 Preface of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Preface. Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred. One or two were experiences of my own. The rest, those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life. Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual. He has a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture. The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story. That is to say, 30 or 40 years ago. Although my book has intended manly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shown by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves and of how they felt and thought and talked and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in. The author Hartford, 1876. End of Preface. Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Blaine Aidan McCoy, Riverside, California, 2019. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Chapter 1 Tom! No answer. Tom! No answer. What's gone with that boy, I wonder? You Tom! No answer. The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room. Then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy. They were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for a style, not service. She could have seen through a pair of stove lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear, Well, I lay if I get hold of you, I'll— She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat. I never did see the beat of that boy! She went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the tomato vines and gymson weeds that constituted the garden. No Tom! So she lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for distance and shouted, You Tom! There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight. There! I might have thought of that, closet. What have you been doing in there? Nothing. Nothing! Look at your hands and look at your mouth! What is that truck? I don't know, Aunt. Well, I know it's jam. That's what it is. Forty times I've said. If you didn't let that jam alone, I'd skin you. Hand me that switch. The switch hovered in the air. The peril was desperate. My! Look behind you, Aunt! The old lady whirled round and snatched her skirts out of danger. The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high-board fence, and disappeared over it. His Aunt Polly stood surprised a moment and then broke into a gentle laugh. Hang the boy, can't I never learn anything? Ain't he played me tricks enough like that for me to be looking out for him by this time? But old fools is the biggest fools there is. Can't learn an old dog-new tricks as the saying is. But, my goodness, he never plays them alike two days, and how is a body to know what's coming? He peers to know just how long he can torment me before I get my dander up, and he knows if he can make it out to put me off for a minute or make me laugh. It's all down again and I can't hit him a lick. I ain't doing my duty by that boy, and that's the Lord's truth, goodness knows. Bear the rod and spile the child, as the Good Book says. I'm a layin' up sin and suffering for us both, I know. He's full of the old scratch, but, laws of me, he's my own dead sister's boy. Poor thing, and I ain't got the heart to lash him, somehow. Every time I let him off my conscience does hurt me so, and every time I hit him my old heart most breaks. Well, oh well, man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble, as the Scripture says, and I reckon it so. He'll play hooky this evening, and—that's south-western for afternoon—I'll just be a bleach to make him work tomorrow to punish him. It's mighty hard to make him work Saturdays when all the boys is havin' holiday, but he hates work more than he hates anything else, and I've got to do some of my duty by him, or I'll be the ruination of the child. Tom did play hooky, and he had a very good time. He got back home barely in season to help Jim, the small colored boy, saw next day's wood and split the kindlings before supper. At least he was there in time to tell his adventures to Jim while Jim did three-fourths of the work. Tom's younger brother, or rather half-brother Sid, was already through with his part of the work, picking up chips, for he was a quiet boy, and had no adventurous, troublesome ways. While Tom was eating his supper and stealing sugar as opportunity offered, Aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile, and very deep, for she wanted to trap him into damaging revealments. Like many other simple-hearted souls it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning. Said she, Tom, it was middling warm in school, weren't it? Yes, I'm. Powerful warm, weren't it? Yes, I'm. Didn't you want to go in a swimmin', Tom? A bit of a scare shot through Tom a touch of uncomfortable suspicion. He searched Aunt Polly's face, but it told him nothing. So he said, Know'em, well, not very much. The old lady reached out her hand and felt Tom's shirt and said, But you ain't too warm now, though. And it flattered her to reflect that she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing that was what she had in her mind. But in spite of her, Tom knew where the wind lay now, so he forestalled what might be the next move. Some of us pumped on our heads, minds damp yet, see? Aunt Polly was vexed to think that she had overlooked that bit of circumstantial evidence and missed a trick. Then she had a new inspiration. Tom, you didn't have to undo your shirt collar where I sewed it. To pump on your head, did you? Unbutton your jacket. The trouble vanished out of Tom's face. He opened his jacket. His shirt collar was securely sewed. Bother! Well, go along with you. I had made sure you'd played hooky and been a swimmin', but I forgive you, Tom. I reckon you're kind of a singed cat, as the saying goes. Better knew look. This time. She was half sorry her sagacity had miscarried and half glad that Tom had stumbled into obedient conduct for once. But Sidney said, Now, if I didn't think you sewed his collar with white thread, but it's black. Why, I did sew it with white. Tom! But Tom did not wait for the rest. As he went out the door, he said, Sidney, I'll lick you for that. In a safe place, Tom examined two large needles which were thrust into the lapels of his jacket and had thread bound about them. One needle carried white thread and the other black. He said, She'd never notice if it hadn't been for Sid. Con found it. Sometimes she sews it with white and sometimes she sews it with black. I wish to jeem any she'd stick to one or to other. I can't keep the run of them. But I'll bet you all lamb Sid for that. I'll learn him. He was not the model boy of the village. He knew the model boy very well, though, and loathed him. Within two minutes, or even less, he had forgotten all his troubles. Not because his troubles were one wit less heavy and bitter to him than a man's are to a man, but because they knew and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of his mind for the time. Just as men's misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises, this new interest was a valued novelty in whistling which he had just acquired from a negro, and he was suffering to practice it undisturbed. It consisted, in a peculiar bird-like turn, a sort of liquid warble produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midst of the music. The reader probably remembers how to do it if he has ever been a boy. Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of it, and he strode down the street with his mouth full of harmony and his soul full of gratitude. He felt much as an astronomer feels who has discovered a new planet. No doubt, as far as strong, deep, unalloyed pleasure is concerned, the advantage was with the boy, not the astronomer. The summer evenings were long. It was not dark yet. Presently Tom checked his whistle. A stranger was before him. A boy, a shade larger than himself. A newcomer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well-dressed, too. Well-dressed on a weekday. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing. His close-buttoned blue cloth round about was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on, and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom's vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery, and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved. But only sideways in a circle they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said, I can lick you. I'd like to see you try it. Well, I can do it. No, you can't, either. Yes, I can. No, you can't. I can. You can't. Can, can't. An uncomfortable pause. Then Tom said, What's your name? Tisn't any of your business, maybe. Well, I'll allow I'll make it, my business. Well, why don't you? If you say much, I will. Much, much, much. There now. Oh, you think you're mighty smart, don't you? I could lick you with one hand tied behind me if I wanted to. Well, why don't you do it? Say you can do it. Well, I will, if you fool with me. Oh, yes, I've seen whole families in the same fix. Smarty, you think you're some now, don't you? Oh, what a hat! You can lump that hat if you don't like it. I dare you to knock it off. And anybody that'll take a dare will suck eggs. You're a liar. You're another. You're a fighting liar and doesn't take it up. Oh, take a walk. Say, if you give me much more of your sass, I'll take and bounce a rock off in your head. Oh, of course you will. Well, I will. Well, why don't you do it then? What do you keep saying you will for? Why don't you do it? It's because you're afraid. I ain't afraid. You are. I ain't. You are. Other paws and more eyeing and sidling around each other. Presently they were shoulder to shoulder. And Tom said, get away from here. Go away yourself. I won't. I won't either. So they stood each with a foot placed at an angle as a brace and both shoving with might and mane and glowering at each other with hate. But neither could get an advantage after struggling till both were hot and flushed. Each relaxed his strain with watchful caution. And Tom said, you're a coward and a pup. I'll tell my big brother on you and he can thrash you with his little finger and I'll make him do it, too. What do I care for your big brother? I've got a brother that's bigger than he is and once more he can throw him over that fence, too. Both brothers were imaginary. That's a lie. You're saying so, don't make it so. Tom drew a line in the dust with his big toe and said, I dare you to step over that and I'll lick you till you can't stand up. Anybody that'll take a dare will steal sheep. The new boy stepped over promptly and said, Now you said you'd do it, now let's see you do it. Don't you crowd me now, you better look out. Well, you said you'd do it, why don't you do it? I jingo for two cents, I will do it. The new boy took two broad coppers out of his pocket and held them out with derision. Tom struck them to the ground. In an instant both boys were rolling and tumbling in the dirt, gripped together like cats, and for the space of a minute they tugged and tore at each other's hair and clothes, punched and scratched each other's noses, and covered themselves with dust and glory. Presently the confusion took form and through the fog of battle Tom appeared, seated astride the new boy and pounding him with his fists. All or enough, said he. The boy only struggled to free himself, he was crying mainly from rage. All or enough! And the pounding went on. At last the stranger got out a smothered, Nuff, and Tom led him up and said, Now that'll learn you, better look out, who you're fooling with next time. The new boy went off, brushing the dust from his clothes, sobbing, snuffling, and occasionally looking back and shaking his head and threatening what he would do to Tom the next time he caught him out. To which Tom responded with jeers, and started off in high feather, and as soon as his back was turned the new boy snatched up a stone through it and hid him between the shoulders, and then turned tail and ran like an antelope. Tom chased the traitor home, and thus found out where he lived. He then held a position at the gate for some time, daring the enemy to come outside. But the enemy only made faces at him through the window and declined. At last the enemy's mother appeared, and called Tom a bad, vicious vulgar child, and ordered him away. So he went away, but he said he allowed to lay for that boy. He got home pretty late that night, and when he climbed cautiously in, at the window, he uncovered an ambuscade in the person of his aunt. And when she saw the state his clothes were in, her resolution to turn his Saturday holiday into captivity at hard labour became adamantine in its firmness. CHAPTER II Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart, and if that heart was young the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face, and a spring in every step. The locus trees were in bloom, and the fragrance of the blossoms were there. