TOM PLAYS, FIGHTS, HIDES
- Volume!
No answer.
- Volume!
No answer.
- Where did he disappear to, this boy? .. Tom!
No answer.
The old woman lowered her glasses to the tip of her nose and looked around the room over her glasses; then she pulled her glasses up to her forehead and looked out from under them: she rarely looked through her glasses if she had to look for such a trifle as a boy, because they were her smart glasses, the pride of her heart: she wore them only "for importance"; in fact, she didn't need them at all; she might as well look through the oven doors. For the first minute she seemed at a loss and said, not very angrily, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear her:
- Well, just get caught! I you...
Without saying her thought, the old woman bent down and began to poke under the bed with a brush, each time stopping because she was out of breath. From under the bed, she didn't get anything but the cat.
I have never seen such a boy in my life!
She went to the open door and, standing on the threshold, vigilantly peered into her garden - overgrown with weed tomatoes. Tom was not there either. Then she raised her voice so that it could be heard further, and shouted:
- That-oh-oh!
There was a slight rustle behind. She looked back and at the same moment grabbed the boy who was about to slip away by the edge of the jacket.
- Well, of course! And how could I forget about the closet! What did you do there?
- Nothing.
- Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What did you stain your lips with?
- I don't know, aunt!
- I know. It's jam, that's what it is. Forty times I told you: don't you dare touch the jam, otherwise I'll skin you! Give me this rod.
The rod shot up in the air - the danger was imminent.
- Ai! Aunt! What is that behind you!
The old woman turned in fright on her heels and hurried to pick up her skirts in order to save herself from a formidable disaster, and the boy immediately started to run, climbed a high wooden fence - and there he was!

Aunt Polly was dumbfounded for a moment, and then began to laugh good-naturedly.
- Well, boy! It would seem that it is time for me to get used to his tricks. Or did he throw out all sorts of things with me a little? Could have been smarter this time. But apparently there is no worse fool than an old fool. No wonder they say that you can't teach an old dog new things. However, my God, my God, this boy and things are all different: every day, then another - can you guess what is on his mind? He seems to know how much he can torment me until I get out of patience. He knows that he has only to confuse me or make me laugh for a minute, and now my hands drop, and I am unable to whip him with a rod. I do not fulfill my duty, what is true is true, God forgive me. “Whoever does without a rod destroys a child,” says the sacred. But I, a sinner, spoil him, and for this we will get it in the next world - both to me and to him. I know that he is a real devil, but what should I do? After all, he is the son of my dead sister, a poor fellow, and I do not have the courage to flog an orphan. Every time I let him evade a beating, my conscience torments me so much that I don’t know how to do it, but I will whip it - my old heart is directly torn to pieces. It is true, it is true in Scripture: the human age is short and full of sorrows. The way it is! Today he did not go to school: he will be idle until the evening, and it is my duty to punish him, and I will fulfill my duty - I will make him work tomorrow. This, of course, is cruel, since tomorrow is a holiday for all the boys, but there's nothing to be done, more than anything in the world he hates to work. I have no right to let him down this time, otherwise I will completely ruin the baby.
Tom really didn't go to school today and had a lot of fun. He barely had time to get back home to help Negro Jim before dinner to cut wood and chop wood for tomorrow, or, more precisely, to tell him about his adventures, while he did three-fourths of all the work. Tom's younger brother, Sid (not a sibling, but a half-brother), by this time had already done everything that he was ordered (collected and carried all the chips), because he was an obedient quiet man: he did not play pranks and did not cause trouble to the elders.
While Tom ate his supper, taking advantage of every opportunity to snatch a lump of sugar, Aunt Polly asked him various questions full of deep slyness, hoping that he would fall into the traps set by her and spill the beans. Like all simple-hearted people, she considered herself, not without pride, a subtle diplomat and saw miracles of malicious cunning in her most naive designs.
"Tom," she said, "was it hot at school today?"
- Yes, .
- It's very hot, isn't it?
- Yes, 'm.
- And really did not want you, Tom, to swim in the river?
Something unkind seemed to him - a shadow of suspicion and fear touched his soul. He looked searchingly into Aunt Polly's face, but it said nothing to him. And he answered:
- No, 'm… not particularly.
Aunt Polly reached out and touched Tom's shirt.
"I didn't even sweat," she said.
And she thought smugly how cleverly she had discovered that Tom's shirt was dry; it never occurred to anyone what a trick she had in mind. Tom, however, had already figured out which way the wind was blowing, and forestalled further questions:
- We put our heads under the pump - to freshen up. My hair is still wet. See?
Aunt Polly was hurt: how could she miss such important circumstantial evidence! But at once a new thought struck her.
“Tom, to put your head under the pump, you didn’t have to rip open the collar of your shirt where I sewed it up?” Come on, unzip your jacket!
The anxiety vanished from Tom's face. He opened his jacket. The collar of the shirt was tightly sewn up.
- All right, all right. You will never understand. I was sure that you didn’t go to school and swam. Okay, I'm not angry with you: although you are a decent rogue, you still turned out to be better than you might think.
She was a little annoyed that her cunning did not lead to anything, and at the same time pleased that Tom at least this time turned out to be a good boy.
But then Sid intervened.
“I remember something,” he said, “as if you were sewing up his collar with white thread, and here, look, it’s black!”
- Yes, of course, I sewed it up with white! .. Tom! ..
But Tom did not wait for the conversation to continue. Running out of the room, he quietly said:
- Well, I'll blow you up, Siddi!
Hiding in a safe place, he examined two large needles stuck in the lapel of his jacket and wrapped with thread. One was threaded with white thread, and the other with black thread.
She wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for Sid. Hell! Now she sewed it with white thread, then black. I would have sewed some one, otherwise you will inevitably get lost ... But I will still blow Sid - it will be a good lesson for him!
Tom was not a Good Boy that the whole city could be proud of. But he knew perfectly well who was an exemplary boy, and hated him.
However, after two minutes - and even sooner - he forgot all the hardships. Not because they were less difficult and bitter for him than the hardships that usually torment adults, but because at that moment a new powerful passion took possession of him and drove all worries out of his head. In the same way, adults are able to forget their sorrows as soon as they are carried away by some new business. Tom is now carried away by one precious novelty: he adopted a special manner of whistling from a Negro acquaintance, and he had long wanted to practice this art in the wild, so that no one would interfere. The negro whistled like a bird. He got a melodious trill, interrupted by short pauses, for which it was necessary to often, often touch the palate with his tongue. The reader probably remembers how it's done, if he's ever been a boy. Persistence and diligence helped Tom quickly master all the techniques of this business. He walked cheerfully down the street, his mouth full of sweet music, and his soul full of gratitude. He felt like an astronomer discovering a new planet in the sky, only his joy was more immediate, fuller and deeper.
In summer the evenings are long. It was still light. Suddenly Tom stopped whistling. Before him stood a stranger, a boy a little bigger than him. Any new face of any gender and age has always attracted the attention of the inhabitants of a wretched town. In addition, the boy was wearing a smart suit - a smart suit on a weekday! It was downright amazing. A very elegant hat; a neatly buttoned blue cloth jacket, new and clean, and exactly the same trousers. He had shoes on his feet, in spite of the fact that today is still only Friday. He even had a tie - a very bright ribbon. In general, he looked like a city dandy, and this infuriated Tom. The more Tom looked at this wondrous marvel, the shabbier his own pitiful costume seemed to him, and the higher he turned up his nose, showing how disgusted he was with such smart outfits. The two boys met in complete silence. As soon as one took a step, another took a step - but only to the side, sideways, in a circle. Face to face and eye to eye - so they moved for a very long time. Finally Tom said:
- If you want, I'll blow you up!
- Try!
- And here I will sigh!
- And here you will not blow up!
- I want and I will!
- No, you won't!
- No, I will!
- No, you won't!
- I'll blow it!
- Don't freak out!
A painful silence. Finally Tom says:
- What is your name?
- What do you care?
- I'll show you what I care!
- Well, show me. Why don't you show?
- Say two more glory - and I'll show you.
- Two words! Two words! Two words! It is for you! Well!
- Look how clever! Yes, if I wanted to, I could give you pepper with one hand, and let them tie it with the other - I will describe it for me.
- Why don't you ask? Because you say you can.
- And I'll ask if you pester me!
- Oh no no no! We saw these!
- You think how overdressed, such an important bird! Oh what a hat!
- I do not like? Knock it off my head, and you'll get nuts from me.
- You're lying!
- You're lying!
- Only frightens, but he is a coward!
- Okay, get out!
- Hey you, listen: if you don't stop, I'll bash your head!
- How do you break it! Oh oh oh!
- And I'll break it!
- What are you waiting for? You scare, scare, but in fact there is nothing? Are you afraid, you mean?
- I don't think so.
- No, you're afraid!
- No I'm not afraid!
- No, you're afraid!
Silence again. They devour each other with their eyes, marking time and making a new circle. Finally, they stand shoulder to shoulder. Tom says:
- Get out of here!
- Get out yourself!
- I don't want to.
- And I don't want to.
So they stand face to face, each putting his foot forward at the same angle. Looking at each other with hatred, they begin to push with all their might. But victory is not given to either one or the other. They push for a long time. Excited, red, they gradually weaken their onslaught, although everyone still remains on their guard ... And then Tom says:
- You're a coward and a puppy! So I'll tell my older brother - he will beat you with one little finger. I'll tell him - he'll beat!
- I'm very afraid of your older brother! I have a brother myself, even older, and he can throw yours over that fence. (Both brothers are pure fiction.)
- You're lying!
- You never know what to say!
Tom draws a line in the dust with his big toe and says:
- Dare only to cross this line! I'll give you such a thrashing that you won't get up! Woe to those who cross this line!
A strange boy immediately hurries to cross the line:
- Well, let's see how you blow me up.
- Get off! I'm telling you: better leave me alone!
- Why, you said you would beat me. Why don't you bang?
- Damn me if I don't beat you for two cents!
The stranger boy takes two large coppers out of his pocket and holds them out to Tom with a grin.
Tom hits him on the arm, and the coppers fly to the ground. A minute later, both boys are rolling in the dust, grappling like two cats. They pull each other's hair, jackets, pants, they pinch and scratch each other's noses, covering themselves with dust and glory. Finally, the indefinite mass takes on a distinct shape, and in the smoke of battle it becomes clear that Tom is sitting astride the enemy and thrashing him with his fists.
- Ask for mercy! he demands.
But the boy tries to free himself and roars loudly - more from anger.
- Ask for mercy! And the threshing continues.
Finally, a strange boy mumbles indistinctly: “Enough!” - and Tom, releasing him, says:
This is science for you. Next time, watch who you're messing with.
The alien boy wandered off, dusting off his suit, sobbing, sniffing, turning around from time to time, shaking his head and threatening to kill Tom brutally “next time he catches him.” Tom responded with sneers and walked towards the house, proud of his victory. But as soon as he turned his back on the stranger, he threw a stone at him and hit him between the shoulder blades, and he himself rushed to run like an antelope. Tom chased the traitor all the way to the house and thus found out where he lives. He stood a little at the gate, challenging the enemy to battle, but the enemy only made faces at him in the window, but did not want to go out. Finally, the mother of the enemy appeared, called Tom a nasty, spoiled, rude boy, and ordered to get out.
Tom left, but as he left, he threatened that he would wander around and give her son a hard time.
He returned home late and, carefully climbing through the window, found that he had been ambushed: an aunt was standing in front of him; and when she saw what had become of his jacket and trousers, her resolve to turn his holiday into hard labor became as hard as a diamond.

