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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty one, Found and lost again. Now to return
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to Tom and Becky's share in the picnic, they tripped
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: along the murky aisles with the rest of the company,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: visiting the familiar wonders of the cave, wonders dubbed with
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: rather over descriptive names such as the drawing Room, the cathedral,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Aladdin's Palace, and so on. Presently, the hide and seek
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: frolicking began, and Tom and Becky engaged in it with zeal,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: until the exertion began to grow a trifle wearisome. Then
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: they wandered down a sinuous avenue, holding their candles aloft
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and reading the tangled webwork of names, dates, post office addresses,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: and mottoes with which the rocky walls had been frescoed
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in the candle smoke. Still drifting along and talking, they
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: scarcely noticed that they were now in a part of
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the cave whose walls were not frescoed. They smoked their
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: own names under an overhanging shelf and moved on. Presently
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: they came to a place where a little stream of water,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: trickling over a ledge and carrying a limestone sediment with it,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: had in the slow dragging ages formed a laced and
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: ruffled niagara in gleaming an imperishable stone. Tom squeezed his
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: small body behind it in order to illuminate it for
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  Speaker 1: Becky's gratification. He found that it curtained a sort of
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: steep natural stairway which was enclosed between narrow walls, and
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: at once the ambition to be a discoverer seized him.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Becky responded to his call, and they made a smoke
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: mark for future guidance, and started upon their quest. They
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: wound this way and that far down into the secret
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: depths of the cave, made another mark, and branched off
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: in search of novelties to tell the upper world about.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: In one place they found a spacious cavern, from whose
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: ceiling depended a multitude of shining stalactites of the length
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: and circumference of a man's leg. They walked all about it,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: wondering and admiring, and presently left it by one of
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the numerous passages that opened into it. This shortly brought
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: them to a bewitching spring whose basin was encrusted with
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: a frost work of glittering crystals. It was in the
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: midst of a cavern whose walls were supported by many
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: fantastic pillars, which had been formed by the joining of
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: great stalac tights and stalac mites together, the result of
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: the ceaseless water drip of centuries under the roof, vast
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: knots of bats had packed themselves together, thousands in a bunch.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: The lights disturbed the creatures, and they came flocking down
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: by hundreds, squeaking and darting furiously at the candles. Tom
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: knew their ways and the danger of this sort of conduct.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: He seized Becky's hand and hurried her into the first
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: corridor that offered, and none too soon for a bat
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: struck Becky's light out with its wing while she was
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: passing out of the cavern. The bats chased the children
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: a good distance, but the fugitives plunged into every new
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: passage that offered, and at last got rid of the
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: perilous things. Tom found a subterranean lake shortly which stretched
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: its dim length away until its shape was lost in
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the shadows. He wanted to explore its borders, but concluded
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: that it would be best to sit down and rest
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: awhile first. Now, for the first time, the deep stillness
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: of the place laid a clammy hand upon the spirits
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: of the children. Becky said, why I didn't notice, But
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: it seems ever so long since I heard of any
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: of the others. Come to think, Becky, we are away
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: down below them, and I don't know how far away
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: north or south or east or whichever it is. We
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: couldn't hear them here. Becky grew apprehensive. I wonder how
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: long we've been down here, Tom, we'd better start back, Yes,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: I reckon, we better, Perhaps we better. Can you find
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  Speaker 1: the way, Tom, It's all a mixed up crookedness to me.
