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

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Speaker 1: Chapter three, Busy at War and Love, Tom presented himself
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Speaker 1: before Aunt Polly, who was sitting by an open window
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Speaker 1: in a pleasant rearward apartment which was bedroom, breakfast room,
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Speaker 1: dining room, and library. Combined, the balmy summer air, the
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Speaker 1: RESTful quiet, the odor of the flowers, and the drowsing
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Speaker 1: murmur of the bees had had their effect, and she
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Speaker 1: was nodding over her knitting, for she had no company
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Speaker 1: but the cat, and it was asleep in her lap.
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Speaker 1: Her spectacles were propped up on her gray head for safety.
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Speaker 1: She had thought that, of course, Tom had deserted long ago,
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Speaker 1: and she wondered at seeing him place himself in her
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Speaker 1: power again in this intrepid way. He said, mean't I
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Speaker 1: go and play? Now? Aunt? What already? How much have
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Speaker 1: you done? It's all done, Aunt, Tom, don't lie to me.
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Speaker 1: I can't bear it. I ain't Aunt. It is all done.
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Speaker 1: Aunt Polly placed small trust in such evidence. She went
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Speaker 1: out to see for herself, and she would have been
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Speaker 1: content to find twenty percent of Tom's statement true when
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Speaker 1: she found the entire fence whitewashed, and not only whitewashed,
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Speaker 1: but elaborately coated and re coated and even a streak
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Speaker 1: added to the ground. Her astonishment was almost unspeakable. She said, well,
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Speaker 1: I never, there's no getting round it. You can work
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Speaker 1: when you're a mind to Tom, And then she deluded
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Speaker 1: the compliment by adding, but it's powerful seldom you're a
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Speaker 1: mind to I'm bound to say, well, go along and play,
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Speaker 1: but mind you get back some time in the week
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Speaker 1: or I'll tan you. She was so overcome by the
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Speaker 1: splendor of his achievement that she took him into the
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Speaker 1: closet and selected a choice apple and delivered it to him,
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Speaker 1: along with an improving lecture upon the added value and flavor,
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Speaker 1: A treat took to itself when it came without sin
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Speaker 1: through virtuous effort, and while she closed with a happy
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Speaker 1: scriptural flourish, he hooked a doughnut. Then he skipped out
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Speaker 1: and saw Sid just starting up the outside stairway that
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Speaker 1: led to the back rooms on the second floor. Clods
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Speaker 1: were handy, and the air was full of them. In
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Speaker 1: a twinkling, they raged around Sid like a hail storm,
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Speaker 1: and before Aunt Polly could collect her surprised faculties and
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Speaker 1: sally to the rescue, six or seven clods had taken
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Speaker 1: personal effect and Tom was over the fence and gone.
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Speaker 1: There was a gait, but as a general thing, he
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Speaker 1: was too crowded for time to make use of it.
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Speaker 1: His soul was at peace now that he had settled
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Speaker 1: with Sid for calling attention to his black thread and
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Speaker 1: getting him into trouble. Tom skirted the block and came
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Speaker 1: round into a muddy alley that led by the back
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Speaker 1: of his aunt's cow stable. He presently got safely beyond
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Speaker 1: the reach of capture and punishment, and hastened towards the
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Speaker 1: public square of the village, where two military companies of
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Speaker 1: boys had met for conflict. According to previous appointment, Tom
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Speaker 1: was general of one of these armies, Joe Harper, a
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Speaker 1: Bosom friend, general of the other. These two great commanders
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Speaker 1: did not condescend to fight in person, that being better
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Speaker 1: suited to the still smaller fry, but sat together on
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Speaker 1: an imminence and conducted the field operations by orders delivered
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Speaker 1: through aide de camp. Tom's army won a great victory
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Speaker 1: after a long and hard fought battle. Then the dead
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Speaker 1: were counted, prisoners exchanged, the terms of the next disagreement
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Speaker 1: agreed upon, and the day for the necessary battle appointed,
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Speaker 1: after which the armies fell into line and marched away,
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Speaker 1: and Tom turned homeward alone. As he was passing by
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Speaker 1: the house where Jeff Thatcher lived, he saw a new
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Speaker 1: girl in the garden, a lovely little blue eyed creature
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Speaker 1: with yellow hair plaited into two long tails, white summer
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Speaker 1: frock and embroidered pantalets. The fresh crowned hero fell without
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Speaker 1: firing a shot. A certain Amy Lawrence vanished out of
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Speaker 1: his heart and left not even a memory of herself behind.
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Speaker 1: He had thought he loved her to distraction. He had
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Speaker 1: regarded his passion as adoration, And behold it was only
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Speaker 1: a poor, little evanescent partiality. He had been months winning her,
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Speaker 1: She had confessed hardly a week ago. He had been
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Speaker 1: the happiest and the proudest boy in the world only
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Speaker 1: seven short days, and here, in one instant of time,
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Speaker 1: she had gone out of his heart. Like a casual
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Speaker 1: stranger whose visit is done. He worshiped this new angel
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Speaker 1: with furtive eye till he saw that she had discovered him.