Mark Twain

ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

translation by Korney Chukovsky

Chapter I

TOM PLAYS, FIGHTS, HIDES

No answer.

No answer.

Where did he disappear to, this boy? .. Tom!

No answer.

The old woman lowered her glasses to the tip of her nose and looked around the room over her glasses; then she pulled her glasses up to her forehead and looked out from under them: she rarely looked through her glasses if she had to look for such a trifle as a boy, because they were her smart glasses, the pride of her heart: she wore them only "for importance"; in fact, she didn't need them at all; she might as well look through the oven doors. For the first minute she seemed at a loss and said not very angrily, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear her:

Well, just get caught! I you...

Without saying her thought, the old woman bent down and began to poke under the bed with a brush, stopping each time, as she did not have enough breath. From under the bed, she didn't get anything but the cat.

I have never seen such a boy in my life!

She went to the open door and, standing on the threshold, vigilantly peered into her garden - overgrown with weed tomatoes. Tom was not there either. Then she raised her voice so that it could be heard further, and shouted:

A slight rustle was heard behind. She looked back and at the same moment grabbed the boy who was about to slip away by the edge of the jacket.

Well, of course! And how could I forget about the closet! What did you do there?

Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What did you stain your lips with?

I don't know, aunt!

And I know. It's jam, that's what it is. Forty times I told you: don't you dare touch the jam, otherwise I'll skin you! Give me this rod.

The rod shot up in the air - the danger was imminent.

Ay! Uncle! What is that behind you!

The old woman turned in fright on her heels and hurried to pick up her skirts in order to save herself from a formidable disaster, and the boy immediately started to run, climbed a high wooden fence - and there he was!

Aunt Polly was dumbfounded for a moment, and then began to laugh good-naturedly.

Well, boy! It would seem that it is time for me to get used to his tricks. Or did he throw out all sorts of things with me a little? Could have been smarter this time. But apparently there is no worse fool than an old fool. No wonder they say that you can't teach an old dog new things. However, my God, my God, this boy and things are all different: every day, then another - can you guess what is on his mind? He seems to know how much he can torment me until I get out of patience. He knows that he has only to confuse me or make me laugh for a minute, and now my hands drop, and I am unable to whip him with a rod. I do not fulfill my duty, what is true is true, God forgive me. "Whoever does without a rod, he destroys the child," says the scripture. But I, a sinner, spoil him, and for this we will get it in the next world - both to me and to him. I know that he is a real devil, but what should I do? After all, he is the son of my dead sister, a poor fellow, and I do not have the courage to flog an orphan. Every time I let him evade a beating, my conscience torments me so much that I don’t even know how to do it, but I will whip it - my old heart is directly torn to pieces. It is true, it is true in Scripture: the human age is short and full of sorrows. The way it is! Today he did not go to school: he will be idle until the evening, and it is my duty to punish him, and I will fulfill my duty - I will make him work tomorrow. This, of course, is cruel, since tomorrow all the boys have a holiday, but there's nothing to be done, more than anything in the world he hates to work. I have no right to let him down this time, otherwise I will completely ruin the baby.