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  Speaker 1: I reckon I could find it. But then the bats,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: if they put both of our candles out, it will
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: be an awful fix. Let's try some other way so
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: as not to go through there. Well, but I hope
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: we won't get lost. It would be so awful, And
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the girl shuddered at the thought of the dreadful possibilities.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: They started through a corridor and traversed it in silence
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  Speaker 1: a long way, glancing at each new opening to see
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  Speaker 1: if there was anything familiar about the look of it,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: but they were all strange. Every time Tom made an examination,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Becky would watch his face for an encouraging sign and
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: he would say cheerily, Oh it's all right, This ain't
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the one, but we'll come to it right away. But
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: he felt less and less hopeful with each failure, and
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: presently began to turn off into diverging avenues at sheer
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: random in desperate hope of finding the one that was wanted.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: He still said it was all right, but there was
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: such a leaden dread at his heart that the words
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: had lost their ring and sounded just as if he
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: had said all is lost. Becky clung to his side
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: in an anguish of fear, and tried hard to keep
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  Speaker 1: back the tears, but they would come. At last. She said, Oh, Tom,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: never mind the bats, Let's go back that way. We
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: seemed to get worse and worse off all the time.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Tom stopped listen, said he profound silence, silence so deep
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: that even their breathings were conspicuous in the hush. Tom shouted.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: The call went echoing down the empty aisles, and died
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: out in the distance in a faint sound that resembled
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: a ripple of mocking laughter. Oh don't do it again, Tom,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: It is too horrid, said Becky. It is horrid, but
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: I better, Becky. They might hear us, you know, and
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: he shouted again. The mte was even a chillier horror
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: than the ghostly laughter. It so confessed the perishing hope.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: The children stood still and listened, but there was no result.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Tom turned upon the back track at once and hurried
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: his steps. It was but a little while before a
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: certain indecision in his manner revealed another fearful fact to Becky.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: He could not find his way back. Oh, Tom didn't
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: make any marks, Becky. I was such a fool, Such
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: a fool. I never thought we might want to come back. No,
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  Speaker 1: I can't find the way. It's all mixed up, Tom, Tom,
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  Speaker 1: We're lost. We're lost. We never can get out of
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: this awful place. Oh why did we ever leave the others?
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: She sank to the ground and burst into such a
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: frenzy of crying that Tom was appalled with the idea
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  Speaker 1: that she might die or lose her reason. He sat
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: down by her and put his arms around her. She
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: buried her face in his bosom. She clung to him.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: She poured out her terrors, her unavailing regrets, and the
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: far echoes turned them all to jeering laughter. Tom begged
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: her to pluck up Hope again, and she said she
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: could not. He fell to blaming and abusing himself forgetting
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: her into this miserable situation, and this had a better effect.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: She said she would try to Hope again. She would
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: get up and follow wherever he might lead, if only
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: he would not talk like that any more, For he
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: was no more to blame than she, she said. So
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: they moved on again, aimlessly, simply at random. All they
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: could do was to move, keep moving. For a little while.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Hope made a show of reviving, not with any reason
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: to back it, but only because it is its nature
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: to revive when the spring has not been taken out
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: of it by age and familiarity with failure. By and
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: by Tom took Becky's candle and blew it out. This
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: economy meant so much. Words were not needed. Becky understood,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: and her hope died again. She knew that Tom had
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: a whole candle and three or four pieces in his pockets,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Yet he must economize. By and by fatigue began to
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: assert its claims. The children tried to pay no attention,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: for it was dreadful to think of sitting down when
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: time was grown to be so precious. Moving in some direction.
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  Speaker 1: In any direction was at least progress and might bear fruit.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: But to sit down was to invite death and shorten
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: its pursuit. At last, Becky's frail limbs refused to carry
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  Speaker 1: her farther. She said down. Tom rested with her, and
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: they talked of home and the friends there, and the
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  Speaker 1: comfortable beds, and above all the light. Becky cried, and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Tom tried to think of some way of comforting her,
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  Speaker 1: but all his encouragements were grown threadbare with use and
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: sounded like sarcasms. Fatigue bore so heavily upon Becky that
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  Speaker 1: she drowsed off to sleep. Tom was grateful. He sat
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  Speaker 1: looking into her drawn face and saw it grow smooth
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  Speaker 1: and natural under the influence of pleasant dreams, and by
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  Speaker 1: and by a smile dawned and rested there The peaceful
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  Speaker 1: face reflected somewhat of peace and healing into his own spirit,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: and his thoughts wandered away to by gone times and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: dreamy memories. While he was deep in his musings, Becky
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: woke up with a breezy little laugh, but it was
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: stricken dead upon her lips, and a groan followed it. Oh,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: how could I sleep? I wish I never never had waked. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: I don't Tom, don't look so I won't say it again.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you've slept, Becky. You'll feel rested now and
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: we'll find the way out. We can try, Tom, but
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: I've seen such a beautiful country in my dream. I reckon,
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  Speaker 1: we're going there. Maybe not, maybe not. Cheer up, Becky,
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  Speaker 1: and let's go on trying. They rose up and wandered along,
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  Speaker 1: hand in hand and hopeless. They tried to estimate how
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: long they had been in the cave, but all they
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  Speaker 1: knew was that it seemed days and weeks, And yet
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: it was plain that this could not be, for their
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: candles were not gone yet. A long time after this,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: they could not tell how long. Tom said they must
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: go softly and listen to dripping water. They must find
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: a spring. They found one presently, and Tom said it
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: was time to rest again. Both were cruelly tired, yet
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Becky said she thought she could go on a little farther.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: She was surprised to hear tom dissent. She could not
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: understand it. They sat down, and Tom fastened his candle
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: to the wall in front of them with some clay.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Thought was soon busy Nothing was said for some time.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Then Becky broke the silence. Tom, I'm so hungry. Tom
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: took something out of his pocket. Do you remember this?