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Speaker 1: Then he pretended he did not know she was present,
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Speaker 1: and began to show off in all sorts of absurd
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Speaker 1: boyish ways in order to win her admiration. He kept
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Speaker 1: up this grotesque foolishness for some time, but by and bye.
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Speaker 1: While he was in the midst of some dangerous gymnastic performances,
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Speaker 1: he glanced aside and saw that the little girl was
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Speaker 1: wending her way toward the house. Tom came up to
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Speaker 1: the fence and leaned on it, grieving and hoping she
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Speaker 1: would tarry yet awhile longer. She halted a moment on
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Speaker 1: the steps, and then moved toward the door. Tom heaved
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Speaker 1: a great sigh as she put her foot on the threshold,
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Speaker 1: but his face lit up right away, for she tossed
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Speaker 1: a pansy over the fence a moment before she disappeared.
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Speaker 1: The boy ran around and stopped within a foot or
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Speaker 1: two of the flower, and then shaded his eyes with
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Speaker 1: his hand and began to look down street, as if
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Speaker 1: he had discovered something of interest going on in that direction. Presently,
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Speaker 1: he picked up a straw and began trying to balance
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Speaker 1: it on his nose with his head tilted far back,
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Speaker 1: And as he moved from side to side in his efforts,
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Speaker 1: he edged nearer and nearer toward the pansy. Finally his
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Speaker 1: barefoot rested upon it, his pliant toes closed upon it,
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Speaker 1: and he hopped away with a treasure and disappeared round
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Speaker 1: the corner, but only for a minute, only while he
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Speaker 1: could button the flower inside his jacket, next his heart,
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Speaker 1: or next his stomach, possibly for he was not much
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Speaker 1: posted in anatomy and not hyper critical anyway. He returned
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Speaker 1: now and hung about the fence till nightfall, showing off
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Speaker 1: as before. But the girl never exhibited herself again, though
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Speaker 1: Tom comforted himself a little with a hope that she
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Speaker 1: had been near some window meantime and been aware of
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Speaker 1: his attentions. Finally, he rode home reluctantly, with his poor
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Speaker 1: head full of visions. All through supper, his spirits were
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Speaker 1: so high that his aunt wondered what had got into
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Speaker 1: the child. He took a good scolding about clotting Sid,
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Speaker 1: and did not seem to mind it in the least.
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Speaker 1: He tried to steal sugar under his aunt's very nose
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Speaker 1: and got his knuckles wrapped for it. He said, Aunt,
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Speaker 1: you don't whack Sid when he takes it. Well, Sid,
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Speaker 1: don't torment a body the way you do. You'd be
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Speaker 1: always into that sugar if I warn't watching you. Presently,
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Speaker 1: she stepped into the kitchen, and Sid, happy in his immunity,
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Speaker 1: reached for the sugar bowl, a sort of glorying over Tom,
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Speaker 1: which was well nigh unbearable. But Sid's fingers slipped and
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Speaker 1: the bowl dropped and broke. Tom was in ecstasies, in
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Speaker 1: such excit to SiZ that he even controlled his tongue
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Speaker 1: and was silent. He said to himself that he would
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Speaker 1: not speak a word even when his aunt came in,
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Speaker 1: but would sit perfectly still till she asked who did
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Speaker 1: the mischief, and then he would tell, and there would
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Speaker 1: be nothing so good in the world as to see
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Speaker 1: that pet model catch it. He was so brim full
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Speaker 1: of exultation that he could hardly hold himself. When the
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Speaker 1: old lady came back and stood above the wreck, discharging
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Speaker 1: lightnings of wrath from over her spectacles, he said to himself,
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Speaker 1: now it's coming, and the next instant he was sprawling
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Speaker 1: on the floor. The potent palm was uplifted to strike again,
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Speaker 1: when Tom cried out, hold on, now, what are you
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Speaker 1: belting me? For? Sid broke it. Aunt Polly paused, perplexed,
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Speaker 1: and Tom looked for healing pity, But when she got
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Speaker 1: her tongue again, she only said, humph, well you didn't
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Speaker 1: get a lick amiss. I reckon, you've been into some
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Speaker 1: other odacious mischief when I wasn't around like enough. Then
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Speaker 1: her conscience reproached her, and she yearned to say something
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Speaker 1: kind and loving, but she judged that this would be
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Speaker 1: construed into a confession that she had been in the
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Speaker 1: wrong and disciplined forbad that, so she kept silence and
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Speaker 1: went about her affairs with a troubled heart. Tom sulked
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Speaker 1: in a corner and exalted his woes. He knew that
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Speaker 1: in her heart his aunt was on her knees to him,
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Speaker 1: and he was morosely gratified by the consciousness of it.