Tom really didn't go to school today and had a lot of fun. He barely had time to get back home to help Jim the Negro chop wood for tomorrow and chop wood, or, more precisely, tell him about his adventures, while he did three-fourths of all the work. Tom's younger brother, Sid (not a sibling, but a half-brother), by this time had already done everything that he was ordered to (collected and carried all the chips), because he was an obedient quiet man: he did not play pranks and did not cause trouble to the elders.

While Tom ate his supper, taking advantage of every opportunity to snatch a lump of sugar, Aunt Polly asked him various questions, full of deep slyness, hoping that he would fall into the traps set by her and spill the beans. Like all simple-hearted people, she considered herself, not without pride, a subtle diplomat and saw miracles of malicious cunning in her most naive designs.

Tom,” she said, “was it hot at school today?”

It's very hot, isn't it?

And don't you want to take a dip in the river, Tom?

Something unkind seemed to him - a shadow of suspicion and fear touched his soul. He looked searchingly into Aunt Polly's face, but it said nothing to him. And he answered:

No, "m… not really.

Aunt Polly reached out and touched Tom's shirt.

I didn't even sweat, she said.

And she thought smugly how cleverly she had discovered that Tom's shirt was dry; it never occurred to anyone what a trick she had in mind. Tom, however, had already figured out which way the wind was blowing, and forestalled further questions:

We put our heads under the pump to freshen up. My hair is still wet. See?

Aunt Polly was hurt: how could she miss such important circumstantial evidence! But at once a new thought struck her.

Tom, to get your head under the pump, you didn't have to rip open the collar of your shirt where I sewed it up, did you? Come on, unzip your jacket!

The anxiety vanished from Tom's face. He opened his jacket. The collar of the shirt was tightly sewn up.

Well, well, well. You will never understand. I was sure that you didn’t go to school and swam. Okay, I'm not angry with you: although you are a decent rogue, you still turned out to be better than you might think.

She was a little annoyed that her cunning did not lead to anything, and at the same time pleased that Tom at least this time turned out to be a good boy.

But then Sid intervened.

I remember something, - he said, - as if you sewed up his collar with white thread, and here, look, it's black!

Yes, of course, I sewed it up with white! .. Tom! ..

But Tom did not wait for the conversation to continue. Running out of the room, he quietly said:

Well, I'll blow you up, Siddi!

Hiding in a safe place, he examined two large needles tucked into the lapel of his jacket and wrapped with thread. One was threaded with white thread, and the other with black thread.

She wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for Sid. Hell! Now she sewed it with white thread, then black. I would have sewed some one, otherwise you will inevitably get lost ... But I will still blow Sid - it will be a good lesson for him!

Tom was not a Good Boy that the whole city could be proud of. But he knew perfectly well who was an exemplary boy, and hated him.

However, after two minutes - and even sooner - he forgot all the hardships. Not because they were less difficult and bitter for him than the hardships that usually torment adults, but because at that moment a new powerful passion took possession of him and drove all worries out of his head. In the same way, adults are able to forget their sorrows as soon as they are carried away by some new business. Tom is now carried away by one precious novelty: he adopted a special manner of whistling from a Negro acquaintance, and he had long wanted to practice this art in the wild, so that no one would interfere. The negro whistled like a bird. He got a melodious trill, interrupted by short pauses, for which it was necessary to often, often touch the tongue to the palate. The reader probably remembers how it's done, if he's ever been a boy. Persistence and diligence helped Tom quickly master all the techniques of this business. He walked cheerfully down the street, his mouth full of sweet music, and his soul full of gratitude. He felt like an astronomer discovering a new planet in the sky, only his joy was more immediate, fuller and deeper.

Mark Twain

Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Foreword

Most of the adventures that are told in this book are taken from life: one or two experienced by me myself, the rest by boys who studied with me at school. Huck Finn is based on life, Tom Sawyer is also, but not from one original - he is a combination of features taken from three boys I knew, and therefore belongs to a mixed architectural order.

The wild superstitions described below were common among the children and Negroes of the West in those days, that is, thirty or forty years ago.

Although my book is intended primarily for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope that grown men and women will not disdain it, for my plans were to remind them what they themselves once were, what they felt, thought, how they talked and in what strange adventures sometimes got involved.

No answer.

No answer.

“I wonder where that boy could have gone!” Tom, where are you?

No answer.

Aunt Polly pushed her glasses down her nose and looked around the room over her glasses, then lifted them up to her forehead and looked around the room from under her glasses. She very seldom, almost never looked through her spectacles at such a trifle as the boy; they were ceremonial glasses, her pride, acquired for beauty, and not for use, and it was as difficult for her to see anything through them as through a pair of stove dampers. For a moment she was at a loss, then she said - not very loudly, but so that the furniture in the room could hear her:

- Well, wait, just let me get to you ...

Without finishing, she bent down and began to poke under the bed with a brush, catching her breath after each poke. She didn't get anything out of it but the cat.

“What a child, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!”

Going to the open door, she stopped on the threshold and looked around her garden - beds of tomatoes overgrown with dope. Tom was not here either. Then, raising her voice so that she could be heard as far as possible, she shouted:

“Whoa, where are you?”

There was a slight rustling behind her, and she looked back, just in time to grab the boy by the hand before he slipped through the door.

- Well, it is! I forgot about the closet. What were you doing there?

- Nothing.

- Nothing? Look where your hands are. And the mouth too. What is this?

“I don’t know, aunt.

- I know. This jam is what it is! Forty times I told you: don't you dare touch the jam - I'll tear it out! Give me the rod here.

The rod whistled in the air - it seemed that troubles could not be avoided.

- Oh, aunt, what is that behind you ?!

The old woman turned around, tucking up her skirts to keep herself out of harm's way. The boy jumped over the high fence in an instant and was gone.

Aunt Polly was taken aback at first, and then laughed good-naturedly:

- So go with him! Am I really not going to learn anything? Doesn't he play tricks with me? It's time for me, I think, to wise up. But there is no worse fool than an old fool. No wonder they say: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But after all, my God, my God, every day he will come up with something, where is there to guess. And as if he knows how long you can torment me; he knows that if he makes me laugh or even for a minute confuse me, my hands drop, I can’t even slap him. I do not fulfill my duty, to be honest! After all, it is said in Scripture: whoever spares a baby, he destroys him. Nothing good will come of it, there is only one sin. He is a real imp, I know, but he, poor thing, is the son of my dead sister, I somehow do not have the spirit to punish him. To indulge him - the conscience will torture, and if you punish him - the heart breaks. It is not for nothing that it is said in Scripture: the human age is short and full of sorrows; I think it's true. Today he shirks from school; I'll have to punish him tomorrow - I'll put him to work. It is a pity to force the boy to work when all the children have a holiday, but it is the hardest work for him, and I have to do my duty - otherwise I will ruin the child.

Tom didn't go to school and had a great time. He barely had time to get home to help Negro Jim before dinner to cut firewood for tomorrow and chop wood for kindling. In any case, he managed to tell Jim about his adventures, while he did three-quarters of the work. Tom's younger (or rather half-brother, Sid) had already done everything he was supposed to do (he picked up and carried wood chips): he was an obedient boy, not prone to pranks and pranks.