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Said he? Becky almost smiled. It's our wedding cake. Tom. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I wish it was as big as a barrel, for
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: it's all we've got. I saved it from the picnic
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  Speaker 1: for us to dream on, Tom, the way crown up
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  Speaker 1: people do with wedding cake. But it'll be our. She
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: dropped the sentence where it was. Tom divided the cake
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  Speaker 1: and Becky ate with good appetite, while Tom nibbled at
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: his moiety. There was abundance of cold water to finish
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: the feast with by and by, Becky suggested that they
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: move on again. Tom was silent a moment, then he said, Becky,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: can you bear it if I tell you something? Becky's
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: face paled, but she thought she could. Well, then, Becky,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: we must stay here where there's water to drink. That
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: little piece is our last candle. Becky gave loose to
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: tea and wailings. Tom did what he could to comfort her,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: but with little effect. At length, Becky said Tom, Well, Becky,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: they'll miss us and hunt for us. Yes, they will,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: certainly they will. Maybe they're hunting for us, now, Tom,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Why I reckon? Maybe they are? I hope they are.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: When would they miss us, Tom? When they get back
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: to the boat, I reckon, Tom, it might be dark.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Then would they notice we hadn't come? I don't know,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: but anyway, your mother would miss you as soon as
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: they got home. A frightened look in Becky's face brought
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Tom to his senses, and he saw that he had
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: made a blunder. Becky was not to have gone home
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: that night. The children became silent and thoughtful. In a moment,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: a new burst of grief from Becky showed Tom that
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: the thing in his mind had struck hers, also that
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the Sabbath morning might be half spent. Before Missus Thatcher
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: discovered that Becky was not at Missus Harper's. The children
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: it melt slowly and pitilessly away, saw the half inch
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: of wicks stand alone. At last, saw the feeble flame
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: rise and fall climb, the thin column of smoke linger
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: at its top. A moment, and then the horror of
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: utter darkness reigned. How long afterward it was that Becky
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: came to a slow consciousness that she was crying in
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Tom's arms. Neither could tell. All that they knew was that,
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: after what seemed a mighty stretch of time, both awoke
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: out of a dead stupor of sleep and resumed their
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: miseries once more. Tom said it might be Sunday, now,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: maybe Monday. He tried to get Becky to talk, but
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: her sorrows were too oppressive. All her hopes were gone.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Tom said that they must have been missed long ago,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: and no doubt the search was going on. He would
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: shout and maybe some one would come. He tried it,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: but in the darkness the distant echoes sounded so hideously
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: that he tried it no more. The hours wasted away,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: and hunger came to torment the captives again. A portion
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: of Tom's half of the cake was left. They divided
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: and ate it, but they seemed hungrier than before. The
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: poor morsel of food only wetted desire. By and by,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Tom said, sh did you hear that? Both held their
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: breath and listened. There was a sound like the faintest
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: far off shout. Instantly, Tom answered it, and, leading Becky
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: by the hand, started groping down the corridor in its direction. Presently,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: he listened again. Again, the sound was heard, and apparently
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: a little nearer, it's them, said Tom, they're coming. Come along, Becky,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: we're all right now. The joy of the prisoners was
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: almost overwhelming. Their speed was slow, however, because pitfalls were
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: somewhat common and had to be guarded against. They shortly
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: came to one and had to stop. It might be
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: three feet deep, it might be a hundred. There was
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: no passing it at any rate. Tom got down on
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: his breast and reached as far down as he could.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: No bottom. They must stay there and wait until the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: searchers came. They listened evidently, the distant shoutings were growing
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: more distant. A moment or two more and they had
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: gone altogether. The heart sinking misery of it. Tom whooped
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: until he was hoarse, but it was of no use.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: He talked hopefully to Becky, but an age of anxious
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: waiting passed and no sounds came again. The children groped
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: their way back to the spring. The weary time dragged on.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: They slept again and awoke, famished and woe stricken. Tom
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: believed it must be Tuesday. By this time. Now an