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above it, was green with vegetation, and it lay just far enough away to seem a delectable land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting. Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all the gladness left him, and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence, nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Playing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank, repeated the operation, did it again, compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged. Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail and singing buffalo gals. Bringing water from the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom's eyes before, but now it did not strike him so. He remembered there was company at the pump. White, mulatto, and negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarreling, fighting, skylarking, and he remembered that although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards off, Jim never got back with a bucket of water under an hour, and even then somebody generally had to go after him. Tom said, Say, Jim, I'll fetch the water if you'll whitewash some. Jim shook his head and said, Can't Mars, Tom. Old Mrs. She told me I gotta go and get this water and stop fooling around with anybody. She said she specced Mars, Tom, going to ask me to whitewash, and so she told me to go long and attend to my own business. She loud she'd tended to whitewashing. Whenever you mind what she said, Jim, that's the way she always talks. Give me the bucket. I won't be gone only a minute. She won't ever know. Oh, I doesn't, Mars, Tom. Old Mrs. She taking Todd a head off me, did she say she would? She? She never licks anybody. Wax him over the head with a thimble. New cares for that, I'd like to know. She talks awful. Talk don't hurt. Anyway, don't if she don't cry. Jim, I'll give you a marvel. I'll give you a wide alley. Jim began to waver. Wide alley, Jim. It's a bulletaw. My, that's a mighty gay marvel, I tell you. Mars, Tom, I was powerful afraid of old Mrs. She. And besides, if you will, I'll show you my sore toe. Jim was only human. This attraction was too much for him. He put down his pail, took the wide alley and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound. In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail in a tingling rear. Tom was whitewashing with vigor and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eyes. But Tom's energy did not last. Jim began to think of the fun he had planned for this day and the sorrow multiplied. Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work. The very thought of it burned him like fire. He got out his worldly wealth and examined it. Bits of toys, marbles, and trash, enough to buy an exchange of work, maybe, but not half enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom. So he returned his straightened means to his pocket and gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys. At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him, nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration. He took up his brush and went trampoly to work. Ben Rogers' hoven sight presently, the very boy of all boys whose ridicule he had been dreading. Ben's gait was the hop, skip, and jump, proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations high. He was eating an apple and giving a long, loadiest whoop at intervals, followed by a deep tone, ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-dong. For he was personating a steamboat. As he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned far over to starboard, and rounding to ponderously and with laborious, pompant circumstance, for he was personating the big Missouri, and considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water. He was boat and captain and engine bells combined, so he had to imagine himself standing on his own hurricane deck, giving the orders and executing them. Stopper, sir! Ting-a-ling-a-ling. The headway ran almost out, and he drew up slowly towards the sidewalk. Ship up to back! Ting-a-ling-a-ling. His arms straightened and stiffened down his sides. Set her back on the starboard! Ting-a-ling-a-ling. Chow! Chow-chow! Chow! His right hand, meantime, describing stately circles, for it was representing a 40-foot wheel. Let her go back on the labored! Ting-a-ling-a-ling. Chow-chow-chow! His left hand began to describe circles. Stop the starboard! Ting-a-ling-a-ling. Stop the labored! Come ahead on the starboard! Stopper! Let your outside turn over slow! Ting-a-ling-a-ling. Chow! Wow! Get out the headline! Lively now! Come out with your spring line! What are you about there? Take a turn round the stump with that bite of it! Stand by that stage! Now, let her go! Done with the engine, sir. Ting-a-ling-a-ling. Shhh! Trying the gauge-cocks. Tom went on whitewashing, paid no attention to the steamboat. Ben stared a moment and then said, Hiya! You're up a stump, ain't ya? No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the Ivan artist. Then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result as before. Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said, Hello, old chap? You gotta work, hey? Tom wheeled around suddenly. Why, it's you, Ben! I weren't noticing. Say, I'm a-going in swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But, of course, you'd rather work, wouldn't you? Of course you would. Ben contemplated the boy, Ben said, What do you call work? Why, ain't that work? Tom resumed his whitewashing and answered carelessly. Well, maybe it is, maybe it ain't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer. Oh, come now. You don't mean to let on, you like it. The brush continued to move. Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day? That put things in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth, stepped back to note the effect, added a touch here and there, criticized the effect again. Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently, he said, Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little. Tom considered, was about to consent, but he altered his mind. No, no, I reckon it wouldn't hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly's awful particular about this fence, right here on the street, you know? But if it was the back fence, I wouldn't mind, and she wouldn't. Yes, she's awful particular about this fence. It's got to be done very careful. I reckon there ain't one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it's got to be done. No. Is that so? Oh, come on now. Let me just try, only just a little. I'd let you, if it was me, Tom. Ben, I'd like to, honest engine, but Aunt Polly, well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn't let him. Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn't let Sid. Now, don't you see how I'm fixed? If you was to tackle this fence, and anything was to happen to it. Aw, shucks. I'd be just as careful. Now, let me try. Say, I'll give you the core of my apple. Well, here. No, Ben, now don't. I'm afeared. I'll give you all of it. Tom gave up the brush with a reluctance in his face, but a lack of it in his heart. And while the late steamer, Big Missouri, worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel, in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material. Boys happened by every little while. They came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite and good repair. When he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to swing it with, and so on and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor, poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had, besides the things mentioned before, twelve marbles, part of a juice harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six firecrackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass doorknob, a dog-collar, but no dog, the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange peel, and a dilapidated old window sash. He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while, plenty of company, and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it. If he hadn't run out of whitewash, he would have bankrupted every boy in the village. Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He discovered a great law of human action without knowing it, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make that thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a treadmill is work, while rolling ten pins or climbing Mount Blanc is only amusement. There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four horse passenger coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line in the summer, because the privilege cost them considerable money. But if they were offered wages for the service, that would turn it into work, and then they would resign. The boy mused a while over the substantial change which had taken place in his worldly circumstances, and then wended towards headquarters to report. End of Chapter 2. The Balmy summer air, the restful quiet, the odor of the flowers, and the drowsing murmur of the bees had had their effect. And she was nodding over her knitting, for she had no company but the cat, and it was asleep in her lap. Her spectacles were propped up on her grey head for safety. She had thought that, of course, Tom had deserted long ago, and she wondered that seeing him place himself in the house in her power again in this intrepid way. He said, What, already? How much have you done? It's all done, Ann. Tom, don't lie to me. I can't bear it. I ain't Ann. It is all done. Ann Polly placed small trust in such evidence. She went out to see for herself, and she would have been content to find twenty percent of Tom's statement true when she found the entire fence whitewashed and not only whitewashed but elaborately coated and re-coated and even a streak added to the ground. Her astonishment was almost unspeakable. She said, Well Ann, never. There's no getting around it. You can work when you're a man to Tom. And then she diluted the compliment by adding, Pet, it's powerful seldom you're a man to I'm bound to see. Well, go long and play, and get back sometime in a week for Altanya. She was so overcome by the splendor of his achievement that she took him into the closet and selected a choice apple and delivered it to him. Along with an improving lecture upon the added value and flavor, a treat took to itself when it came without sin through virtuous effort. And while she closed with a happy scriptural flourish, he, quote, hooked, unquote, a donut. Then he skipped out and saw Sid just starting up the outside stairway that led to the back rooms on the second floor. Clods were handy and the air was full of them in a twinkling. They raged around Sid like a hailstorm and before Ann Polly could collect her surprise faculties in Sally to the rescue, six or seven Clods had taken personal effect and Tom was over the fence and gone. There was a gait but as a general thing he was too crowded for time to make use of it. He was at peace now that he had settled with Sid for calling attention to his black thread and getting him into trouble. Tom skirted the block and came round into a muddy alley that led by the back of his aunt's cow stable. He presently got safely beyond the reach of capture and punishment and hastened toward the public square of the village where, to, quote, military, unquote, companies of boys had met for conflict according to previous appointment. Tom was general of one of these armies Joe Harper, a bosom friend general of the other. These two great commanders did not condescend to fight in person that being better suited to the still smaller fry but sat together on an eminence and conducted the field operations by orders