While Tom was having his supper, carrying lumps of sugar out of the sugar bowl at every opportunity, Aunt Polly asked him all sorts of tricky questions, very cunning and tricky - she wanted to catch Tom by surprise so that he let it slip. Like many simple-hearted people, she considered herself a great diplomat, capable of the most subtle and mysterious tricks, and believed that all her innocent tricks were a miracle of resourcefulness and cunning. She asked:

Tom, was it not very hot at school?

- No, aunt.

"Maybe it's too hot?"

- Yes, aunt.

“Well, don’t you feel like taking a bath, Tom?

Tom's soul went into his heels - he sensed danger.

He looked incredulously into Aunt Polly's face, but saw nothing in particular, so he said:

- No, aunt, not really.

She reached out her hand and, feeling Tom's shirt, said:

“Yeah, you probably didn’t sweat at all. She liked to think that she was able to check if Tom's shirt was dry, so that no one understood what she was driving at.

However, Tom immediately sensed which way the wind was blowing, and warned the next move:

- At our school, the boys poured water over their heads from the well. I have it and now it's still wet, look!

Aunt Polly was very upset that she had overlooked such an important piece of evidence. But then I got inspired again.

“Tom, you didn’t have to rip open your collar to wrap your head around, right?” Unzip your jacket!

Tom's face lit up. He opened his jacket - the collar was tightly sewn up.

- Well, you! Go away! Frankly, I thought that you would run away from swimming lessons. So be it, this time I forgive you. You're not as bad as you seem.

She was both grieved that insight had deceived her this time, and glad that Tom, at least by chance, behaved well.

Sid intervened:

“It seemed to me that you sewed up his collar with white thread, and now he has black thread.

- Well, yes, I sewed up white! Volume!

But Tom did not wait to continue. Running out the door, he shouted:

"I'll remember that for you, Siddi!"

In a secluded place, Tom examined two thick needles, pierced into the lapels of his jacket and wrapped with thread: white thread was threaded into one needle, black thread into the other.

She wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for Sid. Damn it! Now she sews with white thread, then black. At least one thing, otherwise you can’t follow it. Well, I'll beat Sid. Will remember!

Mark Twain Tom Sawyer - detective

Mark Twain

Very dangerous and exciting adventures of Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn - meeting with a ghost, finding a corpse, etc. Tom suddenly became a detective - the boy showed amazing powers of observation and extraordinary deduction, which helped not only to expose the diamond thief and solve the insidious murder, but also to save an innocent person from prison.

The book was out of print for a long time.

The extraordinary events described in this story are not invented by me, they actually took place, even the public confession of the defendant. I took these facts from an old lawsuit in Sweden, changed the characters and moved the action to America. I have added some details, but only one or two of them are essential.

Chapter I Tom and Huck Receive an Invitation

It happened in the spring, the year after Tom Sawyer and I freed our old Negro Jim, when he was chained up as a runaway slave on Uncle Silas's farm in Arkansas.

The earth had already begun to thaw, there was warmth in the air, and every day that blissful time was approaching when it would be possible to run barefoot, and then the game of “balls”, “chizhik” would begin, it would be possible to drive a hoop, fly a kite, - and there, you see, already summer, and you can swim. Any boy at this time begins to yearn and count the days until summer. At such a time, you sigh, you are sad and you yourself do not know what is happening to you. You just don’t find a place for yourself - you mope, think about something, and most of all you want to leave so that no one sees you, climb a hill, somewhere on the edge of the forest, sit there and look into the distance at the Mississippi, which rolls its waters far - far, for many miles, where the forests are shrouded like a haze and everything around is so solemn that it seems as if everyone you love has died, and you yourself also want to die and leave this world.

Do you know what it is, of course? It's spring fever. That's what it's called. And if you have already picked it up, you want to - you don’t even know what exactly - but you want it so much that your heart just aches. If you look at it, then, perhaps, most of all you want to leave, to leave the same familiar places that you see every day and which you are already tired of; leave to see something new. That's what you want - to leave and become a traveler, you are drawn to distant countries, where everything is so mysterious, amazing and romantic. Well, if you cannot do this, then you are willing to do less: to go where possible - and thanks for that.

Well, Tom Sawyer and I got this spring fever in its worst form. But there was no reason to think that Tom would be able to escape somewhere, because, as he himself explained, Aunt Polly would never let him leave school and wander around doing nothing. So Tom and I were in the saddest mood. We were sitting like this one evening on the porch and chatting, when suddenly Aunt Polly came out with a letter in her hand and said:

“Tom, you have to pack up and go to Arkansas. Aunt Sally needed you for some reason.

I almost jumped for joy. I was sure that Tom would immediately rush to his aunt and strangle her in his arms, and he (just think) sat motionless as a rock, without uttering a single word. I almost cried in anger that he was acting like a fool when such a wonderful opportunity presented itself.

After all, everything can perish if he speaks and does not show how happy and grateful he is to her. And Tom sat and thought, until I, out of desperation, no longer knew what to do. Finally he spoke, so calmly that I would have just shot her if I could.

“I'm sorry, Aunt Polly,” he said, “excuse me, but I can't go now.

Aunt Polly was so taken aback by this cold-blooded insolence that she was speechless for at least half a minute, and I took advantage of this respite to nudge Tom with my elbow and hiss:

- Are you crazy? Is it possible to miss such an opportunity? But Tom didn't even bat an eyelid, and only whispered back to me:

“Huck Finn, do you really want me to show her how far I want to go?” She will immediately begin to doubt, imagine all sorts of illnesses, dangers, come up with all sorts of objections - and she will end up changing her mind. Leave it to me, I know how to handle it.

All this, of course, would not have crossed my mind. However, Tom was right. In general, Tom Sawyer always turns out to be right - I have never seen another such head - he always knows what's what, and is ready for any accident.

Aunt Polly finally came to her senses and attacked Tom:

- Excuse him! He can not! Yes, I have never heard anything like it! How dare you talk to me like that! Get out of here immediately and go pack your things. And if once again I hear even a word about what you can and what you can’t, then you will see how I will forgive you with a rod!

We rushed into the house, but she managed to flick Tom on the head with a thimble, and Tom, flying up the stairs, pretended to whimper in pain. Once upstairs in his room, Tom rushed to hug me; he was beside himself with happiness - after all, he had a journey ahead of him! He told me:

“We won’t even have time to leave before she starts to regret letting me go, but it will be too late. Pride won't let her take back her words.

Tom packed his things in ten minutes, all but those that Aunt Polly and Mary had to pack. Then we waited another ten minutes for Aunt Polly to cool down and become nice and kind again. Tom explained to me that it takes her at least ten minutes to calm down when she is half-mad, and twenty minutes when all her feelings are outraged; but this time they were all outraged. Then we went downstairs, burning with curiosity and the desire to find out what is written in the letter.

Aunt Polly sat gloomy in thought, the letter in her lap. We sat down and she said:

“They're in some serious trouble down there, and they think you and Huck will help them distract themselves, 'calm down' them, as they put it. I can imagine how you and Huck Finn will "calm" them! They have a neighbor named Brace Dunlap, who took care of Benny for three months, and finally they flatly refused him. Now he is angry with them, and this worries them very much. It seems to me that they think that he is a person with whom it is better not to quarrel, and therefore they try in every possible way to please him. They hired his worthless brother as a worker, although they do not have extra money and in general they do not need him at all. Who are these Dunlaps?