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Speaker 1: He would hang out no signals, he would take notice
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Speaker 1: of none. He knew that a yearning glance fell upon
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Speaker 1: him now and then through a film of tears, but
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Speaker 1: he refused recognition of it. He pictured himself lying sick,
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Speaker 1: unto death, and his aunt bending over him, beseeching one
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Speaker 1: little forgiving word. But he would turn his face to
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Speaker 1: the wall and die with that word, unsaid, Ah, how
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Speaker 1: would she feel? Then? And he pictured himself brought home
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Speaker 1: from the river dead, with his curls all wet and
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Speaker 1: his sore heart at rest. How she would throw herself
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Speaker 1: upon him, and how her tears would fall like rain,
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Speaker 1: and her lips pray God to give her back her boy,
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Speaker 1: and she would never never abuse him any more. But
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Speaker 1: he would lie there, cold and white and make no sign,
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Speaker 1: a poor little sufferer whose griefs were at an end.
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Speaker 1: He so worked upon his feelings with the pathos of
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Speaker 1: these dreams, that he had to keep swallowing. He was
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Speaker 1: so like to choke, and his eyes swam in a
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Speaker 1: blur of water, which overflowed when he winked, and ran down,
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Speaker 1: and trickled from the end of his nose. And such
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Speaker 1: a luxury to him was this petting of his sorrows,
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Speaker 1: that he could not bear to have any worldly cheeriness
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Speaker 1: or any grating delight intrude upon it. It was too
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Speaker 1: sacred for such contact. And so presently, when his cousin
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Speaker 1: Mary danced in, all alive with the joy of seeing
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Speaker 1: home again after an age long visit of one week
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Speaker 1: to the country, he got up and moved, in clouds
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Speaker 1: and darkness out at one door, as she brought song
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Speaker 1: and sunshine in at the other. He wandered far from
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Speaker 1: the accustomed haunts of boys, and sought desolate p places
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Speaker 1: that were in harmony with his spirit. A log raft
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Speaker 1: in the river invited him, and he seated himself on
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Speaker 1: its outer edge and contemplated the dreary, vastness of the stream,
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Speaker 1: wishing the while that he could only be drowned all
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Speaker 1: at once and unconsciously, without undergoing the uncomfortable routine devised
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Speaker 1: by nature. Then he thought of his flower. He got
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Speaker 1: it out, rumpled and wilted, and it mightily increased his
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Speaker 1: dismal felicity. He wondered if she would pity him if
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Speaker 1: she knew. Would she cry and wish that she had
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Speaker 1: a right to put her arms round his neck and
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Speaker 1: comfort him, or would she turn coldly away like all
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Speaker 1: the hollow world. This picture brought such an agony of
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Speaker 1: pleasurable suffering that he worked it over and over again
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Speaker 1: in his mind, and set it up anew and varied
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Speaker 1: lights till he wore it threadbare. At last, he rose up, sighing,
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Speaker 1: and departed in the darkness. About half past nine or
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Speaker 1: ten o'clock. He came along the deserted street to where
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Speaker 1: the doored unknown lived. He paused a moment. No sound
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Speaker 1: fell upon his listening ear. A candle was casting a
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Speaker 1: dull glow upon the curtain of a second story window.
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Speaker 1: Was the sacred presence there. He climbed the fence, threaded
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Speaker 1: his stealthy way through the plants, till he stood under
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Speaker 1: that window. He looked up at it long and with emotion.
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Speaker 1: Then he laid him down on the ground under it,
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Speaker 1: disposing himself upon his back, with his hands clasped upon
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Speaker 1: his breast and holding his poor wilted flower. And thus
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Speaker 1: he would die out in the cold world, with no
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Speaker 1: shelter over his homeless head, no friendly hand to wipe
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Speaker 1: the death damps from his brow, no loving face to
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Speaker 1: bend pityingly over him when the great agony came. And
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Speaker 1: thus she would see him when she looked out upon
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Speaker 1: the glad morning, And oh, would she drop one little
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Speaker 1: tear upon his poor lifeless form. Would she heave one
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Speaker 1: little sigh to see a bright young life so rudely blighted,
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Speaker 1: so untimely cut down? The window went up, a maidservant's
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Speaker 1: discordant voice profaned the holy calm, and a deluge of
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Speaker 1: water drenched the prone martyr's remains. The strangling hero sprang
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Speaker 1: up with a relieving snort. There was a whizz as
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Speaker 1: of a missile in the air, mingled with the murmur
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Speaker 1: of a curse. A sound as of shivering glass followed,
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Speaker 1: and a small vague form went over the fence and
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Speaker 1: shot away in the gloom. Not long after, as Tom,
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Speaker 1: all undressed for bed, was surveying his drenched garments by
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Speaker 1: the light of a tallow dip, Sid woke up. But
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Speaker 1: if he had any dim idea of making any references
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Speaker 1: to illusions, he thought better of it and held his peace,
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Speaker 1: for there was danger in Tom's eye. Tom turned in
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Speaker 1: without the added vexation of prayers, and Sid made mental
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Speaker 1: note of the omission. End of chapter three, Chapter four,
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Speaker 1: showing off in Sunday school, the sun rose upon a
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Speaker 1: tranquil world and beamed down upon the peaceful village like
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Speaker 1: a benediction. Breakfast over Aunt Polly had family worship. It
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Speaker 1: began with a prayer built from the ground up of
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Speaker 1: solid courses of scriptural quotations, welded together with a thin
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Speaker 1: mortar of originality, And from the summit of this she
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Speaker 1: delivered a grim chapter of the Mosaic Law as from Sinai.