delivered through AIDS to camp. Tom's army won a great victory after a long and hard fought battle. Then the dead were counted, prisoners exchanged the terms of the next disagreement agreed upon and the day for the necessary battle appointed after which the armies fell into line and marched away and Tom turned homeward alone. As he was passing by the house where Jeff Thatcher lived, he saw a new girl in the garden, a lovely little blue eyed creature with yellow hair plaited into two long tails white summer frock and embroidered pantalettes. The fresh crowned hero fell without firing a shot. A certain Amy Lawrence vanished out of his heart and left not even a memory of herself behind. He had thought he loved her to distraction he had regarded his passion as adoration and behold it was only a poor little evanescent partiality. He had been months winning her she had confessed hardly a week ago he had been the happiest and the proudest boy in the world only seven short days and here in one instant of time out of his heart like a casual stranger whose visit is done he worshipped this new angel with furtive eye till he saw that she had discovered him then he pretended he did not know she was present and began to quote show off unquote in all sorts of absurd boyish ways in order to win her admiration he kept up this grotesque foolishness for some time but by and by while he was in the midst of some dangerous gymnastic performances he glanced aside and saw that the little girl was wending her way toward the house Tom came up to the fence and leaned on it grieving and hoping she would tarry yet a while longer she halted a moment on the steps and then moved toward the door Tom heaved a great sigh as she put her foot on the threshold but his face lit up right away for she tossed the pansy over the fence a moment before she disappeared the boy ran around and stopped within a foot or two of the flower then shaded his eyes with his hand and began to look down street as if he had discovered something of interest going on in that direction presently he picked up a straw and began trying to balance it on his nose with his head tilted far back and as he moved from side to side in his efforts he edged nearer and nearer toward the pansy finally his bare foot rested upon it his plying toes closed upon it and went away with the treasure and disappeared round the corner but only for a minute only while he could button the flower inside his jacket next his heart or next his stomach possibly for he was not much posted in anatomy and not hypercritical anyway he returned now and hung about the fence till nightfall quote showing off as before but the girl never exhibited herself again though Tom comforted himself a little with the hope that she had been near some window mean time and had been aware of his attentions finally he strode home reluctantly with his poor head full of visions all through supper his spirits were so high that his aunt wondered quote what had got into the child he took a good scolding about clotting Sid and did not seem to mind it in the least he tried to steal sugar under his aunt's very nose and got his knuckles wrapped for it and said Aunt you don't whack Sid when he takes it well Sid don't torment about it the way you do you'd be always into that sugar if I weren't watching you presently she stepped into the kitchen and Sid happy in his immunity reached for the sugar bowl a sort of glorying over Tom which was well nigh unbearable but Sid's fingers slipped and the bowl dropped and broke Tom was in ecstasy in such ecstasy he even controlled his tongue and was silent he said to himself that he would not speak a word even when his aunt came in but would sit perfectly still till she asked who did the mischief and then he would tell and there would be nothing so good in the world as to see that pet model quote catch it he was so brimful of exaltation that he could hardly hold himself when the old lady came back and stood above the wreck discharging spectacles he said to himself now it's coming in the next instant he was sprawling on the floor the potent palm was uplifted to strike again when Tom cried out hold on now what you're belting me for Sid broke it and Polly paused perplexed and Tom looked for healing pity but when she got her tongue again she only said hmm well you didn't get a lick of miss I reckon you've been into some other audacious mischief when I wasn't around lack of nerve then her conscience reproached her and she yearned to say something kind and loving but she judged that this would be construed into a confession that she had been in the wrong and discipline forbade that so she kept silence and went about her affairs with a troubled heart Tom sulked in a corner and exalted his woes he knew that in her heart his aunt was on her knees to him and he was morosely gratified by the consciousness of it he would hang out no signals he would take notice of none he knew that a yearning glance fell upon him now and then through a film of tears but he refused recognition of it he pictured himself lying sick unto death and his aunt bending over him beseeching one little forgiving word but he would turn his face to the wall and die with that word and said ah how would she feel then and he pictured himself brought home from the river dead with his curls all wet and his sore heart at rest how she would throw herself upon him and how her tears would fall like rain and her lips pray God to give her back her boy and she would never never abuse him anymore but he would lie there cold and white and make no sign a poor little sufferer whose griefs were at an end he so worked upon his feelings the pathos of these dreams that he had to keep swallowing he was so like to choke and his eyes swam in a blur of water which overflowed when he winked and ran down and trickled from the end of his nose and such a luxury to him was this petting of his sorrows that he could not bear to have any worldly cheeriness or any grating delight intrude upon it it was too sacred for such contact and so presently when his cousin Mary danced in all alive with the joy of seeing home again after an age long visit of one week to the country he got up and moved in clouds in darkness out at one door as she brought song and sunshine in at the other he wandered far from the accustomed haunts of boys and saw desolate places that were in harmony with his spirit a log raft in the river invited him and he seated himself on its outer edge and contemplated the dreary vastness of the stream wishing the wild that he could only be drowned all at once and unconsciously without undergoing the uncomfortable routine devised by nature then he thought of his flower he got it out, rumpled and wilted and it mightily increased his dismal felicity he wondered if she would pity him if she knew would she cry and wish that she had a right to put her arms around his neck and comfort him would she turn coldly away like all the hollow world this picture brought such an agony of pleasurable suffering that he worked it over and over again in his mind and set it up in new and varied lights till he wore a thread bear at last he rose up sighing and departed in the darkness about half past nine or ten o'clock he came along the deserted street to where the adored unknown lived he paused the moment no sound fell upon his listening ear a candle was casting a dull glow upon the curtain of a second story window was the sacred presence there he climbed the fence threaded his stealthy way through the plants till he stood under that window he looked up at it long and with emotion then he laid him down on the ground under it disposing himself upon his back with his hands clasped upon his breast and holding his poor wilted flower and thus he would die out in the cold world with no shelter over his homeless head no friendly hand to wipe the death damps from his brow no loving face to bend pittingly over him when the great agony came and thus she would see him when she looked out upon the glad morning and oh would she drop one little tear upon his poor lifeless form would she heave one little sigh to see a bright young life so rudely blighted so untimely cut down the window went up a maid servant's discordant voice profaned the holy calm and a deluge of water drenched the prone martyr's remains the strangling hero sprang up with a relieving snort there was a whiz as of a missile in the air mingled with the murmur of a curse a sound as of shivering glass followed and a small vague form went over the fence and shot away in the gloom not long after as Tom all undressed for bed was surveying his drenched garments by the light of a tallow dip Sid woke up but if he had any dim idea of making any quote references to allusions unquote he thought better of it and held his peace for there was danger in Tom's eye Tom turned in without the added vexation of prayers and Sid made mental note of the omission End of Chapter 3 Maria, Melodia, Carrie Chapter 4 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Maria, Melodia, Carrie The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Chapter 4 The sun rose upon a tranquil world and beamed down upon the peaceful village like a benediction Breakfast over and Polly had family worship It began with a prayer built from the ground up of solid courses of scriptural quotations welded together with a thin mortar of originality and from the summit of this she delivered a grim chapter of the Mosaic Law as from Sinai Then Tom girded up his loin so to speak and went to work to get his verses Sid had learned his lesson days before Tom bent all his energies to the memorizing of five verses and he chose part of the Sermon on the Mount because he could find no verses that were shorter At the end of half an hour Tom had a vague general idea of his lesson but no more for his mind was traversing the whole field of human thought and his hands were busy with distracting recreations Mary took his book to hear him recite and he tried to find his way through the fog Blessed are they they poor yes poor blessed are the poor in spirit in spirit blessed are the poor in spirit for they theirs blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are they that mourn for they they sh for they oh I don't know what it is shal oh shal for they shal for they shal and shal mourn hey blessed are they the chal they that shal mourn for they shal and shal hood why don't you tell me Mary who do you want to be so mean for oh Tom you poor thick-headed thing I'm not teasing you I wouldn't do that you must go and learn it again don't you be discouraged Tom you'll manage it and if you do I'll give you something ever so nice there now that's a good boy alright what is it Mary tell me what it is never you mind Tom you know if I say it's nice you bet you that too Mary alright I'll tackle it again and he did quote tackle it again unquote and under the double pressure of curiosity and prospective gain he did it with such spirit that he accomplished the shining success Mary gave him a brand new quote Barlow unquote knife worth twelve and a half cents and the convulsion of delight that swept this system shook him to his foundations true the knife would not cut anything but it was a quote sure enough unquote Barlow and there was inconceivable grandeur in that though where the western boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury is an imposing mystery and will always remain so perhaps Tom contrived to scarify the cupboard with it and was arranging to begin on the bureau when he was called off to dress for Sunday school Mary gave him a tin basin water and a piece of soap and he went outside the door and set the basin on a little bench there then he dipped the soap in the water and laid it down turned up his sleeves poured out the water on the ground gently and then entered the kitchen and began to wipe his face diligently on the towel behind the door but Mary removed the towel and said now ain't you ashamed Tom you mustn't be so bad quarter won't hurt you Tom was a trifle disconcerted the basin was refilled and this time he stood over it a little while gathering resolution took in a big breath and began when he entered the kitchen presently with both eyes shut and groping for the towel with his hands an honorable testimony of suds and water was dripping from his face but when he emerged from the towel he was not yet