
4265each other by thousands. It was a gory day. Consequently it was an
4266extremely satisfactory one.
4267
4268They assembled in camp toward supper-time, hungry and happy; but now a
4269difficulty arose--hostile Indians could not break the bread of
4270hospitality together without first making peace, and this was a simple
4271impossibility without smoking a pipe of peace. There was no other
4272process that ever they had heard of. Two of the savages almost wished
4273they had remained pirates. However, there was no other way; so with
4274such show of cheerfulness as they could muster they called for the pipe
4275and took their whiff as it passed, in due form.
4276
4277And behold, they were glad they had gone into savagery, for they had
4278gained something; they found that they could now smoke a little without
4279having to go and hunt for a lost knife; they did not get sick enough to
4280be seriously uncomfortable. They were not likely to fool away this high
4281promise for lack of effort. No, they practised cautiously, after
4282supper, with right fair success, and so they spent a jubilant evening.
4283They were prouder and happier in their new acquirement than they would
4284have been in the scalping and skinning of the Six Nations. We will
4285leave them to smoke and chatter and brag, since we have no further use
4286for them at present.
4287
4288
4289
4290CHAPTER XVII
4291
4292BUT there was no hilarity in the little town that same tranquil
4293Saturday afternoon. The Harpers, and Aunt Polly's family, were being
4294put into mourning, with great grief and many tears. An unusual quiet
4295possessed the village, although it was ordinarily quiet enough, in all
4296conscience. The villagers conducted their concerns with an absent air,
4297and talked little; but they sighed often. The Saturday holiday seemed a
4298burden to the children. They had no heart in their sports, and
4299gradually gave them up.
4300
4301In the afternoon Becky Thatcher found herself moping about the
4302deserted schoolhouse yard, and feeling very melancholy. But she found
4303nothing there to comfort her. She soliloquized:
4304
4305"Oh, if I only had a brass andiron-knob again! But I haven't got
4306anything now to remember him by." And she choked back a little sob.
4307
4308Presently she stopped, and said to herself:
4309
4310"It was right here. Oh, if it was to do over again, I wouldn't say
4311that--I wouldn't say it for the whole world. But he's gone now; I'll
4312never, never, never see him any more."
4313
4314This thought broke her down, and she wandered away, with tears rolling
4315down her cheeks. Then quite a group of boys and girls--playmates of
4316Tom's and Joe's--came by, and stood looking over the paling fence and
4317talking in reverent tones of how Tom did so-and-so the last time they
4318saw him, and how Joe said this and that small trifle (pregnant with
4319awful prophecy, as they could easily see now!)--and each speaker
4320pointed out the exact spot where the lost lads stood at the time, and
4321then added something like "and I was a-standing just so--just as I am
4322now, and as if you was him--I was as close as that--and he smiled, just
4323this way--and then something seemed to go all over me, like--awful, you
4324know--and I never thought what it meant, of course, but I can see now!"
4325
4326Then there was a dispute about who saw the dead boys last in life, and
4327many claimed that dismal distinction, and offered evidences, more or
4328less tampered with by the witness; and when it was ultimately decided
4329who DID see the departed last, and exchanged the last words with them,
4330the lucky parties took upon themselves a sort of sacred importance, and
4331were gaped at and envied by all the rest. One poor chap, who had no
4332other grandeur to offer, said with tolerably manifest pride in the
4333remembrance:
4334
4335"Well, Tom Sawyer he licked me once."
4336
4337But that bid for glory was a failure. Most of the boys could say that,
4338and so that cheapened the distinction too much. The group loitered
4339away, still recalling memories of the lost heroes, in awed voices.
4340
4341When the Sunday-school hour was finished, the next morning, the bell
4342began to toll, instead of ringing in the usual way. It was a very still
4343Sabbath, and the mournful sound seemed in keeping with the musing hush
4344that lay upon nature. The villagers began to gather, loitering a moment
4345in the vestibule to converse in whispers about the sad event. But there
4346was no whispering in the house; only the funereal rustling of dresses
4347as the women gathered to their seats disturbed the silence there. None
4348could remember when the little church had been so full before. There
4349was finally a waiting pause, an expectant dumbness, and then Aunt Polly
4350entered, followed by Sid and Mary, and they by the Harper family, all
4351in deep black, and the whole congregation, the old minister as well,
4352rose reverently and stood until the mourners were seated in the front
4353pew. There was another communing silence, broken at intervals by
4354muffled sobs, and then the minister spread his hands abroad and prayed.
4355A moving hymn was sung, and the text followed: "I am the Resurrection
4356and the Life."
4357
4358As the service proceeded, the clergyman drew such pictures of the
4359graces, the winning ways, and the rare promise of the lost lads that
4360every soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang in
4361remembering that he had persistently blinded himself to them always
4362before, and had as persistently seen only faults and flaws in the poor
4363boys. The minister related many a touching incident in the lives of the
4364departed, too, which illustrated their sweet, generous natures, and the
4365people could easily see, now, how noble and beautiful those episodes
4366were, and remembered with grief that at the time they occurred they had
4367seemed rank rascalities, well deserving of the cowhide. The
4368congregation became more and more moved, as the pathetic tale went on,
4369till at last the whole company broke down and joined the weeping
4370mourners in a chorus of anguished sobs, the preacher himself giving way
4371to his feelings, and crying in the pulpit.
4372
4373There was a rustle in the gallery, which nobody noticed; a moment
4374later the church door creaked; the minister raised his streaming eyes
4375above his handkerchief, and stood transfixed! First one and then
4376another pair of eyes followed the minister's, and then almost with one
4377impulse the congregation rose and stared while the three dead boys came
4378marching up the aisle, Tom in the lead, Joe next, and Huck, a ruin of
4379drooping rags, sneaking sheepishly in the rear! They had been hid in
4380the unused gallery listening to their own funeral sermon!
4381
4382Aunt Polly, Mary, and the Harpers threw themselves upon their restored
4383ones, smothered them with kisses and poured out thanksgivings, while
4384poor Huck stood abashed and uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what to
4385do or where to hide from so many unwelcoming eyes. He wavered, and
4386started to slink away, but Tom seized him and said:
4387
4388"Aunt Polly, it ain't fair. Somebody's got to be glad to see Huck."
4389
4390"And so they shall. I'm glad to see him, poor motherless thing!" And
4391the loving attentions Aunt Polly lavished upon him were the one thing
4392capable of making him more uncomfortable than he was before.
4393
4394Suddenly the minister shouted at the top of his voice: "Praise God
4395from whom all blessings flow--SING!--and put your hearts in it!"
4396
4397And they did. Old Hundred swelled up with a triumphant burst, and
4398while it shook the rafters Tom Sawyer the Pirate looked around upon the
4399envying juveniles about him and confessed in his heart that this was
4400the proudest moment of his life.
4401
4402As the "sold" congregation trooped out they said they would almost be
4403willing to be made ridiculous again to hear Old Hundred sung like that
4404once more.
4405
4406Tom got more cuffs and kisses that day--according to Aunt Polly's
4407varying moods--than he had earned before in a year; and he hardly knew
4408which expressed the most gratefulness to God and affection for himself.
4409
4410
4411
4412CHAPTER XVIII
4413
4414THAT was Tom's great secret--the scheme to return home with his
4415brother pirates and attend their own funerals. They had paddled over to
4416the Missouri shore on a log, at dusk on Saturday, landing five or six
4417miles below the village; they had slept in the woods at the edge of the
4418town till nearly daylight, and had then crept through back lanes and
4419alleys and finished their sleep in the gallery of the church among a
4420chaos of invalided benches.
4421
4422At breakfast, Monday morning, Aunt Polly and Mary were very loving to
4423Tom, and very attentive to his wants. There was an unusual amount of
4424talk. In the course of it Aunt Polly said:
4425
4426"Well, I don't say it wasn't a fine joke, Tom, to keep everybody
4427suffering 'most a week so you boys had a good time, but it is a pity
4428you could be so hard-hearted as to let me suffer so. If you could come
4429over on a log to go to your funeral, you could have come over and give
4430me a hint some way that you warn't dead, but only run off."
4431
4432"Yes, you could have done that, Tom," said Mary; "and I believe you
4433would if you had thought of it."
4434
4435"Would you, Tom?" said Aunt Polly, her face lighting wistfully. "Say,
4436now, would you, if you'd thought of it?"
4437
4438"I--well, I don't know. 'Twould 'a' spoiled everything."
4439
4440"Tom, I hoped you loved me that much," said Aunt Polly, with a grieved
4441tone that discomforted the boy. "It would have been something if you'd
4442cared enough to THINK of it, even if you didn't DO it."
4443
4444"Now, auntie, that ain't any harm," pleaded Mary; "it's only Tom's
4445giddy way--he is always in such a rush that he never thinks of
4446anything."
4447
4448"More's the pity. Sid would have thought. And Sid would have come and
4449DONE it, too. Tom, you'll look back, some day, when it's too late, and
4450wish you'd cared a little more for me when it would have cost you so
4451little."
4452
4453"Now, auntie, you know I do care for you," said Tom.
4454
4455"I'd know it better if you acted more like it."
4456
4457"I wish now I'd thought," said Tom, with a repentant tone; "but I
4458dreamt about you, anyway. That's something, ain't it?"
4459
4460"It ain't much--a cat does that much--but it's better than nothing.
4461What did you dream?"
4462
4463"Why, Wednesday night I dreamt that you was sitting over there by the
4464bed, and Sid was sitting by the woodbox, and Mary next to him."
4465
4466"Well, so we did. So we always do. I'm glad your dreams could take
4467even that much trouble about us."
4468
4469"And I dreamt that Joe Harper's mother was here."
4470
4471"Why, she was here! Did you dream any more?"
4472
4473"Oh, lots. But it's so dim, now."
4474
4475"Well, try to recollect--can't you?"
4476
4477"Somehow it seems to me that the wind--the wind blowed the--the--"
4478
4479"Try harder, Tom! The wind did blow something. Come!"
4480
4481Tom pressed his fingers on his forehead an anxious minute, and then
4482said:
4483
4484"I've got it now! I've got it now! It blowed the candle!"
4485
4486"Mercy on us! Go on, Tom--go on!"
4487
4488"And it seems to me that you said, 'Why, I believe that that door--'"
4489
4490"Go ON, Tom!"
4491
4492"Just let me study a moment--just a moment. Oh, yes--you said you
4493believed the door was open."
4494
4495"As I'm sitting here, I did! Didn't I, Mary! Go on!"
4496
4497"And then--and then--well I won't be certain, but it seems like as if
4498you made Sid go and--and--"
4499
4500"Well? Well? What did I make him do, Tom? What did I make him do?"
4501
4502"You made him--you--Oh, you made him shut it."
4503
4504"Well, for the land's sake! I never heard the beat of that in all my
4505days! Don't tell ME there ain't anything in dreams, any more. Sereny
4506Harper shall know of this before I'm an hour older. I'd like to see her
4507get around THIS with her rubbage 'bout superstition. Go on, Tom!"
4508
4509"Oh, it's all getting just as bright as day, now. Next you said I
4510warn't BAD, only mischeevous and harum-scarum, and not any more
4511responsible than--than--I think it was a colt, or something."
4512
4513"And so it was! Well, goodness gracious! Go on, Tom!"
4514
4515"And then you began to cry."
4516
4517"So I did. So I did. Not the first time, neither. And then--"
4518
4519"Then Mrs. Harper she began to cry, and said Joe was just the same,
4520and she wished she hadn't whipped him for taking cream when she'd
4521throwed it out her own self--"
4522
4523"Tom! The sperrit was upon you! You was a prophesying--that's what you
4524was doing! Land alive, go on, Tom!"
4525
4526"Then Sid he said--he said--"
4527
4528"I don't think I said anything," said Sid.
4529
4530"Yes you did, Sid," said Mary.
4531
4532"Shut your heads and let Tom go on! What did he say, Tom?"
4533
4534"He said--I THINK he said he hoped I was better off where I was gone
4535to, but if I'd been better sometimes--"
4536
4537"THERE, d'you hear that! It was his very words!"
4538
4539"And you shut him up sharp."
4540
4541"I lay I did! There must 'a' been an angel there. There WAS an angel
4542there, somewheres!"
4543
4544"And Mrs. Harper told about Joe scaring her with a firecracker, and
4545you told about Peter and the Painkiller--"
4546
4547"Just as true as I live!"
4548
4549"And then there was a whole lot of talk 'bout dragging the river for
4550us, and 'bout having the funeral Sunday, and then you and old Miss
4551Harper hugged and cried, and she went."
4552
4553"It happened just so! It happened just so, as sure as I'm a-sitting in
4554these very tracks. Tom, you couldn't told it more like if you'd 'a'
4555seen it! And then what? Go on, Tom!"
4556
4557"Then I thought you prayed for me--and I could see you and hear every
4558word you said. And you went to bed, and I was so sorry that I took and
4559wrote on a piece of sycamore bark, 'We ain't dead--we are only off
4560being pirates,' and put it on the table by the candle; and then you
4561looked so good, laying there asleep, that I thought I went and leaned
4562over and kissed you on the lips."
4563
4564"Did you, Tom, DID you! I just forgive you everything for that!" And
4565she seized the boy in a crushing embrace that made him feel like the
4566guiltiest of villains.
4567
4568"It was very kind, even though it was only a--dream," Sid soliloquized
4569just audibly.
4570
4571"Shut up, Sid! A body does just the same in a dream as he'd do if he
4572was awake. Here's a big Milum apple I've been saving for you, Tom, if
4573you was ever found again--now go 'long to school. I'm thankful to the
4574good God and Father of us all I've got you back, that's long-suffering
4575and merciful to them that believe on Him and keep His word, though
4576goodness knows I'm unworthy of it, but if only the worthy ones got His
4577blessings and had His hand to help them over the rough places, there's
4578few enough would smile here or ever enter into His rest when the long
4579night comes. Go 'long Sid, Mary, Tom--take yourselves off--you've
4580hendered me long enough."
4581
4582The children left for school, and the old lady to call on Mrs. Harper
4583and vanquish her realism with Tom's marvellous dream. Sid had better
4584judgment than to utter the thought that was in his mind as he left the
4585house. It was this: "Pretty thin--as long a dream as that, without any
4586mistakes in it!"
4587
4588What a hero Tom was become, now! He did not go skipping and prancing,
4589but moved with a dignified swagger as became a pirate who felt that the
4590public eye was on him. And indeed it was; he tried not to seem to see
4591the looks or hear the remarks as he passed along, but they were food
4592and drink to him. Smaller boys than himself flocked at his heels, as
4593proud to be seen with him, and tolerated by him, as if he had been the
4594drummer at the head of a procession or the elephant leading a menagerie
4595into town. Boys of his own size pretended not to know he had been away
4596at all; but they were consuming with envy, nevertheless. They would
4597have given anything to have that swarthy suntanned skin of his, and his
4598glittering notoriety; and Tom would not have parted with either for a
4599circus.
4600
4601At school the children made so much of him and of Joe, and delivered
4602such eloquent admiration from their eyes, that the two heroes were not
4603long in becoming insufferably "stuck-up." They began to tell their
4604adventures to hungry listeners--but they only began; it was not a thing
4605likely to have an end, with imaginations like theirs to furnish
4606material. And finally, when they got out their pipes and went serenely
4607puffing around, the very summit of glory was reached.
4608
4609Tom decided that he could be independent of Becky Thatcher now. Glory
4610was sufficient. He would live for glory. Now that he was distinguished,
4611maybe she would be wanting to "make up." Well, let her--she should see
4612that he could be as indifferent as some other people. Presently she
4613arrived. Tom pretended not to see her. He moved away and joined a group
4614of boys and girls and began to talk. Soon he observed that she was
4615tripping gayly back and forth with flushed face and dancing eyes,
4616pretending to be busy chasing schoolmates, and screaming with laughter
4617when she made a capture; but he noticed that she always made her
4618captures in his vicinity, and that she seemed to cast a conscious eye
4619in his direction at such times, too. It gratified all the vicious
4620vanity that was in him; and so, instead of winning him, it only "set
4621him up" the more and made him the more diligent to avoid betraying that
4622he knew she was about. Presently she gave over skylarking, and moved
4623irresolutely about, sighing once or twice and glancing furtively and
4624wistfully toward Tom. Then she observed that now Tom was talking more
4625particularly to Amy Lawrence than to any one else. She felt a sharp
4626pang and grew disturbed and uneasy at once. She tried to go away, but
4627her feet were treacherous, and carried her to the group instead. She
4628said to a girl almost at Tom's elbow--with sham vivacity:
4629
4630"Why, Mary Austin! you bad girl, why didn't you come to Sunday-school?"
4631
4632"I did come--didn't you see me?"
4633
4634"Why, no! Did you? Where did you sit?"
4635
4636"I was in Miss Peters' class, where I always go. I saw YOU."
4637
4638"Did you? Why, it's funny I didn't see you. I wanted to tell you about
4639the picnic."
4640
4641"Oh, that's jolly. Who's going to give it?"
4642
4643"My ma's going to let me have one."
4644
4645"Oh, goody; I hope she'll let ME come."
4646
4647"Well, she will. The picnic's for me. She'll let anybody come that I
4648want, and I want you."
4649
4650"That's ever so nice. When is it going to be?"
4651
4652"By and by. Maybe about vacation."
4653
4654"Oh, won't it be fun! You going to have all the girls and boys?"
4655
4656"Yes, every one that's friends to me--or wants to be"; and she glanced
4657ever so furtively at Tom, but he talked right along to Amy Lawrence
4658about the terrible storm on the island, and how the lightning tore the
4659great sycamore tree "all to flinders" while he was "standing within
4660three feet of it."
4661
4662"Oh, may I come?" said Grace Miller.
4663
4664"Yes."
4665
4666"And me?" said Sally Rogers.
4667
4668"Yes."
4669
4670"And me, too?" said Susy Harper. "And Joe?"
4671
4672"Yes."
4673
4674And so on, with clapping of joyful hands till all the group had begged
4675for invitations but Tom and Amy. Then Tom turned coolly away, still
4676talking, and took Amy with him. Becky's lips trembled and the tears
4677came to her eyes; she hid these signs with a forced gayety and went on
4678chattering, but the life had gone out of the picnic, now, and out of
4679everything else; she got away as soon as she could and hid herself and
4680had what her sex call "a good cry." Then she sat moody, with wounded
4681pride, till the bell rang. She roused up, now, with a vindictive cast
4682in her eye, and gave her plaited tails a shake and said she knew what
4683SHE'D do.
4684
4685At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant
4686self-satisfaction. And he kept drifting about to find Becky and lacerate
4687her with the performance. At last he spied her, but there was a sudden
4688falling of his mercury. She was sitting cosily on a little bench behind
4689the schoolhouse looking at a picture-book with Alfred Temple--and so
4690absorbed were they, and their heads so close together over the book,
4691that they did not seem to be conscious of anything in the world besides.
4692Jealousy ran red-hot through Tom's veins. He began to hate himself for
4693throwing away the chance Becky had offered for a reconciliation. He
4694called himself a fool, and all the hard names he could think of. He
4695wanted to cry with vexation. Amy chatted happily along, as they walked,
4696for her heart was singing, but Tom's tongue had lost its function. He
4697did not hear what Amy was saying, and whenever she paused expectantly he
4698could only stammer an awkward assent, which was as often misplaced as
4699otherwise. He kept drifting to the rear of the schoolhouse, again and
4700again, to sear his eyeballs with the hateful spectacle there. He could
4701not help it. And it maddened him to see, as he thought he saw, that
4702Becky Thatcher never once suspected that he was even in the land of the
4703living. But she did see, nevertheless; and she knew she was winning her
4704fight, too, and was glad to see him suffer as she had suffered.
4705
4706Amy's happy prattle became intolerable. Tom hinted at things he had to
4707attend to; things that must be done; and time was fleeting. But in
4708vain--the girl chirped on. Tom thought, "Oh, hang her, ain't I ever
4709going to get rid of her?" At last he must be attending to those
4710things--and she said artlessly that she would be "around" when school
4711let out. And he hastened away, hating her for it.
4712
4713"Any other boy!" Tom thought, grating his teeth. "Any boy in the whole
4714town but that Saint Louis smarty that thinks he dresses so fine and is
4715aristocracy! Oh, all right, I licked you the first day you ever saw
4716this town, mister, and I'll lick you again! You just wait till I catch
4717you out! I'll just take and--"
4718
4719And he went through the motions of thrashing an imaginary boy
4720--pummelling the air, and kicking and gouging. "Oh, you do, do you? You
4721holler 'nough, do you? Now, then, let that learn you!" And so the
4722imaginary flogging was finished to his satisfaction.
4723
4724Tom fled home at noon. His conscience could not endure any more of
4725Amy's grateful happiness, and his jealousy could bear no more of the
4726other distress. Becky resumed her picture inspections with Alfred, but
4727as the minutes dragged along and no Tom came to suffer, her triumph
4728began to cloud and she lost interest; gravity and absent-mindedness
4729followed, and then melancholy; two or three times she pricked up her
4730ear at a footstep, but it was a false hope; no Tom came. At last she
4731grew entirely miserable and wished she hadn't carried it so far. When
4732poor Alfred, seeing that he was losing her, he did not know how, kept
4733exclaiming: "Oh, here's a jolly one! look at this!" she lost patience
4734at last, and said, "Oh, don't bother me! I don't care for them!" and
4735burst into tears, and got up and walked away.
4736
4737Alfred dropped alongside and was going to try to comfort her, but she
4738said:
4739
4740"Go away and leave me alone, can't you! I hate you!"
4741
4742So the boy halted, wondering what he could have done--for she had said
4743she would look at pictures all through the nooning--and she walked on,
4744crying. Then Alfred went musing into the deserted schoolhouse. He was
4745humiliated and angry. He easily guessed his way to the truth--the girl
4746had simply made a convenience of him to vent her spite upon Tom Sawyer.
4747He was far from hating Tom the less when this thought occurred to him.
4748He wished there was some way to get that boy into trouble without much
4749risk to himself. Tom's spelling-book fell under his eye. Here was his
4750opportunity. He gratefully opened to the lesson for the afternoon and
4751poured ink upon the page.
4752
4753Becky, glancing in at a window behind him at the moment, saw the act,
4754and moved on, without discovering herself. She started homeward, now,
4755intending to find Tom and tell him; Tom would be thankful and their
4756troubles would be healed. Before she was half way home, however, she
4757had changed her mind. The thought of Tom's treatment of her when she
4758was talking about her picnic came scorching back and filled her with
4759shame. She resolved to let him get whipped on the damaged
4760spelling-book's account, and to hate him forever, into the bargain.
4761
4762
4763
4764CHAPTER XIX
4765
4766TOM arrived at home in a dreary mood, and the first thing his aunt
4767said to him showed him that he had brought his sorrows to an
4768unpromising market:
4769
4770"Tom, I've a notion to skin you alive!"
4771
4772"Auntie, what have I done?"
4773
4774"Well, you've done enough. Here I go over to Sereny Harper, like an
4775old softy, expecting I'm going to make her believe all that rubbage
4776about that dream, when lo and behold you she'd found out from Joe that
4777you was over here and heard all the talk we had that night. Tom, I
4778don't know what is to become of a boy that will act like that. It makes
4779me feel so bad to think you could let me go to Sereny Harper and make
4780such a fool of myself and never say a word."