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Speaker 1: Then Tom girded up his loins, so to speak, and
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Speaker 1: went to work to get his verses. Sid had learned
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Speaker 1: his lesson days before. Tom bent all his energies to
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Speaker 1: the memorizing of five verses, and he chose part of
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Speaker 1: the sermon on the mount because he could find no
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Speaker 1: verses that were shorter. At the end of half an hour,
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Speaker 1: Tom had a vague general idea of his lesson, but
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Speaker 1: no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field
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Speaker 1: of human thought, and his hands were busy with distracting recreations.
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Speaker 1: Mary took his book to hear him recite, and he
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Speaker 1: tried to find his way through the fog. Blessed are
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Speaker 1: the h h poor, Yes, poor. Blessed are the poor
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Speaker 1: in spirit. In spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
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Speaker 1: for they they theirs. For theirs. Blessed are the poor
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Speaker 1: in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed
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Speaker 1: are they that mourn, For they they for they s
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Speaker 1: h A for they s h oh. I don't know
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Speaker 1: what it is, shall oh shall for they shall, for
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Speaker 1: they shall shall mourn. Blessed are they that shall that
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Speaker 1: they that they that shall mourn, For they shall shall What?
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Speaker 1: Why why don't you tell me, Mary, what do you
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Speaker 1: want to be so mean for? Oh Tom, you poor
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Speaker 1: thick headed thing. I'm not teasing you. I wouldn't do that.
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Speaker 1: You must go and learn it again. Don't you be discouraged. Tom.
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Speaker 1: You'll manage it, and if you do, I'll give you
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Speaker 1: something ever so nice. There. Now, that's a good boy.
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Speaker 1: All right, what is it? Mary? Tell me what it is?
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Speaker 1: Never you mind, Tom. You know if I say it's nice,
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Speaker 1: it is nice. You bet you? That's so. Mary. All right,
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Speaker 1: I'll tackle it again. And he did tackle it again,
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Speaker 1: and under the double pressure of curiosity and prospective gain,
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Speaker 1: he did it with such spirit that he accomplished a
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Speaker 1: shining success. Mary gave him a brand new Barlow knife,
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Speaker 1: worth twelve and a half cents, and the convulsion of
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Speaker 1: delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True,
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Speaker 1: the knife would not cut anything, but it was a
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Speaker 1: sure enough Barlow, and there was inconceivable grandeur in that.
15:37
Speaker 1: Though where the Western Boys ever got the idea that
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Speaker 1: such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury
15:43
Speaker 1: is an imposing mystery and will always remain so. Perhaps
15:47
Speaker 1: Tom contrived to scarify the cupboard with it and was
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Speaker 1: arranging to begin on the bureau when he was called
15:53
Speaker 1: off to dress for Sunday school. Mary gave him a
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Speaker 1: tin basin of water and a piece of soap, and
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Speaker 1: he went outside the door and at the basin on
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Speaker 1: a little bench there. Then he dipped the soap in
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Speaker 1: the water and laid it down, turned up his sleeves,
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Speaker 1: poured out the water on the ground gently, and then
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Speaker 1: entered the kitchen and began to wipe his face diligently
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Speaker 1: on the towel behind the door. But Mary removed the
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Speaker 1: towel and said, now, ain't you ashamed, Tom? You mustn't
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Speaker 1: be so bad. Water won't hurt you. Tom was a
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Speaker 1: trifle disconcerted. The basin was refilled, and this time he
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Speaker 1: stood over it a little while, gathering resolution, took in
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Speaker 1: a big breath, and began when he entered the kitchen
16:33
Speaker 1: presently with both eyes shut and groping for the towel
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Speaker 1: with his hands, an honorable testimony of SuDS and water
16:38
Speaker 1: was dripping from his face. But when he emerged from
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Speaker 1: the towel, he was not yet satisfactory for the clean
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Speaker 1: territory stopped short at his chin, and his jaws like
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Speaker 1: a mask below and beyond this line there was a
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Speaker 1: dark expanse of unirrigated soil that spread downward in front
16:56
Speaker 1: and backward around his neck. Mary took him in hand,
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Speaker 1: and when she was done with him, he was a
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Speaker 1: man and a brother without distinction of color, and his
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Speaker 1: saturated hair was neatly brushed, and its short curls wrought
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Speaker 1: into a dainty and symmetrical general effect. He privately smoothed
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Speaker 1: out the curls with labor and difficulty, and plastered his
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Speaker 1: hair close down to his head, for he held curls
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Speaker 1: to be effeminate, and his own filled his life with bitterness.