satisfactory for the clean territory stopped short at his chin and his jaws like a mask below and beyond this line there was a dark expanse of unirrigated soil that spread downward in front and backward around his neck Mary took him in hand and when she was done with him he was a man and a brother without distinction of color and a saturated hair was neatly brushed and it short curls wrought into a dainty and symmetrical general effect bracket he privately smoothed out the curls with labor and difficulty and plastered his hair close down to his head for he held curls to be effeminate and his own filled his life with bitterness close bracket then Mary got out a suit of his clothing that had been used only on Sundays during two years they were simply called his quote other clothes unquote and so by that we know the size of his wardrobe the girl quote put him to writes unquote after he addressed himself she buttoned his neat roundabout up to his chin turned his vast shirt collar down over his shoulders brushed him off and crowned him with his speckled straw hat he now looked exceedingly improved and uncomfortable he was fully as uncomfortable as he looked for there was a restraint about whole clothes and cleanliness that galled him he hoped that Mary would forget his shoes but the hope was blighted she coated them thoroughly with tallow as was the custom and brought them out he lost his temper and said he was always being made to do everything he didn't want to do but Mary said persuasively please Tom that's a good boy so he got into the shoes snarling Mary was soon ready and the three children set out for Sunday school a place that Tom hated with his whole heart but Sid and Mary were fond of it Sabbath school hours were from nine to half past ten and then church service two of the children always remained for discernment voluntarily and the other always remained too for stronger reasons the church's high backed uncushioned pews would seat about 300 persons the edifice was but a small plain affair with a sort of pine board tree box on top of it for a steeple at the door Tom dropped back a step and accosted a Sunday dressed comrade say Billy got a yellow ticket yes where'd he give piece of lake which had a fish hook let's see him Tom exhibited they were satisfactory and the property changed hands then Tom traded a couple of white alleys for three red tickets and some small trifle or other for a couple of blue ones he way-laid other boys as they came and went on buying tickets of various colors ten or fifteen minutes longer he entered the church now proceeded to his seat and started a quarrel with the first boy that came handy the teacher a grave elderly man interfered then turned his back a moment and Tom pulled a boy's hair in the next bench and was absorbed in his book when the boy turned around stuck a pin in another boy presently in order to hear him say ouch and got a new weper man from his teacher Tom's whole class were of a pattern restless, noisy and troublesome when they came to recite their lessons not one of them knew his verses perfectly but had to be prompted all along however they worried through and each got his reward in small blue tickets each with a passage of scripture on it each blue ticket was paid for two verses of the recitation ten blue tickets equaled a red one and could be exchanged for it ten red tickets equaled a yellow one for ten yellow tickets the superintendent gave a very plainly bound Bible worth forty cents in those easy times to the pupil how many of my readers would have the industry and application to memorize two thousand verses even for a door Bible and yet Mary had acquired two Bibles in this way it was the patient work of two years and a boy of German parentage had won four or five he once recited three thousand verses without stopping but the strain upon his mental faculties was too great and was little better than an idiot from that day forth a grievous misfortune for the school for on great occasions before company the superintendent as Tom expressed it had always made this boy come out and quote spread himself only the older pupils managed to keep their tickets and stick to their tedious work long enough to get a Bible and so the delivery of one of these prizes was a rare and noteworthy circumstance the school was so great and conspicuous for that day that on the spot every scholar's heart was fired with a fresh ambition that often lasted a couple of weeks it is possible that Tom's mental stomach had never really hungered for one of those prizes but unquestionably his entire being had for many a day long for the glory and the eclah that came with it in due course the superintendent stood up in front of the pulpit with a closed hymn book in his hand inserted between its leaves and commanded attention when a Sunday school superintendent makes his customary little speech a hymn book in hand is as necessary as is the inevitable sheet of music in the hand of a singer who stands forward on the platform and sings a solo at a concert though why is a mystery for neither the hymn book nor the sheet of music is ever referred to by the sufferer this superintendent was a slim creature of 35 with a sandy goatee with a sandy hair he wore a stiff standing collar whose upper edge almost reached his ears and whose sharp points curved forward abreast the corners of his mouth a fence that compelled a straight look out ahead and a turning of the whole body when a side view was required his chin was propped on a spreading cravette which was as broad and as long as a banknote and had fringed ends his boot toes were turned sharply up in a fashion of the day constantly and laboriously produced by the young man by sitting with their toes pressed against the wall for hours together Mr. Walters was very earnest of mean and very sincere and honest at heart and he held sacred things in places in such reverence and so separated them from worldly matters that unconsciously to himself his Sunday school voice had acquired a particular intonation which was wholly absent on weekdays he began after this fashion I want you all to sit up just as straight and pretty as you can and give me all your attention for a minute or two there that is it that is the way good little boys and girls should do I see one little girl who's looking out of the window I'm afraid she thinks I am out there somewhere perhaps up in one of the trees making a speech to the little birds Bracket, applause of titter close bracket I want to tell you how good it makes me feel to see so many bright clean little faces assembled in a place like this learning to do right and be good and so forth and so on it is not necessary to set down the rest of the oration it was of a pattern which does not vary and so it is familiar to us all the latter third of the speech was marred by the resumption of fights and other recreations among certain of the bad boys and by fidgeting whisperings that extended far and wide washing even to the bases of isolated and incorruptible rocks like Sid and Mary but now every sound ceased suddenly with the subsidence of Mr. Walter's voice and the conclusion of the speech was received with a burst of silent gratitude a good part of the whispering had been occasioned by an event which was more or less rare the entrance of visitors lawyer Thatcher, accompanied by a very feeble and aged man a fine, portly, middle aged gentleman with iron grey hair in a dignified lady who was doubtless the latter's wife the lady was leading a child Tom had been restless and full of chafings and repinings conscience smitten too he could not meet Amy Lawrence's eye he could not brook her loving gaze but when he saw this small newcomer his soul was all ablaze with bliss in a moment the next moment he was quote showing off unquote with all his might cuffing boys pulling hair making faces in a word using every art that seemed likely to fascinate a girl and win her applause his exaltation had but one alloy the memory of his humiliation in this angels garden and that record in sand was fast washing out under the waves of happiness that were sweeping over it now the others were given the highest seat of honour and as soon as Mr. Walter's speech was finished he introduced them to the school the middle aged man turned out to be a prodigious personage no less so one than the county judge all together the most august creation these children had ever looked upon and they wondered what kind of material he was made of and they half wanted to hear him roar and were half afraid he might too he was from Constantinople 12 miles away he had traveled and seen the world these very eyes had looked upon the county courthouse which was said to have a tin roof the awe which these reflections inspired was attested by the impressive silence and the ranks of staring eyes this was the great judge Thatcher brother of their own lawyer Jeff Thatcher immediately went forward to be familiar with the great man and be envied by the school it would have been music to his soul to hear the whisperings look at him Jim he's going up there say look he's going to shake hands with him he is shaking hands with him bad jinx don't you wish it was Jeff Mr. Walters fell to quote showing off unquote with all sorts of official bustlings and activities giving orders delivering judgments discharging directions here there everywhere that he could find the target the librarian quote showed off unquote running hither and tither with his arms full of books and making a deal of the splutter and fuss that insect authority delights in the young lady teachers quote showed off unquote bending sweetly over pupils that were lately being boxed lifting pretty warning fingers at bad little boys and patting good ones lovingly the young gentlemen teachers quote showed off unquote with small scoldings and other little displays of authority and fine attention to discipline most of the teachers of both sexes found business up at the library by the pulpit and it was business that frequently had to be done over again two or three times with much seeming vexation the little girls quote showed off unquote in various ways and the little boys quote showed off unquote with such diligence that the air was thick with paper wads and the murmur of scufflings and above it all the great man sat and beamed a majestic judicial smile upon all the house and warned himself in the son of his own grandeur for he was quote showing off unquote two there was only one thing wanting to make mr. Walter's ecstasy complete and that was a chance to deliver a bible prize and exhibit a prodigy several pupils had a few yellow tickets but none had enough he had been around among the star pupils inquiring he would have given worlds now to have that german mad back again with a sound mind and now at this moment when hope was dead tom Sawyer came forward with nine yellow tickets nine red tickets and ten blue ones and demanded a bible this was a thunderbolt out of a clear sky walters was not expecting an application from this source for the next ten years but there was no getting around it here with the certified checks and they were good for their face elevated to a place with the judge and the other elect and the great news was announced from headquarters it was the most stunning surprise of the decade and so profound was the sensation that it lifted the new hero up to the judicial ones altitude and the school had two marbles to gaze upon in place of one the boys were all eaten up with envy but those who suffered the bitterest pangs were those who perceived too late that they themselves had contributed splendid splendor by trading tickets to tom for the wealth he had amassed in selling whitewashing privileges these despised themselves as being the dupes of a wily fraud a guileful snake in the grass the prize was delivered to tom with as much a fusion as the superintendent could pump up under the circumstances but it lacked somewhat of the true gush for the poor fellow's instinct taught him that there was a mystery here that could not well bear the light perhaps it was simply preposterous that this boy had warehouse two thousand sheaves of scriptural wisdom on his premises a dozen would strain his capacity without a doubt Amy Lawrence was proud and glad and she tried to make tom see it in her face but he wouldn't look she wondered then she was just a grain troubled