4781
4782This was a new aspect of the thing. His smartness of the morning had
4783seemed to Tom a good joke before, and very ingenious. It merely looked
4784mean and shabby now. He hung his head and could not think of anything
4785to say for a moment. Then he said:
4786
4787"Auntie, I wish I hadn't done it--but I didn't think."
4788
4789"Oh, child, you never think. You never think of anything but your own
4790selfishness. You could think to come all the way over here from
4791Jackson's Island in the night to laugh at our troubles, and you could
4792think to fool me with a lie about a dream; but you couldn't ever think
4793to pity us and save us from sorrow."
4794
4795"Auntie, I know now it was mean, but I didn't mean to be mean. I
4796didn't, honest. And besides, I didn't come over here to laugh at you
4797that night."
4798
4799"What did you come for, then?"
4800
4801"It was to tell you not to be uneasy about us, because we hadn't got
4802drownded."
4803
4804"Tom, Tom, I would be the thankfullest soul in this world if I could
4805believe you ever had as good a thought as that, but you know you never
4806did--and I know it, Tom."
4807
4808"Indeed and 'deed I did, auntie--I wish I may never stir if I didn't."
4809
4810"Oh, Tom, don't lie--don't do it. It only makes things a hundred times
4811worse."
4812
4813"It ain't a lie, auntie; it's the truth. I wanted to keep you from
4814grieving--that was all that made me come."
4815
4816"I'd give the whole world to believe that--it would cover up a power
4817of sins, Tom. I'd 'most be glad you'd run off and acted so bad. But it
4818ain't reasonable; because, why didn't you tell me, child?"
4819
4820"Why, you see, when you got to talking about the funeral, I just got
4821all full of the idea of our coming and hiding in the church, and I
4822couldn't somehow bear to spoil it. So I just put the bark back in my
4823pocket and kept mum."
4824
4825"What bark?"
4826
4827"The bark I had wrote on to tell you we'd gone pirating. I wish, now,
4828you'd waked up when I kissed you--I do, honest."
4829
4830The hard lines in his aunt's face relaxed and a sudden tenderness
4831dawned in her eyes.
4832
4833"DID you kiss me, Tom?"
4834
4835"Why, yes, I did."
4836
4837"Are you sure you did, Tom?"
4838
4839"Why, yes, I did, auntie--certain sure."
4840
4841"What did you kiss me for, Tom?"
4842
4843"Because I loved you so, and you laid there moaning and I was so sorry."
4844
4845The words sounded like truth. The old lady could not hide a tremor in
4846her voice when she said:
4847
4848"Kiss me again, Tom!--and be off with you to school, now, and don't
4849bother me any more."
4850
4851The moment he was gone, she ran to a closet and got out the ruin of a
4852jacket which Tom had gone pirating in. Then she stopped, with it in her
4853hand, and said to herself:
4854
4855"No, I don't dare. Poor boy, I reckon he's lied about it--but it's a
4856blessed, blessed lie, there's such a comfort come from it. I hope the
4857Lord--I KNOW the Lord will forgive him, because it was such
4858goodheartedness in him to tell it. But I don't want to find out it's a
4859lie. I won't look."
4860
4861She put the jacket away, and stood by musing a minute. Twice she put
4862out her hand to take the garment again, and twice she refrained. Once
4863more she ventured, and this time she fortified herself with the
4864thought: "It's a good lie--it's a good lie--I won't let it grieve me."
4865So she sought the jacket pocket. A moment later she was reading Tom's
4866piece of bark through flowing tears and saying: "I could forgive the
4867boy, now, if he'd committed a million sins!"
4868
4869
4870
4871CHAPTER XX
4872
4873THERE was something about Aunt Polly's manner, when she kissed Tom,
4874that swept away his low spirits and made him lighthearted and happy
4875again. He started to school and had the luck of coming upon Becky
4876Thatcher at the head of Meadow Lane. His mood always determined his
4877manner. Without a moment's hesitation he ran to her and said:
4878
4879"I acted mighty mean to-day, Becky, and I'm so sorry. I won't ever,
4880ever do that way again, as long as ever I live--please make up, won't
4881you?"
4882
4883The girl stopped and looked him scornfully in the face:
4884
4885"I'll thank you to keep yourself TO yourself, Mr. Thomas Sawyer. I'll
4886never speak to you again."
4887
4888She tossed her head and passed on. Tom was so stunned that he had not
4889even presence of mind enough to say "Who cares, Miss Smarty?" until the
4890right time to say it had gone by. So he said nothing. But he was in a
4891fine rage, nevertheless. He moped into the schoolyard wishing she were
4892a boy, and imagining how he would trounce her if she were. He presently
4893encountered her and delivered a stinging remark as he passed. She
4894hurled one in return, and the angry breach was complete. It seemed to
4895Becky, in her hot resentment, that she could hardly wait for school to
4896"take in," she was so impatient to see Tom flogged for the injured
4897spelling-book. If she had had any lingering notion of exposing Alfred
4898Temple, Tom's offensive fling had driven it entirely away.
4899
4900Poor girl, she did not know how fast she was nearing trouble herself.
4901The master, Mr. Dobbins, had reached middle age with an unsatisfied
4902ambition. The darling of his desires was, to be a doctor, but poverty
4903had decreed that he should be nothing higher than a village
4904schoolmaster. Every day he took a mysterious book out of his desk and
4905absorbed himself in it at times when no classes were reciting. He kept
4906that book under lock and key. There was not an urchin in school but was
4907perishing to have a glimpse of it, but the chance never came. Every boy
4908and girl had a theory about the nature of that book; but no two
4909theories were alike, and there was no way of getting at the facts in
4910the case. Now, as Becky was passing by the desk, which stood near the
4911door, she noticed that the key was in the lock! It was a precious
4912moment. She glanced around; found herself alone, and the next instant
4913she had the book in her hands. The title-page--Professor Somebody's
4914ANATOMY--carried no information to her mind; so she began to turn the
4915leaves. She came at once upon a handsomely engraved and colored
4916frontispiece--a human figure, stark naked. At that moment a shadow fell
4917on the page and Tom Sawyer stepped in at the door and caught a glimpse
4918of the picture. Becky snatched at the book to close it, and had the
4919hard luck to tear the pictured page half down the middle. She thrust
4920the volume into the desk, turned the key, and burst out crying with
4921shame and vexation.
4922
4923"Tom Sawyer, you are just as mean as you can be, to sneak up on a
4924person and look at what they're looking at."
4925
4926"How could I know you was looking at anything?"
4927
4928"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Tom Sawyer; you know you're
4929going to tell on me, and oh, what shall I do, what shall I do! I'll be
4930whipped, and I never was whipped in school."
4931
4932Then she stamped her little foot and said:
4933
4934"BE so mean if you want to! I know something that's going to happen.
4935You just wait and you'll see! Hateful, hateful, hateful!"--and she
4936flung out of the house with a new explosion of crying.
4937
4938Tom stood still, rather flustered by this onslaught. Presently he said
4939to himself:
4940
4941"What a curious kind of a fool a girl is! Never been licked in school!
4942Shucks! What's a licking! That's just like a girl--they're so
4943thin-skinned and chicken-hearted. Well, of course I ain't going to tell
4944old Dobbins on this little fool, because there's other ways of getting
4945even on her, that ain't so mean; but what of it? Old Dobbins will ask
4946who it was tore his book. Nobody'll answer. Then he'll do just the way
4947he always does--ask first one and then t'other, and when he comes to the
4948right girl he'll know it, without any telling. Girls' faces always tell
4949on them. They ain't got any backbone. She'll get licked. Well, it's a
4950kind of a tight place for Becky Thatcher, because there ain't any way
4951out of it." Tom conned the thing a moment longer, and then added: "All
4952right, though; she'd like to see me in just such a fix--let her sweat it
4953out!"
4954
4955Tom joined the mob of skylarking scholars outside. In a few moments
4956the master arrived and school "took in." Tom did not feel a strong
4957interest in his studies. Every time he stole a glance at the girls'
4958side of the room Becky's face troubled him. Considering all things, he
4959did not want to pity her, and yet it was all he could do to help it. He
4960could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. Presently
4961the spelling-book discovery was made, and Tom's mind was entirely full
4962of his own matters for a while after that. Becky roused up from her
4963lethargy of distress and showed good interest in the proceedings. She
4964did not expect that Tom could get out of his trouble by denying that he
4965spilt the ink on the book himself; and she was right. The denial only
4966seemed to make the thing worse for Tom. Becky supposed she would be
4967glad of that, and she tried to believe she was glad of it, but she
4968found she was not certain. When the worst came to the worst, she had an
4969impulse to get up and tell on Alfred Temple, but she made an effort and
4970forced herself to keep still--because, said she to herself, "he'll tell
4971about me tearing the picture sure. I wouldn't say a word, not to save
4972his life!"
4973
4974Tom took his whipping and went back to his seat not at all
4975broken-hearted, for he thought it was possible that he had unknowingly
4976upset the ink on the spelling-book himself, in some skylarking bout--he
4977had denied it for form's sake and because it was custom, and had stuck
4978to the denial from principle.
4979
4980A whole hour drifted by, the master sat nodding in his throne, the air
4981was drowsy with the hum of study. By and by, Mr. Dobbins straightened
4982himself up, yawned, then unlocked his desk, and reached for his book,
4983but seemed undecided whether to take it out or leave it. Most of the
4984pupils glanced up languidly, but there were two among them that watched
4985his movements with intent eyes. Mr. Dobbins fingered his book absently
4986for a while, then took it out and settled himself in his chair to read!
4987Tom shot a glance at Becky. He had seen a hunted and helpless rabbit
4988look as she did, with a gun levelled at its head. Instantly he forgot
4989his quarrel with her. Quick--something must be done! done in a flash,
4990too! But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention.
4991Good!--he had an inspiration! He would run and snatch the book, spring
4992through the door and fly. But his resolution shook for one little
4993instant, and the chance was lost--the master opened the volume. If Tom
4994only had the wasted opportunity back again! Too late. There was no help
4995for Becky now, he said. The next moment the master faced the school.
4996Every eye sank under his gaze. There was that in it which smote even
4997the innocent with fear. There was silence while one might count ten
4998--the master was gathering his wrath. Then he spoke: "Who tore this book?"
4999
5000There was not a sound. One could have heard a pin drop. The stillness
5001continued; the master searched face after face for signs of guilt.
5002
5003"Benjamin Rogers, did you tear this book?"
5004
5005A denial. Another pause.
5006
5007"Joseph Harper, did you?"
5008
5009Another denial. Tom's uneasiness grew more and more intense under the
5010slow torture of these proceedings. The master scanned the ranks of
5011boys--considered a while, then turned to the girls:
5012
5013"Amy Lawrence?"
5014
5015A shake of the head.
5016
5017"Gracie Miller?"
5018
5019The same sign.
5020
5021"Susan Harper, did you do this?"
5022
5023Another negative. The next girl was Becky Thatcher. Tom was trembling
5024from head to foot with excitement and a sense of the hopelessness of
5025the situation.
5026
5027"Rebecca Thatcher" [Tom glanced at her face--it was white with terror]
5028--"did you tear--no, look me in the face" [her hands rose in appeal]
5029--"did you tear this book?"
5030
5031A thought shot like lightning through Tom's brain. He sprang to his
5032feet and shouted--"I done it!"
5033
5034The school stared in perplexity at this incredible folly. Tom stood a
5035moment, to gather his dismembered faculties; and when he stepped
5036forward to go to his punishment the surprise, the gratitude, the
5037adoration that shone upon him out of poor Becky's eyes seemed pay
5038enough for a hundred floggings. Inspired by the splendor of his own
5039act, he took without an outcry the most merciless flaying that even Mr.
5040Dobbins had ever administered; and also received with indifference the
5041added cruelty of a command to remain two hours after school should be
5042dismissed--for he knew who would wait for him outside till his
5043captivity was done, and not count the tedious time as loss, either.
5044
5045Tom went to bed that night planning vengeance against Alfred Temple;
5046for with shame and repentance Becky had told him all, not forgetting
5047her own treachery; but even the longing for vengeance had to give way,
5048soon, to pleasanter musings, and he fell asleep at last with Becky's
5049latest words lingering dreamily in his ear--
5050
5051"Tom, how COULD you be so noble!"
5052
5053
5054
5055CHAPTER XXI
5056
5057VACATION was approaching. The schoolmaster, always severe, grew
5058severer and more exacting than ever, for he wanted the school to make a
5059good showing on "Examination" day. His rod and his ferule were seldom
5060idle now--at least among the smaller pupils. Only the biggest boys, and
5061young ladies of eighteen and twenty, escaped lashing. Mr. Dobbins'
5062lashings were very vigorous ones, too; for although he carried, under
5063his wig, a perfectly bald and shiny head, he had only reached middle
5064age, and there was no sign of feebleness in his muscle. As the great
5065day approached, all the tyranny that was in him came to the surface; he
5066seemed to take a vindictive pleasure in punishing the least
5067shortcomings. The consequence was, that the smaller boys spent their
5068days in terror and suffering and their nights in plotting revenge. They
5069threw away no opportunity to do the master a mischief. But he kept
5070ahead all the time. The retribution that followed every vengeful
5071success was so sweeping and majestic that the boys always retired from
5072the field badly worsted. At last they conspired together and hit upon a
5073plan that promised a dazzling victory. They swore in the sign-painter's
5074boy, told him the scheme, and asked his help. He had his own reasons
5075for being delighted, for the master boarded in his father's family and
5076had given the boy ample cause to hate him. The master's wife would go
5077on a visit to the country in a few days, and there would be nothing to
5078interfere with the plan; the master always prepared himself for great
5079occasions by getting pretty well fuddled, and the sign-painter's boy
5080said that when the dominie had reached the proper condition on
5081Examination Evening he would "manage the thing" while he napped in his
5082chair; then he would have him awakened at the right time and hurried
5083away to school.
5084
5085In the fulness of time the interesting occasion arrived. At eight in
5086the evening the schoolhouse was brilliantly lighted, and adorned with
5087wreaths and festoons of foliage and flowers. The master sat throned in
5088his great chair upon a raised platform, with his blackboard behind him.
5089He was looking tolerably mellow. Three rows of benches on each side and
5090six rows in front of him were occupied by the dignitaries of the town
5091and by the parents of the pupils. To his left, back of the rows of
5092citizens, was a spacious temporary platform upon which were seated the
5093scholars who were to take part in the exercises of the evening; rows of
5094small boys, washed and dressed to an intolerable state of discomfort;
5095rows of gawky big boys; snowbanks of girls and young ladies clad in
5096lawn and muslin and conspicuously conscious of their bare arms, their
5097grandmothers' ancient trinkets, their bits of pink and blue ribbon and
5098the flowers in their hair. All the rest of the house was filled with
5099non-participating scholars.
5100
5101The exercises began. A very little boy stood up and sheepishly
5102recited, "You'd scarce expect one of my age to speak in public on the
5103stage," etc.--accompanying himself with the painfully exact and
5104spasmodic gestures which a machine might have used--supposing the
5105machine to be a trifle out of order. But he got through safely, though
5106cruelly scared, and got a fine round of applause when he made his
5107manufactured bow and retired.
5108
5109A little shamefaced girl lisped, "Mary had a little lamb," etc.,
5110performed a compassion-inspiring curtsy, got her meed of applause, and
5111sat down flushed and happy.
5112
5113Tom Sawyer stepped forward with conceited confidence and soared into
5114the unquenchable and indestructible "Give me liberty or give me death"
5115speech, with fine fury and frantic gesticulation, and broke down in the
5116middle of it. A ghastly stage-fright seized him, his legs quaked under
5117him and he was like to choke. True, he had the manifest sympathy of the
5118house but he had the house's silence, too, which was even worse than
5119its sympathy. The master frowned, and this completed the disaster. Tom
5120struggled awhile and then retired, utterly defeated. There was a weak
5121attempt at applause, but it died early.
5122
5123"The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck" followed; also "The Assyrian Came
5124Down," and other declamatory gems. Then there were reading exercises,
5125and a spelling fight. The meagre Latin class recited with honor. The
5126prime feature of the evening was in order, now--original "compositions"
5127by the young ladies. Each in her turn stepped forward to the edge of
5128the platform, cleared her throat, held up her manuscript (tied with
5129dainty ribbon), and proceeded to read, with labored attention to
5130"expression" and punctuation. The themes were the same that had been
5131illuminated upon similar occasions by their mothers before them, their
5132grandmothers, and doubtless all their ancestors in the female line
5133clear back to the Crusades. "Friendship" was one; "Memories of Other
5134Days"; "Religion in History"; "Dream Land"; "The Advantages of
5135Culture"; "Forms of Political Government Compared and Contrasted";
5136"Melancholy"; "Filial Love"; "Heart Longings," etc., etc.
5137
5138A prevalent feature in these compositions was a nursed and petted
5139melancholy; another was a wasteful and opulent gush of "fine language";
5140another was a tendency to lug in by the ears particularly prized words
5141and phrases until they were worn entirely out; and a peculiarity that
5142conspicuously marked and marred them was the inveterate and intolerable
5143sermon that wagged its crippled tail at the end of each and every one
5144of them. No matter what the subject might be, a brain-racking effort
5145was made to squirm it into some aspect or other that the moral and
5146religious mind could contemplate with edification. The glaring
5147insincerity of these sermons was not sufficient to compass the
5148banishment of the fashion from the schools, and it is not sufficient
5149to-day; it never will be sufficient while the world stands, perhaps.
5150There is no school in all our land where the young ladies do not feel
5151obliged to close their compositions with a sermon; and you will find
5152that the sermon of the most frivolous and the least religious girl in
5153the school is always the longest and the most relentlessly pious. But
5154enough of this. Homely truth is unpalatable.
5155
5156Let us return to the "Examination." The first composition that was
5157read was one entitled "Is this, then, Life?" Perhaps the reader can
5158endure an extract from it:
5159
5160 "In the common walks of life, with what delightful
5161 emotions does the youthful mind look forward to some
5162 anticipated scene of festivity! Imagination is busy
5163 sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. In fancy, the
5164 voluptuous votary of fashion sees herself amid the
5165 festive throng, 'the observed of all observers.' Her
5166 graceful form, arrayed in snowy robes, is whirling
5167 through the mazes of the joyous dance; her eye is
5168 brightest, her step is lightest in the gay assembly.
5169
5170 "In such delicious fancies time quickly glides by,
5171 and the welcome hour arrives for her entrance into
5172 the Elysian world, of which she has had such bright
5173 dreams. How fairy-like does everything appear to
5174 her enchanted vision! Each new scene is more charming
5175 than the last. But after a while she finds that
5176 beneath this goodly exterior, all is vanity, the
5177 flattery which once charmed her soul, now grates
5178 harshly upon her ear; the ball-room has lost its
5179 charms; and with wasted health and imbittered heart,
5180 she turns away with the conviction that earthly
5181 pleasures cannot satisfy the longings of the soul!"
5182
5183And so forth and so on. There was a buzz of gratification from time to
5184time during the reading, accompanied by whispered ejaculations of "How
5185sweet!" "How eloquent!" "So true!" etc., and after the thing had closed
5186with a peculiarly afflicting sermon the applause was enthusiastic.
5187
5188Then arose a slim, melancholy girl, whose face had the "interesting"
5189paleness that comes of pills and indigestion, and read a "poem." Two
5190stanzas of it will do:
5191
5192 "A MISSOURI MAIDEN'S FAREWELL TO ALABAMA
5193
5194 "Alabama, good-bye! I love thee well!
5195 But yet for a while do I leave thee now!
5196 Sad, yes, sad thoughts of thee my heart doth swell,
5197 And burning recollections throng my brow!
5198 For I have wandered through thy flowery woods;
5199 Have roamed and read near Tallapoosa's stream;
5200 Have listened to Tallassee's warring floods,
5201 And wooed on Coosa's side Aurora's beam.
5202
5203 "Yet shame I not to bear an o'er-full heart,
5204 Nor blush to turn behind my tearful eyes;
5205 'Tis from no stranger land I now must part,
5206 'Tis to no strangers left I yield these sighs.
5207 Welcome and home were mine within this State,
5208 Whose vales I leave--whose spires fade fast from me
5209 And cold must be mine eyes, and heart, and tete,
5210 When, dear Alabama! they turn cold on thee!"
5211
5212There were very few there who knew what "tete" meant, but the poem was
5213very satisfactory, nevertheless.
5214
5215Next appeared a dark-complexioned, black-eyed, black-haired young
5216lady, who paused an impressive moment, assumed a tragic expression, and
5217began to read in a measured, solemn tone:
5218
5219 "A VISION
5220
5221 "Dark and tempestuous was night. Around the
5222 throne on high not a single star quivered; but
5223 the deep intonations of the heavy thunder
5224 constantly vibrated upon the ear; whilst the
5225 terrific lightning revelled in angry mood
5226 through the cloudy chambers of heaven, seeming
5227 to scorn the power exerted over its terror by
5228 the illustrious Franklin! Even the boisterous
5229 winds unanimously came forth from their mystic
5230 homes, and blustered about as if to enhance by
5231 their aid the wildness of the scene.
5232
5233 "At such a time, so dark, so dreary, for human
5234 sympathy my very spirit sighed; but instead thereof,
5235
5236 "'My dearest friend, my counsellor, my comforter
5237 and guide--My joy in grief, my second bliss
5238 in joy,' came to my side. She moved like one of
5239 those bright beings pictured in the sunny walks
5240 of fancy's Eden by the romantic and young, a
5241 queen of beauty unadorned save by her own
5242 transcendent loveliness. So soft was her step, it
5243 failed to make even a sound, and but for the
5244 magical thrill imparted by her genial touch, as
5245 other unobtrusive beauties, she would have glided
5246 away un-perceived--unsought. A strange sadness
5247 rested upon her features, like icy tears upon
5248 the robe of December, as she pointed to the
5249 contending elements without, and bade me contemplate
5250 the two beings presented."
5251
5252This nightmare occupied some ten pages of manuscript and wound up with
5253a sermon so destructive of all hope to non-Presbyterians that it took
5254the first prize. This composition was considered to be the very finest
5255effort of the evening. The mayor of the village, in delivering the
5256prize to the author of it, made a warm speech in which he said that it
5257was by far the most "eloquent" thing he had ever listened to, and that
5258Daniel Webster himself might well be proud of it.
5259
5260It may be remarked, in passing, that the number of compositions in
5261which the word "beauteous" was over-fondled, and human experience
5262referred to as "life's page," was up to the usual average.
5263
5264Now the master, mellow almost to the verge of geniality, put his chair
5265aside, turned his back to the audience, and began to draw a map of
5266America on the blackboard, to exercise the geography class upon. But he
5267made a sad business of it with his unsteady hand, and a smothered
5268titter rippled over the house. He knew what the matter was, and set
5269himself to right it. He sponged out lines and remade them; but he only
5270distorted them more than ever, and the tittering was more pronounced.
