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08 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen, First Pipes, I've lost my knife. After dinner,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: all the gang turned out to hunt for turtle eggs
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: on the bar. They went about poking sticks into the sand,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and when they found a soft place, they went down
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: on their knees and dug with their hands. Sometimes they
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: would take fifty or sixty eggs out of one hole.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: They were perfectly round, white things, a trifle smaller than
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: an English walnut. They had a famous fried egg feast
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: that night and another on Friday morning. After breakfast, they
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: went whooping and prancing out on the bar and chased
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: each other round and round, shedding clothes as they went
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: until they were naked, and then continued the frolic far
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: away up the shoal water of the bar against the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: stiff current, which latter tripped their legs from under them
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: from time to time and greatly increased the fun. And
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: now and then they stooped in a group and splashed
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: water in each other's faces with their palms, gradually approaching
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: each other with averted faces to avoid the strand angling sprays,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: and finally gripping and struggling till the best man ducked
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: his neighbor. And then they all went under in a
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: tangle of white legs and arms, and came up blowing, sputtering, laughing,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: and gasping for breath. At one and the same time.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: When they were well exhausted, they would run out and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: sprawl on the dry, hot sand and lie there and
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: cover themselves up with it, and by and by break
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: from the water again, and go through the original performance
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: once more. Finally it occurred to them that their naked
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: skin represented flesh colored tights very fairly. So they drew
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: a ring in the sand and had a circus with
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: three clowns in it, for none would yield this proudest
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: post to his neighbor. Next they got their marbles and
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: played knucks and ring tall and keeps till that amusement
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: grew stale. Then Joe and Hack had another swim, but
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Tom would not venture because he found that in kicking
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: off his trousers he had kicked his string of rattlesnake
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: rattles off his ankle, and he wondered how he had
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: escaped ramp so long without the protection of this mysterious charm.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: He did not venture again until he had found it,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: and by that time the other boys were tired and
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: ready to rest, They gradually wandered apart, dropped into the dumps,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: and fell to gazing longingly across the wide river to
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: where the village lay. Drowsing in the sun, Tom found
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: himself writing Becky in the sand with his big toe.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: He scratched it out and was angry with himself for
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: his weakness, but he wrote it again. Nevertheless, he could
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: not help it. He raised it once more, and then
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: took himself out of temptation by driving the other boys
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: together and joining them. But Joe's spirits had gone down,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: almost beyond resurrection. He was so homesick that he could
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: hardly endure the misery of it. The tears lay very
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: near the surface. Huck was melancholy too. Tom was downhearted,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: but tried hard not to show it. He had a
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: secret which he was not ready to tell yet. But
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: if this mutinous depression was not broken up soon, he
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: would have to bring it out. He said, with a
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: great show of cheerfulness. I bet there's been pirates on
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: this island before. Boys, we'll explore it again. They've hid
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: treasures here somewhere. How'd you feel to light on a
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: rotten chest full of gold? And silver. Hey, but it
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: roused only a faint enthusiasm, which faded out with no reply.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Tom tried one or two other seductions, but they failed too.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: It was discouraging work. Joe sat poking up the sand
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: with a stick and looking very gloomy. Finally he said, oh, boys,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: let's give it up. I want to go home. It's
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: so lonesome. Oh no, Joe, you'll feel better by and bye,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: said Tom. Just think of the fishing that's here. I
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: don't care for fishing. I want to go home. But Joe,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: there ain't such another swimming place anywhere. Swimming's no good.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: I don't seem to care for it somehow, when there
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: ain't anybody to say, I shan't go in. I mean
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: to go home. Oh shucks, baby, you want to see
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: your mother? I reckon, Yes, I do want to see
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: my mother, and you would too if you had one.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I ain't any more baby than you are. Joe snuffled
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: a little. Well, we'll let the cry baby go home
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: to his mother, won't we huck? Poor thing? Does it
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: want to see its mother? And so it? Shall? You
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: like it here, don't you huck? We'll stay, won't we huck?