next a dim suspicion came and went came again she watched a furtive glance told her world and then her heart broke and she was jealous and angry and the tears came and she hated everybody tom most of all she thought tom was introduced to the judge but his tongue was tied his breath would hardly come his heart quaked partly because of the awful greatness of the man but mainly because he was her parent he would have liked to fall down and worship him if it were in the dark the judge put his hand on tom's head and called him a fine little man and asked him what his name was the boy stammered, gasped and got it out tom oh no not tom it is tomas ah that's it I thought there was more to it maybe that's very well but you have another one idea say and you'll tell it to me won't you tell the gentleman your other name tomas and say sir you mustn't forget your manners tomas sire sir that's it that's a good boy fine boy fine manly little fellow 2000 verses is a great many very very great many and you never can be sorry for the trouble you took to learn them for knowledge is worth more than anything there is in the world it's what makes great man and good man you will be a great man and a good man yourself some day tomas and then you look back and say it's all owing to the precious sunday school privileges of my boyhood it's all owing to my dear teachers that taught me to learn it's all owing to the good superintendent who encouraged me and watched over me and gave me a beautiful bible a splendid elegant bible deep and have it all from my own always it's all owing to right bringing up that is what you will say tomas and you wouldn't take any money for those 2000 verses no indeed you wouldn't and now you wouldn't mind telling me and this lady some of the things you learned no I know you wouldn't but we are proud of little boys that learn now no doubt you know the names of all the 12 disciples won't you tell us the names the first two that were appointed tom was tugging at a buttonhole and looking sheepish he blushed now and his eyes fell mr. walters heart sank within him he said to himself it is not possible that the boy can answer the simplest question why did the judge ask him yet he felt obliged to speak up and say answer the gentleman tomas don't be afraid tom still hung fire oh you'll tell me the names of the first two disciples were david and goliah let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene end of chapter 4 recording by maria melodia carry chapter 5 of the adventures of tom Sawyer by mark twain this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by mark twain chapter 5 about half past ten the cracked bell of the small church began to ring and presently the people began to gather for the morning sermon the sunday school children distributed themselves about the house and occupied pews with their parents so as to be under supervision Aunt Polly came and Tom and Sid and Mary sat with her being placed next to the aisle in order that he might be as far away from the open window and the seductive outside summer scenes as possible the crowd filled up the aisles the aged and needy postmaster who had seen better days the mayor and his wife for they had a mayor there among other unnecessaries the justice of the peace the widow Douglas fair, smart, and 40 a generous, good-hearted soul and well-to-do her hill mansion, the only palace in the town and the most hospitable and much the most lavish in the matter of festivities that St. Petersburg could boast the bent and venerable major and Mrs. Ward Lawyer Riverson the new notable from a distance next the bell of the village followed by a troop of lawn-clad and ribbon-decked young heartbreakers then all the young clerks in town in a body for they had stood in the vestibule sucking their cane heads a circling wall of oiled and simpering admirers till the last girl had run their gantlet and last of all came the model boy Willie Mufferson taking as heedful care of his mother as if she were cut glass he always brought his mother to church and was the pride of all the matrons the boys all hated him he was so good and besides he had been thrown up to them so much his white handkerchief was hanging out of his pocket behind as usual on Sundays accidentally Tom had no handkerchief and he looked upon boys who had as snobs the congregation being fully assembled now the bell rang once more to warn laggards and stragglers and then a solemn hush fell upon the church which was only broken by the tittering of the choir in the gallery the choir always tittered and whispered all through service there was once a church choir that was not ill-bred but I have forgotten where it was now it was a great many years ago and I can scarcely remember anything about it but I think it was in some foreign country the minister gave out the hymn and read it through with a relish in a peculiar style which was much admired in that part of the country his voice began on a medium key and climbed steadily up till it reached a certain point where it bore with strong emphasis upon the topmost word and then plunged down as if from a springboard shall I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease whilst others fight to win the prize and sail through blood, E.C.'s he was regarded as a wonderful reader at church sociables he was always called upon to read poetry and when he was through the ladies would lift up their hands and let them fall helplessly in their laps and wall their eyes and shake their heads as much as to say words cannot express it it is too beautiful too beautiful for this mortal earth after the hymn had been sung the reverend Mr. Sprague turned himself into a bulletin board and read off notices of meetings and societies and things till it seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of doom a queer custom which is still kept up in America even in cities away here in this age of abundant newspapers often the less there is to justify a traditional custom the harder it is to get rid of it and now the minister prayed a good generous prayer it was and went into details it pleaded for the church and the little children of the church for the other churches of the village for the village itself for the county, for the state for the state officers for the united states for the churches of the united states for congress, for the president for the officers of the government for poor sailors tossed by stormy seas for the oppressed millions groaning under the heel of European monarchies and oriental despotisms for such as have the light and the good tidings and yet have not eyes to see nor ears to hear with all for the heathen in the far islands of the sea and closed with a supplication that the words he was about to speak might find grace and favor and be as seed sown in fertile ground yielding in time to a grateful harvest of good amen there was a rustling of dresses and the standing congregation sat down the boy whose history this book relates did not enjoy the prayer he only endured it if he even did that much he was restive all through it he kept tally of the details of the prayer unconsciously for he was not listening but he knew the ground of old and the clergyman's regular route over it and when a little trifle of new matter was interlarded his ear detected it and his whole nature resented it he considered additions unfair and scoundrel-y in the midst of the prayer a fly had lit on the back of the pew in front of him and tortured his spirit by calmly rubbing its hands together embracing its head with its arms and polishing it so vigorously that it seemed to almost part company with the body and the slender thread of a neck was exposed to view scraping its wings with its hind legs and smoothing them to its body as if they had been coattails going through its whole toilet as tranquilly as if it knew it was perfectly safe as indeed it was for as sorely as Tom's hands itched to grab for it they did not dare he believed his soul would be instantly destroyed if he did such a thing while the prayer was going on but with the closing sentence his hand began to curve and steal forward the A-men was out the fly was a prisoner of war his aunt detected the act and made him let it go the minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through an argument that was so prosy that many ahead by and by began to nod and yet it was an argument that dealt in limitless fire and brimstone and thinned the predestined elect down to a company so small hardly worth a saving Tom counted the pages of the sermon after church he always knew how many pages there had been but he seldom knew anything else about the discourse however this time he was really interested for a little while the minister made a grand and moving picture of the assembling together of the world's host at the millennium when the lion and the lamb should lie down together and a little child should lead them but the pathos the lesson the moral of the great spectacle were lost upon the boy he only thought of the conspicuousness of the principal character before the onlooking nations his face lit with a thought and he said to himself that he wished he could be that child if it was a tame lion now he lapsed into suffering again as the dry argument was resumed presently he bethought him and got it out it was a large black beetle with formidable jaws a pinch bug he called it it was in a percussion cap box the first thing the beetle did was to take him by the finger a natural Philip followed the beetle went floundering into the aisle and lit on its back and the hurt finger went into the boy's mouth the beetle lay there working its helpless legs unable to turn over Tom eyed it and longed for it but it was safe out of his reach other people uninterested in the sermon found relief in the beetle and they eyed it too presently a vagrant poodle dog came idling along sad at heart lazy with the summer softness and the quiet weary of captivity sighing for change he spied the beetle the drooping tail lifted and wagged he surveyed the prize walked around it smelt at it from a safe distance walked around it again grew bolder and took a closer smell then lifted his lip and made a gingerly snatch at it just missing it made another and another began to enjoy the diversion subsided to his stomach with the beetle between his paws and continued his experiments passed and then indifferent and absent-minded his head nodded and little by little his chin descended and touched the enemy who seized it there was a sharp yelp a flit of the poodle's head and the beetle fell a couple of yards away and lit on its back once more the neighbouring spectator shook with a gentle inward joy several faces went behind fans and handkerchiefs and Tom was entirely happy the dog looked foolish and probably felt so but there was resentment in his heart too and a craving for revenge so he went to the beetle and began a wary attack on it again jumping at it from every point of a circle lighting with his forepaws within an inch of the creature making even closer snatches at it with his teeth and jerking his head till his ears flapped again but he grew tired once more after a while tried to amuse himself with a fly but found no relief followed an ant around with his nose close to the floor and quickly wearied of that yawned, sighed forgot the beetle entirely and sat down on it then there was a wild yelp of agony and the poodle went sailing up the isle the yelps continued and so did the dog close in front of the altar he flew down the other isle he crossed before the doors he clamored up the homestretch his anguish grew with his progress till presently he was but a woolly comet moving in its orbit with the gleam and the speed of light at last the frantic sufferer sheared from its course and sprang into its master's lap he flung it out of the window and the voice of distress quickly thinned away from its distance by this time the whole church was red-faced and suffocating with suppressed laughter and the sermon had come to a dead standstill the discourse was resumed presently but it went lame and halting all possibility of impressiveness being at an end for even the gravest sentiments were constantly being received with a smothered burst of unholy mirth under cover of some remote pew-back or parson had said a rarely facetious thing it was a genuine relief to the whole congregation when the