5271He threw his entire attention upon his work, now, as if determined not
5272to be put down by the mirth. He felt that all eyes were fastened upon
5273him; he imagined he was succeeding, and yet the tittering continued; it
5274even manifestly increased. And well it might. There was a garret above,
5275pierced with a scuttle over his head; and down through this scuttle
5276came a cat, suspended around the haunches by a string; she had a rag
5277tied about her head and jaws to keep her from mewing; as she slowly
5278descended she curved upward and clawed at the string, she swung
5279downward and clawed at the intangible air. The tittering rose higher
5280and higher--the cat was within six inches of the absorbed teacher's
5281head--down, down, a little lower, and she grabbed his wig with her
5282desperate claws, clung to it, and was snatched up into the garret in an
5283instant with her trophy still in her possession! And how the light did
5284blaze abroad from the master's bald pate--for the sign-painter's boy
5285had GILDED it!
5286
5287That broke up the meeting. The boys were avenged. Vacation had come.
5288
5289 NOTE:--The pretended "compositions" quoted in
5290 this chapter are taken without alteration from a
5291 volume entitled "Prose and Poetry, by a Western
5292 Lady"--but they are exactly and precisely after
5293 the schoolgirl pattern, and hence are much
5294 happier than any mere imitations could be.
5295
5296
5297
5298CHAPTER XXII
5299
5300TOM joined the new order of Cadets of Temperance, being attracted by
5301the showy character of their "regalia." He promised to abstain from
5302smoking, chewing, and profanity as long as he remained a member. Now he
5303found out a new thing--namely, that to promise not to do a thing is the
5304surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very
5305thing. Tom soon found himself tormented with a desire to drink and
5306swear; the desire grew to be so intense that nothing but the hope of a
5307chance to display himself in his red sash kept him from withdrawing
5308from the order. Fourth of July was coming; but he soon gave that up
5309--gave it up before he had worn his shackles over forty-eight hours--and
5310fixed his hopes upon old Judge Frazer, justice of the peace, who was
5311apparently on his deathbed and would have a big public funeral, since
5312he was so high an official. During three days Tom was deeply concerned
5313about the Judge's condition and hungry for news of it. Sometimes his
5314hopes ran high--so high that he would venture to get out his regalia
5315and practise before the looking-glass. But the Judge had a most
5316discouraging way of fluctuating. At last he was pronounced upon the
5317mend--and then convalescent. Tom was disgusted; and felt a sense of
5318injury, too. He handed in his resignation at once--and that night the
5319Judge suffered a relapse and died. Tom resolved that he would never
5320trust a man like that again.
5321
5322The funeral was a fine thing. The Cadets paraded in a style calculated
5323to kill the late member with envy. Tom was a free boy again, however
5324--there was something in that. He could drink and swear, now--but found
5325to his surprise that he did not want to. The simple fact that he could,
5326took the desire away, and the charm of it.
5327
5328Tom presently wondered to find that his coveted vacation was beginning
5329to hang a little heavily on his hands.
5330
5331He attempted a diary--but nothing happened during three days, and so
5332he abandoned it.
5333
5334The first of all the negro minstrel shows came to town, and made a
5335sensation. Tom and Joe Harper got up a band of performers and were
5336happy for two days.
5337
5338Even the Glorious Fourth was in some sense a failure, for it rained
5339hard, there was no procession in consequence, and the greatest man in
5340the world (as Tom supposed), Mr. Benton, an actual United States
5341Senator, proved an overwhelming disappointment--for he was not
5342twenty-five feet high, nor even anywhere in the neighborhood of it.
5343
5344A circus came. The boys played circus for three days afterward in
5345tents made of rag carpeting--admission, three pins for boys, two for
5346girls--and then circusing was abandoned.
5347
5348A phrenologist and a mesmerizer came--and went again and left the
5349village duller and drearier than ever.
5350
5351There were some boys-and-girls' parties, but they were so few and so
5352delightful that they only made the aching voids between ache the harder.
5353
5354Becky Thatcher was gone to her Constantinople home to stay with her
5355parents during vacation--so there was no bright side to life anywhere.
5356
5357The dreadful secret of the murder was a chronic misery. It was a very
5358cancer for permanency and pain.
5359
5360Then came the measles.
5361
5362During two long weeks Tom lay a prisoner, dead to the world and its
5363happenings. He was very ill, he was interested in nothing. When he got
5364upon his feet at last and moved feebly down-town, a melancholy change
5365had come over everything and every creature. There had been a
5366"revival," and everybody had "got religion," not only the adults, but
5367even the boys and girls. Tom went about, hoping against hope for the
5368sight of one blessed sinful face, but disappointment crossed him
5369everywhere. He found Joe Harper studying a Testament, and turned sadly
5370away from the depressing spectacle. He sought Ben Rogers, and found him
5371visiting the poor with a basket of tracts. He hunted up Jim Hollis, who
5372called his attention to the precious blessing of his late measles as a
5373warning. Every boy he encountered added another ton to his depression;
5374and when, in desperation, he flew for refuge at last to the bosom of
5375Huckleberry Finn and was received with a Scriptural quotation, his
5376heart broke and he crept home and to bed realizing that he alone of all
5377the town was lost, forever and forever.
5378
5379And that night there came on a terrific storm, with driving rain,
5380awful claps of thunder and blinding sheets of lightning. He covered his
5381head with the bedclothes and waited in a horror of suspense for his
5382doom; for he had not the shadow of a doubt that all this hubbub was
5383about him. He believed he had taxed the forbearance of the powers above
5384to the extremity of endurance and that this was the result. It might
5385have seemed to him a waste of pomp and ammunition to kill a bug with a
5386battery of artillery, but there seemed nothing incongruous about the
5387getting up such an expensive thunderstorm as this to knock the turf
5388from under an insect like himself.
5389
5390By and by the tempest spent itself and died without accomplishing its
5391object. The boy's first impulse was to be grateful, and reform. His
5392second was to wait--for there might not be any more storms.
5393
5394The next day the doctors were back; Tom had relapsed. The three weeks
5395he spent on his back this time seemed an entire age. When he got abroad
5396at last he was hardly grateful that he had been spared, remembering how
5397lonely was his estate, how companionless and forlorn he was. He drifted
5398listlessly down the street and found Jim Hollis acting as judge in a
5399juvenile court that was trying a cat for murder, in the presence of her
5400victim, a bird. He found Joe Harper and Huck Finn up an alley eating a
5401stolen melon. Poor lads! they--like Tom--had suffered a relapse.
5402
5403
5404
5405CHAPTER XXIII
5406
5407AT last the sleepy atmosphere was stirred--and vigorously: the murder
5408trial came on in the court. It became the absorbing topic of village
5409talk immediately. Tom could not get away from it. Every reference to
5410the murder sent a shudder to his heart, for his troubled conscience and
5411fears almost persuaded him that these remarks were put forth in his
5412hearing as "feelers"; he did not see how he could be suspected of
5413knowing anything about the murder, but still he could not be
5414comfortable in the midst of this gossip. It kept him in a cold shiver
5415all the time. He took Huck to a lonely place to have a talk with him.
5416It would be some relief to unseal his tongue for a little while; to
5417divide his burden of distress with another sufferer. Moreover, he
5418wanted to assure himself that Huck had remained discreet.
5419
5420"Huck, have you ever told anybody about--that?"
5421
5422"'Bout what?"
5423
5424"You know what."
5425
5426"Oh--'course I haven't."
5427
5428"Never a word?"
5429
5430"Never a solitary word, so help me. What makes you ask?"
5431
5432"Well, I was afeard."
5433
5434"Why, Tom Sawyer, we wouldn't be alive two days if that got found out.
5435YOU know that."
5436
5437Tom felt more comfortable. After a pause:
5438
5439"Huck, they couldn't anybody get you to tell, could they?"
5440
5441"Get me to tell? Why, if I wanted that half-breed devil to drownd me
5442they could get me to tell. They ain't no different way."
5443
5444"Well, that's all right, then. I reckon we're safe as long as we keep
5445mum. But let's swear again, anyway. It's more surer."
5446
5447"I'm agreed."
5448
5449So they swore again with dread solemnities.
5450
5451"What is the talk around, Huck? I've heard a power of it."
5452
5453"Talk? Well, it's just Muff Potter, Muff Potter, Muff Potter all the
5454time. It keeps me in a sweat, constant, so's I want to hide som'ers."
5455
5456"That's just the same way they go on round me. I reckon he's a goner.
5457Don't you feel sorry for him, sometimes?"
5458
5459"Most always--most always. He ain't no account; but then he hain't
5460ever done anything to hurt anybody. Just fishes a little, to get money
5461to get drunk on--and loafs around considerable; but lord, we all do
5462that--leastways most of us--preachers and such like. But he's kind of
5463good--he give me half a fish, once, when there warn't enough for two;
5464and lots of times he's kind of stood by me when I was out of luck."
5465
5466"Well, he's mended kites for me, Huck, and knitted hooks on to my
5467line. I wish we could get him out of there."
5468
5469"My! we couldn't get him out, Tom. And besides, 'twouldn't do any
5470good; they'd ketch him again."
5471
5472"Yes--so they would. But I hate to hear 'em abuse him so like the
5473dickens when he never done--that."
5474
5475"I do too, Tom. Lord, I hear 'em say he's the bloodiest looking
5476villain in this country, and they wonder he wasn't ever hung before."
5477
5478"Yes, they talk like that, all the time. I've heard 'em say that if he
5479was to get free they'd lynch him."
5480
5481"And they'd do it, too."
5482
5483The boys had a long talk, but it brought them little comfort. As the
5484twilight drew on, they found themselves hanging about the neighborhood
5485of the little isolated jail, perhaps with an undefined hope that
5486something would happen that might clear away their difficulties. But
5487nothing happened; there seemed to be no angels or fairies interested in
5488this luckless captive.
5489
5490The boys did as they had often done before--went to the cell grating
5491and gave Potter some tobacco and matches. He was on the ground floor
5492and there were no guards.
5493
5494His gratitude for their gifts had always smote their consciences
5495before--it cut deeper than ever, this time. They felt cowardly and
5496treacherous to the last degree when Potter said:
5497
5498"You've been mighty good to me, boys--better'n anybody else in this
5499town. And I don't forget it, I don't. Often I says to myself, says I,
5500'I used to mend all the boys' kites and things, and show 'em where the
5501good fishin' places was, and befriend 'em what I could, and now they've
5502all forgot old Muff when he's in trouble; but Tom don't, and Huck
5503don't--THEY don't forget him, says I, 'and I don't forget them.' Well,
5504boys, I done an awful thing--drunk and crazy at the time--that's the
5505only way I account for it--and now I got to swing for it, and it's
5506right. Right, and BEST, too, I reckon--hope so, anyway. Well, we won't
5507talk about that. I don't want to make YOU feel bad; you've befriended
5508me. But what I want to say, is, don't YOU ever get drunk--then you won't
5509ever get here. Stand a litter furder west--so--that's it; it's a prime
5510comfort to see faces that's friendly when a body's in such a muck of
5511trouble, and there don't none come here but yourn. Good friendly
5512faces--good friendly faces. Git up on one another's backs and let me
5513touch 'em. That's it. Shake hands--yourn'll come through the bars, but
5514mine's too big. Little hands, and weak--but they've helped Muff Potter
5515a power, and they'd help him more if they could."
5516
5517Tom went home miserable, and his dreams that night were full of
5518horrors. The next day and the day after, he hung about the court-room,
5519drawn by an almost irresistible impulse to go in, but forcing himself
5520to stay out. Huck was having the same experience. They studiously
5521avoided each other. Each wandered away, from time to time, but the same
5522dismal fascination always brought them back presently. Tom kept his
5523ears open when idlers sauntered out of the court-room, but invariably
5524heard distressing news--the toils were closing more and more
5525relentlessly around poor Potter. At the end of the second day the
5526village talk was to the effect that Injun Joe's evidence stood firm and
5527unshaken, and that there was not the slightest question as to what the
5528jury's verdict would be.
5529
5530Tom was out late, that night, and came to bed through the window. He
5531was in a tremendous state of excitement. It was hours before he got to
5532sleep. All the village flocked to the court-house the next morning, for
5533this was to be the great day. Both sexes were about equally represented
5534in the packed audience. After a long wait the jury filed in and took
5535their places; shortly afterward, Potter, pale and haggard, timid and
5536hopeless, was brought in, with chains upon him, and seated where all
5537the curious eyes could stare at him; no less conspicuous was Injun Joe,
5538stolid as ever. There was another pause, and then the judge arrived and
5539the sheriff proclaimed the opening of the court. The usual whisperings
5540among the lawyers and gathering together of papers followed. These
5541details and accompanying delays worked up an atmosphere of preparation
5542that was as impressive as it was fascinating.
5543
5544Now a witness was called who testified that he found Muff Potter
5545washing in the brook, at an early hour of the morning that the murder
5546was discovered, and that he immediately sneaked away. After some
5547further questioning, counsel for the prosecution said:
5548
5549"Take the witness."
5550
5551The prisoner raised his eyes for a moment, but dropped them again when
5552his own counsel said:
5553
5554"I have no questions to ask him."
5555
5556The next witness proved the finding of the knife near the corpse.
5557Counsel for the prosecution said:
5558
5559"Take the witness."
5560
5561"I have no questions to ask him," Potter's lawyer replied.
5562
5563A third witness swore he had often seen the knife in Potter's
5564possession.
5565
5566"Take the witness."
5567
5568Counsel for Potter declined to question him. The faces of the audience
5569began to betray annoyance. Did this attorney mean to throw away his
5570client's life without an effort?
5571
5572Several witnesses deposed concerning Potter's guilty behavior when
5573brought to the scene of the murder. They were allowed to leave the
5574stand without being cross-questioned.
5575
5576Every detail of the damaging circumstances that occurred in the
5577graveyard upon that morning which all present remembered so well was
5578brought out by credible witnesses, but none of them were cross-examined
5579by Potter's lawyer. The perplexity and dissatisfaction of the house
5580expressed itself in murmurs and provoked a reproof from the bench.
5581Counsel for the prosecution now said:
5582
5583"By the oaths of citizens whose simple word is above suspicion, we
5584have fastened this awful crime, beyond all possibility of question,
5585upon the unhappy prisoner at the bar. We rest our case here."
5586
5587A groan escaped from poor Potter, and he put his face in his hands and
5588rocked his body softly to and fro, while a painful silence reigned in
5589the court-room. Many men were moved, and many women's compassion
5590testified itself in tears. Counsel for the defence rose and said:
5591
5592"Your honor, in our remarks at the opening of this trial, we
5593foreshadowed our purpose to prove that our client did this fearful deed
5594while under the influence of a blind and irresponsible delirium
5595produced by drink. We have changed our mind. We shall not offer that
5596plea." [Then to the clerk:] "Call Thomas Sawyer!"
5597
5598A puzzled amazement awoke in every face in the house, not even
5599excepting Potter's. Every eye fastened itself with wondering interest
5600upon Tom as he rose and took his place upon the stand. The boy looked
5601wild enough, for he was badly scared. The oath was administered.
5602
5603"Thomas Sawyer, where were you on the seventeenth of June, about the
5604hour of midnight?"
5605
5606Tom glanced at Injun Joe's iron face and his tongue failed him. The
5607audience listened breathless, but the words refused to come. After a
5608few moments, however, the boy got a little of his strength back, and
5609managed to put enough of it into his voice to make part of the house
5610hear:
5611
5612"In the graveyard!"
5613
5614"A little bit louder, please. Don't be afraid. You were--"
5615
5616"In the graveyard."
5617
5618A contemptuous smile flitted across Injun Joe's face.
5619
5620"Were you anywhere near Horse Williams' grave?"
5621
5622"Yes, sir."
5623
5624"Speak up--just a trifle louder. How near were you?"
5625
5626"Near as I am to you."
5627
5628"Were you hidden, or not?"
5629
5630"I was hid."
5631
5632"Where?"
5633
5634"Behind the elms that's on the edge of the grave."
5635
5636Injun Joe gave a barely perceptible start.
5637
5638"Any one with you?"
5639
5640"Yes, sir. I went there with--"
5641
5642"Wait--wait a moment. Never mind mentioning your companion's name. We
5643will produce him at the proper time. Did you carry anything there with
5644you."
5645
5646Tom hesitated and looked confused.
5647
5648"Speak out, my boy--don't be diffident. The truth is always
5649respectable. What did you take there?"
5650
5651"Only a--a--dead cat."
5652
5653There was a ripple of mirth, which the court checked.
5654
5655"We will produce the skeleton of that cat. Now, my boy, tell us
5656everything that occurred--tell it in your own way--don't skip anything,
5657and don't be afraid."
5658
5659Tom began--hesitatingly at first, but as he warmed to his subject his
5660words flowed more and more easily; in a little while every sound ceased
5661but his own voice; every eye fixed itself upon him; with parted lips
5662and bated breath the audience hung upon his words, taking no note of
5663time, rapt in the ghastly fascinations of the tale. The strain upon
5664pent emotion reached its climax when the boy said:
5665
5666"--and as the doctor fetched the board around and Muff Potter fell,
5667Injun Joe jumped with the knife and--"
5668
5669Crash! Quick as lightning the half-breed sprang for a window, tore his
5670way through all opposers, and was gone!
5671
5672
5673
5674CHAPTER XXIV
5675
5676TOM was a glittering hero once more--the pet of the old, the envy of
5677the young. His name even went into immortal print, for the village
5678paper magnified him. There were some that believed he would be
5679President, yet, if he escaped hanging.
5680
5681As usual, the fickle, unreasoning world took Muff Potter to its bosom
5682and fondled him as lavishly as it had abused him before. But that sort
5683of conduct is to the world's credit; therefore it is not well to find
5684fault with it.
5685
5686Tom's days were days of splendor and exultation to him, but his nights
5687were seasons of horror. Injun Joe infested all his dreams, and always
5688with doom in his eye. Hardly any temptation could persuade the boy to
5689stir abroad after nightfall. Poor Huck was in the same state of
5690wretchedness and terror, for Tom had told the whole story to the lawyer
5691the night before the great day of the trial, and Huck was sore afraid
5692that his share in the business might leak out, yet, notwithstanding
5693Injun Joe's flight had saved him the suffering of testifying in court.
5694The poor fellow had got the attorney to promise secrecy, but what of
5695that? Since Tom's harassed conscience had managed to drive him to the
5696lawyer's house by night and wring a dread tale from lips that had been
5697sealed with the dismalest and most formidable of oaths, Huck's
5698confidence in the human race was well-nigh obliterated.
5699
5700Daily Muff Potter's gratitude made Tom glad he had spoken; but nightly
5701he wished he had sealed up his tongue.
5702
5703Half the time Tom was afraid Injun Joe would never be captured; the
5704other half he was afraid he would be. He felt sure he never could draw
5705a safe breath again until that man was dead and he had seen the corpse.
5706
5707Rewards had been offered, the country had been scoured, but no Injun
5708Joe was found. One of those omniscient and awe-inspiring marvels, a
5709detective, came up from St. Louis, moused around, shook his head,
5710looked wise, and made that sort of astounding success which members of
5711that craft usually achieve. That is to say, he "found a clew." But you
5712can't hang a "clew" for murder, and so after that detective had got
5713through and gone home, Tom felt just as insecure as he was before.
5714
5715The slow days drifted on, and each left behind it a slightly lightened
5716weight of apprehension.
5717
5718
5719
5720CHAPTER XXV
5721
5722THERE comes a time in every rightly-constructed boy's life when he has
5723a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. This
5724desire suddenly came upon Tom one day. He sallied out to find Joe
5725Harper, but failed of success. Next he sought Ben Rogers; he had gone
5726fishing. Presently he stumbled upon Huck Finn the Red-Handed. Huck
5727would answer. Tom took him to a private place and opened the matter to
5728him confidentially. Huck was willing. Huck was always willing to take a
5729hand in any enterprise that offered entertainment and required no
5730capital, for he had a troublesome superabundance of that sort of time
5731which is not money. "Where'll we dig?" said Huck.
5732
5733"Oh, most anywhere."
5734
5735"Why, is it hid all around?"
5736
5737"No, indeed it ain't. It's hid in mighty particular places, Huck
5738--sometimes on islands, sometimes in rotten chests under the end of a
5739limb of an old dead tree, just where the shadow falls at midnight; but
5740mostly under the floor in ha'nted houses."
5741
5742"Who hides it?"
5743
5744"Why, robbers, of course--who'd you reckon? Sunday-school
5745sup'rintendents?"
5746
5747"I don't know. If 'twas mine I wouldn't hide it; I'd spend it and have
5748a good time."
5749
5750"So would I. But robbers don't do that way. They always hide it and
5751leave it there."
5752
5753"Don't they come after it any more?"
5754
5755"No, they think they will, but they generally forget the marks, or
5756else they die. Anyway, it lays there a long time and gets rusty; and by
5757and by somebody finds an old yellow paper that tells how to find the
5758marks--a paper that's got to be ciphered over about a week because it's
5759mostly signs and hy'roglyphics."
5760
5761"Hyro--which?"
5762
5763"Hy'roglyphics--pictures and things, you know, that don't seem to mean
5764anything."
5765
5766"Have you got one of them papers, Tom?"
5767
5768"No."
5769
5770"Well then, how you going to find the marks?"
5771
5772"I don't want any marks. They always bury it under a ha'nted house or
5773on an island, or under a dead tree that's got one limb sticking out.
5774Well, we've tried Jackson's Island a little, and we can try it again
5775some time; and there's the old ha'nted house up the Still-House branch,
5776and there's lots of dead-limb trees--dead loads of 'em."
5777
5778"Is it under all of them?"
5779
5780"How you talk! No!"
5781
5782"Then how you going to know which one to go for?"
5783
5784"Go for all of 'em!"
5785
5786"Why, Tom, it'll take all summer."
5787
5788"Well, what of that? Suppose you find a brass pot with a hundred
5789dollars in it, all rusty and gray, or rotten chest full of di'monds.
5790How's that?"
5791
5792Huck's eyes glowed.
5793
5794"That's bully. Plenty bully enough for me. Just you gimme the hundred
5795dollars and I don't want no di'monds."
5796
5797"All right. But I bet you I ain't going to throw off on di'monds. Some
5798of 'em's worth twenty dollars apiece--there ain't any, hardly, but's
5799worth six bits or a dollar."
5800
5801"No! Is that so?"
5802
5803"Cert'nly--anybody'll tell you so. Hain't you ever seen one, Huck?"
5804
5805"Not as I remember."
5806
5807"Oh, kings have slathers of them."
5808
5809"Well, I don' know no kings, Tom."
5810
5811"I reckon you don't. But if you was to go to Europe you'd see a raft
5812of 'em hopping around."
5813
5814"Do they hop?"
5815
5816"Hop?--your granny! No!"
5817
5818"Well, what did you say they did, for?"
5819
5820"Shucks, I only meant you'd SEE 'em--not hopping, of course--what do
5821they want to hop for?--but I mean you'd just see 'em--scattered around,
5822you know, in a kind of a general way. Like that old humpbacked Richard."
5823
5824"Richard? What's his other name?"
5825
5826"He didn't have any other name. Kings don't have any but a given name."
5827
5828"No?"
5829
5830"But they don't."
5831
5832"Well, if they like it, Tom, all right; but I don't want to be a king
5833and have only just a given name, like a nigger. But say--where you
5834going to dig first?"
5835
5836"Well, I don't know. S'pose we tackle that old dead-limb tree on the
5837hill t'other side of Still-House branch?"
5838
5839"I'm agreed."
5840
5841So they got a crippled pick and a shovel, and set out on their
5842three-mile tramp. They arrived hot and panting, and threw themselves
5843down in the shade of a neighboring elm to rest and have a smoke.