17:23
Speaker 1: Then Mary got out a suit of his clothing that
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Speaker 1: had been used only on Sundays during two years. They
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Speaker 1: were simply called his other clothes, and so by that
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Speaker 1: we know the size of his wardrobe. The girl put
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Speaker 1: him to rights after he had dressed himself. She buttoned
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Speaker 1: his neat round about up to his chin, turned his
17:43
Speaker 1: vast shirt collar down over his shoulders, brushed him off,
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Speaker 1: and crowned him with his speckled straw hat. He now
17:50
Speaker 1: looked exceedingly improved and uncomfortable. He was fully as uncomfortable
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Speaker 1: as he looked. For there was a restraint about whole
17:57
Speaker 1: clothes and cleanliness that galled him. He hoped that Mary
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Speaker 1: would forget his shoes, but the hope was blighted. She
18:05
Speaker 1: coated them thoroughly with tallow as was the custom, and
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Speaker 1: brought them out. He lost his temper and said he
18:11
Speaker 1: was always being made to do everything he didn't want
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Speaker 1: to do. But Mary said persuasively, please Tom, that's a
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Speaker 1: good boy. So he got into the shoes snarling. Mary
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Speaker 1: was soon ready and the three children set out for
18:24
Speaker 1: Sunday school, a place that Tom hated with his whole heart,
18:27
Speaker 1: but sid and Mary were fond of Sabbath. School hours
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Speaker 1: were from nine to half past ten, and then church service.
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Speaker 1: Two of the children always remained for the sermon voluntarily,
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Speaker 1: and the other always remained too, for stronger reasons. The
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Speaker 1: church's high backed, uncushioned pews would seat about three hundred persons.
18:47
Speaker 1: The edifice was but a small plain affair, with a
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Speaker 1: sort of pine board tree box on top of it
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Speaker 1: for a steeple. At the door, Tom dropped back a
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Speaker 1: step and accosted a Sunday dressed comrade. Say July got
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Speaker 1: a Yowler ticket, Yes, well, you take for her will
19:04
Speaker 1: you give piece of licorice and a fish hook? Let's
19:08
Speaker 1: see him, Tom exhibited. They were satisfactory in the property
19:12
Speaker 1: changed hands. Then Tom traded a couple of white alleys
19:15
Speaker 1: for three red tickets, and some small trifle or other
19:19
Speaker 1: for a couple of blue ones. He waylaid other boys
19:21
Speaker 1: as they came, and went on buying tickets of various colors.
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Speaker 1: Ten or fifteen minutes longer, he entered the church, now
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Speaker 1: with a swarm of clean and noisy boys and girls.
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Speaker 1: Proceeded to his seat and started a quarrel with the
19:34
Speaker 1: first boy that came handy. The teacher, a grave elderly man, interfered,
19:38
Speaker 1: then turned his back a moment, and Tom pulled a
19:41
Speaker 1: boy's hair in the next bench and was absorbed in
19:44
Speaker 1: his book. When the boy turned round, stuck a pin
19:47
Speaker 1: in another boy presently in order to hear him say ouch,
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Speaker 1: and got a new reprimand from his teacher. Tom's whole
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Speaker 1: class were of a pattern, restless, noisy, and troublesome. When
19:57
Speaker 1: they came to recite their lessons. Not one of them
20:00
Speaker 1: knew his verses perfectly, but had to be prompted all along. However,
20:04
Speaker 1: they worried through and each got his reward in small
20:08
Speaker 1: blue tickets, each with a passage of scripture on it.
20:11
Speaker 1: Each blue ticket was pay for two verses of the recitation.
20:15
Speaker 1: Ten blue tickets equaled a red one and could be
20:18
Speaker 1: exchanged for it. Ten red tickets equaled to yellow one.
20:22
Speaker 1: For ten yellow tickets, the superintendent gave a very plainly
20:25
Speaker 1: bound bible worth forty cents in those easy days to
20:29
Speaker 1: the pupil. How many of my readers would have the
20:32
Speaker 1: industry and application to memorize two thousand verses even for
20:36
Speaker 1: a Doray Bible, And yet Mary had acquired two Bibles
20:39
Speaker 1: in this way. It was the patient work of two years,
20:43
Speaker 1: and a boy of German parentage had won four or five.
20:47
Speaker 1: He once recited three thousand verses without stopping, But the
20:51
Speaker 1: strain upon his mental faculties was too great, and he
20:54
Speaker 1: was little better than an idiot from that day forth.