ordeal was over and the benediction pronounced Tom Sawyer went home quite cheerful thinking to himself that there was some satisfaction about divine service when there was a bit of variety in it he had but one marring thought he was willing that the dog should play with his pinch-bug but he did not think it was right in him to carry it off End of Chapter 5 Read by Kara Schallenberg www.kare.org on Friday October 19, 2018 in Union City, California Chapter 6 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Chapter 6 Monday morning found Tom Sawyer miserable Monday morning always found him so because it began another week slow suffering in school he generally began that day with wishing he had no intervening holiday it made the going into captivity in fetters again so much more odious Tom Lee thinking presently it occurred to him that he wished he was sick that he could stay home from school here was a vague possibility he canvassed his system no ailment was found and he investigated again this time he thought he could detect colicky symptoms and he began to encourage them with considerable hope but they soon grew feeble and presently died wholly away he reflected further suddenly he discovered something one of his upper front teeth was loose this was lucky he was about to begin to groan so he started when it occurred to him that if he came into court with that argument his aunt would pull it out and that would hurt so he thought he would hold the tooth and reserve for the present and seek further nothing offered for some little time and then he remembered hearing the doctor tell about a certain thing that laid up a patient for two or three weeks and threatened to make him lose a finger so the boy eagerly drew his sore toe from under the sheet and held it up for inspection but now he did not know the necessary symptoms however it seemed well worth while to chance it so he fell to groaning with considerable spirit but Sid slept on unconscious Tom groaned louder and fancy that he began to feel the pain in his toe no result from Sid Tom was panting with his exertions by this time he took a rest and then swelled himself up and fetched a succession of admirable groans Sid snored on Tom was aggravated he said Sid Sid Sid and shook him this course worked well and Tom began to groan again Sid yawned stretched then brought himself up on his elbow with a snort and began to stare at Tom Tom went on groaning Sid said Tom say Tom no response here Tom Tom what's the matter Tom and he shook him and looked in his face anxiously Tom moaned out oh don't Sid don't juggle me why what's the matter Tom I must call auntie no never mind it'll be over by and by maybe don't call anybody but I must don't grow so Tom it's awful how long you been this way hours ouch oh don't stir so Sid you'll kill me Tom why didn't you wake me sooner oh Tom don't it makes my flesh crawl to hear you Tom what's the matter I forgive you everything Sid everything you ever done to me when I'm gone oh Tom you ain't dying are you don't Tom oh don't maybe I forgive everybody Sid tell him so Sid and Sid you give my window sash and my cat with one eye to that new girl that come to town and and tell her but Sid it snatched his clothes and gone Tom was suffering in reality now so handsomely was his imagination working and so his groans had gathered quite a genuine tone Sid flew downstairs and said oh I'll probably come Tom's dying dying yes don't wait come quick rubbish I don't believe it but she fled upstairs nonetheless with Sid and Mary at her heels her face grew white too and her lip trembled when she reached the bedside she gasped out you Tom Tom what's the matter with you oh auntie um what's the matter with you what is the matter with you child oh auntie my sore toes mortified the old lady sank down into a chair and laughed a little then cried a little then did both together this restored her and she said Tom what a turn you did give me now you shut up that nonsense and climb out of this the groans seized and the pain vanished from the toe the boy felt a little foolish and he said aunt Polly it seemed mortified and it hurt so I never minded my tooth at all your tooth indeed what's the matter with your tooth one of them is loose and it aches perfectly awful they are there now don't begin that groaning again open your mouth well your tooth is loose but you're not going to die about that Mary get me a silk thread and a chunk of fire out the kitchen Tom said oh please auntie don't pull it out it don't hurt anymore I wish I'm a never stir if it does please don't auntie I don't want to stay home from school oh you don't don't you so all this row was because you thought you'd get to stay home from school Tom Tom I love you so and you seem to try every way you can to break my old heart with your outrageousness by this time the dental instruments were ready the old lady made one end of a silk thread fast to Tom's tooth with a loop and tied the other to the bed post then she seized the chunk of fire and subtly thrust it almost into the boy's face the tooth hung dangling by the bed post now but all trials bring their compensations Tom wended to school after breakfast he was the envy of every boy he met because the gap in his upper row of teeth enabled him to expectorate in a new and admirable way he gathered quite a following of lads interested in the exposition and one that had cut his finger and had been a center of fascination and homage up to this time now find himself suddenly without an adherent in short of his glory his heart was heavy and he said with a disdain which he did not feel that it wasn't anything but another boy said sour grapes and he wandered away a dismantled hero shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village Huckleberry Finn son of the town drunkard Huckleberry was cordially hated and dreaded by all mothers of the town because he was idle and lawless and vulgar and bad and because all their children admired him so and delighted in his forbidden society and wished they dared to be like him Tom was like the rest of the respectable boys in that he envied Huckleberry his gaudy outcast condition and he was under strict orders not to play with him so he played with him every time he got a chance Huckleberry was always dressed in cast off clothes of full grown men and they were in perennial bloom and fluttering with rags his hat was a vast ruin with a wide crescent lopped out of its brim his coat, when he wore one hung nearly to his heels and had the rearward buttons far down the back but one suspender supported his trousers the seat of the trousers bagged low and contained nothing the fringed legs dragged in the dirt when not rolled up Huckleberry came and went at his own free will he slept on doorsteps in fine weather and in empty hogsheads and wet he did not have to go to school or to church or call any being master or obey anybody he could go fishing or swimming when and where he chose and stay as long as it suited him nobody forbade him to fight he could sit up as late as he pleased he was always the first boy that went barefoot in the spring and the last to resume leather in the fall he never had to wash nor put on clean clothes he could swear wonderfully in a word everything that goes to make life precious that boy had so thought every harassed hampered respectable boy in St. Petersburg Tom Hale the romantic outcast hello Huckleberry hello yourself and see how you like it what's that you got dead cat let me see him huck he's pretty stiff where'd you get him bought him off in a boy what'd you give I gave a blue ticket and a bladder that I got in the slaughter house where'd you get the blue ticket bought it off in Ben Rogers two weeks ago for a hoop stick say what's a dead cat good for huck good for cure warts with no is that so I know something that's better I bet you don't what is it why spunk water spunk water I wouldn't give a durn for spunk water you wouldn't wouldn't you did you ever try it no I hate but Bob Tanner did who told you so why he told Jeff Thatcher Jeff told Johnny Baker and Johnny told Jim Hollis and Jim told Ben Rogers and Ben told the nigger and the nigger told me there now well what of it I don't lie least ways all but the nigger I don't know him but I never see a nigger that wouldn't lie shucks now you tell me how Bob Tanner done it huck why he took and dipped his hand in a rotten stump where the rainwater was in the daytime certainly with his face to the stump yes let's not reckon so did he say anything I don't reckon he did I don't know aha talk about trying to cure warts with spunk spunk water such a blame full way is that why that ain't gonna do any good you gotta go all by yourself to the middle of the woods where you know there's a spunk water stump and just as it's midnight you back up against the stump and jam your hand in and say barley corn barley corn engine meal shorts spunk water spunk water swallow these warts and then walk away quick 11 steps with your eyes shut and then turn around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody because if you speak the charms busted well that sounds like a good way but that ain't the way Bob Tanner done no sir you can bet he didn't because he's the wartiest boy in town and he wouldn't have a word on him if he'd know how to work spunk water I took off thousands of warts off my hand that way huck I play with frogs so much that I've always got considerable many warts sometimes I take them off with a bean yes beans good I've done that what's your way you take and split the bean and cut the wart so as to get some blood and then you put the blood on one piece of the bean and take and dig a hole and bury it about midnight at the crossroad in the dark of the moon and then you burn up the rest of the bean you see that piece that's got the blood on it will keep drawn and drawn trying to fetch the other piece to it and so that helps the blood to draw the wart and pretty soon off she comes yes that's it huck that's it though when you're burying it if you say down bean off wart come no more to bother me it's better that's the way Joe Harper does it and he's been nearly to Coonville and most everywheres but say how do you cure him with dead cats why you take your cat and go and get in the graveyard long bow midnight when somebody that was wicked has been buried and when it's midnight a devil will come or maybe two or three you can only hear something like the wind or maybe hear him talk and when they're talking that feller away you heave your cat after him and say devil follow corpse cat follow devil warts follow cat I'm done with you that'll fetch any wart sounds right did you ever try it huck no but old mother Hopkins told me well I reckon it's so then because they say she's a witch say by the time I know she is she witch pap pap says so his own self he come along one day and he see she was a witch in him so he took up a rock and if she hadn't dodged he'd got her well that very night he rolled off in a shed where he was laying drunk and broke his arm why that's awful how do you know she was a witch in him lord pap can tell easy pap says when they keep looking at you especially if they mumble because when they mumble they're saying the lord's prayer backwards say hucky when you gonna try that cat tonight I reckon they'll come after old house Williams tonight but they buried him Saturday didn't they get him Saturday night why how you talk how could their charms work till midnight and then it's Sunday devils don't slosh around much of a Sunday I don't reckon oh I never thought of that so let me go with you of course if you ain't feared a feared tame likely will you meow yes and you meow back if you get a chance last time you kept me a meowing around till old haze went to throw in rocks at me and says during that cat so I hold a brick through his window but don't you tell I won't I couldn't meow that night because auntie was watching me now this time say what's that nothing but a tick where'd you get him out in the woods what do you take for him I don't know I don't want to sell him all right it's a mighty small tick anyway oh anybody can run a tick down that don't belong to them I'm satisfied with it it's a good enough tick for me show that ticks a plenty I could have a thousand of them if I wanted to well why don't you because you know mighty well you can this is a pretty early tick