5844
5845"I like this," said Tom.
5846
5847"So do I."
5848
5849"Say, Huck, if we find a treasure here, what you going to do with your
5850share?"
5851
5852"Well, I'll have pie and a glass of soda every day, and I'll go to
5853every circus that comes along. I bet I'll have a gay time."
5854
5855"Well, ain't you going to save any of it?"
5856
5857"Save it? What for?"
5858
5859"Why, so as to have something to live on, by and by."
5860
5861"Oh, that ain't any use. Pap would come back to thish-yer town some
5862day and get his claws on it if I didn't hurry up, and I tell you he'd
5863clean it out pretty quick. What you going to do with yourn, Tom?"
5864
5865"I'm going to buy a new drum, and a sure-'nough sword, and a red
5866necktie and a bull pup, and get married."
5867
5868"Married!"
5869
5870"That's it."
5871
5872"Tom, you--why, you ain't in your right mind."
5873
5874"Wait--you'll see."
5875
5876"Well, that's the foolishest thing you could do. Look at pap and my
5877mother. Fight! Why, they used to fight all the time. I remember, mighty
5878well."
5879
5880"That ain't anything. The girl I'm going to marry won't fight."
5881
5882"Tom, I reckon they're all alike. They'll all comb a body. Now you
5883better think 'bout this awhile. I tell you you better. What's the name
5884of the gal?"
5885
5886"It ain't a gal at all--it's a girl."
5887
5888"It's all the same, I reckon; some says gal, some says girl--both's
5889right, like enough. Anyway, what's her name, Tom?"
5890
5891"I'll tell you some time--not now."
5892
5893"All right--that'll do. Only if you get married I'll be more lonesomer
5894than ever."
5895
5896"No you won't. You'll come and live with me. Now stir out of this and
5897we'll go to digging."
5898
5899They worked and sweated for half an hour. No result. They toiled
5900another half-hour. Still no result. Huck said:
5901
5902"Do they always bury it as deep as this?"
5903
5904"Sometimes--not always. Not generally. I reckon we haven't got the
5905right place."
5906
5907So they chose a new spot and began again. The labor dragged a little,
5908but still they made progress. They pegged away in silence for some
5909time. Finally Huck leaned on his shovel, swabbed the beaded drops from
5910his brow with his sleeve, and said:
5911
5912"Where you going to dig next, after we get this one?"
5913
5914"I reckon maybe we'll tackle the old tree that's over yonder on
5915Cardiff Hill back of the widow's."
5916
5917"I reckon that'll be a good one. But won't the widow take it away from
5918us, Tom? It's on her land."
5919
5920"SHE take it away! Maybe she'd like to try it once. Whoever finds one
5921of these hid treasures, it belongs to him. It don't make any difference
5922whose land it's on."
5923
5924That was satisfactory. The work went on. By and by Huck said:
5925
5926"Blame it, we must be in the wrong place again. What do you think?"
5927
5928"It is mighty curious, Huck. I don't understand it. Sometimes witches
5929interfere. I reckon maybe that's what's the trouble now."
5930
5931"Shucks! Witches ain't got no power in the daytime."
5932
5933"Well, that's so. I didn't think of that. Oh, I know what the matter
5934is! What a blamed lot of fools we are! You got to find out where the
5935shadow of the limb falls at midnight, and that's where you dig!"
5936
5937"Then consound it, we've fooled away all this work for nothing. Now
5938hang it all, we got to come back in the night. It's an awful long way.
5939Can you get out?"
5940
5941"I bet I will. We've got to do it to-night, too, because if somebody
5942sees these holes they'll know in a minute what's here and they'll go
5943for it."
5944
5945"Well, I'll come around and maow to-night."
5946
5947"All right. Let's hide the tools in the bushes."
5948
5949The boys were there that night, about the appointed time. They sat in
5950the shadow waiting. It was a lonely place, and an hour made solemn by
5951old traditions. Spirits whispered in the rustling leaves, ghosts lurked
5952in the murky nooks, the deep baying of a hound floated up out of the
5953distance, an owl answered with his sepulchral note. The boys were
5954subdued by these solemnities, and talked little. By and by they judged
5955that twelve had come; they marked where the shadow fell, and began to
5956dig. Their hopes commenced to rise. Their interest grew stronger, and
5957their industry kept pace with it. The hole deepened and still deepened,
5958but every time their hearts jumped to hear the pick strike upon
5959something, they only suffered a new disappointment. It was only a stone
5960or a chunk. At last Tom said:
5961
5962"It ain't any use, Huck, we're wrong again."
5963
5964"Well, but we CAN'T be wrong. We spotted the shadder to a dot."
5965
5966"I know it, but then there's another thing."
5967
5968"What's that?".
5969
5970"Why, we only guessed at the time. Like enough it was too late or too
5971early."
5972
5973Huck dropped his shovel.
5974
5975"That's it," said he. "That's the very trouble. We got to give this
5976one up. We can't ever tell the right time, and besides this kind of
5977thing's too awful, here this time of night with witches and ghosts
5978a-fluttering around so. I feel as if something's behind me all the time;
5979and I'm afeard to turn around, becuz maybe there's others in front
5980a-waiting for a chance. I been creeping all over, ever since I got here."
5981
5982"Well, I've been pretty much so, too, Huck. They most always put in a
5983dead man when they bury a treasure under a tree, to look out for it."
5984
5985"Lordy!"
5986
5987"Yes, they do. I've always heard that."
5988
5989"Tom, I don't like to fool around much where there's dead people. A
5990body's bound to get into trouble with 'em, sure."
5991
5992"I don't like to stir 'em up, either. S'pose this one here was to
5993stick his skull out and say something!"
5994
5995"Don't Tom! It's awful."
5996
5997"Well, it just is. Huck, I don't feel comfortable a bit."
5998
5999"Say, Tom, let's give this place up, and try somewheres else."
6000
6001"All right, I reckon we better."
6002
6003"What'll it be?"
6004
6005Tom considered awhile; and then said:
6006
6007"The ha'nted house. That's it!"
6008
6009"Blame it, I don't like ha'nted houses, Tom. Why, they're a dern sight
6010worse'n dead people. Dead people might talk, maybe, but they don't come
6011sliding around in a shroud, when you ain't noticing, and peep over your
6012shoulder all of a sudden and grit their teeth, the way a ghost does. I
6013couldn't stand such a thing as that, Tom--nobody could."
6014
6015"Yes, but, Huck, ghosts don't travel around only at night. They won't
6016hender us from digging there in the daytime."
6017
6018"Well, that's so. But you know mighty well people don't go about that
6019ha'nted house in the day nor the night."
6020
6021"Well, that's mostly because they don't like to go where a man's been
6022murdered, anyway--but nothing's ever been seen around that house except
6023in the night--just some blue lights slipping by the windows--no regular
6024ghosts."
6025
6026"Well, where you see one of them blue lights flickering around, Tom,
6027you can bet there's a ghost mighty close behind it. It stands to
6028reason. Becuz you know that they don't anybody but ghosts use 'em."
6029
6030"Yes, that's so. But anyway they don't come around in the daytime, so
6031what's the use of our being afeard?"
6032
6033"Well, all right. We'll tackle the ha'nted house if you say so--but I
6034reckon it's taking chances."
6035
6036They had started down the hill by this time. There in the middle of
6037the moonlit valley below them stood the "ha'nted" house, utterly
6038isolated, its fences gone long ago, rank weeds smothering the very
6039doorsteps, the chimney crumbled to ruin, the window-sashes vacant, a
6040corner of the roof caved in. The boys gazed awhile, half expecting to
6041see a blue light flit past a window; then talking in a low tone, as
6042befitted the time and the circumstances, they struck far off to the
6043right, to give the haunted house a wide berth, and took their way
6044homeward through the woods that adorned the rearward side of Cardiff
6045Hill.
6046
6047
6048
6049CHAPTER XXVI
6050
6051ABOUT noon the next day the boys arrived at the dead tree; they had
6052come for their tools. Tom was impatient to go to the haunted house;
6053Huck was measurably so, also--but suddenly said:
6054
6055"Lookyhere, Tom, do you know what day it is?"
6056
6057Tom mentally ran over the days of the week, and then quickly lifted
6058his eyes with a startled look in them--
6059
6060"My! I never once thought of it, Huck!"
6061
6062"Well, I didn't neither, but all at once it popped onto me that it was
6063Friday."
6064
6065"Blame it, a body can't be too careful, Huck. We might 'a' got into an
6066awful scrape, tackling such a thing on a Friday."
6067
6068"MIGHT! Better say we WOULD! There's some lucky days, maybe, but
6069Friday ain't."
6070
6071"Any fool knows that. I don't reckon YOU was the first that found it
6072out, Huck."
6073
6074"Well, I never said I was, did I? And Friday ain't all, neither. I had
6075a rotten bad dream last night--dreampt about rats."
6076
6077"No! Sure sign of trouble. Did they fight?"
6078
6079"No."
6080
6081"Well, that's good, Huck. When they don't fight it's only a sign that
6082there's trouble around, you know. All we got to do is to look mighty
6083sharp and keep out of it. We'll drop this thing for to-day, and play.
6084Do you know Robin Hood, Huck?"
6085
6086"No. Who's Robin Hood?"
6087
6088"Why, he was one of the greatest men that was ever in England--and the
6089best. He was a robber."
6090
6091"Cracky, I wisht I was. Who did he rob?"
6092
6093"Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like.
6094But he never bothered the poor. He loved 'em. He always divided up with
6095'em perfectly square."
6096
6097"Well, he must 'a' been a brick."
6098
6099"I bet you he was, Huck. Oh, he was the noblest man that ever was.
6100They ain't any such men now, I can tell you. He could lick any man in
6101England, with one hand tied behind him; and he could take his yew bow
6102and plug a ten-cent piece every time, a mile and a half."
6103
6104"What's a YEW bow?"
6105
6106"I don't know. It's some kind of a bow, of course. And if he hit that
6107dime only on the edge he would set down and cry--and curse. But we'll
6108play Robin Hood--it's nobby fun. I'll learn you."
6109
6110"I'm agreed."
6111
6112So they played Robin Hood all the afternoon, now and then casting a
6113yearning eye down upon the haunted house and passing a remark about the
6114morrow's prospects and possibilities there. As the sun began to sink
6115into the west they took their way homeward athwart the long shadows of
6116the trees and soon were buried from sight in the forests of Cardiff
6117Hill.
6118
6119On Saturday, shortly after noon, the boys were at the dead tree again.
6120They had a smoke and a chat in the shade, and then dug a little in
6121their last hole, not with great hope, but merely because Tom said there
6122were so many cases where people had given up a treasure after getting
6123down within six inches of it, and then somebody else had come along and
6124turned it up with a single thrust of a shovel. The thing failed this
6125time, however, so the boys shouldered their tools and went away feeling
6126that they had not trifled with fortune, but had fulfilled all the
6127requirements that belong to the business of treasure-hunting.
6128
6129When they reached the haunted house there was something so weird and
6130grisly about the dead silence that reigned there under the baking sun,
6131and something so depressing about the loneliness and desolation of the
6132place, that they were afraid, for a moment, to venture in. Then they
6133crept to the door and took a trembling peep. They saw a weed-grown,
6134floorless room, unplastered, an ancient fireplace, vacant windows, a
6135ruinous staircase; and here, there, and everywhere hung ragged and
6136abandoned cobwebs. They presently entered, softly, with quickened
6137pulses, talking in whispers, ears alert to catch the slightest sound,
6138and muscles tense and ready for instant retreat.
6139
6140In a little while familiarity modified their fears and they gave the
6141place a critical and interested examination, rather admiring their own
6142boldness, and wondering at it, too. Next they wanted to look up-stairs.
6143This was something like cutting off retreat, but they got to daring
6144each other, and of course there could be but one result--they threw
6145their tools into a corner and made the ascent. Up there were the same
6146signs of decay. In one corner they found a closet that promised
6147mystery, but the promise was a fraud--there was nothing in it. Their
6148courage was up now and well in hand. They were about to go down and
6149begin work when--
6150
6151"Sh!" said Tom.
6152
6153"What is it?" whispered Huck, blanching with fright.
6154
6155"Sh!... There!... Hear it?"
6156
6157"Yes!... Oh, my! Let's run!"
6158
6159"Keep still! Don't you budge! They're coming right toward the door."
6160
6161The boys stretched themselves upon the floor with their eyes to
6162knot-holes in the planking, and lay waiting, in a misery of fear.
6163
6164"They've stopped.... No--coming.... Here they are. Don't whisper
6165another word, Huck. My goodness, I wish I was out of this!"
6166
6167Two men entered. Each boy said to himself: "There's the old deaf and
6168dumb Spaniard that's been about town once or twice lately--never saw
6169t'other man before."
6170
6171"T'other" was a ragged, unkempt creature, with nothing very pleasant
6172in his face. The Spaniard was wrapped in a serape; he had bushy white
6173whiskers; long white hair flowed from under his sombrero, and he wore
6174green goggles. When they came in, "t'other" was talking in a low voice;
6175they sat down on the ground, facing the door, with their backs to the
6176wall, and the speaker continued his remarks. His manner became less
6177guarded and his words more distinct as he proceeded:
6178
6179"No," said he, "I've thought it all over, and I don't like it. It's
6180dangerous."
6181
6182"Dangerous!" grunted the "deaf and dumb" Spaniard--to the vast
6183surprise of the boys. "Milksop!"
6184
6185This voice made the boys gasp and quake. It was Injun Joe's! There was
6186silence for some time. Then Joe said:
6187
6188"What's any more dangerous than that job up yonder--but nothing's come
6189of it."
6190
6191"That's different. Away up the river so, and not another house about.
6192'Twon't ever be known that we tried, anyway, long as we didn't succeed."
6193
6194"Well, what's more dangerous than coming here in the daytime!--anybody
6195would suspicion us that saw us."
6196
6197"I know that. But there warn't any other place as handy after that
6198fool of a job. I want to quit this shanty. I wanted to yesterday, only
6199it warn't any use trying to stir out of here, with those infernal boys
6200playing over there on the hill right in full view."
6201
6202"Those infernal boys" quaked again under the inspiration of this
6203remark, and thought how lucky it was that they had remembered it was
6204Friday and concluded to wait a day. They wished in their hearts they
6205had waited a year.
6206
6207The two men got out some food and made a luncheon. After a long and
6208thoughtful silence, Injun Joe said:
6209
6210"Look here, lad--you go back up the river where you belong. Wait there
6211till you hear from me. I'll take the chances on dropping into this town
6212just once more, for a look. We'll do that 'dangerous' job after I've
6213spied around a little and think things look well for it. Then for
6214Texas! We'll leg it together!"
6215
6216This was satisfactory. Both men presently fell to yawning, and Injun
6217Joe said:
6218
6219"I'm dead for sleep! It's your turn to watch."
6220
6221He curled down in the weeds and soon began to snore. His comrade
6222stirred him once or twice and he became quiet. Presently the watcher
6223began to nod; his head drooped lower and lower, both men began to snore
6224now.
6225
6226The boys drew a long, grateful breath. Tom whispered:
6227
6228"Now's our chance--come!"
6229
6230Huck said:
6231
6232"I can't--I'd die if they was to wake."
6233
6234Tom urged--Huck held back. At last Tom rose slowly and softly, and
6235started alone. But the first step he made wrung such a hideous creak
6236from the crazy floor that he sank down almost dead with fright. He
6237never made a second attempt. The boys lay there counting the dragging
6238moments till it seemed to them that time must be done and eternity
6239growing gray; and then they were grateful to note that at last the sun
6240was setting.
6241
6242Now one snore ceased. Injun Joe sat up, stared around--smiled grimly
6243upon his comrade, whose head was drooping upon his knees--stirred him
6244up with his foot and said:
6245
6246"Here! YOU'RE a watchman, ain't you! All right, though--nothing's
6247happened."
6248
6249"My! have I been asleep?"
6250
6251"Oh, partly, partly. Nearly time for us to be moving, pard. What'll we
6252do with what little swag we've got left?"
6253
6254"I don't know--leave it here as we've always done, I reckon. No use to
6255take it away till we start south. Six hundred and fifty in silver's
6256something to carry."
6257
6258"Well--all right--it won't matter to come here once more."
6259
6260"No--but I'd say come in the night as we used to do--it's better."
6261
6262"Yes: but look here; it may be a good while before I get the right
6263chance at that job; accidents might happen; 'tain't in such a very good
6264place; we'll just regularly bury it--and bury it deep."
6265
6266"Good idea," said the comrade, who walked across the room, knelt down,
6267raised one of the rearward hearth-stones and took out a bag that
6268jingled pleasantly. He subtracted from it twenty or thirty dollars for
6269himself and as much for Injun Joe, and passed the bag to the latter,
6270who was on his knees in the corner, now, digging with his bowie-knife.
6271
6272The boys forgot all their fears, all their miseries in an instant.
6273With gloating eyes they watched every movement. Luck!--the splendor of
6274it was beyond all imagination! Six hundred dollars was money enough to
6275make half a dozen boys rich! Here was treasure-hunting under the
6276happiest auspices--there would not be any bothersome uncertainty as to
6277where to dig. They nudged each other every moment--eloquent nudges and
6278easily understood, for they simply meant--"Oh, but ain't you glad NOW
6279we're here!"
6280
6281Joe's knife struck upon something.
6282
6283"Hello!" said he.
6284
6285"What is it?" said his comrade.
6286
6287"Half-rotten plank--no, it's a box, I believe. Here--bear a hand and
6288we'll see what it's here for. Never mind, I've broke a hole."
6289
6290He reached his hand in and drew it out--
6291
6292"Man, it's money!"
6293
6294The two men examined the handful of coins. They were gold. The boys
6295above were as excited as themselves, and as delighted.
6296
6297Joe's comrade said:
6298
6299"We'll make quick work of this. There's an old rusty pick over amongst
6300the weeds in the corner the other side of the fireplace--I saw it a
6301minute ago."
6302
6303He ran and brought the boys' pick and shovel. Injun Joe took the pick,
6304looked it over critically, shook his head, muttered something to
6305himself, and then began to use it. The box was soon unearthed. It was
6306not very large; it was iron bound and had been very strong before the
6307slow years had injured it. The men contemplated the treasure awhile in
6308blissful silence.
6309
6310"Pard, there's thousands of dollars here," said Injun Joe.
6311
6312"'Twas always said that Murrel's gang used to be around here one
6313summer," the stranger observed.
6314
6315"I know it," said Injun Joe; "and this looks like it, I should say."
6316
6317"Now you won't need to do that job."
6318
6319The half-breed frowned. Said he:
6320
6321"You don't know me. Least you don't know all about that thing. 'Tain't
6322robbery altogether--it's REVENGE!" and a wicked light flamed in his
6323eyes. "I'll need your help in it. When it's finished--then Texas. Go
6324home to your Nance and your kids, and stand by till you hear from me."
6325
6326"Well--if you say so; what'll we do with this--bury it again?"
6327
6328"Yes. [Ravishing delight overhead.] NO! by the great Sachem, no!
6329[Profound distress overhead.] I'd nearly forgot. That pick had fresh
6330earth on it! [The boys were sick with terror in a moment.] What
6331business has a pick and a shovel here? What business with fresh earth
6332on them? Who brought them here--and where are they gone? Have you heard
6333anybody?--seen anybody? What! bury it again and leave them to come and
6334see the ground disturbed? Not exactly--not exactly. We'll take it to my
6335den."
6336
6337"Why, of course! Might have thought of that before. You mean Number
6338One?"
6339
6340"No--Number Two--under the cross. The other place is bad--too common."
6341
6342"All right. It's nearly dark enough to start."
6343
6344Injun Joe got up and went about from window to window cautiously
6345peeping out. Presently he said:
6346
6347"Who could have brought those tools here? Do you reckon they can be
6348up-stairs?"
6349
6350The boys' breath forsook them. Injun Joe put his hand on his knife,
6351halted a moment, undecided, and then turned toward the stairway. The
6352boys thought of the closet, but their strength was gone. The steps came
6353creaking up the stairs--the intolerable distress of the situation woke
6354the stricken resolution of the lads--they were about to spring for the
6355closet, when there was a crash of rotten timbers and Injun Joe landed
6356on the ground amid the debris of the ruined stairway. He gathered
6357himself up cursing, and his comrade said:
6358
6359"Now what's the use of all that? If it's anybody, and they're up
6360there, let them STAY there--who cares? If they want to jump down, now,
6361and get into trouble, who objects? It will be dark in fifteen minutes
6362--and then let them follow us if they want to. I'm willing. In my
6363opinion, whoever hove those things in here caught a sight of us and
6364took us for ghosts or devils or something. I'll bet they're running
6365yet."
6366
6367Joe grumbled awhile; then he agreed with his friend that what daylight
6368was left ought to be economized in getting things ready for leaving.
6369Shortly afterward they slipped out of the house in the deepening
6370twilight, and moved toward the river with their precious box.
6371
6372Tom and Huck rose up, weak but vastly relieved, and stared after them
6373through the chinks between the logs of the house. Follow? Not they.
6374They were content to reach ground again without broken necks, and take
6375the townward track over the hill. They did not talk much. They were too
6376much absorbed in hating themselves--hating the ill luck that made them
6377take the spade and the pick there. But for that, Injun Joe never would
6378have suspected. He would have hidden the silver with the gold to wait
6379there till his "revenge" was satisfied, and then he would have had the
6380misfortune to find that money turn up missing. Bitter, bitter luck that
6381the tools were ever brought there!
6382
6383They resolved to keep a lookout for that Spaniard when he should come
6384to town spying out for chances to do his revengeful job, and follow him
6385to "Number Two," wherever that might be. Then a ghastly thought
6386occurred to Tom.
6387
6388"Revenge? What if he means US, Huck!"
6389
6390"Oh, don't!" said Huck, nearly fainting.
6391
6392They talked it all over, and as they entered town they agreed to
6393believe that he might possibly mean somebody else--at least that he
6394might at least mean nobody but Tom, since only Tom had testified.
6395
6396Very, very small comfort it was to Tom to be alone in danger! Company
6397would be a palpable improvement, he thought.
6398
6399
6400
6401CHAPTER XXVII
6402
6403THE adventure of the day mightily tormented Tom's dreams that night.
6404Four times he had his hands on that rich treasure and four times it
6405wasted to nothingness in his fingers as sleep forsook him and
6406wakefulness brought back the hard reality of his misfortune. As he lay
6407in the early morning recalling the incidents of his great adventure, he
6408noticed that they seemed curiously subdued and far away--somewhat as if
6409they had happened in another world, or in a time long gone by. Then it
6410occurred to him that the great adventure itself must be a dream! There
6411was one very strong argument in favor of this idea--namely, that the
6412quantity of coin he had seen was too vast to be real. He had never seen
6413as much as fifty dollars in one mass before, and he was like all boys
6414of his age and station in life, in that he imagined that all references
6415to "hundreds" and "thousands" were mere fanciful forms of speech, and
6416that no such sums really existed in the world. He never had supposed
6417for a moment that so large a sum as a hundred dollars was to be found
6418in actual money in any one's possession. If his notions of hidden
6419treasure had been analyzed, they would have been found to consist of a
6420handful of real dimes and a bushel of vague, splendid, ungraspable
6421dollars.