“They live a mile from Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally's farm. There all the farms are about a mile apart. And Bris Dunlepe is the largest rich in the entire district, and he has a whole bunch of blacks. He is a widower, thirty-six years old, he has no children; he is terribly proud of his money and loves to command everyone, and everyone is a little afraid of him. In my opinion, he is simply sure that he only wants to, and any girl will gladly marry him. And the fact that he was rejected by Benpi, of course, should have pissed him off. After all, he is twice as old as Benka, and she is so sweet and so beautiful - well, you saw her yourself. Poor Uncle Silas, just think what he has to put up with; he's having a hard time already, and he has to hire that bum Jupiter Dayalen just to please his brother.

- What is this name - Jupiter? Where did it come from?

Yes, it's just a nickname. I think everyone forgot his real name a long time ago. He is now twenty-seven years old, and he has been called that since he first went swimming. He undressed, and the teacher saw a brown mole the size of a dime above his knee, surrounded by four more small moles, and said that they looked like Jupiter and his satellites.

The boys found this very funny, and they began to call him Jupiter. So he remained Jupiter. He is tall, lazy, cunning, cowardly, and in general a rather good-natured guy. He has long brown hair and no beard. He never has a dime, Brace feeds him, gives him his old clothes and doesn't give him a penny. In general, Jupiter had another brother - a twin.

- And what is he?

- They say it's an exact copy of Jupiter. Anyway, it was like that; But he's been missing for seven years now. He started stealing when he was nineteen or twenty years old, and he was sent to prison. And he fled and disappeared - he fled somewhere to the north. Sometimes they heard rumors that he was engaged in theft and robbery, but that was a long time ago. Now he is already dead. Anyway, that's what they say. They haven't heard from him since.

– What was his name?

– Jack. There was a long silence as Aunt Polly thought.

Finally she said:

“What worries Aunt Sally the most is that this Jupiter is driving Uncle mad.

Tom was very surprised, and so was I.

- To madness? Uncle Silas? God kill me, aunt, you're joking! I don't see how he could be angered at all.

“At any rate, Aunt Sally says that this Jupiter just makes Uncle mad. At times, the uncle goes so far as to hit Jupiter.

“Aunt Polly, it can't be. Uncle Silas is as soft as porridge.

“Still, Aunt Sally is worried. She writes that because of these quarrels, Uncle Silas has completely changed.

All the neighbors are already talking about it and, of course, they blame Uncle Silas, because he is a preacher and should not quarrel. Aunt Sally writes that he is so ashamed that he can hardly force himself to read sermons; and everyone began to treat him worse, and he is now much less loved than before.

– Nu and affairs! You know, Aunt Polly, Uncle Silas has always been so kind, so distracted, out of this world - well, just like an angel! And what happened to him, I have no idea!

Chapter II Jack Dunlap

We were very lucky to get on a steamboat that sailed from the north into one of the shallow rivers in Louisiana, so that we could drive all over the Upper and Lower Mississippi right to Uncle Silas's farm in Arkansas without changing in St. Louis - not much. almost a thousand miles.

The ship we came across was extremely dull, there were very few passengers, all the old men and women who kept away from each other were dozing, and they were not heard at all. It took four days to get out of the upper reaches of the river, because the steamer kept running aground. And yet we were not bored - how can boys who travel be bored!

From the very beginning, Tom and I decided that there was some sick person in the separate cabin next to us, because the steward carried food there. In the end, we asked the steward about it - that is, Tom asked. The steward said that there was a man there, but that he didn't look sick at all.

How is he not sick?

“I have no idea, maybe sick, but I think he's just pretending.

- Why do you think so?

- Yes, because if he was sick, he would ever undress, - what do you think? And he never undresses. He doesn't even take off his boots.

- Well, yes? Even when he goes to bed?

- So it fits in boots. Well, don't feed Tom Sawyer bread, just give him some secret. If you put a secret and a piece of the pie side by side in front of him and in front of me, then you have nothing to offer, so that we choose one or the other; everything will resolve itself. I am such a person that I will immediately rush to the pie, and Tom will definitely rush to the secret. People are different after all. Yes, this is for the best. So, Tom asks the steward:

- What's his last name?

— Phillips.

“Where did he get on the boat?”

- It seems that in Alexandria, in Iowa.

“What do you think he was up to?”

“I have no idea, I never thought about it. Here's another person, I thought, who will reach for the pie.

– Have you noticed anything special in the way he behaves, how he talks?

- No, nothing. Unless he is very shy, he always locks the cabin door - day and night. And when you knock on him, he will never open until he sees through the crack who it is.

“Damn it, this is interesting! I would like to take a look at it. Listen, the next time you bring him food, do you think you can open the door wider and ...

- Nothing will come of it. He is always behind the door. So nothing will come of it.

Tom thought and thought and said:

- That's what! Give me your apron and I'll bring him breakfast in the morning. I'll give you twenty-five cents for that.

The guy agreed, provided that the senior steward did not mind. Tom assured him that everything would be all right and that he would be able to negotiate with the head steward.

And so it happened. Tom arranged for us both to put on aprons and carry breakfast.

Tom was so eager to get into the next cabin and solve Phillips' secret that he could not sleep: he guessed all night. In my opinion, it was not at all useful - if you are going to find out something, what's the point in guessing ahead of time and wasting gunpowder? I personally slept well. I don't care about this Phillips' secret, I told myself.

In the morning, Tom and I put on aprons, took a tray of food, and Tom knocked on the door of the next cabin.

The passenger opened the door, let us in and quickly slammed it shut. My God! As soon as we saw him, we nearly dropped our trays; and Tom exclaimed:

- Jupiter Dunlap! How do you get here? The passenger, of course, was dumbfounded with surprise; at first he didn't seem to know whether to be frightened or glad, or maybe both, but then, evidently, he decided to be glad. In any case, his cheeks turned pink again, although at first he had turned terribly pale.

While he was having breakfast, we started talking. And he tells us:

“Only I'm not Jupiter Dunlap. I will tell you now who I am, if you swear that you will remain silent. The thing is, I'm not Phillips either.

Then Tom blurted out to him:

“We will be silent, but if you are not Jupiter Dunlap, then you don’t need to say who you are.

- Why?

- Because if you are not Jupiter, then you are a twin - Jack. You are just a copy of Jupiter.

- You're right, boy. I am Jack. Just explain to me where you know us, Danlepov?

Tom told him about our adventures last summer at Uncle Silas' farm. And when Jack realized that we knew everything about his family, and about himself, he stopped hiding and began to talk quite frankly. Not a bit embarrassed, he admitted to us that he was a thief, that he is engaged in this craft even now, and has no doubt that he will steal until the end of his days. Of course, he said, this is a life full of dangers and ...

Then he held his breath and tilted his head, listening to something. We were silent, and for a second or two there was a deep silence in the cabin and nothing could be heard except the creaking of the wooden partitions and the rumble of the car under the floor.

Then Tom and I managed to calm him down, and we began to tell Jack about his family, that Brace's wife had been dead for three years now and he wanted to marry Benny, but she refused him; that Jupiter works for Uncle Silas and they fight all the time; finally Jack softened and began to laugh.

- Oh, damn me! he exclaimed. - How pleasant it is, just like in the old days, to listen to all this gossip! For more than seven years I have known nothing about the house. What do they say about me?

Well, neighbors and brothers.

And they never talk about you. Is it only rarely, rarely, when mentioned by accident.