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Said yes, without any heart in it. I'll never speak
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: to you again as long as I live, said Joe,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: rising there now, and he moved moodily away and began
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: to dress himself. Who cares, said Tom, nobody wants you
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: to go long home and get laughed at. Oh, you're
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: a nice pirate huckin me. Ain't cry babies. We'll stay,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: won't we, Huck let him go if he wants to.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I reckon we can get along without him, perhaps. But
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Tom was uneasy nevertheless, and was alarmed to see Joe
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: go sullenly on with his dressing. And then it was
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: discomforting to see Huck eyeing Joe's preparations so wistfully and
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: keeping up such an ominous silence. Presently, without a parting word,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Joe began to wade off toward the illulois shore. Tom's
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: heart began to sink. He glanced at Huck. Huck could
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: not bear the look and dropped his eyes, and then
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: he said, I want to go too, Tom. He was
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: getting so lonesome anyway, and now it'll be worse. Let
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: us go too, Tom. I won't you can all go
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: if you want to. I mean to stay, Tom, I'd
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: better go. We'll go along. Who's hendering you? Huck began
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: to pick up his scattered clothes, and he said, Tom,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I wish you'd come too. Now you think it over,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: We'll wait for you when we get to the shore.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Well you'll wait a blame long time, that's all. Huck
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: started sorrowfully away, and Tom stood looking after him, with
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a strong desire tugging at his heart to yield his
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: pride and go along too. He hoped the boys would stop,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: but they still waited slowly on. It suddenly dawned on
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Tom that it was become very lonely, and still he
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: made one final struggle with his pride, and then darted
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: after his comrades, yelling wait, wait, I want to tell
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: you something. They presently stopped and turned round. When he
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: got to where they were, he began unfolding his secret,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: and they listened moodily till at last they saw the
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: point he was driving at, and then they set up
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: a war whoop of applause and said it was splendid,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: and said if he had told them at first, they
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have started away. He made a plausible excuse, but
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: his real reason had been the fear that not even
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the secret would keep them with him any very great
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: length of time, and so he had meant to hold
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: it in reserve as a last seduction. The lads came
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: gaily back and went at their sports again with a will,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: chattering all the time about Tom's stupendous plan and admiring
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: the genius of it. After a dainty egg and fish dinner,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Tom said he wanted to learn to smoke. Now. Joe
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: caught at the idea and said he would like to
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: try too, So Huck made pipes and filled them. These
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: novices had never smoked anything before, but ours made of grapevine,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: and they bit the tongue and were not considered manly anyway.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Now they stretched themselves out on their elbows and began
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: to puff Charlie and with slender confidence. The smoke had
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: an unpleasant taste, and they gagged a little. But Tom said, why,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: it's just as easy. If I'd knowed this was all
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: I'd learned long ago, so would I said, Joe, it's
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: just nothing. Why many a time I've looked at people
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: smoking and thought, well, I wish I could do that,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: But I never thought I could, said Tom, that's just
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: the way with me, hated Huck. You've heard me talk
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: just that way, haven't you, Huck. I'll leave it to
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Huck if I haven't. Yes, heaps of times, said Huck.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Well I have too, said Tom. Oh, hundreds of times.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Once down by the slaughter house. Don't you remember, Huck,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Bob Tanner was there, and Johnny Miller and Jeff Thatcher
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: when I said it. Don't you remember Huck about me
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: saying that, Yes, that's so, said Huck. That was the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: day after I lost a white alley, No twas the
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: day before there I told you so, said Tom. How
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: recollects it? I believe I could smoke this pipe all day,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: said Joe. I don't feel sick. Neither do, I said Tom.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: I could smoke it all day. But I bet you
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Jeff Thatcher couldn't. Jeff Thatcher, why he'd keel over just
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: with two draws, Just let him try it once he'd
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: see I bet he would. And Johnny Miller. I wish
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: I could see Johnny Miller tackle at once. Oh don't,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: I said Joe? Why? I bet now? Johnny Miller couldn't
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: any more do this than nothing. Just one little sniffer
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: would fetch him. Indeed it would. Joe say, I wish
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the boys could see us, now, so do I say?