6422
6423But the incidents of his adventure grew sensibly sharper and clearer
6424under the attrition of thinking them over, and so he presently found
6425himself leaning to the impression that the thing might not have been a
6426dream, after all. This uncertainty must be swept away. He would snatch
6427a hurried breakfast and go and find Huck. Huck was sitting on the
6428gunwale of a flatboat, listlessly dangling his feet in the water and
6429looking very melancholy. Tom concluded to let Huck lead up to the
6430subject. If he did not do it, then the adventure would be proved to
6431have been only a dream.
6432
6433"Hello, Huck!"
6434
6435"Hello, yourself."
6436
6437Silence, for a minute.
6438
6439"Tom, if we'd 'a' left the blame tools at the dead tree, we'd 'a' got
6440the money. Oh, ain't it awful!"
6441
6442"'Tain't a dream, then, 'tain't a dream! Somehow I most wish it was.
6443Dog'd if I don't, Huck."
6444
6445"What ain't a dream?"
6446
6447"Oh, that thing yesterday. I been half thinking it was."
6448
6449"Dream! If them stairs hadn't broke down you'd 'a' seen how much dream
6450it was! I've had dreams enough all night--with that patch-eyed Spanish
6451devil going for me all through 'em--rot him!"
6452
6453"No, not rot him. FIND him! Track the money!"
6454
6455"Tom, we'll never find him. A feller don't have only one chance for
6456such a pile--and that one's lost. I'd feel mighty shaky if I was to see
6457him, anyway."
6458
6459"Well, so'd I; but I'd like to see him, anyway--and track him out--to
6460his Number Two."
6461
6462"Number Two--yes, that's it. I been thinking 'bout that. But I can't
6463make nothing out of it. What do you reckon it is?"
6464
6465"I dono. It's too deep. Say, Huck--maybe it's the number of a house!"
6466
6467"Goody!... No, Tom, that ain't it. If it is, it ain't in this
6468one-horse town. They ain't no numbers here."
6469
6470"Well, that's so. Lemme think a minute. Here--it's the number of a
6471room--in a tavern, you know!"
6472
6473"Oh, that's the trick! They ain't only two taverns. We can find out
6474quick."
6475
6476"You stay here, Huck, till I come."
6477
6478Tom was off at once. He did not care to have Huck's company in public
6479places. He was gone half an hour. He found that in the best tavern, No.
64802 had long been occupied by a young lawyer, and was still so occupied.
6481In the less ostentatious house, No. 2 was a mystery. The
6482tavern-keeper's young son said it was kept locked all the time, and he
6483never saw anybody go into it or come out of it except at night; he did
6484not know any particular reason for this state of things; had had some
6485little curiosity, but it was rather feeble; had made the most of the
6486mystery by entertaining himself with the idea that that room was
6487"ha'nted"; had noticed that there was a light in there the night before.
6488
6489"That's what I've found out, Huck. I reckon that's the very No. 2
6490we're after."
6491
6492"I reckon it is, Tom. Now what you going to do?"
6493
6494"Lemme think."
6495
6496Tom thought a long time. Then he said:
6497
6498"I'll tell you. The back door of that No. 2 is the door that comes out
6499into that little close alley between the tavern and the old rattle trap
6500of a brick store. Now you get hold of all the door-keys you can find,
6501and I'll nip all of auntie's, and the first dark night we'll go there
6502and try 'em. And mind you, keep a lookout for Injun Joe, because he
6503said he was going to drop into town and spy around once more for a
6504chance to get his revenge. If you see him, you just follow him; and if
6505he don't go to that No. 2, that ain't the place."
6506
6507"Lordy, I don't want to foller him by myself!"
6508
6509"Why, it'll be night, sure. He mightn't ever see you--and if he did,
6510maybe he'd never think anything."
6511
6512"Well, if it's pretty dark I reckon I'll track him. I dono--I dono.
6513I'll try."
6514
6515"You bet I'll follow him, if it's dark, Huck. Why, he might 'a' found
6516out he couldn't get his revenge, and be going right after that money."
6517
6518"It's so, Tom, it's so. I'll foller him; I will, by jingoes!"
6519
6520"Now you're TALKING! Don't you ever weaken, Huck, and I won't."
6521
6522
6523
6524CHAPTER XXVIII
6525
6526THAT night Tom and Huck were ready for their adventure. They hung
6527about the neighborhood of the tavern until after nine, one watching the
6528alley at a distance and the other the tavern door. Nobody entered the
6529alley or left it; nobody resembling the Spaniard entered or left the
6530tavern door. The night promised to be a fair one; so Tom went home with
6531the understanding that if a considerable degree of darkness came on,
6532Huck was to come and "maow," whereupon he would slip out and try the
6533keys. But the night remained clear, and Huck closed his watch and
6534retired to bed in an empty sugar hogshead about twelve.
6535
6536Tuesday the boys had the same ill luck. Also Wednesday. But Thursday
6537night promised better. Tom slipped out in good season with his aunt's
6538old tin lantern, and a large towel to blindfold it with. He hid the
6539lantern in Huck's sugar hogshead and the watch began. An hour before
6540midnight the tavern closed up and its lights (the only ones
6541thereabouts) were put out. No Spaniard had been seen. Nobody had
6542entered or left the alley. Everything was auspicious. The blackness of
6543darkness reigned, the perfect stillness was interrupted only by
6544occasional mutterings of distant thunder.
6545
6546Tom got his lantern, lit it in the hogshead, wrapped it closely in the
6547towel, and the two adventurers crept in the gloom toward the tavern.
6548Huck stood sentry and Tom felt his way into the alley. Then there was a
6549season of waiting anxiety that weighed upon Huck's spirits like a
6550mountain. He began to wish he could see a flash from the lantern--it
6551would frighten him, but it would at least tell him that Tom was alive
6552yet. It seemed hours since Tom had disappeared. Surely he must have
6553fainted; maybe he was dead; maybe his heart had burst under terror and
6554excitement. In his uneasiness Huck found himself drawing closer and
6555closer to the alley; fearing all sorts of dreadful things, and
6556momentarily expecting some catastrophe to happen that would take away
6557his breath. There was not much to take away, for he seemed only able to
6558inhale it by thimblefuls, and his heart would soon wear itself out, the
6559way it was beating. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Tom came
6560tearing by him: "Run!" said he; "run, for your life!"
6561
6562He needn't have repeated it; once was enough; Huck was making thirty
6563or forty miles an hour before the repetition was uttered. The boys
6564never stopped till they reached the shed of a deserted slaughter-house
6565at the lower end of the village. Just as they got within its shelter
6566the storm burst and the rain poured down. As soon as Tom got his breath
6567he said:
6568
6569"Huck, it was awful! I tried two of the keys, just as soft as I could;
6570but they seemed to make such a power of racket that I couldn't hardly
6571get my breath I was so scared. They wouldn't turn in the lock, either.
6572Well, without noticing what I was doing, I took hold of the knob, and
6573open comes the door! It warn't locked! I hopped in, and shook off the
6574towel, and, GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST!"
6575
6576"What!--what'd you see, Tom?"
6577
6578"Huck, I most stepped onto Injun Joe's hand!"
6579
6580"No!"
6581
6582"Yes! He was lying there, sound asleep on the floor, with his old
6583patch on his eye and his arms spread out."
6584
6585"Lordy, what did you do? Did he wake up?"
6586
6587"No, never budged. Drunk, I reckon. I just grabbed that towel and
6588started!"
6589
6590"I'd never 'a' thought of the towel, I bet!"
6591
6592"Well, I would. My aunt would make me mighty sick if I lost it."
6593
6594"Say, Tom, did you see that box?"
6595
6596"Huck, I didn't wait to look around. I didn't see the box, I didn't
6597see the cross. I didn't see anything but a bottle and a tin cup on the
6598floor by Injun Joe; yes, I saw two barrels and lots more bottles in the
6599room. Don't you see, now, what's the matter with that ha'nted room?"
6600
6601"How?"
6602
6603"Why, it's ha'nted with whiskey! Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have
6604got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?"
6605
6606"Well, I reckon maybe that's so. Who'd 'a' thought such a thing? But
6607say, Tom, now's a mighty good time to get that box, if Injun Joe's
6608drunk."
6609
6610"It is, that! You try it!"
6611
6612Huck shuddered.
6613
6614"Well, no--I reckon not."
6615
6616"And I reckon not, Huck. Only one bottle alongside of Injun Joe ain't
6617enough. If there'd been three, he'd be drunk enough and I'd do it."
6618
6619There was a long pause for reflection, and then Tom said:
6620
6621"Lookyhere, Huck, less not try that thing any more till we know Injun
6622Joe's not in there. It's too scary. Now, if we watch every night, we'll
6623be dead sure to see him go out, some time or other, and then we'll
6624snatch that box quicker'n lightning."
6625
6626"Well, I'm agreed. I'll watch the whole night long, and I'll do it
6627every night, too, if you'll do the other part of the job."
6628
6629"All right, I will. All you got to do is to trot up Hooper Street a
6630block and maow--and if I'm asleep, you throw some gravel at the window
6631and that'll fetch me."
6632
6633"Agreed, and good as wheat!"
6634
6635"Now, Huck, the storm's over, and I'll go home. It'll begin to be
6636daylight in a couple of hours. You go back and watch that long, will
6637you?"
6638
6639"I said I would, Tom, and I will. I'll ha'nt that tavern every night
6640for a year! I'll sleep all day and I'll stand watch all night."
6641
6642"That's all right. Now, where you going to sleep?"
6643
6644"In Ben Rogers' hayloft. He lets me, and so does his pap's nigger man,
6645Uncle Jake. I tote water for Uncle Jake whenever he wants me to, and
6646any time I ask him he gives me a little something to eat if he can
6647spare it. That's a mighty good nigger, Tom. He likes me, becuz I don't
6648ever act as if I was above him. Sometime I've set right down and eat
6649WITH him. But you needn't tell that. A body's got to do things when
6650he's awful hungry he wouldn't want to do as a steady thing."
6651
6652"Well, if I don't want you in the daytime, I'll let you sleep. I won't
6653come bothering around. Any time you see something's up, in the night,
6654just skip right around and maow."
6655
6656
6657
6658CHAPTER XXIX
6659
6660THE first thing Tom heard on Friday morning was a glad piece of news
6661--Judge Thatcher's family had come back to town the night before. Both
6662Injun Joe and the treasure sunk into secondary importance for a moment,
6663and Becky took the chief place in the boy's interest. He saw her and
6664they had an exhausting good time playing "hi-spy" and "gully-keeper"
6665with a crowd of their school-mates. The day was completed and crowned
6666in a peculiarly satisfactory way: Becky teased her mother to appoint
6667the next day for the long-promised and long-delayed picnic, and she
6668consented. The child's delight was boundless; and Tom's not more
6669moderate. The invitations were sent out before sunset, and straightway
6670the young folks of the village were thrown into a fever of preparation
6671and pleasurable anticipation. Tom's excitement enabled him to keep
6672awake until a pretty late hour, and he had good hopes of hearing Huck's
6673"maow," and of having his treasure to astonish Becky and the picnickers
6674with, next day; but he was disappointed. No signal came that night.
6675
6676Morning came, eventually, and by ten or eleven o'clock a giddy and
6677rollicking company were gathered at Judge Thatcher's, and everything
6678was ready for a start. It was not the custom for elderly people to mar
6679the picnics with their presence. The children were considered safe
6680enough under the wings of a few young ladies of eighteen and a few
6681young gentlemen of twenty-three or thereabouts. The old steam ferryboat
6682was chartered for the occasion; presently the gay throng filed up the
6683main street laden with provision-baskets. Sid was sick and had to miss
6684the fun; Mary remained at home to entertain him. The last thing Mrs.
6685Thatcher said to Becky, was:
6686
6687"You'll not get back till late. Perhaps you'd better stay all night
6688with some of the girls that live near the ferry-landing, child."
6689
6690"Then I'll stay with Susy Harper, mamma."
6691
6692"Very well. And mind and behave yourself and don't be any trouble."
6693
6694Presently, as they tripped along, Tom said to Becky:
6695
6696"Say--I'll tell you what we'll do. 'Stead of going to Joe Harper's
6697we'll climb right up the hill and stop at the Widow Douglas'. She'll
6698have ice-cream! She has it most every day--dead loads of it. And she'll
6699be awful glad to have us."
6700
6701"Oh, that will be fun!"
6702
6703Then Becky reflected a moment and said:
6704
6705"But what will mamma say?"
6706
6707"How'll she ever know?"
6708
6709The girl turned the idea over in her mind, and said reluctantly:
6710
6711"I reckon it's wrong--but--"
6712
6713"But shucks! Your mother won't know, and so what's the harm? All she
6714wants is that you'll be safe; and I bet you she'd 'a' said go there if
6715she'd 'a' thought of it. I know she would!"
6716
6717The Widow Douglas' splendid hospitality was a tempting bait. It and
6718Tom's persuasions presently carried the day. So it was decided to say
6719nothing anybody about the night's programme. Presently it occurred to
6720Tom that maybe Huck might come this very night and give the signal. The
6721thought took a deal of the spirit out of his anticipations. Still he
6722could not bear to give up the fun at Widow Douglas'. And why should he
6723give it up, he reasoned--the signal did not come the night before, so
6724why should it be any more likely to come to-night? The sure fun of the
6725evening outweighed the uncertain treasure; and, boy-like, he determined
6726to yield to the stronger inclination and not allow himself to think of
6727the box of money another time that day.
6728
6729Three miles below town the ferryboat stopped at the mouth of a woody
6730hollow and tied up. The crowd swarmed ashore and soon the forest
6731distances and craggy heights echoed far and near with shoutings and
6732laughter. All the different ways of getting hot and tired were gone
6733through with, and by-and-by the rovers straggled back to camp fortified
6734with responsible appetites, and then the destruction of the good things
6735began. After the feast there was a refreshing season of rest and chat
6736in the shade of spreading oaks. By-and-by somebody shouted:
6737
6738"Who's ready for the cave?"
6739
6740Everybody was. Bundles of candles were procured, and straightway there
6741was a general scamper up the hill. The mouth of the cave was up the
6742hillside--an opening shaped like a letter A. Its massive oaken door
6743stood unbarred. Within was a small chamber, chilly as an ice-house, and
6744walled by Nature with solid limestone that was dewy with a cold sweat.
6745It was romantic and mysterious to stand here in the deep gloom and look
6746out upon the green valley shining in the sun. But the impressiveness of
6747the situation quickly wore off, and the romping began again. The moment
6748a candle was lighted there was a general rush upon the owner of it; a
6749struggle and a gallant defence followed, but the candle was soon
6750knocked down or blown out, and then there was a glad clamor of laughter
6751and a new chase. But all things have an end. By-and-by the procession
6752went filing down the steep descent of the main avenue, the flickering
6753rank of lights dimly revealing the lofty walls of rock almost to their
6754point of junction sixty feet overhead. This main avenue was not more
6755than eight or ten feet wide. Every few steps other lofty and still
6756narrower crevices branched from it on either hand--for McDougal's cave
6757was but a vast labyrinth of crooked aisles that ran into each other and
6758out again and led nowhere. It was said that one might wander days and
6759nights together through its intricate tangle of rifts and chasms, and
6760never find the end of the cave; and that he might go down, and down,
6761and still down, into the earth, and it was just the same--labyrinth
6762under labyrinth, and no end to any of them. No man "knew" the cave.
6763That was an impossible thing. Most of the young men knew a portion of
6764it, and it was not customary to venture much beyond this known portion.
6765Tom Sawyer knew as much of the cave as any one.
6766
6767The procession moved along the main avenue some three-quarters of a
6768mile, and then groups and couples began to slip aside into branch
6769avenues, fly along the dismal corridors, and take each other by
6770surprise at points where the corridors joined again. Parties were able
6771to elude each other for the space of half an hour without going beyond
6772the "known" ground.
6773
6774By-and-by, one group after another came straggling back to the mouth
6775of the cave, panting, hilarious, smeared from head to foot with tallow
6776drippings, daubed with clay, and entirely delighted with the success of
6777the day. Then they were astonished to find that they had been taking no
6778note of time and that night was about at hand. The clanging bell had
6779been calling for half an hour. However, this sort of close to the day's
6780adventures was romantic and therefore satisfactory. When the ferryboat
6781with her wild freight pushed into the stream, nobody cared sixpence for
6782the wasted time but the captain of the craft.
6783
6784Huck was already upon his watch when the ferryboat's lights went
6785glinting past the wharf. He heard no noise on board, for the young
6786people were as subdued and still as people usually are who are nearly
6787tired to death. He wondered what boat it was, and why she did not stop
6788at the wharf--and then he dropped her out of his mind and put his
6789attention upon his business. The night was growing cloudy and dark. Ten
6790o'clock came, and the noise of vehicles ceased, scattered lights began
6791to wink out, all straggling foot-passengers disappeared, the village
6792betook itself to its slumbers and left the small watcher alone with the
6793silence and the ghosts. Eleven o'clock came, and the tavern lights were
6794put out; darkness everywhere, now. Huck waited what seemed a weary long
6795time, but nothing happened. His faith was weakening. Was there any use?
6796Was there really any use? Why not give it up and turn in?
6797
6798A noise fell upon his ear. He was all attention in an instant. The
6799alley door closed softly. He sprang to the corner of the brick store.
6800The next moment two men brushed by him, and one seemed to have
6801something under his arm. It must be that box! So they were going to
6802remove the treasure. Why call Tom now? It would be absurd--the men
6803would get away with the box and never be found again. No, he would
6804stick to their wake and follow them; he would trust to the darkness for
6805security from discovery. So communing with himself, Huck stepped out
6806and glided along behind the men, cat-like, with bare feet, allowing
6807them to keep just far enough ahead not to be invisible.
6808
6809They moved up the river street three blocks, then turned to the left
6810up a cross-street. They went straight ahead, then, until they came to
6811the path that led up Cardiff Hill; this they took. They passed by the
6812old Welshman's house, half-way up the hill, without hesitating, and
6813still climbed upward. Good, thought Huck, they will bury it in the old
6814quarry. But they never stopped at the quarry. They passed on, up the
6815summit. They plunged into the narrow path between the tall sumach
6816bushes, and were at once hidden in the gloom. Huck closed up and
6817shortened his distance, now, for they would never be able to see him.
6818He trotted along awhile; then slackened his pace, fearing he was
6819gaining too fast; moved on a piece, then stopped altogether; listened;
6820no sound; none, save that he seemed to hear the beating of his own
6821heart. The hooting of an owl came over the hill--ominous sound! But no
6822footsteps. Heavens, was everything lost! He was about to spring with
6823winged feet, when a man cleared his throat not four feet from him!
6824Huck's heart shot into his throat, but he swallowed it again; and then
6825he stood there shaking as if a dozen agues had taken charge of him at
6826once, and so weak that he thought he must surely fall to the ground. He
6827knew where he was. He knew he was within five steps of the stile
6828leading into Widow Douglas' grounds. Very well, he thought, let them
6829bury it there; it won't be hard to find.
6830
6831Now there was a voice--a very low voice--Injun Joe's:
6832
6833"Damn her, maybe she's got company--there's lights, late as it is."
6834
6835"I can't see any."
6836
6837This was that stranger's voice--the stranger of the haunted house. A
6838deadly chill went to Huck's heart--this, then, was the "revenge" job!
6839His thought was, to fly. Then he remembered that the Widow Douglas had
6840been kind to him more than once, and maybe these men were going to
6841murder her. He wished he dared venture to warn her; but he knew he
6842didn't dare--they might come and catch him. He thought all this and
6843more in the moment that elapsed between the stranger's remark and Injun
6844Joe's next--which was--
6845
6846"Because the bush is in your way. Now--this way--now you see, don't
6847you?"
6848
6849"Yes. Well, there IS company there, I reckon. Better give it up."
6850
6851"Give it up, and I just leaving this country forever! Give it up and
6852maybe never have another chance. I tell you again, as I've told you
6853before, I don't care for her swag--you may have it. But her husband was
6854rough on me--many times he was rough on me--and mainly he was the
6855justice of the peace that jugged me for a vagrant. And that ain't all.
6856It ain't a millionth part of it! He had me HORSEWHIPPED!--horsewhipped
6857in front of the jail, like a nigger!--with all the town looking on!
6858HORSEWHIPPED!--do you understand? He took advantage of me and died. But
6859I'll take it out of HER."
6860
6861"Oh, don't kill her! Don't do that!"
6862
6863"Kill? Who said anything about killing? I would kill HIM if he was
6864here; but not her. When you want to get revenge on a woman you don't
6865kill her--bosh! you go for her looks. You slit her nostrils--you notch
6866her ears like a sow!"
6867
6868"By God, that's--"
6869
6870"Keep your opinion to yourself! It will be safest for you. I'll tie
6871her to the bed. If she bleeds to death, is that my fault? I'll not cry,
6872if she does. My friend, you'll help me in this thing--for MY sake
6873--that's why you're here--I mightn't be able alone. If you flinch, I'll
6874kill you. Do you understand that? And if I have to kill you, I'll kill
6875her--and then I reckon nobody'll ever know much about who done this
6876business."
6877
6878"Well, if it's got to be done, let's get at it. The quicker the
6879better--I'm all in a shiver."
6880
6881"Do it NOW? And company there? Look here--I'll get suspicious of you,
6882first thing you know. No--we'll wait till the lights are out--there's
6883no hurry."
6884
6885Huck felt that a silence was going to ensue--a thing still more awful
6886than any amount of murderous talk; so he held his breath and stepped
6887gingerly back; planted his foot carefully and firmly, after balancing,
6888one-legged, in a precarious way and almost toppling over, first on one
6889side and then on the other. He took another step back, with the same
6890elaboration and the same risks; then another and another, and--a twig
6891snapped under his foot! His breath stopped and he listened. There was
6892no sound--the stillness was perfect. His gratitude was measureless. Now
6893he turned in his tracks, between the walls of sumach bushes--turned
6894himself as carefully as if he were a ship--and then stepped quickly but
6895cautiously along. When he emerged at the quarry he felt secure, and so
6896he picked up his nimble heels and flew. Down, down he sped, till he
6897reached the Welshman's. He banged at the door, and presently the heads
6898of the old man and his two stalwart sons were thrust from windows.
6899
6900"What's the row there? Who's banging? What do you want?"
6901
6902"Let me in--quick! I'll tell everything."
6903
6904"Why, who are you?"
6905
6906"Huckleberry Finn--quick, let me in!"
6907
6908"Huckleberry Finn, indeed! It ain't a name to open many doors, I
6909judge! But let him in, lads, and let's see what's the trouble."
6910
6911"Please don't ever tell I told you," were Huck's first words when he
6912got in. "Please don't--I'd be killed, sure--but the widow's been good
6913friends to me sometimes, and I want to tell--I WILL tell if you'll
6914promise you won't ever say it was me."
6915
6916"By George, he HAS got something to tell, or he wouldn't act so!"
6917exclaimed the old man; "out with it and nobody here'll ever tell, lad."
6918
6919Three minutes later the old man and his sons, well armed, were up the
6920hill, and just entering the sumach path on tiptoe, their weapons in
6921their hands. Huck accompanied them no further. He hid behind a great
6922bowlder and fell to listening. There was a lagging, anxious silence,
6923and then all of a sudden there was an explosion of firearms and a cry.
