CHAPTER I “
TOM 0
! ”
No answer .
“
TOM 0
! ”
No answer .
“ What 's gone with
that boy 0
,
I 1
wonder ?
You 0
TOM 0
! ”
No answer .
The old lady 1
pulled
her 1
spectacles down and looked over them about
the room 2
; then
she 1
put them up and looked out under them .
She 1
seldom or never looked _ through _
them 1
for so small a thing as
a boy 3
; they were
her 1
state pair , the pride of
, and were built for “ style , ” not service --
she 1
could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well .
She 1
looked perplexed for a moment , and then said , not fiercely , but still loud enough for the furniture to hear : “ Well ,
I 1
lay if
I 1
get hold of
you 0
I 1
'll -- ”
She 1
did not finish , for by this time
she 1
was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom , and so
she 1
needed breath to punctuate the punches with .
She 1
resurrected nothing but the cat .
“
I 1
never did see the beat of
that boy 0
! ”
She 1
went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the tomato vines and “ jimpson ” weeds that constituted
the garden 4
.
No
Tom 0
.
So
she 1
lifted up
her 1
voice at an angle calculated for distance and shouted : “ Y-o-u-u
TOM 0
! ”
There was a slight noise behind
her 1
and
she 1
turned just in time to seize
a small boy 0
by the slack of
his 0
roundabout and arrest
his 0
flight .
“ There !
I 1
might ' a ' thought of that
closet 5
.
What
you 0
been doing in
there 5
? ”
“ Nothing . ”
“ Nothing !
Look at
your 0
hands .
And look at
your 0
mouth .
What _ is _ that truck ? ”
“
I 0
do n't know ,
aunt 1
. ”
“ Well ,
I 1
know .
It 's jam -- that 's what it is .
Forty times
I 1
've said if
you 0
did n't let that jam alone
I 1
'd skin
you 0
.
Hand
me 1
that switch . ”
The switch hovered in the air -- the peril was desperate -- “ My !
Look behind
you 1
,
aunt 1
! ”
The old lady 1
whirled round , and snatched
her 1
skirts out of danger .
The lad 0
fled on the instant , scrambled up the high board-fence , and disappeared over it .
Polly 1
stood surprised a moment , and then broke into a gentle laugh .
“ Hang
the boy 0
, ca n't
I 1
never learn anything ?
Ai n't
he 0
played
me 1
tricks enough like that for
me 1
to be looking out for
him 0
by this time ?
But
old fools 6
is
the biggest fools there is 39
.
Ca n't learn an old dog new tricks , as the saying is .
But
my 1
goodness ,
he 0
never plays them alike , two days , and how is
a body 7
to know what 's coming ?
He 0
' pears to know just how long
he 0
can torment
me 1
before
I 1
get
my 1
dander up , and
he 0
knows if
he 0
can make out to put
me 1
off for a minute or make
me 1
laugh , it 's all down again and
I 1
ca n't hit
him 0
a lick .
I 1
ai n't doing
my 1
duty by
that boy 0
, and that 's
the Lord 8
's truth , goodness knows .
Spare the rod and spile
the child 0
, as the Good Book says .
I 1
'm a laying up sin and suffering for
us 9
both ,
I 1
know .
He 0
's full of the Old Scratch , but laws-a-me !
he 0
's
, poor thing , and
I 1
ai n't got the heart to lash
him 0
, somehow .
Every time
I 1
let
him 0
off ,
does hurt
me 1
so , and every time
I 1
hit
him 0
most breaks .
Well-a-well ,
man that is born of
woman 14
13 is of few days and full of trouble , as the Scripture says , and
I 1
reckon it 's so .
He 0
'll play hookey this evening , * and [ * Southwestern for “ afternoon ” ]
I 1
'll just be obleeged to make
him 0
work , tomorrow , to punish
him 0
.
It 's mighty hard to make
him 0
work Saturdays , when
all the boys 15
is having holiday , but
he 0
hates work more than
he 0
hates anything else , and
I 1
've _ got _ to do some of
my 1
duty by
him 0
, or
I 1
'll be the ruination of
the child 0
. ”
Tom 0
did play hookey , and
he 0
had a very good time .
He 0
got back
home 16
barely in season to help
Jim 17
,
the small colored boy 38
, saw next-day 's wood and split the kindlings before supper -- at least
he 0
was
there 16
in time to tell
his 0
adventures to
Jim 17
while
Jim 17
did three-fourths of the work .
Tom 0
's younger brother
18 ( or rather
half-brother 18
)
Sid 18
was already through with
his 18
part of the work ( picking up chips ) , for
he 18
was
a quiet boy 40
, and had no adventurous , trouble-some ways .
While
Tom 0
was eating
his 0
supper , and stealing sugar as opportunity offered ,
Aunt Polly 1
asked
him 0
questions that were full of guile , and very deep -- for
she 1
wanted to trap
him 0
into damaging revealments .
Like
many other simple-hearted souls 19
, it was
her 1
pet vanity to believe
she 1
was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy , and
she 1
loved to contemplate
her 1
most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning .
Said
she 1
: “
Tom 0
, it was middling warm in
school 20
, war n't it ? ”
“ Yes 'm . ”
“ Powerful warm , war n't it ? ”
“ Yes 'm . ”
“ Did n't
you 0
want to go in a-swimming ,
Tom 0
? ”
A bit of a scare shot through Tom -- a touch of uncomfortable suspicion .
He 0
searched
Aunt Polly 1
's face , but it told
him 0
nothing .
So
he 0
said : “ No 'm -- well , not very much . ”
The old lady 1
reached out
her 1
hand and felt
Tom 0
's shirt , and said : “ But
you 0
ai n't too warm now , though . ”
And it flattered
her 1
to reflect that
she 1
had discovered that the shirt was dry without
anybody 21
knowing that that was what
she 1
had in
her 1
mind .
But in spite of
her 1
,
Tom 0
knew where the wind lay , now .
So
he 0
forestalled what might be the next move : “
pumped on
our 22
heads -- mine 's damp yet .
See ? ”
Aunt Polly 1
was vexed to think
she 1
had overlooked that bit of circumstantial evidence , and missed a trick .
Then
she 1
had a new inspiration : “
Tom 0
,
you 0
did n't have to undo
your 0
shirt collar where
I 1
sewed it , to pump on
your 0
head , did
you 0
?
Unbutton
your 0
jacket ! ”
The trouble vanished out of
Tom 0
's face .
He 0
opened
his 0
jacket .
His 0
shirt collar was securely sewed .
“ Bother !
Well , go ' long with
you 0
.
I 1
'd made sure
you 0
'd played hookey and been a-swimming .
But
I 1
forgive ye ,
Tom 0
.
I 1
reckon
you 0
're a kind of a singed cat , as the saying is -- better 'n
you 0
look .
_ This _ time . ”
She 1
was half sorry
her 1
sagacity had miscarried , and half glad that
Tom 0
had stumbled into obedient conduct for once .
But
Sidney 18
said : “ Well , now , if
I 18
did n't think
you 1
sewed
his 0
collar with white thread , but it 's black . ”
“ Why ,
I 1
did sew it with white !
Tom 0
! ”
But
Tom 0
did not wait for the rest .
As
he 0
went out at the door
he 0
said : “
Siddy 18
,
I 0
'll lick
you 18
for that . ”
In a safe place
Tom 0
examined two large needles which were thrust into the lapels of
his 0
jacket , and had thread bound about them -- one needle carried white thread and the other black .
He 0
said : “
She 1
'd never noticed if it had n't been for
Sid 18
.
Confound it !
sometimes
she 1
sews it with white , and sometimes
she 1
sews it with black .
I 0
wish to gee-miny
she 1
'd stick to one or t ' other --
I 0
ca n't keep the run of 'em .
But
I 0
bet
you 23
I 0
'll lam
Sid 18
for that .
I 0
'll learn
him 18
! ”
He 0
was not
the Model Boy of the village 24
.
He 0
knew
the model boy 24
very well though -- and loathed
him 24
.
Within two minutes , or even less ,
he 0
had forgotten all
his 0
troubles .
Not because
his 0
troubles were one whit less heavy and bitter to
him 0
than
a man 25
's are to
a man 25
, but because a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of
his 0
mind for the time -- just as
men 26
's misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises .
This new interest was a valued novelty in whistling , which
he 0
had just acquired from
a negro 27
, and
he 0
was suffering to practise it un-disturbed .
It consisted in a peculiar bird-like turn , a sort of liquid warble , produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midst of the music --
the reader 28
probably remembers how to do it , if
he 28
has ever been
a boy 29
.
Diligence and attention soon gave
him 0
the knack of it , and
he 0
strode down
the street 30
with
his 0
mouth full of harmony and
his 0
soul full of gratitude .
He 0
felt much as
an astronomer 31
feels who has discovered a new planet -- no doubt , as far as strong , deep , unalloyed pleasure is concerned , the advantage was with
the boy 0
, not
the astronomer 31
.
The summer evenings were long .
It was not dark , yet .
Presently
Tom 0
checked
his 0
whistle .
A stranger 32
was before
him 0
--
a boy a shade larger than
himself 0
32 .
A new-comer of any age or either sex 33
was an im-pressive curiosity in
the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg 34
.
This boy 32
was well dressed , too -- well dressed on a week-day .
This was simply as astounding .
His 32
cap was a dainty thing ,
his 32
close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty , and so were
his 32
pantaloons .
He 32
had shoes on -- and it was only Friday .
He 32
even wore a necktie , a bright bit of ribbon .
He 32
had a citified air about
him 32
that ate into
Tom 0
's vitals .
The more
Tom 0
stared at the splendid marvel , the higher
he 0
turned up
his 0
nose at
his 32
finery and the shabbier and shabbier
his 0
own outfit seemed to
him 0
to grow .
Neither boy 35
spoke .
If one moved , the other moved -- but only sidewise , in a circle ;
they 36
kept face to face and eye to eye all the time .
Finally
Tom 0
said : “
I 0
can lick
you 32
! ”
“
I 32
'd like to see
you 0
try it . ”
“ Well ,
I 0
can do it . ”