I reckon it's the first one I've seen this year say hook I'll give you my tooth for him let's see it Tom got out a bit of paper and carefully unrolled it Huckleberry viewed it wistfully the temptation was very strong at last he said is it genuine Tom lifted his lip and showed the vacancy well all right said Huckleberry it's trade Tom enclosed the tick in the percussion cat box that had lately been the pinchbugs prison and the boys separated each feeling wealthier than before when Tom reached the little isolated frame schoolhouse he strode in briskly with the manner of one who had come with all honest speed he hung his hat on a peg and flung himself into a seat with businesslike alacrity the master thrown down high in his splint bottom arm chair was dozing lulled by the drowsy hum of study the interruption roused him Thomas soya Tom knew that when his name was pronounced in full it meant trouble sir come up here now sir why you late again as usual Tom was about to take refuge in a lie when he saw two long tails of yellow hair hanging down a back that he recognized by the electric sympathy of love and by that form was the only vacant place on the girls side of the schoolhouse he instantly said I stop to talk to huckleberry fin the master's pulse stood still and he stared helplessly the buzz of study ceased the pupils wondered if this foolhardy boy had lost his mind the master said you did what stop to talk with huckleberry fin there was no mistaking the words Thomas soya this is the most astounding confession I've ever listened to no mere fair rule will answer for this offense take off your jacket the master's arm performed until it was tired and the stock of switches notably diminished then the order followed now sir go and sit with the girls and let this be a warning to you the titter that rippled around the room appeared to abash the boy but in reality that result was caused rather more by the worshipful awe of his unknown idol and the dread pleasure that lay in his high good fortune he sat down upon the end of the pine bench and the girl hitched herself away from him with a toss of her head nudges and winks and whispers traversed the room but Tom sat still with his arms upon the long low desk before him and seemed to study his book by and by attention ceased from him and the accustomed school murmur rose upon the dull air once more presently the boy began to steal furtive glances at the girl she observed it made a mouth at him and gave him the back of her head for the space of a minute when she cautiously faced around again a peach lay before her she thrust it away Tom gently put it back she thrust it away again but with less animosity Tom patiently returned it to its place then she let it remain Tom scrawled on his slate please take it I got more the girl glanced at the words she made no sign now the boy began to draw something on the slate hiding his work with the left hand for a time the girl refused to notice but her human curiosity presently began to manifest itself by hardly perceptible signs the boy worked on, apparently unconscious the girl made a sort of non-committal attempt to see but the boy did not betray that he was aware of it at last she gave in and hesitatingly whispered let me see it Tom covered a dismal caricature of a house with two gable lens to it and a corkscrew of smoke issuing from the chimney then the girl's interest began to fasten itself upon the work and she forgot everything else when it was finished she gazed a moment and then whispered it's nice, make a man the artist erected a man in the front yard that resembled a derrick he could have stepped over the house but the girl was not hypercritical she was satisfied with the monster and whispered it's a beautiful man coming along Tom drew an hourglass with a full moon and straw limbs to it and armed the spreading fingers with a portentous fan the girl said it's ever so nice I wish I could draw it's easy, whispered Tom I'll learn ya oh will you, when? at noon, do you go home to dinner? I'll stay if you will good, that's a whack what's your name Becky Thatcher, what's yours? oh, I know it's Thomas Sawyer that's the name they lick me by I'm Tom when I'm good you call me Tom, will you? yes now Tom began to scrawl something on his slate hiding the words from the girl but she was not backward this time she begged to see, Tom said oh, it ain't anything yes it is no it ain't, you don't want to see please let me you'll tell no I won't, deed and deed and double deed won't you won't tell anybody at all ever as long as you live no, I won't tell anybody now let me oh, you don't want to see now that you treat me so, I will see and she put her small hand upon his and little scuffle ensued Tom pretending to resist and earnest but letting his hand slip by degrees till these words were revealed oh, you bad thing and she hid his hand a smart wrap but reddened and looked pleased nevertheless just at this juncture the boy felt a slow fateful grip closing on his ear and a steady lifting impulse in that wise he was born across the house and deposited in his own seat under a peppering fire of giggles from the whole school then the master stood over him during a few awful moments and finally moved away to his throne without saying a word Tom's ear tingled, his heart was jubilant as the school quieted down Tom made an honest effort to study but the turmoil within him was too great in turn he took his place in the reading class and made a botch of it then in the geography class and turned lakes into mountains, mountains into rivers and rivers into continents till chaos was come again then in spelling class and got turned down by a succession of mere baby words till he brought up at the foot and yielded up the pewter medal which he had worn in his last meditation for months End of Chapter 6 Chapter 7 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Chapter 7 The harder Tom tried to fasten his mind on his book the more his ideas wandered so at last with a sigh and a yawn he gave it up it seemed to him that the noon recess would never come the air was utterly dead there was not a breath stirring it was the sleepiest of sleepy days the drowsy murmur of the five and twenty studying scholars soothed the soul like the spell that is in the murmur of the bees away off in the flaming sunshine cart of hill lifted its soft green sides through a shimmering veil of heat tinted with the purple of distance two birds floated on lazy wings high in the air no other living thing was visible but some cows and they were asleep Tom's heart ached to be free or else to have something of interest to do to pass the dreary time his hand wandered into his pocket and his face lit up with a glow of gratitude that was prayer though we did not know it then furtively the percussion-cap box came out he released the tick and put it on the long flat desk the creature probably glowed with a gratitude that amounted to prayer too at this moment but it was premature for when he started thankfully to travel off Tom turned him aside with a pin and made him take a new direction Tom's bosom friend sat next to him suffering just as Tom had been and now he was deeply and gratefully interested in this entertainment in an instant this bosom friend was Joe Harper the two boys were sworn friends all week and embattled enemies on Saturdays Joe took a pin out of his lapel and began to assist in exercising the prisoner the sport grew in interest momently soon Tom said that they were interfering with each other and neither getting the fullest benefit of the tick so he put Joe's slate on the desk and drew a line down the middle of it from top to bottom now said he as long as he's on your side you can stir him up and I'll let him alone but if you let him get away and get on my side you ought to leave him alone as long as I can keep him from crossing over all right go ahead start him up the tick escaped from Tom presently and crossed the equator Joe harassed him a while and then he got away and crossed back again this change of base occurred often while one boy was worrying the tick with the absorbing interest the other would look on with interest as strong the two heads bowed together over the slate and the two souls dead to all things else at last luck seemed to settle and abide with Joe the tick tried this, that, and the other course and got as excited and anxious as the boys themselves but time and again just as he would have victory in his very grasp so to speak and Tom's fingers would be twitching to begin Joe's pin would deftly head him off and keep possession at last Tom could stand it no longer the temptation was too strong so he reached out and lent a hand with his pin Joe was angry in a moment Tom you let him alone I only just want to stir him up a little Joe no sir it ain't fair you just let him alone blame it I ain't gonna stir him much let him alone I tell you I won't you shall he's on my side of the line look here Joe Harper who's is that tick I don't care whose tick he is he's on my side of the line and you shan't touch him well I just bet I will though he's my tick and I'll do what I blame please with him or die a tremendous whack came down on Tom's shoulders and its duplicate on Joe's and for the space of two minutes the dust continued to fly from the two jackets and the whole school to enjoy it the two boys had been too absorbed to notice the hush that had stolen upon the school a while before the master came tiptoeing down the room and stood over them and contemplated a good part of the performance before he contributed his bit of variety to it when school broke up at noon Tom flew to Becky Thatcher and whispered in her ear put on your bonnet and let on your going home and when you get to the corner give the rest of them a slip and turn down through the lane and come back I'll go the other way and come it over them the same way so the one went off with one group of scholars and the other with another and a little while the two met at the bottom of the lane and when they reached the school they had it all to themselves then they sat together with a slate before them and Tom gave Becky the pencil and held her hand in his guiding it and so created another surprising house when the interest in art began to wane the two fell to talking Tom was swimming in bliss he said, do you love rats? no, I hate them well, I do too live ones but I mean dead ones to swing around your head with a string no, I don't care for rats much anyway what I like is chewing gum oh, I should say so I wish I had some now do you? I've got some I'll let you chew it a while but you must give it back to me that was agreeable so they chewed it, turned about and dangled their legs against the bench in excess of contentment was you ever at a circus? said Tom yes, and my Pa's going to take me again sometime if I'm good I've been to a circus three or four times lots of times church ain't shucks to a circus there's things going on in a circus all the time I'm going to be a clown in a circus when I grow up oh, you are, that'll be nice they're so lovely, all spotted up yes, that's so and they get slathers of money most a dollar a day, Ben Rogers say say, Becky was you ever engaged? what's that? why, engaged to be married? no, would you like to? I reckon so, I don't know, what's it like? like, why it ain't like anything you only just tell a boy you won't ever have anybody but him ever, ever, ever, and then you kiss and that's all anybody can do it, kiss what do you kiss for? why, that, you know, is to well, they all do that everybody? why yes, everybody that's in love with each other do you remember what I wrote on that slate? yes? what was it? I shan't tell you, shall I tell you? yes, but some other time no, now no, not now, tomorrow oh, no, now please, Becky, I whisper it I whisper it ever so easy Becky hesitating, Tom took silence for consent and passed his arm about her waist and whispered the tale ever so softly with his mouth close to her ear and then he added, now you whisper it to me just the same she resisted for a while and then said you turn your face away so you can't see and then I will but you mustn't ever tell anybody will you Tom? no, you won't, will you? no, indeed, indeed I won't he turned his face away she bent timidly around till her breath stirred his curls and whispered I love you then she sprang away and ran around and around