6924
6925Huck waited for no particulars. He sprang away and sped down the hill
6926as fast as his legs could carry him.
6927
6928
6929
6930CHAPTER XXX
6931
6932AS the earliest suspicion of dawn appeared on Sunday morning, Huck
6933came groping up the hill and rapped gently at the old Welshman's door.
6934The inmates were asleep, but it was a sleep that was set on a
6935hair-trigger, on account of the exciting episode of the night. A call
6936came from a window:
6937
6938"Who's there!"
6939
6940Huck's scared voice answered in a low tone:
6941
6942"Please let me in! It's only Huck Finn!"
6943
6944"It's a name that can open this door night or day, lad!--and welcome!"
6945
6946These were strange words to the vagabond boy's ears, and the
6947pleasantest he had ever heard. He could not recollect that the closing
6948word had ever been applied in his case before. The door was quickly
6949unlocked, and he entered. Huck was given a seat and the old man and his
6950brace of tall sons speedily dressed themselves.
6951
6952"Now, my boy, I hope you're good and hungry, because breakfast will be
6953ready as soon as the sun's up, and we'll have a piping hot one, too
6954--make yourself easy about that! I and the boys hoped you'd turn up and
6955stop here last night."
6956
6957"I was awful scared," said Huck, "and I run. I took out when the
6958pistols went off, and I didn't stop for three mile. I've come now becuz
6959I wanted to know about it, you know; and I come before daylight becuz I
6960didn't want to run across them devils, even if they was dead."
6961
6962"Well, poor chap, you do look as if you'd had a hard night of it--but
6963there's a bed here for you when you've had your breakfast. No, they
6964ain't dead, lad--we are sorry enough for that. You see we knew right
6965where to put our hands on them, by your description; so we crept along
6966on tiptoe till we got within fifteen feet of them--dark as a cellar
6967that sumach path was--and just then I found I was going to sneeze. It
6968was the meanest kind of luck! I tried to keep it back, but no use
6969--'twas bound to come, and it did come! I was in the lead with my pistol
6970raised, and when the sneeze started those scoundrels a-rustling to get
6971out of the path, I sung out, 'Fire boys!' and blazed away at the place
6972where the rustling was. So did the boys. But they were off in a jiffy,
6973those villains, and we after them, down through the woods. I judge we
6974never touched them. They fired a shot apiece as they started, but their
6975bullets whizzed by and didn't do us any harm. As soon as we lost the
6976sound of their feet we quit chasing, and went down and stirred up the
6977constables. They got a posse together, and went off to guard the river
6978bank, and as soon as it is light the sheriff and a gang are going to
6979beat up the woods. My boys will be with them presently. I wish we had
6980some sort of description of those rascals--'twould help a good deal.
6981But you couldn't see what they were like, in the dark, lad, I suppose?"
6982
6983"Oh yes; I saw them down-town and follered them."
6984
6985"Splendid! Describe them--describe them, my boy!"
6986
6987"One's the old deaf and dumb Spaniard that's ben around here once or
6988twice, and t'other's a mean-looking, ragged--"
6989
6990"That's enough, lad, we know the men! Happened on them in the woods
6991back of the widow's one day, and they slunk away. Off with you, boys,
6992and tell the sheriff--get your breakfast to-morrow morning!"
6993
6994The Welshman's sons departed at once. As they were leaving the room
6995Huck sprang up and exclaimed:
6996
6997"Oh, please don't tell ANYbody it was me that blowed on them! Oh,
6998please!"
6999
7000"All right if you say it, Huck, but you ought to have the credit of
7001what you did."
7002
7003"Oh no, no! Please don't tell!"
7004
7005When the young men were gone, the old Welshman said:
7006
7007"They won't tell--and I won't. But why don't you want it known?"
7008
7009Huck would not explain, further than to say that he already knew too
7010much about one of those men and would not have the man know that he
7011knew anything against him for the whole world--he would be killed for
7012knowing it, sure.
7013
7014The old man promised secrecy once more, and said:
7015
7016"How did you come to follow these fellows, lad? Were they looking
7017suspicious?"
7018
7019Huck was silent while he framed a duly cautious reply. Then he said:
7020
7021"Well, you see, I'm a kind of a hard lot,--least everybody says so,
7022and I don't see nothing agin it--and sometimes I can't sleep much, on
7023account of thinking about it and sort of trying to strike out a new way
7024of doing. That was the way of it last night. I couldn't sleep, and so I
7025come along up-street 'bout midnight, a-turning it all over, and when I
7026got to that old shackly brick store by the Temperance Tavern, I backed
7027up agin the wall to have another think. Well, just then along comes
7028these two chaps slipping along close by me, with something under their
7029arm, and I reckoned they'd stole it. One was a-smoking, and t'other one
7030wanted a light; so they stopped right before me and the cigars lit up
7031their faces and I see that the big one was the deaf and dumb Spaniard,
7032by his white whiskers and the patch on his eye, and t'other one was a
7033rusty, ragged-looking devil."
7034
7035"Could you see the rags by the light of the cigars?"
7036
7037This staggered Huck for a moment. Then he said:
7038
7039"Well, I don't know--but somehow it seems as if I did."
7040
7041"Then they went on, and you--"
7042
7043"Follered 'em--yes. That was it. I wanted to see what was up--they
7044sneaked along so. I dogged 'em to the widder's stile, and stood in the
7045dark and heard the ragged one beg for the widder, and the Spaniard
7046swear he'd spile her looks just as I told you and your two--"
7047
7048"What! The DEAF AND DUMB man said all that!"
7049
7050Huck had made another terrible mistake! He was trying his best to keep
7051the old man from getting the faintest hint of who the Spaniard might
7052be, and yet his tongue seemed determined to get him into trouble in
7053spite of all he could do. He made several efforts to creep out of his
7054scrape, but the old man's eye was upon him and he made blunder after
7055blunder. Presently the Welshman said:
7056
7057"My boy, don't be afraid of me. I wouldn't hurt a hair of your head
7058for all the world. No--I'd protect you--I'd protect you. This Spaniard
7059is not deaf and dumb; you've let that slip without intending it; you
7060can't cover that up now. You know something about that Spaniard that
7061you want to keep dark. Now trust me--tell me what it is, and trust me
7062--I won't betray you."
7063
7064Huck looked into the old man's honest eyes a moment, then bent over
7065and whispered in his ear:
7066
7067"'Tain't a Spaniard--it's Injun Joe!"
7068
7069The Welshman almost jumped out of his chair. In a moment he said:
7070
7071"It's all plain enough, now. When you talked about notching ears and
7072slitting noses I judged that that was your own embellishment, because
7073white men don't take that sort of revenge. But an Injun! That's a
7074different matter altogether."
7075
7076During breakfast the talk went on, and in the course of it the old man
7077said that the last thing which he and his sons had done, before going
7078to bed, was to get a lantern and examine the stile and its vicinity for
7079marks of blood. They found none, but captured a bulky bundle of--
7080
7081"Of WHAT?"
7082
7083If the words had been lightning they could not have leaped with a more
7084stunning suddenness from Huck's blanched lips. His eyes were staring
7085wide, now, and his breath suspended--waiting for the answer. The
7086Welshman started--stared in return--three seconds--five seconds--ten
7087--then replied:
7088
7089"Of burglar's tools. Why, what's the MATTER with you?"
7090
7091Huck sank back, panting gently, but deeply, unutterably grateful. The
7092Welshman eyed him gravely, curiously--and presently said:
7093
7094"Yes, burglar's tools. That appears to relieve you a good deal. But
7095what did give you that turn? What were YOU expecting we'd found?"
7096
7097Huck was in a close place--the inquiring eye was upon him--he would
7098have given anything for material for a plausible answer--nothing
7099suggested itself--the inquiring eye was boring deeper and deeper--a
7100senseless reply offered--there was no time to weigh it, so at a venture
7101he uttered it--feebly:
7102
7103"Sunday-school books, maybe."
7104
7105Poor Huck was too distressed to smile, but the old man laughed loud
7106and joyously, shook up the details of his anatomy from head to foot,
7107and ended by saying that such a laugh was money in a-man's pocket,
7108because it cut down the doctor's bill like everything. Then he added:
7109
7110"Poor old chap, you're white and jaded--you ain't well a bit--no
7111wonder you're a little flighty and off your balance. But you'll come
7112out of it. Rest and sleep will fetch you out all right, I hope."
7113
7114Huck was irritated to think he had been such a goose and betrayed such
7115a suspicious excitement, for he had dropped the idea that the parcel
7116brought from the tavern was the treasure, as soon as he had heard the
7117talk at the widow's stile. He had only thought it was not the treasure,
7118however--he had not known that it wasn't--and so the suggestion of a
7119captured bundle was too much for his self-possession. But on the whole
7120he felt glad the little episode had happened, for now he knew beyond
7121all question that that bundle was not THE bundle, and so his mind was
7122at rest and exceedingly comfortable. In fact, everything seemed to be
7123drifting just in the right direction, now; the treasure must be still
7124in No. 2, the men would be captured and jailed that day, and he and Tom
7125could seize the gold that night without any trouble or any fear of
7126interruption.
7127
7128Just as breakfast was completed there was a knock at the door. Huck
7129jumped for a hiding-place, for he had no mind to be connected even
7130remotely with the late event. The Welshman admitted several ladies and
7131gentlemen, among them the Widow Douglas, and noticed that groups of
7132citizens were climbing up the hill--to stare at the stile. So the news
7133had spread. The Welshman had to tell the story of the night to the
7134visitors. The widow's gratitude for her preservation was outspoken.
7135
7136"Don't say a word about it, madam. There's another that you're more
7137beholden to than you are to me and my boys, maybe, but he don't allow
7138me to tell his name. We wouldn't have been there but for him."
7139
7140Of course this excited a curiosity so vast that it almost belittled
7141the main matter--but the Welshman allowed it to eat into the vitals of
7142his visitors, and through them be transmitted to the whole town, for he
7143refused to part with his secret. When all else had been learned, the
7144widow said:
7145
7146"I went to sleep reading in bed and slept straight through all that
7147noise. Why didn't you come and wake me?"
7148
7149"We judged it warn't worth while. Those fellows warn't likely to come
7150again--they hadn't any tools left to work with, and what was the use of
7151waking you up and scaring you to death? My three negro men stood guard
7152at your house all the rest of the night. They've just come back."
7153
7154More visitors came, and the story had to be told and retold for a
7155couple of hours more.
7156
7157There was no Sabbath-school during day-school vacation, but everybody
7158was early at church. The stirring event was well canvassed. News came
7159that not a sign of the two villains had been yet discovered. When the
7160sermon was finished, Judge Thatcher's wife dropped alongside of Mrs.
7161Harper as she moved down the aisle with the crowd and said:
7162
7163"Is my Becky going to sleep all day? I just expected she would be
7164tired to death."
7165
7166"Your Becky?"
7167
7168"Yes," with a startled look--"didn't she stay with you last night?"
7169
7170"Why, no."
7171
7172Mrs. Thatcher turned pale, and sank into a pew, just as Aunt Polly,
7173talking briskly with a friend, passed by. Aunt Polly said:
7174
7175"Good-morning, Mrs. Thatcher. Good-morning, Mrs. Harper. I've got a
7176boy that's turned up missing. I reckon my Tom stayed at your house last
7177night--one of you. And now he's afraid to come to church. I've got to
7178settle with him."
7179
7180Mrs. Thatcher shook her head feebly and turned paler than ever.
7181
7182"He didn't stay with us," said Mrs. Harper, beginning to look uneasy.
7183A marked anxiety came into Aunt Polly's face.
7184
7185"Joe Harper, have you seen my Tom this morning?"
7186
7187"No'm."
7188
7189"When did you see him last?"
7190
7191Joe tried to remember, but was not sure he could say. The people had
7192stopped moving out of church. Whispers passed along, and a boding
7193uneasiness took possession of every countenance. Children were
7194anxiously questioned, and young teachers. They all said they had not
7195noticed whether Tom and Becky were on board the ferryboat on the
7196homeward trip; it was dark; no one thought of inquiring if any one was
7197missing. One young man finally blurted out his fear that they were
7198still in the cave! Mrs. Thatcher swooned away. Aunt Polly fell to
7199crying and wringing her hands.
7200
7201The alarm swept from lip to lip, from group to group, from street to
7202street, and within five minutes the bells were wildly clanging and the
7203whole town was up! The Cardiff Hill episode sank into instant
7204insignificance, the burglars were forgotten, horses were saddled,
7205skiffs were manned, the ferryboat ordered out, and before the horror
7206was half an hour old, two hundred men were pouring down highroad and
7207river toward the cave.
7208
7209All the long afternoon the village seemed empty and dead. Many women
7210visited Aunt Polly and Mrs. Thatcher and tried to comfort them. They
7211cried with them, too, and that was still better than words. All the
7212tedious night the town waited for news; but when the morning dawned at
7213last, all the word that came was, "Send more candles--and send food."
7214Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. Judge Thatcher
7215sent messages of hope and encouragement from the cave, but they
7216conveyed no real cheer.
7217
7218The old Welshman came home toward daylight, spattered with
7219candle-grease, smeared with clay, and almost worn out. He found Huck
7220still in the bed that had been provided for him, and delirious with
7221fever. The physicians were all at the cave, so the Widow Douglas came
7222and took charge of the patient. She said she would do her best by him,
7223because, whether he was good, bad, or indifferent, he was the Lord's,
7224and nothing that was the Lord's was a thing to be neglected. The
7225Welshman said Huck had good spots in him, and the widow said:
7226
7227"You can depend on it. That's the Lord's mark. He don't leave it off.
7228He never does. Puts it somewhere on every creature that comes from his
7229hands."
7230
7231Early in the forenoon parties of jaded men began to straggle into the
7232village, but the strongest of the citizens continued searching. All the
7233news that could be gained was that remotenesses of the cavern were
7234being ransacked that had never been visited before; that every corner
7235and crevice was going to be thoroughly searched; that wherever one
7236wandered through the maze of passages, lights were to be seen flitting
7237hither and thither in the distance, and shoutings and pistol-shots sent
7238their hollow reverberations to the ear down the sombre aisles. In one
7239place, far from the section usually traversed by tourists, the names
7240"BECKY & TOM" had been found traced upon the rocky wall with
7241candle-smoke, and near at hand a grease-soiled bit of ribbon. Mrs.
7242Thatcher recognized the ribbon and cried over it. She said it was the
7243last relic she should ever have of her child; and that no other memorial
7244of her could ever be so precious, because this one parted latest from
7245the living body before the awful death came. Some said that now and
7246then, in the cave, a far-away speck of light would glimmer, and then a
7247glorious shout would burst forth and a score of men go trooping down the
7248echoing aisle--and then a sickening disappointment always followed; the
7249children were not there; it was only a searcher's light.
7250
7251Three dreadful days and nights dragged their tedious hours along, and
7252the village sank into a hopeless stupor. No one had heart for anything.
7253The accidental discovery, just made, that the proprietor of the
7254Temperance Tavern kept liquor on his premises, scarcely fluttered the
7255public pulse, tremendous as the fact was. In a lucid interval, Huck
7256feebly led up to the subject of taverns, and finally asked--dimly
7257dreading the worst--if anything had been discovered at the Temperance
7258Tavern since he had been ill.
7259
7260"Yes," said the widow.
7261
7262Huck started up in bed, wild-eyed:
7263
7264"What? What was it?"
7265
7266"Liquor!--and the place has been shut up. Lie down, child--what a turn
7267you did give me!"
7268
7269"Only tell me just one thing--only just one--please! Was it Tom Sawyer
7270that found it?"
7271
7272The widow burst into tears. "Hush, hush, child, hush! I've told you
7273before, you must NOT talk. You are very, very sick!"
7274
7275Then nothing but liquor had been found; there would have been a great
7276powwow if it had been the gold. So the treasure was gone forever--gone
7277forever! But what could she be crying about? Curious that she should
7278cry.
7279
7280These thoughts worked their dim way through Huck's mind, and under the
7281weariness they gave him he fell asleep. The widow said to herself:
7282
7283"There--he's asleep, poor wreck. Tom Sawyer find it! Pity but somebody
7284could find Tom Sawyer! Ah, there ain't many left, now, that's got hope
7285enough, or strength enough, either, to go on searching."
7286
7287
7288
7289CHAPTER XXXI
7290
7291NOW to return to Tom and Becky's share in the picnic. They tripped
7292along the murky aisles with the rest of the company, visiting the
7293familiar wonders of the cave--wonders dubbed with rather
7294over-descriptive names, such as "The Drawing-Room," "The Cathedral,"
7295"Aladdin's Palace," and so on. Presently the hide-and-seek frolicking
7296began, and Tom and Becky engaged in it with zeal until the exertion
7297began to grow a trifle wearisome; then they wandered down a sinuous
7298avenue holding their candles aloft and reading the tangled web-work of
7299names, dates, post-office addresses, and mottoes with which the rocky
7300walls had been frescoed (in candle-smoke). Still drifting along and
7301talking, they scarcely noticed that they were now in a part of the cave
7302whose walls were not frescoed. They smoked their own names under an
7303overhanging shelf and moved on. Presently they came to a place where a
7304little stream of water, trickling over a ledge and carrying a limestone
7305sediment with it, had, in the slow-dragging ages, formed a laced and
7306ruffled Niagara in gleaming and imperishable stone. Tom squeezed his
7307small body behind it in order to illuminate it for Becky's
7308gratification. He found that it curtained a sort of steep natural
7309stairway which was enclosed between narrow walls, and at once the
7310ambition to be a discoverer seized him. Becky responded to his call,
7311and they made a smoke-mark for future guidance, and started upon their
7312quest. They wound this way and that, far down into the secret depths of
7313the cave, made another mark, and branched off in search of novelties to
7314tell the upper world about. In one place they found a spacious cavern,
7315from whose ceiling depended a multitude of shining stalactites of the
7316length and circumference of a man's leg; they walked all about it,
7317wondering and admiring, and presently left it by one of the numerous
7318passages that opened into it. This shortly brought them to a bewitching
7319spring, whose basin was incrusted with a frostwork of glittering
7320crystals; it was in the midst of a cavern whose walls were supported by
7321many fantastic pillars which had been formed by the joining of great
7322stalactites and stalagmites together, the result of the ceaseless
7323water-drip of centuries. Under the roof vast knots of bats had packed
7324themselves together, thousands in a bunch; the lights disturbed the
7325creatures and they came flocking down by hundreds, squeaking and
7326darting furiously at the candles. Tom knew their ways and the danger of
7327this sort of conduct. He seized Becky's hand and hurried her into the
7328first corridor that offered; and none too soon, for a bat struck
7329Becky's light out with its wing while she was passing out of the
7330cavern. The bats chased the children a good distance; but the fugitives
7331plunged into every new passage that offered, and at last got rid of the
7332perilous things. Tom found a subterranean lake, shortly, which
7333stretched its dim length away until its shape was lost in the shadows.
7334He wanted to explore its borders, but concluded that it would be best
7335to sit down and rest awhile, first. Now, for the first time, the deep
7336stillness of the place laid a clammy hand upon the spirits of the
7337children. Becky said:
7338
7339"Why, I didn't notice, but it seems ever so long since I heard any of
7340the others."
7341
7342"Come to think, Becky, we are away down below them--and I don't know
7343how far away north, or south, or east, or whichever it is. We couldn't
7344hear them here."
7345
7346Becky grew apprehensive.
7347
7348"I wonder how long we've been down here, Tom? We better start back."
7349
7350"Yes, I reckon we better. P'raps we better."
7351
7352"Can you find the way, Tom? It's all a mixed-up crookedness to me."
7353
7354"I reckon I could find it--but then the bats. If they put our candles
7355out it will be an awful fix. Let's try some other way, so as not to go
7356through there."
7357
7358"Well. But I hope we won't get lost. It would be so awful!" and the
7359girl shuddered at the thought of the dreadful possibilities.
7360
7361They started through a corridor, and traversed it in silence a long
7362way, glancing at each new opening, to see if there was anything
7363familiar about the look of it; but they were all strange. Every time
7364Tom made an examination, Becky would watch his face for an encouraging
7365sign, and he would say cheerily:
7366
7367"Oh, it's all right. This ain't the one, but we'll come to it right
7368away!"
7369
7370But he felt less and less hopeful with each failure, and presently
7371began to turn off into diverging avenues at sheer random, in desperate
7372hope of finding the one that was wanted. He still said it was "all
7373right," but there was such a leaden dread at his heart that the words
7374had lost their ring and sounded just as if he had said, "All is lost!"
7375Becky clung to his side in an anguish of fear, and tried hard to keep
7376back the tears, but they would come. At last she said:
7377
7378"Oh, Tom, never mind the bats, let's go back that way! We seem to get
7379worse and worse off all the time."
7380
7381"Listen!" said he.
7382
7383Profound silence; silence so deep that even their breathings were
7384conspicuous in the hush. Tom shouted. The call went echoing down the
7385empty aisles and died out in the distance in a faint sound that
7386resembled a ripple of mocking laughter.
7387
7388"Oh, don't do it again, Tom, it is too horrid," said Becky.
7389
7390"It is horrid, but I better, Becky; they might hear us, you know," and
7391he shouted again.
7392
7393The "might" was even a chillier horror than the ghostly laughter, it
7394so confessed a perishing hope. The children stood still and listened;
7395but there was no result. Tom turned upon the back track at once, and
7396hurried his steps. It was but a little while before a certain
7397indecision in his manner revealed another fearful fact to Becky--he
7398could not find his way back!
7399
7400"Oh, Tom, you didn't make any marks!"
7401
7402"Becky, I was such a fool! Such a fool! I never thought we might want
7403to come back! No--I can't find the way. It's all mixed up."
7404
7405"Tom, Tom, we're lost! we're lost! We never can get out of this awful
7406place! Oh, why DID we ever leave the others!"
7407
7408She sank to the ground and burst into such a frenzy of crying that Tom
7409was appalled with the idea that she might die, or lose her reason. He
7410sat down by her and put his arms around her; she buried her face in his
7411bosom, she clung to him, she poured out her terrors, her unavailing
7412regrets, and the far echoes turned them all to jeering laughter. Tom
7413begged her to pluck up hope again, and she said she could not. He fell
7414to blaming and abusing himself for getting her into this miserable
7415situation; this had a better effect. She said she would try to hope
7416again, she would get up and follow wherever he might lead if only he
7417would not talk like that any more. For he was no more to blame than
7418she, she said.
7419
7420So they moved on again--aimlessly--simply at random--all they could do
7421was to move, keep moving. For a little while, hope made a show of
7422reviving--not with any reason to back it, but only because it is its
7423nature to revive when the spring has not been taken out of it by age
7424and familiarity with failure.
7425
7426By-and-by Tom took Becky's candle and blew it out. This economy meant
7427so much! Words were not needed. Becky understood, and her hope died
7428again. She knew that Tom had a whole candle and three or four pieces in
7429his pockets--yet he must economize.
7430
7431By-and-by, fatigue began to assert its claims; the children tried to
7432pay attention, for it was dreadful to think of sitting down when time
7433was grown to be so precious, moving, in some direction, in any
7434direction, was at least progress and might bear fruit; but to sit down
7435was to invite death and shorten its pursuit.