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: idea struck him. There were some side passages near at hand.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: It would be better to explore some of these than
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: bear the weight of the heavy time in idleness. He
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: took a kite line from his pocket, tied it to
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: a projection, and he and Becky started Tom in the lead,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: unwinding the line as he groped along. At the end
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: of twenty paces, the corridor ended in a jumping off place.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Tom got down on his knees and felt below, and
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: then as far round the corner as he could reach
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: with his hands. Conveniently, he made an effort to stretch
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: yet a little farther to the right, and at that moment,
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: not twenty yards away, a human hand holding a candle
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: appeared from behind a rock. Tom lifted up a glorious shout,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: and instantly that hand was followed by the body it
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: belonged to injun Joe's. Tom was paralyzed. He could not move.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: He was vastly gratified the next moment to see the
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Spaniard take to his heels and get himself out of sight.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: Tom wondered that Joe had not recognized his voice and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: come over and killed him for testifying in court. But
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the echoes must have disguised the voice. Without doubt that
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: was it, he reasoned. Tom's fright weakened every muscle in
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: his body. He said to himself that if he had
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: strength enough to get back to the spring, he would
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: stay there, and nothing should tempt him to run the
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: risk of meeting injun Joe again. He was careful to
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: keep from Becky what it was he had seen. He
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: told her he had only shouted for luck. But hunger
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: and wretchedness rise superior to fears in the long run.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Another tedious wait at the spring and another long sleep
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: brought changes. The children awoke, tortured with a raging hunger.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Tom believed that it must be Wednesday or Thursday, or
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: even Friday or Saturday now, and that the search had
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: been given over. He proposed to explore another passage. He
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: felt willing to risk injun Joe and all other terrors.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: But Becky was very weak. She had sunk into a
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: dreary apathy and would not be roused. She said she
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: would wait now where she was and die. It would
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: not be long. She told Tom to go with his
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: kite line and explore if he chose, but She implored
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: him to come back every little while and speak to her,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: and she made him promise that when the awful time came,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: he would stay by her and hold her hand until
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: all was over. Tom kissed her with a choking sensation
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: in his throat, and made a show of being confident
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: of finding the searchers or an escape from the cave.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Then he took the kite line in his hand and
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: went groping down one of the passages on his hands
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: and knees, distressed with hunger and sick with bodings of
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: coming doom. End of chapter thirty one, Chapter thirty two,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: turn out there found. Tuesday afternoon came and wane to
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: the twilight. The village of Saint Petersburg still mourned. The
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: lost children had not been found. Public prayers had been
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: offered up for them, and many and many a private
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: prayer that had the petitioner's whole heart in it, But
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: still no good news came from the cave. The majority
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: of the searchers had given up the quest and gone
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: back to their daily vocations, saying that it was plain
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the children could never be found. Missus Thatcher was very
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: ill and a great part of the time, delirious people
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: said it was heart breaking to hear her call her
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: child and raise her head and listen a whole minute
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: at a time, then lay it wearily down again with a moan.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Aunt Polly had drooped into a settled melancholy, and her
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: gray hair had grown almost white. The village went to
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: its rest on Tuesday night, sad and forlorn away. In
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: the middle of the night, a wild peal burst from
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: the village bells, and in a moment the streets were
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: swarming with frantic, half clad people who shouted, turn out,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: turn out, They're found, They're found. Tin pans and horns
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: were added to the din. The population massed itself and
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: moved toward the river. Met the children coming in an
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: open carriage drawn by shouting citizens. Thronged around. It, joined
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: its homeward march, and swept magnificently up the main street,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: roaring Huzza after Hazza. The village was illuminated. Nobody went
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: to bed again. It was the greatest night the little
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: town had ever seen. During the first half hour, a