- Crap! Jack exclaimed in surprise. Why don't they ever talk about me?

“Because they think you died a long time ago.

- Aren't you lying? Give me your word of honor! – Jack even jumped up from excitement.

- Honest noble. Everyone there is sure that you have long been dead.

"Then I'm saved!" By God, I'm saved! I'm going home. They will hide me and save me. And you will be silent. Swear that you will never denounce me. Guys, you should feel sorry for a poor fellow like me, who is hunted day and night and who cannot stick his nose out.

After all, I will never do anything bad to you by deeds and never will, God knows! Swear that you will not give me away and help me to be saved.

Of course we swore; if it were a dog in his place, we would still not refuse. And he, poor fellow, was so happy that he did not know how to thank us, he was ready to simply strangle us in his arms.

We started chatting again, and Jack pulled out a small bag, asked us to turn away and opened it. We turned away, and when he told us that we can look, then a completely different person turned out to be in front of us. He wore blue glasses and the most natural-looking chestnut sideburns and mustache. His own mother would not recognize him. He asked us if he looked like his brother Jupiter now.

“Not at all,” said Tom, “nothing like that, except maybe long hair.

“Okay, I’ll cut them short before I visit them. And there, Jupiter and Brace will keep everything a secret, and I can live with them as a stranger. The neighbors will never recognize me. How do you think?

Tom thought for a moment and said:

“Of course, Huck and I will be silent, but if you talk, then there is a risk in this business - maybe a small one, but still a risk. What I mean is, if you talk, people might notice that you have a voice exactly like Jupiter's, and then they might remember the second twin, who was rumored to be dead, and guess that all this time he was hiding under someone else's name.

"God, you're a smart guy!" Jack exclaimed. - You are absolutely right. When one of the neighbors is nearby, I will pretend to be deaf and dumb.

However, I didn't think to go there. I was looking for some place where I could hide from the guys - the ones that are following me. There I would put on make-up, change clothes and ...

Jack Dunlap turned pale, rushed to the door, put his ear to it and, breathing heavily, began to listen. He whispered to us:

“I thought they were cocking the trigger. My God, well, life! He fell into a chair, completely exhausted and broken, and began to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Chapter III The Theft of Diamonds

Since that morning Jack Dunlap and I have spent most of our time together, taking turns sleeping in his cabin on the top bunk. Jack said that he was terribly lonely and very glad that in his troubles he had friends with whom he could talk. We were burning with the desire to know his secret, but Tom told me that the best way is not to show curiosity, then he will definitely blurt out in some conversation, and if we ask him, he will stop trusting us, and then nothing will come of him pull out. And so it happened.

We clearly saw that Jack wanted to tell us everything, but every time he seemed about to reveal his secret, he got scared and started talking about something else.

But in the end, he still couldn't resist.

Jack kept asking us about the passengers we see on deck, but he pretended not to be interested. We told. However, Jack was dissatisfied, he said that we did not tell enough detail, and asked to describe the passengers in all details. Tom described everyone to him. And so, when Tom reached one of the most uncouth and ragged passengers, Jack shuddered, he caught his breath, and he muttered:

“My God, this is one of them!” They're here on the boat, I knew it. I hoped to hide from them, but I never believed that I would succeed. Well, go ahead.

Tom began to describe to him another obnoxious and rude deck passenger; Jack trembled again and said:

- It's him! This is the second one! If only there was one dark stormy night, I could get ashore. They must have assigned someone to follow me. They can go to the cafeteria and get drinks there, so they took advantage of this to bribe some porter or cabin boy to follow me. Even if I managed to slip away to the shore without anyone seeing me, they would still know about it at the most in an hour.

Here he began to pace up and down the cabin, and finally told us his story. He told us about all his affairs and failures, and then moved on to the last case.

“It was a game of trust. We played it with a jewelry store in St. Louis. We hunted for a couple of chic diamonds, large as nuts. Everyone in the city ran to look at them. We were dressed to the nines and did it all in broad daylight. We ordered these diamonds to be brought to the hotel, and there we will examine them and decide whether to buy them. And while we were looking at the diamonds, we replaced them with fake ones. It was these glasses that the clerk took with him, after we declared that the diamonds were not pure enough to be worth twelve thousand dollars.

“Twelve thousand dollars!” exclaimed Tom. "And you're sure they're worth that kind of money?"

- Down to the last cent.

And did you manage to take them away?

– It was easy. I think that these jewelers still do not realize that they have been robbed. But staying in St. Louis, of course, was stupid, and we began to think where we could hide. One suggested one thing, the other another, then we tossed a coin, and the Upper Mississippi came up. We put the diamonds in a paper bag, wrote our names on it, and gave them to the clerk at the hotel for safekeeping, with the condition that he not give this bag to any of us individually. After that, we, each on our own, went to the city. We probably all had the same thought. I'm not sure, of course, but I think that was the case.

– What thought? Tom asked.

- Rob the others.

- How, one to take away everything that you got together?

- Of course. Tom Sawyer was indignant and said that he had never heard of such baseness in his life. But Jack Dunlap explained that this was common in their profession. If you have already taken up such a case, he said, then you must protect your interests yourself, no one else will do this for you. Then he started talking more.

– You see, the whole difficulty was that it was impossible to divide two diamonds between three. Now, if there were three of them ... but there is nothing to say about this, there were not three, but only two. So, I wandered through the most remote streets and thought and thought. And finally I said to myself - I will take off these diamonds at the first opportunity, get myself other clothes and everything I need so that I will not be recognized, get away from my friends and, as soon as I am safe, change clothes - let them later find me if they can. I bought myself fake sideburns, glasses and these clothes, put it all in my bag and went. Suddenly, in one of those shops where all sorts of things are sold, I see one of my friends through the window. It was Bad Dixon. You understand how happy I was. Let's see, I said to myself, what he will buy. I hid and watched. Well, what do you think he bought?

- Sideburns? I will ask.

“Shut up, Huck Finn! You're just getting in the way. So what did he buy, Jack?

“You never know in your life. It was just a screwdriver. Just a small screwdriver.

- That's it! Why did he need her?

“That's what I've been tinkering with. It was very strange. I just couldn't understand anything. I stand and think, what is he going to do with this thing? When Bud left the store, I first hid, and then began to follow him further. He went to a junk shop and bought a red flannel shirt and some other rags.

The very ones that are on it now - as you said. Then I went to the pier, hid my things on the steamer, on which we decided to go up the river, and went back. This is where I got lucky the second time around. I saw our third companion when he was buying old clothes. Well, we took our diamonds and boarded the steamer.

This is where we found ourselves in a difficult situation: none of us could go to bed - we had to sit and watch each other. It was just awful that we ended up bonding with each other. The fact is that we have never been friends and agreed only for this cause. And two weeks before that, we generally quarreled.

But what can you do when two diamonds for three. Well, we had supper, then wandered around the deck together until twelve o'clock and smoked, then went down to my cabin, locked the door and unfolded the paper to make sure the diamonds were in place. We put our bundle on the bottom bunk in full view, and we ourselves sit and sit. And I want to sleep - the further, the more, I just don’t have the strength. Finally, it was Bad Dixon who gave in first. When he was already snoring at the top of his lungs, his head fell on his chest and it became clear that he was sleeping soundly, Gal Clayton nodded at the diamonds and at the door - and I understood him. I reached for the paper bundle, both Gal and I stood up and froze - Bud did not move; then I turned the key with the greatest care, pressed the handle of the door, we tiptoed out of the cabin and quietly closed the door behind us.