7436
7437At last Becky's frail limbs refused to carry her farther. She sat
7438down. Tom rested with her, and they talked of home, and the friends
7439there, and the comfortable beds and, above all, the light! Becky cried,
7440and Tom tried to think of some way of comforting her, but all his
7441encouragements were grown threadbare with use, and sounded like
7442sarcasms. Fatigue bore so heavily upon Becky that she drowsed off to
7443sleep. Tom was grateful. He sat looking into her drawn face and saw it
7444grow smooth and natural under the influence of pleasant dreams; and
7445by-and-by a smile dawned and rested there. The peaceful face reflected
7446somewhat of peace and healing into his own spirit, and his thoughts
7447wandered away to bygone times and dreamy memories. While he was deep in
7448his musings, Becky woke up with a breezy little laugh--but it was
7449stricken dead upon her lips, and a groan followed it.
7450
7451"Oh, how COULD I sleep! I wish I never, never had waked! No! No, I
7452don't, Tom! Don't look so! I won't say it again."
7453
7454"I'm glad you've slept, Becky; you'll feel rested, now, and we'll find
7455the way out."
7456
7457"We can try, Tom; but I've seen such a beautiful country in my dream.
7458I reckon we are going there."
7459
7460"Maybe not, maybe not. Cheer up, Becky, and let's go on trying."
7461
7462They rose up and wandered along, hand in hand and hopeless. They tried
7463to estimate how long they had been in the cave, but all they knew was
7464that it seemed days and weeks, and yet it was plain that this could not
7465be, for their candles were not gone yet. A long time after this--they
7466could not tell how long--Tom said they must go softly and listen for
7467dripping water--they must find a spring. They found one presently, and
7468Tom said it was time to rest again. Both were cruelly tired, yet Becky
7469said she thought she could go a little farther. She was surprised to
7470hear Tom dissent. She could not understand it. They sat down, and Tom
7471fastened his candle to the wall in front of them with some clay.
7472Thought was soon busy; nothing was said for some time. Then Becky broke
7473the silence:
7474
7475"Tom, I am so hungry!"
7476
7477Tom took something out of his pocket.
7478
7479"Do you remember this?" said he.
7480
7481Becky almost smiled.
7482
7483"It's our wedding-cake, Tom."
7484
7485"Yes--I wish it was as big as a barrel, for it's all we've got."
7486
7487"I saved it from the picnic for us to dream on, Tom, the way grown-up
7488people do with wedding-cake--but it'll be our--"
7489
7490She dropped the sentence where it was. Tom divided the cake and Becky
7491ate with good appetite, while Tom nibbled at his moiety. There was
7492abundance of cold water to finish the feast with. By-and-by Becky
7493suggested that they move on again. Tom was silent a moment. Then he
7494said:
7495
7496"Becky, can you bear it if I tell you something?"
7497
7498Becky's face paled, but she thought she could.
7499
7500"Well, then, Becky, we must stay here, where there's water to drink.
7501That little piece is our last candle!"
7502
7503Becky gave loose to tears and wailings. Tom did what he could to
7504comfort her, but with little effect. At length Becky said:
7505
7506"Tom!"
7507
7508"Well, Becky?"
7509
7510"They'll miss us and hunt for us!"
7511
7512"Yes, they will! Certainly they will!"
7513
7514"Maybe they're hunting for us now, Tom."
7515
7516"Why, I reckon maybe they are. I hope they are."
7517
7518"When would they miss us, Tom?"
7519
7520"When they get back to the boat, I reckon."
7521
7522"Tom, it might be dark then--would they notice we hadn't come?"
7523
7524"I don't know. But anyway, your mother would miss you as soon as they
7525got home."
7526
7527A frightened look in Becky's face brought Tom to his senses and he saw
7528that he had made a blunder. Becky was not to have gone home that night!
7529The children became silent and thoughtful. In a moment a new burst of
7530grief from Becky showed Tom that the thing in his mind had struck hers
7531also--that the Sabbath morning might be half spent before Mrs. Thatcher
7532discovered that Becky was not at Mrs. Harper's.
7533
7534The children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched
7535it melt slowly and pitilessly away; saw the half inch of wick stand
7536alone at last; saw the feeble flame rise and fall, climb the thin
7537column of smoke, linger at its top a moment, and then--the horror of
7538utter darkness reigned!
7539
7540How long afterward it was that Becky came to a slow consciousness that
7541she was crying in Tom's arms, neither could tell. All that they knew
7542was, that after what seemed a mighty stretch of time, both awoke out of
7543a dead stupor of sleep and resumed their miseries once more. Tom said
7544it might be Sunday, now--maybe Monday. He tried to get Becky to talk,
7545but her sorrows were too oppressive, all her hopes were gone. Tom said
7546that they must have been missed long ago, and no doubt the search was
7547going on. He would shout and maybe some one would come. He tried it;
7548but in the darkness the distant echoes sounded so hideously that he
7549tried it no more.
7550
7551The hours wasted away, and hunger came to torment the captives again.
7552A portion of Tom's half of the cake was left; they divided and ate it.
7553But they seemed hungrier than before. The poor morsel of food only
7554whetted desire.
7555
7556By-and-by Tom said:
7557
7558"SH! Did you hear that?"
7559
7560Both held their breath and listened. There was a sound like the
7561faintest, far-off shout. Instantly Tom answered it, and leading Becky
7562by the hand, started groping down the corridor in its direction.
7563Presently he listened again; again the sound was heard, and apparently
7564a little nearer.
7565
7566"It's them!" said Tom; "they're coming! Come along, Becky--we're all
7567right now!"
7568
7569The joy of the prisoners was almost overwhelming. Their speed was
7570slow, however, because pitfalls were somewhat common, and had to be
7571guarded against. They shortly came to one and had to stop. It might be
7572three feet deep, it might be a hundred--there was no passing it at any
7573rate. Tom got down on his breast and reached as far down as he could.
7574No bottom. They must stay there and wait until the searchers came. They
7575listened; evidently the distant shoutings were growing more distant! a
7576moment or two more and they had gone altogether. The heart-sinking
7577misery of it! Tom whooped until he was hoarse, but it was of no use. He
7578talked hopefully to Becky; but an age of anxious waiting passed and no
7579sounds came again.
7580
7581The children groped their way back to the spring. The weary time
7582dragged on; they slept again, and awoke famished and woe-stricken. Tom
7583believed it must be Tuesday by this time.
7584
7585Now an idea struck him. There were some side passages near at hand. It
7586would be better to explore some of these than bear the weight of the
7587heavy time in idleness. He took a kite-line from his pocket, tied it to
7588a projection, and he and Becky started, Tom in the lead, unwinding the
7589line as he groped along. At the end of twenty steps the corridor ended
7590in a "jumping-off place." Tom got down on his knees and felt below, and
7591then as far around the corner as he could reach with his hands
7592conveniently; he made an effort to stretch yet a little farther to the
7593right, and at that moment, not twenty yards away, a human hand, holding
7594a candle, appeared from behind a rock! Tom lifted up a glorious shout,
7595and instantly that hand was followed by the body it belonged to--Injun
7596Joe's! Tom was paralyzed; he could not move. He was vastly gratified
7597the next moment, to see the "Spaniard" take to his heels and get
7598himself out of sight. Tom wondered that Joe had not recognized his
7599voice and come over and killed him for testifying in court. But the
7600echoes must have disguised the voice. Without doubt, that was it, he
7601reasoned. Tom's fright weakened every muscle in his body. He said to
7602himself that if he had strength enough to get back to the spring he
7603would stay there, and nothing should tempt him to run the risk of
7604meeting Injun Joe again. He was careful to keep from Becky what it was
7605he had seen. He told her he had only shouted "for luck."
7606
7607But hunger and wretchedness rise superior to fears in the long run.
7608Another tedious wait at the spring and another long sleep brought
7609changes. The children awoke tortured with a raging hunger. Tom believed
7610that it must be Wednesday or Thursday or even Friday or Saturday, now,
7611and that the search had been given over. He proposed to explore another
7612passage. He felt willing to risk Injun Joe and all other terrors. But
7613Becky was very weak. She had sunk into a dreary apathy and would not be
7614roused. She said she would wait, now, where she was, and die--it would
7615not be long. She told Tom to go with the kite-line and explore if he
7616chose; but she implored him to come back every little while and speak
7617to her; and she made him promise that when the awful time came, he
7618would stay by her and hold her hand until all was over.
7619
7620Tom kissed her, with a choking sensation in his throat, and made a
7621show of being confident of finding the searchers or an escape from the
7622cave; then he took the kite-line in his hand and went groping down one
7623of the passages on his hands and knees, distressed with hunger and sick
7624with bodings of coming doom.
7625
7626
7627
7628CHAPTER XXXII
7629
7630TUESDAY afternoon came, and waned to the twilight. The village of St.
7631Petersburg still mourned. The lost children had not been found. Public
7632prayers had been offered up for them, and many and many a private
7633prayer that had the petitioner's whole heart in it; but still no good
7634news came from the cave. The majority of the searchers had given up the
7635quest and gone back to their daily avocations, saying that it was plain
7636the children could never be found. Mrs. Thatcher was very ill, and a
7637great part of the time delirious. People said it was heartbreaking to
7638hear her call her child, and raise her head and listen a whole minute
7639at a time, then lay it wearily down again with a moan. Aunt Polly had
7640drooped into a settled melancholy, and her gray hair had grown almost
7641white. The village went to its rest on Tuesday night, sad and forlorn.
7642
7643Away in the middle of the night a wild peal burst from the village
7644bells, and in a moment the streets were swarming with frantic half-clad
7645people, who shouted, "Turn out! turn out! they're found! they're
7646found!" Tin pans and horns were added to the din, the population massed
7647itself and moved toward the river, met the children coming in an open
7648carriage drawn by shouting citizens, thronged around it, joined its
7649homeward march, and swept magnificently up the main street roaring
7650huzzah after huzzah!
7651
7652The village was illuminated; nobody went to bed again; it was the
7653greatest night the little town had ever seen. During the first half-hour
7654a procession of villagers filed through Judge Thatcher's house, seized
7655the saved ones and kissed them, squeezed Mrs. Thatcher's hand, tried to
7656speak but couldn't--and drifted out raining tears all over the place.
7657
7658Aunt Polly's happiness was complete, and Mrs. Thatcher's nearly so. It
7659would be complete, however, as soon as the messenger dispatched with
7660the great news to the cave should get the word to her husband. Tom lay
7661upon a sofa with an eager auditory about him and told the history of
7662the wonderful adventure, putting in many striking additions to adorn it
7663withal; and closed with a description of how he left Becky and went on
7664an exploring expedition; how he followed two avenues as far as his
7665kite-line would reach; how he followed a third to the fullest stretch of
7666the kite-line, and was about to turn back when he glimpsed a far-off
7667speck that looked like daylight; dropped the line and groped toward it,
7668pushed his head and shoulders through a small hole, and saw the broad
7669Mississippi rolling by! And if it had only happened to be night he would
7670not have seen that speck of daylight and would not have explored that
7671passage any more! He told how he went back for Becky and broke the good
7672news and she told him not to fret her with such stuff, for she was
7673tired, and knew she was going to die, and wanted to. He described how he
7674labored with her and convinced her; and how she almost died for joy when
7675she had groped to where she actually saw the blue speck of daylight; how
7676he pushed his way out at the hole and then helped her out; how they sat
7677there and cried for gladness; how some men came along in a skiff and Tom
7678hailed them and told them their situation and their famished condition;
7679how the men didn't believe the wild tale at first, "because," said they,
7680"you are five miles down the river below the valley the cave is in"
7681--then took them aboard, rowed to a house, gave them supper, made them
7682rest till two or three hours after dark and then brought them home.
7683
7684Before day-dawn, Judge Thatcher and the handful of searchers with him
7685were tracked out, in the cave, by the twine clews they had strung
7686behind them, and informed of the great news.
7687
7688Three days and nights of toil and hunger in the cave were not to be
7689shaken off at once, as Tom and Becky soon discovered. They were
7690bedridden all of Wednesday and Thursday, and seemed to grow more and
7691more tired and worn, all the time. Tom got about, a little, on
7692Thursday, was down-town Friday, and nearly as whole as ever Saturday;
7693but Becky did not leave her room until Sunday, and then she looked as
7694if she had passed through a wasting illness.
7695
7696Tom learned of Huck's sickness and went to see him on Friday, but
7697could not be admitted to the bedroom; neither could he on Saturday or
7698Sunday. He was admitted daily after that, but was warned to keep still
7699about his adventure and introduce no exciting topic. The Widow Douglas
7700stayed by to see that he obeyed. At home Tom learned of the Cardiff
7701Hill event; also that the "ragged man's" body had eventually been found
7702in the river near the ferry-landing; he had been drowned while trying
7703to escape, perhaps.
7704
7705About a fortnight after Tom's rescue from the cave, he started off to
7706visit Huck, who had grown plenty strong enough, now, to hear exciting
7707talk, and Tom had some that would interest him, he thought. Judge
7708Thatcher's house was on Tom's way, and he stopped to see Becky. The
7709Judge and some friends set Tom to talking, and some one asked him
7710ironically if he wouldn't like to go to the cave again. Tom said he
7711thought he wouldn't mind it. The Judge said:
7712
7713"Well, there are others just like you, Tom, I've not the least doubt.
7714But we have taken care of that. Nobody will get lost in that cave any
7715more."
7716
7717"Why?"
7718
7719"Because I had its big door sheathed with boiler iron two weeks ago,
7720and triple-locked--and I've got the keys."
7721
7722Tom turned as white as a sheet.
7723
7724"What's the matter, boy! Here, run, somebody! Fetch a glass of water!"
7725
7726The water was brought and thrown into Tom's face.
7727
7728"Ah, now you're all right. What was the matter with you, Tom?"
7729
7730"Oh, Judge, Injun Joe's in the cave!"
7731
7732
7733
7734CHAPTER XXXIII
7735
7736WITHIN a few minutes the news had spread, and a dozen skiff-loads of
7737men were on their way to McDougal's cave, and the ferryboat, well
7738filled with passengers, soon followed. Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that
7739bore Judge Thatcher.
7740
7741When the cave door was unlocked, a sorrowful sight presented itself in
7742the dim twilight of the place. Injun Joe lay stretched upon the ground,
7743dead, with his face close to the crack of the door, as if his longing
7744eyes had been fixed, to the latest moment, upon the light and the cheer
7745of the free world outside. Tom was touched, for he knew by his own
7746experience how this wretch had suffered. His pity was moved, but
7747nevertheless he felt an abounding sense of relief and security, now,
7748which revealed to him in a degree which he had not fully appreciated
7749before how vast a weight of dread had been lying upon him since the day
7750he lifted his voice against this bloody-minded outcast.
7751
7752Injun Joe's bowie-knife lay close by, its blade broken in two. The
7753great foundation-beam of the door had been chipped and hacked through,
7754with tedious labor; useless labor, too, it was, for the native rock
7755formed a sill outside it, and upon that stubborn material the knife had
7756wrought no effect; the only damage done was to the knife itself. But if
7757there had been no stony obstruction there the labor would have been
7758useless still, for if the beam had been wholly cut away Injun Joe could
7759not have squeezed his body under the door, and he knew it. So he had
7760only hacked that place in order to be doing something--in order to pass
7761the weary time--in order to employ his tortured faculties. Ordinarily
7762one could find half a dozen bits of candle stuck around in the crevices
7763of this vestibule, left there by tourists; but there were none now. The
7764prisoner had searched them out and eaten them. He had also contrived to
7765catch a few bats, and these, also, he had eaten, leaving only their
7766claws. The poor unfortunate had starved to death. In one place, near at
7767hand, a stalagmite had been slowly growing up from the ground for ages,
7768builded by the water-drip from a stalactite overhead. The captive had
7769broken off the stalagmite, and upon the stump had placed a stone,
7770wherein he had scooped a shallow hollow to catch the precious drop
7771that fell once in every three minutes with the dreary regularity of a
7772clock-tick--a dessertspoonful once in four and twenty hours. That drop
7773was falling when the Pyramids were new; when Troy fell; when the
7774foundations of Rome were laid; when Christ was crucified; when the
7775Conqueror created the British empire; when Columbus sailed; when the
7776massacre at Lexington was "news." It is falling now; it will still be
7777falling when all these things shall have sunk down the afternoon of
7778history, and the twilight of tradition, and been swallowed up in the
7779thick night of oblivion. Has everything a purpose and a mission? Did
7780this drop fall patiently during five thousand years to be ready for
7781this flitting human insect's need? and has it another important object
7782to accomplish ten thousand years to come? No matter. It is many and
7783many a year since the hapless half-breed scooped out the stone to catch
7784the priceless drops, but to this day the tourist stares longest at that
7785pathetic stone and that slow-dropping water when he comes to see the
7786wonders of McDougal's cave. Injun Joe's cup stands first in the list of
7787the cavern's marvels; even "Aladdin's Palace" cannot rival it.
7788
7789Injun Joe was buried near the mouth of the cave; and people flocked
7790there in boats and wagons from the towns and from all the farms and
7791hamlets for seven miles around; they brought their children, and all
7792sorts of provisions, and confessed that they had had almost as
7793satisfactory a time at the funeral as they could have had at the
7794hanging.
7795
7796This funeral stopped the further growth of one thing--the petition to
7797the governor for Injun Joe's pardon. The petition had been largely
7798signed; many tearful and eloquent meetings had been held, and a
7799committee of sappy women been appointed to go in deep mourning and wail
7800around the governor, and implore him to be a merciful ass and trample
7801his duty under foot. Injun Joe was believed to have killed five
7802citizens of the village, but what of that? If he had been Satan himself
7803there would have been plenty of weaklings ready to scribble their names
7804to a pardon-petition, and drip a tear on it from their permanently
7805impaired and leaky water-works.
7806
7807The morning after the funeral Tom took Huck to a private place to have
7808an important talk. Huck had learned all about Tom's adventure from the
7809Welshman and the Widow Douglas, by this time, but Tom said he reckoned
7810there was one thing they had not told him; that thing was what he
7811wanted to talk about now. Huck's face saddened. He said:
7812
7813"I know what it is. You got into No. 2 and never found anything but
7814whiskey. Nobody told me it was you; but I just knowed it must 'a' ben
7815you, soon as I heard 'bout that whiskey business; and I knowed you
7816hadn't got the money becuz you'd 'a' got at me some way or other and
7817told me even if you was mum to everybody else. Tom, something's always
7818told me we'd never get holt of that swag."
7819
7820"Why, Huck, I never told on that tavern-keeper. YOU know his tavern
7821was all right the Saturday I went to the picnic. Don't you remember you
7822was to watch there that night?"
7823
7824"Oh yes! Why, it seems 'bout a year ago. It was that very night that I
7825follered Injun Joe to the widder's."
7826
7827"YOU followed him?"
7828
7829"Yes--but you keep mum. I reckon Injun Joe's left friends behind him,
7830and I don't want 'em souring on me and doing me mean tricks. If it
7831hadn't ben for me he'd be down in Texas now, all right."
7832
7833Then Huck told his entire adventure in confidence to Tom, who had only
7834heard of the Welshman's part of it before.
7835
7836"Well," said Huck, presently, coming back to the main question,
7837"whoever nipped the whiskey in No. 2, nipped the money, too, I reckon
7838--anyways it's a goner for us, Tom."
7839
7840"Huck, that money wasn't ever in No. 2!"
7841
7842"What!" Huck searched his comrade's face keenly. "Tom, have you got on
7843the track of that money again?"
7844
7845"Huck, it's in the cave!"
7846
7847Huck's eyes blazed.
7848
7849"Say it again, Tom."
7850
7851"The money's in the cave!"
7852
7853"Tom--honest injun, now--is it fun, or earnest?"
7854
7855"Earnest, Huck--just as earnest as ever I was in my life. Will you go
7856in there with me and help get it out?"
7857
7858"I bet I will! I will if it's where we can blaze our way to it and not
7859get lost."
7860
7861"Huck, we can do that without the least little bit of trouble in the
7862world."
7863
7864"Good as wheat! What makes you think the money's--"
7865
7866"Huck, you just wait till we get in there. If we don't find it I'll
7867agree to give you my drum and every thing I've got in the world. I
7868will, by jings."
7869
7870"All right--it's a whiz. When do you say?"
7871
7872"Right now, if you say it. Are you strong enough?"
7873
7874"Is it far in the cave? I ben on my pins a little, three or four days,
7875now, but I can't walk more'n a mile, Tom--least I don't think I could."
7876
7877"It's about five mile into there the way anybody but me would go,
7878Huck, but there's a mighty short cut that they don't anybody but me
7879know about. Huck, I'll take you right to it in a skiff. I'll float the
7880skiff down there, and I'll pull it back again all by myself. You
7881needn't ever turn your hand over."
7882
7883"Less start right off, Tom."
7884
7885"All right. We want some bread and meat, and our pipes, and a little
7886bag or two, and two or three kite-strings, and some of these
7887new-fangled things they call lucifer matches. I tell you, many's
7888the time I wished I had some when I was in there before."
7889
7890A trifle after noon the boys borrowed a small skiff from a citizen who
7891was absent, and got under way at once. When they were several miles
7892below "Cave Hollow," Tom said:
7893
7894"Now you see this bluff here looks all alike all the way down from the
7895cave hollow--no houses, no wood-yards, bushes all alike. But do you see
7896that white place up yonder where there's been a landslide? Well, that's
7897one of my marks. We'll get ashore, now."
7898
7899They landed.
7900
7901"Now, Huck, where we're a-standing you could touch that hole I got out
7902of with a fishing-pole. See if you can find it."
7903
7904Huck searched all the place about, and found nothing. Tom proudly
7905marched into a thick clump of sumach bushes and said:
7906
7907"Here you are! Look at it, Huck; it's the snuggest hole in this
7908country. You just keep mum about it. All along I've been wanting to be
7909a robber, but I knew I'd got to have a thing like this, and where to
7910run across it was the bother. We've got it now, and we'll keep it
7911quiet, only we'll let Joe Harper and Ben Rogers in--because of course
7912there's got to be a Gang, or else there wouldn't be any style about it.
7913Tom Sawyer's Gang--it sounds splendid, don't it, Huck?"
7914
7915"Well, it just does, Tom. And who'll we rob?"
7916
7917"Oh, most anybody. Waylay people--that's mostly the way."
7918
7919"And kill them?"
7920
7921"No, not always. Hive them in the cave till they raise a ransom."
7922
7923"What's a ransom?"
7924
7925"Money. You make them raise all they can, off'n their friends; and
7926after you've kept them a year, if it ain't raised then you kill them.
7927That's the general way. Only you don't kill the women. You shut up the
7928women, but you don't kill them. They're always beautiful and rich, and
7929awfully scared. You take their watches and things, but you always take
7930your hat off and talk polite. They ain't anybody as polite as robbers
7931--you'll see that in any book. Well, the women get to loving you, and
7932after they've been in the cave a week or two weeks they stop crying and
7933after that you couldn't get them to leave. If you drove them out they'd
7934turn right around and come back. It's so in all the books."
7935
7936"Why, it's real bully, Tom. I believe it's better'n to be a pirate."
7937
7938"Yes, it's better in some ways, because it's close to home and
7939circuses and all that."