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: procession of villagers filed through Judge Thatcher's house, seized the
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: saved ones and kissed them squeezed Missus Thatcher's hand, tried
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: to speak, but couldn't, drifted out, raining tears all over
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: the place. Aunt Polly's happiness was complete, and Missus Thatcher's
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: nearly so it would be complete. However, as soon as
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: the messenger dispatched with a great news to the cave
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: should get the word to her husband. Tom lay upon
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: a sofa with an eager auditory about him, and told
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the history of the wonderful adventure, putting in many striking
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: additions to adorn it withal, and closed with a description
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: of how he left Becky and went on an exploring expedition.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: How he followed two avenues as far as his kite
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: line would reach, how he followed a third to the
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: fullest stretch of the kite line, and was about to
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: turn back when he glimpsed a far off speck that
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: looked like daylight, dropped the line and groped toward it,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: pushed his head and shoulders through a small hole, and
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: saw the broad Mississippi rolling by. And if it had
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: only happened to be night, he would not have seen
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: that speck of daylight, and would not have explored that
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: passage any more. He told how he went back for
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Becky and broke the good news, and she told him
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: not to fret her with such stuff, for she was
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: tired and knew she was going to die and wanted to.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: He described how he labored with her and convinced her,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: and how she almost died for joy when she had
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: groped to where she actually saw the blue speck of daylight.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: How he pushed his way out at the hole and
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: then helped her out. How they sat there and cried
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: for gladness. How some men came along in a skiff,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: and Tom hailed them and told them their situation and
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: their famished condition. How the men didn't believe the wild
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: tale at first, because said they you are five miles
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: down the river below the valley the cave is in.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Then took them aboard, rode to a house, gave them supper,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: made them rest till two or three hours after dark,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: and then brought them home before day dawn. Judge Thatcher
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: and the handful of searchers with him were tracked out
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: in the cave by the twine clues they had strung
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: behind them, and informed of the great news. Three days
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: and nights of toil and hunger in the cave were
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: not to be shaken off at once, as Tom and
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Becky soon discovered. They were bed ridden all of Wednesday
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: and Thursday, and seemed to grow more and more tired
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: and worn all the time. Tom got about a little
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: on Thursday, was downtown Friday and nearly as whole as
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: ever Saturday, but Becky did not leave her room until Sunday,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: and then she looked as if she had passed through
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: a wasting illness. Tom learned of Huck's sickness and went
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: to see him on Friday, but could not be admitted
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: to the bedroom, neither could he on Saturday or Sunday.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: He was admitted daily after that, but was warned to
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: keep still about his adventure and introduced no exciting topic.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: The widow Douglas stayed by to see that he obeyed.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: At home, Tom learned of the Cardiff Hill event, also
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: that the ragged man's body had eventually been found in
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the river near the ferry landing. He had been drowned
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: while trying to escape, Perhaps about a fortnight after Tom's
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: rescue from the cave, he started off to visit Huck,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: who had grown plenty strong enough now to hear excited talk,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: and Tom had some that would interest him. He thought,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Judge Thatcher's house was on Tom's way, and he stopped
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: to see Becky. The judge and some friends set Tom
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: to talking, and some one asked him ironically if he
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: wouldn't like to go to the cave again. Tom said
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: he thought he wouldn't mind it. The judge said, well,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: there are others just like you. Tom. I've not the
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: least doubt, but we have taken care of that. Nobody
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: will get lost in that cave any more. Why because
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: I had its big door sheathed with boiler iron two
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: weeks ago and triple locked, and I've got the keys.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: Tom turned as white as a sheet. What's the matter? Boy? Here? Run?
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Somebody fetch a glass of water. The water was brought
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: and thrown into Tom's face. Ah, now you're all right?
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: What was the matter with you? Tom? Oh? Judge injun
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Joe's in the cave, end of chapter thirty two,