20:58
Speaker 1: A grievous misfortune for the school, For on great occasions
21:01
Speaker 1: before company the superintendent, as Tom expressed, it had always
21:05
Speaker 1: made this boy come out and spread himself. Only the
21:09
Speaker 1: older pupils managed to keep their tickets and stick to
21:12
Speaker 1: their tedious work long enough to get a Bible. And
21:15
Speaker 1: so the delivery of one of these prizes was a
21:17
Speaker 1: rare and noteworthy circumstance. The successful pupil was so great
21:21
Speaker 1: and conspicuous for that day that on the spot every
21:25
Speaker 1: scholar's heart was fired with a fresh ambition that often
21:28
Speaker 1: lasted a couple of weeks. It is possible that Tom's
21:32
Speaker 1: mental stomach had never really hungered for one of those prizes,
21:36
Speaker 1: but unquestionably his entire being had for many a day
21:39
Speaker 1: longed for the glory and the eclaw that came with it.
21:44
Speaker 1: In due course, the superintendent stood up in front of
21:47
Speaker 1: the pulpit with a closed hymn book in his hand
21:49
Speaker 1: and his forefinger inserted between its leaves, and commanded attention.
21:54
Speaker 1: When a Sunday school superintendent makes his customary little speech,
21:57
Speaker 1: a hymn book in the hand is as necessary as
22:00
Speaker 1: is the inevitable sheet of music in the hand of
22:02
Speaker 1: a singer who stands forward on the platform and sings
22:06
Speaker 1: a solo at a concert. Though why is a mystery,
22:10
Speaker 1: for neither the hymn book nor the sheet of music
22:12
Speaker 1: is ever referred to by the sufferer. This superintendent was
22:16
Speaker 1: a slim creature of thirty five with a sandy goatee
22:20
Speaker 1: and short sandy hair. He wore a stiff, standing collar
22:23
Speaker 1: whose upper edge almost reached his ears, and whose sharp
22:27
Speaker 1: points curved forward abreast the corners of his mouth, a
22:30
Speaker 1: fence that compelled a straight look out ahead, and a
22:33
Speaker 1: turning of the whole body when a side view was required.
22:36
Speaker 1: His chin was propped on a spreading cravat, which was
22:39
Speaker 1: as broad and as long as a bank note, and
22:42
Speaker 1: had fringed ends. His boot toes were turned sharply up
22:46
Speaker 1: in the fashion of the day, like sleigh runners, and
22:49
Speaker 1: effect patiently and laboriously produced by the young men by
22:52
Speaker 1: sitting with their toes pressed against a wall for hours together.
22:56
Speaker 1: Mister Walters was very earnest of mien, and very sincere
23:00
Speaker 1: and honest at heart, And he held sacred things and
23:03
Speaker 1: places in such reverence, and so separated them from worldly
23:07
Speaker 1: matters that, unconsciously to himself, his Sunday school voice had
23:11
Speaker 1: acquired a peculiar intonation which was wholly absent on week days.
23:16
Speaker 1: He began after this fashion, Now, children, I want you
23:20
Speaker 1: all to sit up just as straight and pretty as
23:23
Speaker 1: you can, and give me all your attention for a
23:26
Speaker 1: minute or two. There. That is it that is the
23:30
Speaker 1: way good little boys and girls should do. I see
23:33
Speaker 1: one little girl who is looking out of the window.
23:35
Speaker 1: I am afraid she thinks I am out there somewhere,
23:39
Speaker 1: perhaps up in one of the trees, making a speech
23:41
Speaker 1: to the little birds, a plausive titter. I want to
23:46
Speaker 1: tell you how good it makes me feel to see
23:48
Speaker 1: so many bright, clean little faces assembled in a place
23:51
Speaker 1: like this, learning to do right and be good, and
23:55
Speaker 1: so forth and so on. It is not necessary to
23:58
Speaker 1: set down the rest of the oration. It was of
24:00
Speaker 1: a pattern which does not vary, and so it is
24:02
Speaker 1: familiar to us. All. The latter third of the speech
24:06
Speaker 1: was marred by the resumption of fights and other recreations
24:09
Speaker 1: among certain of the bad boys, and by fidgetings and
24:13
Speaker 1: whisperings that extended far and wide, washing even to the
24:16
Speaker 1: bases of isolated and incorruptible rocks like Sid and Mary.
24:20
Speaker 1: But now every sound ceased suddenly with a subsidence of
24:24
Speaker 1: mister Walter's voice, and the conclusion of the speech was
24:28
Speaker 1: received with a burst of silent gratitude. A good part
24:31
Speaker 1: of the whispering had been occasioned by an event which
24:34
Speaker 1: was more or less rare, the entrance of visitors Lawyer Thatcher,
24:38
Speaker 1: accompanied by a very feeble and aged man, a fine
24:42
Speaker 1: portly middle aged gentleman with iron gray hair, and a
24:46
Speaker 1: dignified lady who was doubtless the latter's wife. The lady
24:49
Speaker 1: was leading a child. Tom had been restless and full
24:52
Speaker 1: of chafings and repinings, conscience smitten too. He could not
24:56
Speaker 1: meet Amy Lawrence's eye, he could not brook her love gaze.