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Boys don't say anything about it. And sometime when they're around,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: I'll come up to you and say, Joe, got a
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: pipe I want to smoke, And you'll say kind of careless,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: like as if it weren't anything. You'll say, yes, I
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: got my old pipe and another one, but my tobacco
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: ain't very good, and I'll say, oh, that's all right
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: if it's strong enough, and then you'll out with the pipes,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: and we'll light up just as calm, and then just
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: see him look by jeans. That'll be gay, Tom. I
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: wish it was now, so do I. And when we
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: tell him we learned when we was off pirating, won't
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: they wish they'd been long? Oh? I reckon not. I'll
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: just bet they will. So the talk ran on, but
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: presently it began to flag a trifle and grow disjointed.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: The silence is widened, the expectoration marvelously increased. Every pore
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: inside the boy's cheeks became a spouting fountain. They could
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: scarcely bail out the cellars under their tongues fast enough
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: to prevent an inundation. Little overflowings down their throats occurred
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: in spite of all they could do, and sudden wretchings
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: followed every time. Both boys were looking very pale and miserable.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Now Joe's pipe dropped from his nerveless fingers. Tom's followed.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Both fountains were going furiously, and both pumps baling with
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: might and main. Joe said feebly, I've lost my knife.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I reckon I'd better go and find it. Tom said,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: with quivering lips and halting utterance, I'll help you. You
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: go over that way and i'll hunt around by the spring. No,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you needn't come, Huck. We can find it. So Huck
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: sat down again and waited an hour. Then he found
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: it lonesome and went to find his comrades. They were
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: wide apart in the woods, both very pale, both fast asleep.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: But something informed him that if they had had any trouble,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: they'd got rid of it. They were not talkative at
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: supper that night they had a humble look, and when
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Huck prepared his pipe after the meal and was going
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: to prepare theirs, they said no, they were not feeling
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: very well. Something they ate at dinner had disagreed with them.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: About midnight, Joe awoke and called the boys. There was
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: a brooding oppressiveness in the air that seemed to bode something.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: The boys huddled themselves together and sought the friendly companionship
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: of the fire. Though the dull, dead heat of the
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: breathless atmosphere was stifling. They sat still, intent and waiting.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: The solemn continued. Beyond the light of the fire, everything
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: was swallowed up in the blackness of darkness. Presently there
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: came a quivering glow that vaguely revealed the foliage for
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: a moment, and then vanished by and by another came
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: a little stronger, then another. Then a faint moan came
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: sighing through the branches of the forest, and the boys
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: felt a fleeting breath upon their cheeks, and shuddered with
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: a fancy that the spirit of the night had gone by.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: There was a pause. Now, A weird flash turned night
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: into day, and showed every little grass blade separate and distinct,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and grew about their feet, and it showed three white,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: startled faces too. A deep peal of thunder went rolling
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: and tumbling down the heavens and lost itself in sullen
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: rumblings in the distance. A sweep of chilly air passed by,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: rustling all the leaves and snowing the flaky ashes broadcast
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: about the fire. Another fierce glare lit up the forest,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: and an instant crash followed that seemed to rend the
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: tree tops right over the boy's heads. They clung together
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: in terror in the thick gloom that followed. A few
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: big rain drops fell, pattering upon the leaves. Quick boys,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: go for the tent, exclaimed Tom. They sprang away, stumbling
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: over the roots and among vines in the dark, no
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: two plunging in the same direction. A furious blast roared
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: through the trees, making everything sing as it went, one
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: blinding flash after another, and the peal on peal of
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: deafening thunder. And now a drenching rain poured down, and
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: The boys cried out to each other, but the roaring
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: wind and the booming thunder blasts drowned their voices utterly. However,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: one by one they straggled in at last and took
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: shelter under the tent. Cold, scared and streaming with water,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: but to have company and misery seemed something to be
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: grateful for. They could not talk the old sail flat
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: so furiously, even if the other noises would have allowed them.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: The tempest rose higher and higher, and presently the sail
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: tore loose from its fastenings and went winging away on
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: the blast. The boys seized each other's hands and fled,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: with many tumblings and bruises, to the shelter of a
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: great oak tree that stood upon the river bank. Now
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: the battle was at its highest under the ceaseless conflagration
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: of lightning that flamed in the skies. Everything below stood
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: out in clean cut and shadowless distinction, the bending trees,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the billowy river white with foam, the driving spray of
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: spume flakes, the dim outlines of the high bluffs on
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: the other side, glimpsed through the drifting cloud rack, and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: the slanting veil of rain. Every little while, some giant
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: tree yielded the fight and fell, crashing through the younger growth,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: and the unflagging thunder peals came now and ears, splitting
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: explosive bursts, skeen and sharp and unspeakably appalling. The storm
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: culminated in one matchless effort that seemed likely to tear