the desks and benches with Tom after her and took refuge in a corner at last with her little white apron to her face Tom clasped her about the neck and pleaded now, Becky, it's all done all but the kiss don't be afraid of that it ain't anything at all and he tugged at her apron and the hands by and by she gave up and let her hands drop her face all glowing with struggle came up and submitted Tom kissed the red lips and said now it's all done, Becky and always after this, you know you ain't ever to love anybody but me and you ain't ever to marry anybody but me, ever, never and forever will you? no, I'll never love anybody but you, Tom and I'll never marry anybody but you and you ain't to ever marry anybody but me, either certainly, of course that's part of it and always coming to school or when we're going home you're to walk with me when there ain't anybody looking and you choose me and I choose you at parties because that's the way you do when you're engaged it's so nice I've never heard of it before oh, it's ever so gay why, me and Amy Lawrence the big eyes told Tom his blunder and he stopped, confused oh, Tom, then I ain't the first you've ever been engaged to the child began to cry Tom said, oh, don't cry, Becky I don't care for her anymore yes, you do, Tom you know you do Tom tried to put his arm around her neck but she pushed him away and turned her face to the wall and went on crying Tom tried again with soothing words in his mouth and was repulsed again Fred was up and he strode away and went outside he stood about, restless and uneasy for a while glancing at the door every now and then hoping she would repent and come to find him but she did not then he began to feel badly and fear that he was in the wrong it was a hard struggle with him to make new advances now but he nerved himself to it and entered she was still standing back there in the corner sobbing with her face to the wall Tom's heart smote him he went to her and stood a moment to see how to proceed then he said, hesitatingly Becky, I don't care for anybody but you no reply, sobs Becky pleadingly, Becky won't you say something more sobs Tom got out his chiefest jewel a brass knob from the top of an and iron and passed it around her so that she could see it and said, please Becky won't you take it to the floor then Tom marched out of the house and over the hills and far away to return to school no more that day presently Becky began to suspect she ran to the door, he was not in sight she flew around to the playyard he was not there then she called, Tom come back Tom she listened intently but there was no answer she had no companions but silence and loneliness so she sat down to cry again and upbraid herself and by this time the scholars began to gather again and she had to hide her griefs and still her broken heart and take up the cross of a long dreary aching afternoon with none among the strangers about her to exchange sorrows with End of Chapter 7 Chapter 8 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by J. Kitty76 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Chapter 8 Tom dodged hither and thither through lanes until he was well out of the track of returning scholars and then fell into a moody jog He crossed a small branch two or three times because of a prevailing juvenile superstition that to cross water baffled pursuit Half an hour later he was disappearing behind the Douglas mansion on the summit of Cardiff Hill and the schoolhouse was hardly distinguishable away off in the valley behind him He entered a dense wood, picked his path this way to the center of it, and sat down on a mossy spot under a spreading oak There was not even a zephyr stirring The dead new day he had even stilled the songs of the birds, naturally in a trance that was broken by no sound but the occasional fall-off hammering of a woodpecker and this seemed to render the pervading silence and sense of loneliness the more profound The boy's soul was steeped in melancholy His feelings were in happy accord with his surroundings. He sat long with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands meditating. It seemed to him that life was but a trouble at best and he more than half envied Jimmy Hodges so lately released. It must be very peaceful he thought to lie and slumber and dream forever and ever with the wind whispering through the trees and caressing the grass and flowers over the grave and nothing to bother and grieve about ever anymore. If he only had a clean Sunday school record he could be willing to go and be done with it all. Now as to this girl. What had he done? Nothing. He had met the best in the world like a dog, like a very dog. She'd be sorry someday, maybe when it was too late. Ah, if he could only die temporarily. But the elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time. Tom presently began to drift insensibly back into the concerns of this life again. What if he turned his back now and disappeared mysteriously? What if he went away ever so far away into unknown countries beyond the seas and never came back anymore? How would she feel then? The idea of being a clown recurred to him now, only to film with disgust. Fervolity and jokes and spotted tights were an offense when they intruded themselves upon a spirit that was exalted into the vague August realm of the Romantic. No, he would be a soldier and return after long years all war-worn and illustrious. No, better still he would join the Indians and hunt buffaloes and go on the warpath in the mountain ranges and the trackless great plains of the far west, and away in the future come back a great chief bristling with feathers, hideous with paint at Sunday school, some drowsy summer morning with a blood-curdling war-woop and seared the eyeballs of all his companions with unappeasable envy. But no, there was something goddier even than this. He would be a pirate. That was it. Now his future lay plain before him and glowing with unimaginable splendor. How his name would fill the world and make people shudder! How gloriously he would go plowing at the dancing seas in his long low black-holed racer the spirit of the storm with his grisly flag flying at the fore! His fame, how he would suddenly appear at the old village and stalking a church brown and weather-beaten in his black velvet doublet and trunks, his great jack-boots, his crimson sash, his belt bristling with horse-pistols, his crime rusted cutlass at his side, his slouch hat with waving plumes, his black flag unfurled with the skull and crossbones on it and here with swelling ecstasy the whisperings, it's Tom Sawyer the pirate, the black Avenger of the Spanish Maine. Yes, it was settled. His career was determined. He would run and enter upon it. He would start the very next morning. Therefore he must now begin to get ready. He would collect his resources together. He went to a rotten log near hand and began to dig under one end of it with his barlow knife. He soon struck wood that sounded hollow. He put his hand there and uttered this incantation impressively. What has it come here? Come! What's here? Stay here! Then he scraped away the dirt and exposed a pine shingle. He took it up and disclosed a shapely little treasure-house whose stables. In it lay a marble. Tom's astonishment was boundless. He scratched his head with a perplexed air and said, Well, that beats anything! Then he tossed the marble away pettishly and stood cogitating. The truth was that a superstition of his had failed here which he and all his comrades had always looked upon as infallible. If you buried a marble with certain necessary incantations and left it alone a fortnight and then opened the place with the incantation he had just used, you would find that all you had ever lost had gathered themselves together there. Meantime, no matter how widely they had been separated, but now this thing had actually and unquestionably failed. Tom's whole structure of faith was shaken to its foundations. He had many a time heard of this thing succeeding but never of its failing before. It did not occur to him that he had tried it several times before himself but could never find the hiding places afterward. He puzzled over the matter some time and finally decided that some witch had interfered to find himself on that point so he searched around until he found a small sandy spot with a little funnel shaped depression in it. He laid himself down and put his mouth close to this depression and called, Doodle-bug, Doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know. Doodle-bug, Doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know. The sand began to work and presently a small black bug appeared for a second and then darted under again in a fright. He dassen't tell, so it was a witch that had done it. I just knowed it. He well knew the way so he gave up discouraged. But it occurred to him that he might as well have the marble he had just thrown away and therefore he went and made a patient search for it. But he could not find it. Now he went back to his treasure house and carefully placed himself just as he had been standing when he tossed the marble away. Then he took another marble from his pocket and tossed it in the same way, saying, Brother, go find your brother. He watched where it stopped and went there and looked. But it must have fallen short or gone too far, so he tried twice more. The last marble lay within a foot of each other. Just here the blast of a toy tin trumpet came faintly down the green aisles of the forest. Tom flung off his jacket and trousers turned a suspender into a belt, raked away some brush behind the rotten log, disclosing a rude bow and arrow, a last sword and a tin trumpet, and in a moment had seized these things and bounded away bare-legged with a fluttering shirt. He presently halted under a great elm, blew an answering blast, and then began to tiptoe and look warily out to him. He said cautiously to an imaginary company, hold, my merry men, keep hood till I blow. Now appeared Joe Harper as airily clad and elaborately armed as Tom. Tom called, hold, who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass? Guy of Gismore once no man's past. Who art thou that that dares to hold such language should Tom prompting? They talked by the book from memory. Who art thou that dares to hold such language? I, indeed, I am Robin Hood as I Kate of Carcass soon shall know. Then art thou, indeed, that famous outlaw right gladly I will dispute with thee the passes of the merry wood. Have at thee. They took their last swords, dumped their other traps on the ground, struck a fencing attitude foot to foot, and began a grave-careful combat, two up and two down. Presently Tom said, now if you've got the hang, go it lively. So they went it lively, panting and perspiring with the work. Fine by Tom shouted, fall, fall, why don't you fall? I shan't. Why don't you fall yourself? You're getting the worst of it. Why, that ain't anything. I can't fall. That ain't the way it is in the book. The book says, then with one backhanded stroke, he slew poor Guy of Gismore. You're to turn around and let me hit you in the back. There was no getting round the authorities, so Joe turned, received the whack and fell. Now, said Joe, getting up, you gotta let me kill you. That's fair. Why, I can't do that, it ain't in the book. Well, it's blame mean, that's all. Well, say, Joe, you can be Fryer much to the mural's son, and land me with a quarter-staff, or I'll be the sheriff of Donningham and you be Robin Hood a little while and kill me. This was satisfactory, and so these adventures were carried out. Then Tom became Robin Hood again, and was allowed by the treacherous nun to bleed his strength the way through his neglected wound. And at last, Joe, representing a whole tribe of weeping outwas, dragged him sadly forward, gave his bow unto his feeble hands, and Tom said, where this arrow falls there bury poor Robin Hood under the Greenwood Tree. Then he shot the arrow back, and would have died, but he lit on a nettle, and spring up too gaily for a corpse. The boys dressed themselves hid their cutraments, and went off grieving that there were no outlaws anymore, and wondering what modern civilization could claim, to have done to compensate for their loss. They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than president of the United States forever. Recording by JKD-76.