25:01
Speaker 1: But when he saw this small newcomer, his soul was
25:03
Speaker 1: all ablaze with bliss. In a moment, the next moment
25:06
Speaker 1: he was showing off with all his might, cuffing boys,
25:09
Speaker 1: pulling hair, making faces, in a word, using every art
25:12
Speaker 1: that seemed likely to fascinate a girl and win her applause.
25:17
Speaker 1: His exaltations had but one alloy the memory of his
25:21
Speaker 1: humiliation in this angel's garden, and that record in sand
25:25
Speaker 1: was fast washing out under the waves of happiness that
25:28
Speaker 1: were sweeping over it. Now. The visitors were given the
25:31
Speaker 1: highest seat of honor, and as soon as mister Walter's
25:34
Speaker 1: speech was finished, he introduced them to the school. The
25:37
Speaker 1: middle aged man turned out to be a prodigenous personage,
25:41
Speaker 1: no less a one than the county judge altogether the
25:44
Speaker 1: most august creation these children had ever looked upon. And
25:48
Speaker 1: they wondered what kind of material he was made of,
25:51
Speaker 1: And they half wanted to hear him roar, and were
25:54
Speaker 1: half afraid he might too. He was from Constantinople, twelve
25:58
Speaker 1: miles away, so he had traveled and seeing the world.
26:01
Speaker 1: These very eyes had looked upon the County court House,
26:05
Speaker 1: which was said to have a tin roof. The awe
26:08
Speaker 1: which these reflections inspired was attested by the impressive silences
26:13
Speaker 1: and the ranks of staring eyes. This was the great
26:16
Speaker 1: Judge Thatcher, brother of their own lawyer, Jeff Thatcher, immediately
26:21
Speaker 1: went forward to be familiar with the great man and
26:23
Speaker 1: be envied by the school. It would have been music
26:26
Speaker 1: to his soul to hear the whisperings. Look at him, Jim,
26:29
Speaker 1: he's a goin up there, say look, he's a goin
26:32
Speaker 1: to shake hands with him. He is shaking hands with him,
26:35
Speaker 1: by jings. Don't you wish you was? Jeff? Mister Walters
26:38
Speaker 1: fell to showing off with all sorts of official bustlings
26:41
Speaker 1: and activities, giving orders and delivering judgments, discharging directions here there,
26:47
Speaker 1: everywhere that he could find a target. The librarian showed off,
26:51
Speaker 1: running hither and thither with his arms full of books,
26:54
Speaker 1: and making a deal of the splutter and fuss that
26:57
Speaker 1: insect authority delights in. The young lady teachers showed off,
27:02
Speaker 1: bending sweetly over pupils that were lately being boxed, lifting
27:06
Speaker 1: pretty warning fingers at bad little boys, and patting good
27:09
Speaker 1: ones lovingly. The young gentlemen teachers showed off with small
27:13
Speaker 1: scoldings and other little displays of authority and fine attention
27:17
Speaker 1: to discipline. And most of the teachers of both sexes
27:21
Speaker 1: found business up at the library by the pulpit, and
27:24
Speaker 1: it was business that frequently had to be done over
27:27
Speaker 1: again two or three times, with much seeming vexation. The
27:31
Speaker 1: little girls showed off in various ways, and the little
27:34
Speaker 1: boys showed off with such diligence that the air was
27:37
Speaker 1: thick with paper wads and the murmur of scuffling. And
27:41
Speaker 1: above it all the great man sat and beamed a
27:44
Speaker 1: majestic judicial smile upon all the house, and warmed himself
27:48
Speaker 1: in the sun of his own grandeur, for he was
27:51
Speaker 1: showing off too. There was only one thing wanting to
27:55
Speaker 1: make mister Walter's ecstasy complete, and that was a chance
27:58
Speaker 1: to deliver a Bible pride and exhibit a prodigy. Several
28:02
Speaker 1: pupils had a few yellow tickets, but none had enough,
28:06
Speaker 1: and he had been around among the star pupils inquiring.
28:09
Speaker 1: He would have given worlds now to have that German
28:12
Speaker 1: lad back again with a sound mind. And now at
28:15
Speaker 1: this moment, when hope was dead, Tom Sawyer came forward
28:19
Speaker 1: with nine yellow tickets, nine red tickets, and ten blue
28:23
Speaker 1: ones and demanded a Bible. This was a thunderbolt out
28:27
Speaker 1: of a clear sky. Walters was not expecting an application
28:31
Speaker 1: from this source for the next ten years, but there
28:34
Speaker 1: was no getting around it. Here were the certified checks,
28:37
Speaker 1: and they were good for their face. Tom was therefore
28:40
Speaker 1: elevated to a place with a judge and the other elect,
28:43
Speaker 1: and the great news was announced from headquarters. It was
28:46
Speaker 1: the most stunning surprise of the decade, and so profound
28:50
Speaker 1: was the sensation that it lifted the new hero up
28:52
Speaker 1: to the judicial one's altitude, and the school had two
28:55
Speaker 1: marvels to gaze upon in place of one. The boys
28:59
Speaker 1: were all eaten up with envy, and those that suffered
29:02
Speaker 1: the bitterest pangs were those who perceived too late that
29:04
Speaker 1: they themselves had contributed to this hated splendor by trading
29:07
Speaker 1: tickets to Tom for the wealth he had amassed in
29:10
Speaker 1: selling whitewashing privileges. These despised themselves as being the dupes
29:15
Speaker 1: of a wily fraud, a guileful snake in the grass.