Everyone around was asleep, the steamer sailed calmly along the wide river in the misty moonlight. Without saying a word to each other, we made our way to the upper deck above the stern and sat there on the skylight. We didn't have to say anything to each other, each of us perfectly understood what we were doing. Bad Dixon will wake up, discover the theft and rush here to us - this man was not afraid of anyone or anything in the world. He'll come running here and either we'll have to throw him overboard or he'll try to kill us. The thought made me shudder, for I am not as brave as some, but I knew too well how it would all end for me if I showed that I had chickened out. I only hoped that the steamer would land somewhere and that we could slip ashore and thus avoid a fight with Bud Dixon. But there was little hope for this - on the Upper Mississippi, steamboats rarely land on the shore.

Time passed, and Bad Dixon did not appear. It was already dawn, but he was not there.

“Damn me! I say. - What do you think about this? I think something is wrong here!

- Oh, the devil! Gal exclaims in response. "You don't think he fooled us?" Unroll the paper!

I unfold, and - my God! There's nothing in it but two pieces of sugar. That's why Bad Dixon could sit there and sleep peacefully all night! It's great, huh? I think it's very cool! He had prepared a second similar bag in advance, and he replaced it under our noses.

We realized how he fooled us. However, it was necessary to come up with something, some kind of plan. So we did. We decided that we would wrap the paper exactly as it was, quietly sneak back into the cabin, put it in its old place, on the bunk, and pretend that we did not suspect that he had fooled us and laughed at us, pretending to snore . And then we won’t be a step behind him, and on the very first night, as we find ourselves on the shore, we will give him a drink, search him and take away the diamonds. Well, then we'll have to finish him off, if it's not too risky. If we manage to take his prey from him, willy-nilly we will need to get rid of him, otherwise he will surely pursue us and kill us one way or another. To be honest, I didn't have much hope for this plan. We'll give him a drink - he will never refuse a drink - but what's the use of this? You can search for it for at least a year and never find it ...

It was then that it dawned on me, I almost suffocated from excitement! Such an idea came into my head that I felt as if my brain had all turned upside down. And, damn it, I was immediately delighted and calmed down. You see, I was sitting with my boots off to give my feet a little rest, and just at that moment I took one boot to put on and accidentally looked at the heel. This is where it dawned on me! Do you remember that little screwdriver?

- Well, of course! exclaimed Tom excitedly.

“Well, when I looked at that heel, I realized where he hid the diamonds!” Look at my heel. You see, there is a steel plate here, and it is attached with small screws. Bud didn't have screws anywhere else except in his heels. And since he needed a screwdriver, I think I guessed why.

- Heck, that's great! exclaimed Tom.

“So I put on my boots, we went downstairs, made our way into the cabin, put a piece of paper with two pieces of sugar on the bunk, sat down ourselves and quietly, calmly listened to Bad Dixon snoring. Gal Clayton fell asleep very soon, but I held on. Never in my life have I been as cheerful as then. I pulled my hat down so that my face was not visible, and I myself rummage around the floor, looking for scraps of skin. For a long time I looked out like this, I even began to think that maybe my guess was wrong, and finally I did notice them. A piece of leather lay against the wall partition, almost the same color as the carpet. It was a small round piece, no thicker than my little finger.

So, in the place of this piece there is now a diamond, I said to myself. After a while, I saw a second similar cork.

No, you think what a cold-blooded, purging beast this Bad turned out to be! He thought out his whole plan and knew in advance what we would do; and we, like two idiots, exactly did everything as he wanted. He stayed in the cabin and had as much time as he wanted to unscrew the steel plates on his heels, cut two holes in them, put the diamonds in there, and screw the plates back on. He let us steal sugar cubes and then sit all night waiting for him to be thrown overboard. And I swear to the devil, that's exactly what we did!

I think it was a really clever idea.

- Still would! exclaimed Tom enthusiastically.

Chapter IV Three Sleepers

“So we sat all day, pretending to watch each other. And I have to tell you, for the two of us, it was a lousy job and it was damn hard for us to pretend. In the evening we landed in one of the small towns in Missouri, not reaching Iowa, dined at a local hotel and took a room upstairs with a bunk and a double bed. And when we went there - in front of the owner with a tallow candle, and behind him all in single file, and I was the last one - I hid my bag in the dark hallway under the table. We stocked up on whiskey and sat down to play small cards. But as soon as Bud began to get drunk, we stopped drinking, and they continued to treat him. And so we treated him until he fell off his chair and began to snore.

This is where we got down to business. I suggested that I take off my shoes so as not to make noise, and take off Bud's boots so that it would be easier to turn him over and search him. So we did. I put my boots next to Bud's so they were close at hand. Then we undressed Bud and began to rummage through his pockets, in the seams, in his socks, in his boots, in his things - everywhere. There were no diamonds anywhere. When we found a screwdriver, Gal said to me:

Why do you think he needed her? I said I had no idea, and as soon as he turned away, I put it in my pocket. Finally, Gzlu got tired of all this, his hands dropped, as they say, and he says to me:

- It's time to quit. And that's just what I was waiting for. And I say to him:

There is one place where we haven't looked yet.

- It's in his stomach.

- Oh, damn me! It didn't occur to me. That's when we got to them! And how do we get them?

“Here’s how,” I tell him, “you stay here with him, and I’ll go find a drugstore, and there I’ll probably get something to turn him inside out along with the diamonds.”

Gal agreed to this plan, and right in front of him I put on Bud's boots instead of mine, and he does not notice anything. The boots were a little big for me, but it would be worse if they were small. In the hallway I grabbed my bag and in a minute I was out on the street and speeding along the road along the river at a speed of five miles per hour.

Well, I must tell you, it's not such a bad thing to walk on diamonds. Fifteen minutes passed, and I thought that I had already traveled more than a mile, and everything was calm in that room in the hotel. Another five minutes, and I told myself that there was already a lot more space between us, and Gal began to wonder what could have happened to me. Another five minutes - and I imagine that he is already worried - he probably walks around the room. Another five minutes - I covered two and a half miles, and he is already in full excitement - nothing more than swearing at the last words. A little more - and I say to myself: forty minutes have passed - he already understands - something is wrong here. Fifty minutes - and he finally guessed! He decided that while we were searching Bud, I found the diamonds, put them in my pocket and did not show it. Now he is chasing me. He will begin to look for fresh footprints in the dust, but they may as well lead him down the river as up.

And just then I saw a man who was riding towards me on a mule, and without thinking, I suddenly rushed into the bushes. Such stupidity! When this man came up to me, he stopped and waited for some time for me to get out, and then drove on. I just didn't have fun anymore. I told myself that this foolishness ruined the whole thing, that I would not avoid trouble if only this man met with Gal Clayton.

About three o'clock in the morning I reached Alexandria, saw this steamer at the pier there and was terribly glad, because I decided that I was now completely safe. It has already dawned. I went on board, took this cabin, changed into a new dress and went up to the pilothouse to watch, although I thought there was no great need for this. I sit there thinking about my diamonds and waiting for the steamer to leave. I wait, I wait - but he does not sail.

It turns out that they were fixing the car, but I didn’t know anything; I, you see, very rarely had to go on steamboats.