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the island to pieces, burnt it up, drown it to
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: the tree tops, and blow it away, and deafen every
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: creek tature in it, all at once at the same moment.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: It was a wild night for homeless young heads to
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: be out in. But at last the battle was done,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: and the forces retired with weaker and weaker threatenings and grumblings,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: and peace resumed her sway. The boys went back to
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: camp a good deal awed, but they found there was
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: still something to be thankful for, because the great sycamore,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: the shelter of their beds, was a ruin, now blasted
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: by the lightnings, and they were not under it. When
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: the catastrophe happened. Everything in camp was drenched the camp
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: fire as well, for they were but heedless lads like
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: their generation, and had made no provision against rain. Here
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: was matter for dismay, for they were soaked through and chilled.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: They were eloquent in their distress. But they presently discovered
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: that the fire had eaten so far up under the
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: great log it had been built against, where it curved
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: upward and separated itself from the ground, that a handbreadth
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: or so of it had escaped wedding, so they patient
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: wrought until with shreds and bark gathered from undersides of
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: sheltered logs, they coaxed the fire to burn again. Then
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: they piled on great dead boughs till they had a
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: roaring furnace, and were glad hearted once more. They dried
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: their boiled ham and had a feast. And after that
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: they sat by the fire and expanded and glorified their
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: midnight adventure until morning, for there was not a dry
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: spot to sleep on anywhere around. As the sun began
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: to steal in upon the boys, drowsiness came over them,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: and they went out on the sand bar and lay
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: down to sleep. They got scorched out by and by,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: and drearily set about getting breakfast. After the meal, they
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: felt rusty and stiff jointed, and a little homesick. Once more,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Tom saw the signs and fell to cheering up the
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: pirates as well as he could, But they cared nothing
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: for marbles or circus, or swimming or anything. He reminded
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: them of the imposing secret and raised the ray of cheer,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: while at last had he got them interested in a
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: new device. This was to knock off being pirates for
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: a while and be Indians for a change. They were
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: attracted by this idea. So it was not long before
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: they were stripped and striped from head to heel with
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: black mud, like so many zebras, all of them chiefs,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: of course. And then they went tearing through the woods
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: to attack an English settlement. By and by they separated
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: into three hostile tribes and darted upon each other from
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: ambush with dreadful war whoops, and killed and scalped each
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: other by thousands. It was a gory day. Consequently, it
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: was an extremely satisfactory one. They assembled in camp towards
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: supper time, hungry and happy. But now a difficulty arose.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Hostile Indians could not break the bread of hospitality together
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: without first making peace, and this was a simple impossibility
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: without smoking a pipe of peace. There was no other
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: process that they ever heard of. Two of the savages
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: almost wished they had remained pirates. However, there was no
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: other way. So with such shows of cheerfulness as they
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: could muster, they called for the pipe and took their
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: whiff as it passed in due form. And behold, they
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: were glad they had gone into savagery, for they had
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: gained something they found that they could now smoke a
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: little without having to go and hunt for a lost knife.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: They did not get sick enough to be seriously uncomfortable.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: They were not likely to fool away this high promise
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: for lack of effort. No, they practiced cautiously after supper
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: with right fair success, and so they spent a jubilant evening.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: They were prouder and happier in their new acquirement than
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: they would have been in the scalping and skinning of
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: the six nations. We will leave them to smoke and
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: chatter and brag, since we have no further use for
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: them at present end of chapter sixteen, Chapter seventeen, pirates
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: at their own funeral, But there was no hilarity in
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: the little town. That same tranquil Saturday afternoon, the Harper's
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: and Aunt Polly's family were being put into mourning with
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: great grief and many tears. An unusual quiet possessed the village,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: although it was ordinarily quiet enough in all conscience. The
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: villagers conducted their concerns with an absent mind and talked little,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: but they sighed often. The Saturday holiday seemed a burden
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: to the children. They had no heart in their sports
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: and gradually gave them up. In the afternoon, Becky Thatcher
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: found herself moping about the deserted schoolhouse yard and feeling
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: very melancholy, but she found nothing there to comfort her.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: She soliloquized, Oh, if I only had a brass and
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: iron knob again, But I haven't got anything now to
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: remember him by, and she choked back a little sob Presently,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: she stopped and said to herself, it was right here. Oh,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: if it was to do over again, I wouldn't say that.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say it for the whole world. But he's
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: gone now. I'll never, never, never see him any more.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: This thought broke her down, and she wandered away, with
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: the tears rolling down her cheeks. Then quite a group
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: of boys and girls, playmates of Tom's and Joe's, came