29:19
Speaker 1: The prize was delivered to Tom with as much effusion
29:22
Speaker 1: as the superintendent could pump up under the circumstances, but
29:26
Speaker 1: it lacked somewhat of the true gush. For the poor
29:29
Speaker 1: fellow's instinct taught him that there was a mystery here
29:32
Speaker 1: that could not well bear the light. Perhaps it was
29:35
Speaker 1: simply preposterous that this boy had warehoused two thousand sheaves
29:40
Speaker 1: of scriptural wisdom on his premises. A dozen would strain
29:44
Speaker 1: his capacity. Without a doubt. Amy Lawrence was proud and glad,
29:48
Speaker 1: and she tried to make Tom see it in her face,
29:51
Speaker 1: but he wouldn't look. She wondered, then she was just
29:54
Speaker 1: a grain troubled. Next, a dim suspicion came and went,
29:58
Speaker 1: came again, watched a furtive glance told her worlds, and
30:03
Speaker 1: then her heart broke, and she was jealous and angry,
30:06
Speaker 1: and the tears came, and she hated everybody, Tom most
30:09
Speaker 1: of all, she thought. Tom was introduced to the judge,
30:12
Speaker 1: but his tongue was tied, his breath would hardly come.
30:15
Speaker 1: His heart quaked, partly because of the awful greatness of
30:19
Speaker 1: the man, but mainly because he was her parent. He
30:22
Speaker 1: would have liked to fall down and worship him if
30:25
Speaker 1: it were in the dark. The judge put his hand
30:27
Speaker 1: on Tom's head and called him a fine little man,
30:29
Speaker 1: and asked him what his name was. The boy stammered, gasped,
30:33
Speaker 1: and got it out, Tom. Oh, no, not Tom. It
30:38
Speaker 1: is Thomas. Ah, that's it. I thought there was more
30:43
Speaker 1: to it. Maybe that's very well. But you've another one,
30:46
Speaker 1: I dare say, and you'll tell it to me, won't
30:48
Speaker 1: you tell the gentleman your other name? Thomas, said Walters,
30:52
Speaker 1: and say, sir, you mustn't forget your manners. Thomas sawyer, sir,
30:56
Speaker 1: that's it. That's a good boy, fine boy, fine manly
31:00
Speaker 1: little fellow. Two thousand verses is a great many, very
31:03
Speaker 1: very great many. And you never can be sorry for
31:06
Speaker 1: the trouble you took to learn them. For knowledge is
31:09
Speaker 1: worth more than anything there is in the world. It's
31:11
Speaker 1: what makes great men and good men you'll be a
31:14
Speaker 1: great man and a good man yourself some day, Thomas,
31:18
Speaker 1: And then you'll look back and say, it's all owing
31:20
Speaker 1: to the precious Sunday school privileges of my boyhood. It's
31:24
Speaker 1: all owing to my dear teachers that taught me to learn.
31:27
Speaker 1: It's all owing to the good superintendent who encouraged me
31:31
Speaker 1: and watched over me, and gave me a beautiful Bible,
31:34
Speaker 1: a splendid, elegant Bible to keep and have it all
31:37
Speaker 1: for my own always. It's all owing to write bringing up.
31:42
Speaker 1: That is what you will say, Thomas. And you wouldn't
31:44
Speaker 1: take any money for those two thousand verses, No, indeed
31:47
Speaker 1: you wouldn't. And now you wouldn't mind telling me and
31:50
Speaker 1: this lady some of the things you've learned. No, I
31:53
Speaker 1: know you wouldn't, for we are proud of little boys
31:56
Speaker 1: that learn. Now, no doubt you know the names of
31:59
Speaker 1: all the twelve decent disciples, won't you tell us the
32:01
Speaker 1: names of the first two that were appointed. Tom was
32:05
Speaker 1: tugging at a button hole and looking sheepish. He blushed
32:08
Speaker 1: now and his eyes fell. Mister Walter's heart sank within him.
32:12
Speaker 1: He said to himself, it is not possible that the
32:15
Speaker 1: boy can answer the simplest question, why did the judge
32:19
Speaker 1: ask him? Yet he felt obliged to speak up and say,
32:23
Speaker 1: answer the gentleman, Thomas, don't be afraid. Tom still hung fire.
32:29
Speaker 1: Now I know you'll tell me, said the lady. The
32:32
Speaker 1: names of the first two disciples were David and Goliath.
32:38
Speaker 1: Let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest
32:40
Speaker 1: of the scene. End of Chapter four