7940
7941By this time everything was ready and the boys entered the hole, Tom
7942in the lead. They toiled their way to the farther end of the tunnel,
7943then made their spliced kite-strings fast and moved on. A few steps
7944brought them to the spring, and Tom felt a shudder quiver all through
7945him. He showed Huck the fragment of candle-wick perched on a lump of
7946clay against the wall, and described how he and Becky had watched the
7947flame struggle and expire.
7948
7949The boys began to quiet down to whispers, now, for the stillness and
7950gloom of the place oppressed their spirits. They went on, and presently
7951entered and followed Tom's other corridor until they reached the
7952"jumping-off place." The candles revealed the fact that it was not
7953really a precipice, but only a steep clay hill twenty or thirty feet
7954high. Tom whispered:
7955
7956"Now I'll show you something, Huck."
7957
7958He held his candle aloft and said:
7959
7960"Look as far around the corner as you can. Do you see that? There--on
7961the big rock over yonder--done with candle-smoke."
7962
7963"Tom, it's a CROSS!"
7964
7965"NOW where's your Number Two? 'UNDER THE CROSS,' hey? Right yonder's
7966where I saw Injun Joe poke up his candle, Huck!"
7967
7968Huck stared at the mystic sign awhile, and then said with a shaky voice:
7969
7970"Tom, less git out of here!"
7971
7972"What! and leave the treasure?"
7973
7974"Yes--leave it. Injun Joe's ghost is round about there, certain."
7975
7976"No it ain't, Huck, no it ain't. It would ha'nt the place where he
7977died--away out at the mouth of the cave--five mile from here."
7978
7979"No, Tom, it wouldn't. It would hang round the money. I know the ways
7980of ghosts, and so do you."
7981
7982Tom began to fear that Huck was right. Misgivings gathered in his
7983mind. But presently an idea occurred to him--
7984
7985"Lookyhere, Huck, what fools we're making of ourselves! Injun Joe's
7986ghost ain't a going to come around where there's a cross!"
7987
7988The point was well taken. It had its effect.
7989
7990"Tom, I didn't think of that. But that's so. It's luck for us, that
7991cross is. I reckon we'll climb down there and have a hunt for that box."
7992
7993Tom went first, cutting rude steps in the clay hill as he descended.
7994Huck followed. Four avenues opened out of the small cavern which the
7995great rock stood in. The boys examined three of them with no result.
7996They found a small recess in the one nearest the base of the rock, with
7997a pallet of blankets spread down in it; also an old suspender, some
7998bacon rind, and the well-gnawed bones of two or three fowls. But there
7999was no money-box. The lads searched and researched this place, but in
8000vain. Tom said:
8001
8002"He said UNDER the cross. Well, this comes nearest to being under the
8003cross. It can't be under the rock itself, because that sets solid on
8004the ground."
8005
8006They searched everywhere once more, and then sat down discouraged.
8007Huck could suggest nothing. By-and-by Tom said:
8008
8009"Lookyhere, Huck, there's footprints and some candle-grease on the
8010clay about one side of this rock, but not on the other sides. Now,
8011what's that for? I bet you the money IS under the rock. I'm going to
8012dig in the clay."
8013
8014"That ain't no bad notion, Tom!" said Huck with animation.
8015
8016Tom's "real Barlow" was out at once, and he had not dug four inches
8017before he struck wood.
8018
8019"Hey, Huck!--you hear that?"
8020
8021Huck began to dig and scratch now. Some boards were soon uncovered and
8022removed. They had concealed a natural chasm which led under the rock.
8023Tom got into this and held his candle as far under the rock as he
8024could, but said he could not see to the end of the rift. He proposed to
8025explore. He stooped and passed under; the narrow way descended
8026gradually. He followed its winding course, first to the right, then to
8027the left, Huck at his heels. Tom turned a short curve, by-and-by, and
8028exclaimed:
8029
8030"My goodness, Huck, lookyhere!"
8031
8032It was the treasure-box, sure enough, occupying a snug little cavern,
8033along with an empty powder-keg, a couple of guns in leather cases, two
8034or three pairs of old moccasins, a leather belt, and some other rubbish
8035well soaked with the water-drip.
8036
8037"Got it at last!" said Huck, ploughing among the tarnished coins with
8038his hand. "My, but we're rich, Tom!"
8039
8040"Huck, I always reckoned we'd get it. It's just too good to believe,
8041but we HAVE got it, sure! Say--let's not fool around here. Let's snake
8042it out. Lemme see if I can lift the box."
8043
8044It weighed about fifty pounds. Tom could lift it, after an awkward
8045fashion, but could not carry it conveniently.
8046
8047"I thought so," he said; "THEY carried it like it was heavy, that day
8048at the ha'nted house. I noticed that. I reckon I was right to think of
8049fetching the little bags along."
8050
8051The money was soon in the bags and the boys took it up to the cross
8052rock.
8053
8054"Now less fetch the guns and things," said Huck.
8055
8056"No, Huck--leave them there. They're just the tricks to have when we
8057go to robbing. We'll keep them there all the time, and we'll hold our
8058orgies there, too. It's an awful snug place for orgies."
8059
8060"What orgies?"
8061
8062"I dono. But robbers always have orgies, and of course we've got to
8063have them, too. Come along, Huck, we've been in here a long time. It's
8064getting late, I reckon. I'm hungry, too. We'll eat and smoke when we
8065get to the skiff."
8066
8067They presently emerged into the clump of sumach bushes, looked warily
8068out, found the coast clear, and were soon lunching and smoking in the
8069skiff. As the sun dipped toward the horizon they pushed out and got
8070under way. Tom skimmed up the shore through the long twilight, chatting
8071cheerily with Huck, and landed shortly after dark.
8072
8073"Now, Huck," said Tom, "we'll hide the money in the loft of the
8074widow's woodshed, and I'll come up in the morning and we'll count it
8075and divide, and then we'll hunt up a place out in the woods for it
8076where it will be safe. Just you lay quiet here and watch the stuff till
8077I run and hook Benny Taylor's little wagon; I won't be gone a minute."
8078
8079He disappeared, and presently returned with the wagon, put the two
8080small sacks into it, threw some old rags on top of them, and started
8081off, dragging his cargo behind him. When the boys reached the
8082Welshman's house, they stopped to rest. Just as they were about to move
8083on, the Welshman stepped out and said:
8084
8085"Hallo, who's that?"
8086
8087"Huck and Tom Sawyer."
8088
8089"Good! Come along with me, boys, you are keeping everybody waiting.
8090Here--hurry up, trot ahead--I'll haul the wagon for you. Why, it's not
8091as light as it might be. Got bricks in it?--or old metal?"
8092
8093"Old metal," said Tom.
8094
8095"I judged so; the boys in this town will take more trouble and fool
8096away more time hunting up six bits' worth of old iron to sell to the
8097foundry than they would to make twice the money at regular work. But
8098that's human nature--hurry along, hurry along!"
8099
8100The boys wanted to know what the hurry was about.
8101
8102"Never mind; you'll see, when we get to the Widow Douglas'."
8103
8104Huck said with some apprehension--for he was long used to being
8105falsely accused:
8106
8107"Mr. Jones, we haven't been doing nothing."
8108
8109The Welshman laughed.
8110
8111"Well, I don't know, Huck, my boy. I don't know about that. Ain't you
8112and the widow good friends?"
8113
8114"Yes. Well, she's ben good friends to me, anyway."
8115
8116"All right, then. What do you want to be afraid for?"
8117
8118This question was not entirely answered in Huck's slow mind before he
8119found himself pushed, along with Tom, into Mrs. Douglas' drawing-room.
8120Mr. Jones left the wagon near the door and followed.
8121
8122The place was grandly lighted, and everybody that was of any
8123consequence in the village was there. The Thatchers were there, the
8124Harpers, the Rogerses, Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, the minister, the editor,
8125and a great many more, and all dressed in their best. The widow
8126received the boys as heartily as any one could well receive two such
8127looking beings. They were covered with clay and candle-grease. Aunt
8128Polly blushed crimson with humiliation, and frowned and shook her head
8129at Tom. Nobody suffered half as much as the two boys did, however. Mr.
8130Jones said:
8131
8132"Tom wasn't at home, yet, so I gave him up; but I stumbled on him and
8133Huck right at my door, and so I just brought them along in a hurry."
8134
8135"And you did just right," said the widow. "Come with me, boys."
8136
8137She took them to a bedchamber and said:
8138
8139"Now wash and dress yourselves. Here are two new suits of clothes
8140--shirts, socks, everything complete. They're Huck's--no, no thanks,
8141Huck--Mr. Jones bought one and I the other. But they'll fit both of you.
8142Get into them. We'll wait--come down when you are slicked up enough."
8143
8144Then she left.
8145
8146
8147
8148CHAPTER XXXIV
8149
8150HUCK said: "Tom, we can slope, if we can find a rope. The window ain't
8151high from the ground."
8152
8153"Shucks! what do you want to slope for?"
8154
8155"Well, I ain't used to that kind of a crowd. I can't stand it. I ain't
8156going down there, Tom."
8157
8158"Oh, bother! It ain't anything. I don't mind it a bit. I'll take care
8159of you."
8160
8161Sid appeared.
8162
8163"Tom," said he, "auntie has been waiting for you all the afternoon.
8164Mary got your Sunday clothes ready, and everybody's been fretting about
8165you. Say--ain't this grease and clay, on your clothes?"
8166
8167"Now, Mr. Siddy, you jist 'tend to your own business. What's all this
8168blow-out about, anyway?"
8169
8170"It's one of the widow's parties that she's always having. This time
8171it's for the Welshman and his sons, on account of that scrape they
8172helped her out of the other night. And say--I can tell you something,
8173if you want to know."
8174
8175"Well, what?"
8176
8177"Why, old Mr. Jones is going to try to spring something on the people
8178here to-night, but I overheard him tell auntie to-day about it, as a
8179secret, but I reckon it's not much of a secret now. Everybody knows
8180--the widow, too, for all she tries to let on she don't. Mr. Jones was
8181bound Huck should be here--couldn't get along with his grand secret
8182without Huck, you know!"
8183
8184"Secret about what, Sid?"
8185
8186"About Huck tracking the robbers to the widow's. I reckon Mr. Jones
8187was going to make a grand time over his surprise, but I bet you it will
8188drop pretty flat."
8189
8190Sid chuckled in a very contented and satisfied way.
8191
8192"Sid, was it you that told?"
8193
8194"Oh, never mind who it was. SOMEBODY told--that's enough."
8195
8196"Sid, there's only one person in this town mean enough to do that, and
8197that's you. If you had been in Huck's place you'd 'a' sneaked down the
8198hill and never told anybody on the robbers. You can't do any but mean
8199things, and you can't bear to see anybody praised for doing good ones.
8200There--no thanks, as the widow says"--and Tom cuffed Sid's ears and
8201helped him to the door with several kicks. "Now go and tell auntie if
8202you dare--and to-morrow you'll catch it!"
8203
8204Some minutes later the widow's guests were at the supper-table, and a
8205dozen children were propped up at little side-tables in the same room,
8206after the fashion of that country and that day. At the proper time Mr.
8207Jones made his little speech, in which he thanked the widow for the
8208honor she was doing himself and his sons, but said that there was
8209another person whose modesty--
8210
8211And so forth and so on. He sprung his secret about Huck's share in the
8212adventure in the finest dramatic manner he was master of, but the
8213surprise it occasioned was largely counterfeit and not as clamorous and
8214effusive as it might have been under happier circumstances. However,
8215the widow made a pretty fair show of astonishment, and heaped so many
8216compliments and so much gratitude upon Huck that he almost forgot the
8217nearly intolerable discomfort of his new clothes in the entirely
8218intolerable discomfort of being set up as a target for everybody's gaze
8219and everybody's laudations.
8220
8221The widow said she meant to give Huck a home under her roof and have
8222him educated; and that when she could spare the money she would start
8223him in business in a modest way. Tom's chance was come. He said:
8224
8225"Huck don't need it. Huck's rich."
8226
8227Nothing but a heavy strain upon the good manners of the company kept
8228back the due and proper complimentary laugh at this pleasant joke. But
8229the silence was a little awkward. Tom broke it:
8230
8231"Huck's got money. Maybe you don't believe it, but he's got lots of
8232it. Oh, you needn't smile--I reckon I can show you. You just wait a
8233minute."
8234
8235Tom ran out of doors. The company looked at each other with a
8236perplexed interest--and inquiringly at Huck, who was tongue-tied.
8237
8238"Sid, what ails Tom?" said Aunt Polly. "He--well, there ain't ever any
8239making of that boy out. I never--"
8240
8241Tom entered, struggling with the weight of his sacks, and Aunt Polly
8242did not finish her sentence. Tom poured the mass of yellow coin upon
8243the table and said:
8244
8245"There--what did I tell you? Half of it's Huck's and half of it's mine!"
8246
8247The spectacle took the general breath away. All gazed, nobody spoke
8248for a moment. Then there was a unanimous call for an explanation. Tom
8249said he could furnish it, and he did. The tale was long, but brimful of
8250interest. There was scarcely an interruption from any one to break the
8251charm of its flow. When he had finished, Mr. Jones said:
8252
8253"I thought I had fixed up a little surprise for this occasion, but it
8254don't amount to anything now. This one makes it sing mighty small, I'm
8255willing to allow."
8256
8257The money was counted. The sum amounted to a little over twelve
8258thousand dollars. It was more than any one present had ever seen at one
8259time before, though several persons were there who were worth
8260considerably more than that in property.
8261
8262
8263
8264CHAPTER XXXV
8265
8266THE reader may rest satisfied that Tom's and Huck's windfall made a
8267mighty stir in the poor little village of St. Petersburg. So vast a
8268sum, all in actual cash, seemed next to incredible. It was talked
8269about, gloated over, glorified, until the reason of many of the
8270citizens tottered under the strain of the unhealthy excitement. Every
8271"haunted" house in St. Petersburg and the neighboring villages was
8272dissected, plank by plank, and its foundations dug up and ransacked for
8273hidden treasure--and not by boys, but men--pretty grave, unromantic
8274men, too, some of them. Wherever Tom and Huck appeared they were
8275courted, admired, stared at. The boys were not able to remember that
8276their remarks had possessed weight before; but now their sayings were
8277treasured and repeated; everything they did seemed somehow to be
8278regarded as remarkable; they had evidently lost the power of doing and
8279saying commonplace things; moreover, their past history was raked up
8280and discovered to bear marks of conspicuous originality. The village
8281paper published biographical sketches of the boys.
8282
8283The Widow Douglas put Huck's money out at six per cent., and Judge
8284Thatcher did the same with Tom's at Aunt Polly's request. Each lad had
8285an income, now, that was simply prodigious--a dollar for every week-day
8286in the year and half of the Sundays. It was just what the minister got
8287--no, it was what he was promised--he generally couldn't collect it. A
8288dollar and a quarter a week would board, lodge, and school a boy in
8289those old simple days--and clothe him and wash him, too, for that
8290matter.
8291
8292Judge Thatcher had conceived a great opinion of Tom. He said that no
8293commonplace boy would ever have got his daughter out of the cave. When
8294Becky told her father, in strict confidence, how Tom had taken her
8295whipping at school, the Judge was visibly moved; and when she pleaded
8296grace for the mighty lie which Tom had told in order to shift that
8297whipping from her shoulders to his own, the Judge said with a fine
8298outburst that it was a noble, a generous, a magnanimous lie--a lie that
8299was worthy to hold up its head and march down through history breast to
8300breast with George Washington's lauded Truth about the hatchet! Becky
8301thought her father had never looked so tall and so superb as when he
8302walked the floor and stamped his foot and said that. She went straight
8303off and told Tom about it.
8304
8305Judge Thatcher hoped to see Tom a great lawyer or a great soldier some
8306day. He said he meant to look to it that Tom should be admitted to the
8307National Military Academy and afterward trained in the best law school
8308in the country, in order that he might be ready for either career or
8309both.
8310
8311Huck Finn's wealth and the fact that he was now under the Widow
8312Douglas' protection introduced him into society--no, dragged him into
8313it, hurled him into it--and his sufferings were almost more than he
8314could bear. The widow's servants kept him clean and neat, combed and
8315brushed, and they bedded him nightly in unsympathetic sheets that had
8316not one little spot or stain which he could press to his heart and know
8317for a friend. He had to eat with a knife and fork; he had to use
8318napkin, cup, and plate; he had to learn his book, he had to go to
8319church; he had to talk so properly that speech was become insipid in
8320his mouth; whithersoever he turned, the bars and shackles of
8321civilization shut him in and bound him hand and foot.
8322
8323He bravely bore his miseries three weeks, and then one day turned up
8324missing. For forty-eight hours the widow hunted for him everywhere in
8325great distress. The public were profoundly concerned; they searched
8326high and low, they dragged the river for his body. Early the third
8327morning Tom Sawyer wisely went poking among some old empty hogsheads
8328down behind the abandoned slaughter-house, and in one of them he found
8329the refugee. Huck had slept there; he had just breakfasted upon some
8330stolen odds and ends of food, and was lying off, now, in comfort, with
8331his pipe. He was unkempt, uncombed, and clad in the same old ruin of
8332rags that had made him picturesque in the days when he was free and
8333happy. Tom routed him out, told him the trouble he had been causing,
8334and urged him to go home. Huck's face lost its tranquil content, and
8335took a melancholy cast. He said:
8336
8337"Don't talk about it, Tom. I've tried it, and it don't work; it don't
8338work, Tom. It ain't for me; I ain't used to it. The widder's good to
8339me, and friendly; but I can't stand them ways. She makes me get up just
8340at the same time every morning; she makes me wash, they comb me all to
8341thunder; she won't let me sleep in the woodshed; I got to wear them
8342blamed clothes that just smothers me, Tom; they don't seem to any air
8343git through 'em, somehow; and they're so rotten nice that I can't set
8344down, nor lay down, nor roll around anywher's; I hain't slid on a
8345cellar-door for--well, it 'pears to be years; I got to go to church and
8346sweat and sweat--I hate them ornery sermons! I can't ketch a fly in
8347there, I can't chaw. I got to wear shoes all Sunday. The widder eats by
8348a bell; she goes to bed by a bell; she gits up by a bell--everything's
8349so awful reg'lar a body can't stand it."
8350
8351"Well, everybody does that way, Huck."
8352
8353"Tom, it don't make no difference. I ain't everybody, and I can't
8354STAND it. It's awful to be tied up so. And grub comes too easy--I don't
8355take no interest in vittles, that way. I got to ask to go a-fishing; I
8356got to ask to go in a-swimming--dern'd if I hain't got to ask to do
8357everything. Well, I'd got to talk so nice it wasn't no comfort--I'd got
8358to go up in the attic and rip out awhile, every day, to git a taste in
8359my mouth, or I'd a died, Tom. The widder wouldn't let me smoke; she
8360wouldn't let me yell, she wouldn't let me gape, nor stretch, nor
8361scratch, before folks--" [Then with a spasm of special irritation and
8362injury]--"And dad fetch it, she prayed all the time! I never see such a
8363woman! I HAD to shove, Tom--I just had to. And besides, that school's
8364going to open, and I'd a had to go to it--well, I wouldn't stand THAT,
8365Tom. Looky here, Tom, being rich ain't what it's cracked up to be. It's
8366just worry and worry, and sweat and sweat, and a-wishing you was dead
8367all the time. Now these clothes suits me, and this bar'l suits me, and
8368I ain't ever going to shake 'em any more. Tom, I wouldn't ever got into
8369all this trouble if it hadn't 'a' ben for that money; now you just take
8370my sheer of it along with your'n, and gimme a ten-center sometimes--not
8371many times, becuz I don't give a dern for a thing 'thout it's tollable
8372hard to git--and you go and beg off for me with the widder."
8373
8374"Oh, Huck, you know I can't do that. 'Tain't fair; and besides if
8375you'll try this thing just a while longer you'll come to like it."
8376
8377"Like it! Yes--the way I'd like a hot stove if I was to set on it long
8378enough. No, Tom, I won't be rich, and I won't live in them cussed
8379smothery houses. I like the woods, and the river, and hogsheads, and
8380I'll stick to 'em, too. Blame it all! just as we'd got guns, and a
8381cave, and all just fixed to rob, here this dern foolishness has got to
8382come up and spile it all!"
8383
8384Tom saw his opportunity--
8385
8386"Lookyhere, Huck, being rich ain't going to keep me back from turning
8387robber."
8388
8389"No! Oh, good-licks; are you in real dead-wood earnest, Tom?"
8390
8391"Just as dead earnest as I'm sitting here. But Huck, we can't let you
8392into the gang if you ain't respectable, you know."
8393
8394Huck's joy was quenched.
8395
8396"Can't let me in, Tom? Didn't you let me go for a pirate?"
8397
8398"Yes, but that's different. A robber is more high-toned than what a
8399pirate is--as a general thing. In most countries they're awful high up
8400in the nobility--dukes and such."
8401
8402"Now, Tom, hain't you always ben friendly to me? You wouldn't shet me
8403out, would you, Tom? You wouldn't do that, now, WOULD you, Tom?"
8404
8405"Huck, I wouldn't want to, and I DON'T want to--but what would people
8406say? Why, they'd say, 'Mph! Tom Sawyer's Gang! pretty low characters in
8407it!' They'd mean you, Huck. You wouldn't like that, and I wouldn't."
8408
8409Huck was silent for some time, engaged in a mental struggle. Finally
8410he said:
8411
8412"Well, I'll go back to the widder for a month and tackle it and see if
8413I can come to stand it, if you'll let me b'long to the gang, Tom."
8414
8415"All right, Huck, it's a whiz! Come along, old chap, and I'll ask the
8416widow to let up on you a little, Huck."
8417
8418"Will you, Tom--now will you? That's good. If she'll let up on some of
8419the roughest things, I'll smoke private and cuss private, and crowd
8420through or bust. When you going to start the gang and turn robbers?"
8421
8422"Oh, right off. We'll get the boys together and have the initiation
8423to-night, maybe."
8424
8425"Have the which?"
8426
8427"Have the initiation."
8428
8429"What's that?"
8430
8431"It's to swear to stand by one another, and never tell the gang's
8432secrets, even if you're chopped all to flinders, and kill anybody and
8433all his family that hurts one of the gang."
8434
8435"That's gay--that's mighty gay, Tom, I tell you."
8436
8437"Well, I bet it is. And all that swearing's got to be done at
8438midnight, in the lonesomest, awfulest place you can find--a ha'nted
8439house is the best, but they're all ripped up now."
8440
8441"Well, midnight's good, anyway, Tom."
8442
8443"Yes, so it is. And you've got to swear on a coffin, and sign it with
8444blood."
8445
8446"Now, that's something LIKE! Why, it's a million times bullier than
8447pirating. I'll stick to the widder till I rot, Tom; and if I git to be
8448a reg'lar ripper of a robber, and everybody talking 'bout it, I reckon
8449she'll be proud she snaked me in out of the wet."
8450
8451
8452
8453CONCLUSION
8454
8455SO endeth this chronicle. It being strictly a history of a BOY, it
8456must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming
8457the history of a MAN. When one writes a novel about grown people, he
8458knows exactly where to stop--that is, with a marriage; but when he
8459writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can.
8460
8461Most of the characters that perform in this book still live, and are
8462prosperous and happy. Some day it may seem worth while to take up the
8463story of the younger ones again and see what sort of men and women they
8464turned out to be; therefore it will be wisest not to reveal any of that
8465part of their lives at present.
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