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: by and stood looking over the paling fence and talking
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in reverent tones of how Tom did so and so
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: the last time they saw him, and how Joe said
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: this and that small trifle pregnant with awful prophecy as
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: they could easily see now, and each speaker pointed out
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the exact spot where the lost lad stood at the time,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: and then added something like, and I was as standing
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: just so, just as I am now, and as if
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: you was him, I was as close as that, and
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: he smiled just this way. And then something seemed to
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: go all over me, like awful, you know. And I
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: never thought what it meant, of course, but I can
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: see now. Then there was a dispute about who saw
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: the dead boys last in life, and many claimed that
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: dismal distinction and offered evidences more or less tampered with
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: by the witness. And when it was ultimately decided who
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: did see the departed last and exchanged the last words
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: with them, the lucky parties took upon themselves a sort
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: of sacred importance, and were gaped at and envied by
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: all the rest. One, poor Chap, who had no other
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: grandeur to offer, said, with tolerably manifest pride in the remembrance, well,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Tom Sawyer, he licked me once, But that bid for
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: glory was a failure. Most of the boys could say that,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: and so that cheapened the distinction too much. The group
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: loitered away, still recalling memories of the lost heroes in
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: awed voices. When the Sunday school hour was finished the
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: next morning, the bell began to toll instead of ringing
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: in the usual way. It was a very still Sabbath,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: and the mournful sound seemed in keeping with a musing
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: hush that lay upon nature. The villagers began to gather,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: loitering a moment in the vestibule to converse in whispers
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: about the sad event, But there was no whispering in
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: the house. Only the funereal rush sling of dresses as
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the women gathered to their seats disturbed the silence. There
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: None could remember when the little church had been so
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: full before. There was finally a waiting pause, an expectant dumbness,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: and then Aunt Polly entered, followed by Sid and Mary,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: and they by the Harper family, all in deep black,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: and the whole congregation the old Minister's well rose reverently
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: and stood until the mourners were seated in the front pew.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: There was another communing silence, broken at intervals by muffled sobs,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: and then the minister spread his hands abroad and prayed.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: A moving hymn was sung, and the text followed, I
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Am the Resurrection and the Life. As the service proceeded,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces, the winning ways,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: and the rare promise of the lost lads, that every
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: and remembering that he had persistently blinded himself to them
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: always before, and had as persistently seen only faults and
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: flaws in the poor boys. The minister related many a
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: touching incident in the lives of the departed two which
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: illustrated their sweet, generous natures, and the people could easily
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: see now how noble and beautiful those episodes were, and
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: remembered with grief that at the time they occurred, they
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: had seemed rank rascalities, well deserving of the cowhide. The
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: congregation became more and more moved as the pathetic tale
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: went on, till at last the whole company broke down
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and joined the weeping mourners in a chorus of anguished sobs,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: the preacher himself giving way to his feelings and crying
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: in the pulpit. There was a rustle in the gallery,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: which nobody noticed. A moment later, the church door creaked.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: The minister raised his streaming eyes above his handkerchief and
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: stood transfixed. First one and another pair of eyes followed
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: the ministers, and then almost with one impulse, the congregation
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: rose and stared while the three dead boys came marching
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: up the aisle. Tom and the lead Joe next, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Huck a ruin of drooping rags, sneaking sheepishly in the rear.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: They had been hid in the unused gallery, listening to
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: their own funeral sermon. Aunt Polly, Mary and the Harpers
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: threw themselves upon their restored ones, smothered them with kisses,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: and poured out thanksgivings, while poor Huck stood abashed and uncomfortable,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: not knowing exactly what to do or where to hide
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: from so many unwelcoming eyes. He wavered and started to
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: slink away, but Tom seized him and said, Aunt Polly,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: it ain't fair. Somebody's got to be glad to see Huck,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: and so they shall. I'm glad to see him, poor
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: motherless thing, and the loving attentions Aunt Polly lavished upon
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: him were the one thing capable of making him more
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable than he was before. Suddenly, the minister shouted, at
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: the top of his voice, Praise God, from whom all
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: blessings flow, sing, and put your hearts in it. And
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: they did. Old Hundreds swelled up with a triumphant burst,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: And while it shook the rafters, Tom Sawyer the Pirate,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: looked around upon the envying juveniles about him, and confessed
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: in his heart that this was the proudest moment of
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: his life. As the souled congregation trooped out, they said
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: they would almost be willing to be made ridiculous again
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: to hear Old Hundreds sung like that once more. Tom
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: got more cuffs and kisses that day, according to Aunt
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Polly's varying moods, than he had earned before in a year,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: and he hardly knew which expressed the most gratefulness to
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: God and affection for himself. End of Chapter seventeen.