In short, we stood like that until noon, only I had hidden in my cabin long before that, because before breakfast I saw a man in the distance who was walking towards the pier, and he walked like that of Gal Clayton. I just got sick. I said to myself: if he finds out that I am on this ship, then I have fallen like a mouse into a mousetrap. He will only have to watch me and wait, wait for me to go ashore, in full confidence that he was a thousand miles away, go after me, follow me to some suitable place, make me give him the diamonds, and after that ... I know what he will do next! It's terrible, terrible! And now it turns out that the second one is on board. I'm so unlucky, guys, so unlucky! But you will help me to be saved, won't you?

Boys, won't you leave the unfortunate being hunted to kill him? Will you save me? I will bless the ground you walk on!

We calmed Jack and went to bed, saying that we would come up with some plan and help him, and he should not be so afraid. Soon he was in a good mood, he unscrewed the steel plates on his heels, pulled out the diamonds and began to turn them this way and that, admire them, admire them. And it's true, it's true, when the light fell on the diamonds, they looked wonderful - they seemed to flare up, and a radiance seemed to spread around them. Still, I thought Jack was a real fool. If I were him, I would give these diamonds to those guys and let them go ashore and leave me alone. But Jack was made from a different material. He said that there was a fortune in these diamonds and that he was unable to part with them.

Our steamer stopped twice to repair the engine, and stopped for a long time, once at night; but it was not so dark, and Jack was afraid to go. But when we stopped for the third time, the occasion turned out to be suitable.

At two o'clock in the morning the steamer docked at a lumberyard, about forty miles from Uncle Silas's farm. The night was dark and it was going to rain. Then Jack decided to try his luck and try to escape unnoticed. Firewood was loaded onto the ship. Soon the rain poured down like a bucket, and a strong wind also rose. Well, clearly, all the sailors who carried firewood put bags over their heads to cover themselves from the rain. We found a similar bag for Jack, and he took his bag and went ashore with the sailors. When we saw him pass the torch-lit place and disappear into the darkness, we finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only our joy was premature. Someone, I think, told them, because after about ten minutes his two companions rushed headlong after him to the shore and disappeared from sight. Until dawn, Tom and I waited and hoped that they would return, but they never returned. We were completely upset and discouraged. Our only hope was that Jack was far ahead of them and that they would not find any trace of him, and that he would be able to get to his brother's farm, hide there, and be safe at last.

Jack was going to walk along the river and asked us to find out if Brace and Jupiter were at home and if there was anyone else there, and after sunset they would come running and tell him everything. He said he'd be waiting for us in a little sycamore grove behind Uncle Silas' tobacco plantation, by the road, a place no one goes there.

Tom and I sat for a long time and discussed whether he managed to escape from them, and Tom said that if these guys went up the river instead of going down, then everything is in order - only it is unlikely that it will turn out that way. Maybe they know where Jack is from.

They would most likely move in the right direction, keep an eye on him all day long—and he doesn't suspect a thing—and as soon as it gets dark, they'll kill him and take his boots. So it was very bad for me and Tom.

Chapter V Tragedy in the Grove

The car was being fixed before the end of the day, and we got there only at sunset and, without going anywhere, rushed to the sycamore grove to explain to Jack why we were late and ask him to wait until we went to Brace and found out how things were going there . When we, sweating and out of breath from walking fast, reached the edge of the forest and a plane tree grove appeared thirty yards ahead, we saw two men running into the grove, and heard desperate cries for help. "Well," we said, "it means they killed poor Jack." We were frightened to death, rushed to the tobacco plantation and hid there. And we trembled as if our clothes no longer warmed us.

As soon as we had time to jump into the ditch, two men ran headlong past us and disappeared into the grove, and a second later four men ran out of the grove: two fled as fast as they could, and two others pursued them.

We lay neither alive nor dead and listened to what would happen next; but nothing was heard except the beating of our hearts. We thought about that terrible thing that lies there, under the plane trees; and it seemed to me that there was a ghost somewhere near us, so that a cold sweat broke through me.

The moon rose behind the trees, huge and round and bright, like a face peering out from behind prison bars. All around there were black shadows and white spots that moved, the night breeze blew, and it became eerily quiet, like in a cemetery. Suddenly Tom whispered:

– Look, what is it?

“Stop it,” I tell him, “you can’t scare people like that. I almost die of fear anyway.

“Look here, I tell you!” There, between the plane trees, something can be seen.

Stop it, Tom!

- It's awfully tall!

- Lord, save us!

- Shut up! It's coming here! Tom was so excited it took his breath away.

I couldn't take it anymore - I had to take a look. Now we were both on our knees, raised above the railing of the hedge, and stared fixedly, our hearts sinking into our heels. It moved towards us, at first it was still in the shade of the trees, and we could not see it properly, then it approached and entered the moonlight - and then we both dived into our ditch: it was the spirit of Jack Dunlap! Of this we had no doubt.

For a minute or two we couldn't move. During this time, the ghost disappeared. Then we started whispering.

Tom spoke first.

“Usually they're always hazy and blurry, like they're made of smoke, and this ghost isn't like that at all.

“Yeah,” I say, “I could see the glasses and sideburns quite clearly.

“Yes, and everything on him is bright, as if he is wearing a festive costume - checkered trousers, green with black ...

“And a red-and-yellow-checked corduroy vest…”

- And on his trousers he has leather thongs, and one dangles ...

- A hat!

“Yes, a strange hat for a ghost!” You see, the fact is that such hats - black, with a hard brim and a high round top, like a sugar loaf - only this year came into fashion.

“Did you notice, Huck, that his hair is still the same?”

- No ... At first it seemed to me that they were the same, and then they didn’t seem to be.

“I didn't notice either. But there was a bag with him, I saw that.

- And I. Listen, Tom, can a bag be a ghost?

- Here you go! If I were you, Huck Finn, I wouldn't be so ignorant. Everything that a ghost has becomes a ghost too. They, like everyone else, must have their own things. You yourself saw that all his clothes also became a ghost, but how is the bag different from it? Of course, he also became a ghost. It was fair. I had nothing to complain about. At this time, Bill Weavers and his brother Jack passed by us, and we heard Jack say:

What do you think he was carrying?

“How do I know something heavy?”

“Yeah, he’s all bent over. Probably, some Negro pulled corn at the preacher of Silas.

- Maybe. That's why I won't say I saw him.

- Who? Jupiter Dunlap?

- Well I do not know. Probably there. I saw him about an hour ago, just before sunset. He was digging there with the preacher. He said that he was unlikely to come with us today, but if we wanted, we could take his dog.

"I'm tired, poor thing!"

- Yes, he works diligently, do not say anything!

It was the second of September, Saturday. I will never forget this day. You will soon understand why.

Chapter VI How to Get Diamonds

So we trudged along after Jim and Lem until we reached the back stile, where stood the hut in which our Negro Jim was locked up when we freed him. Then the dogs surrounded us, jumping and barking greetings, the lights were on in the house, so that we had already ceased to be afraid and were about to climb into the yard, when suddenly Tom said to me:

- Wait, sit down for a minute.

- What? I ask.

“There is a case, and a serious one,” he says. - You, of course, think that we will immediately run to tell our relatives about who is killed there, under the plane trees, about the swindlers who killed him, about the diamonds that they stole from the corpse - that we will lay out this whole story about us will glory go, as if we know more than anyone else about this case?

- Of course! You wouldn't be Tom Sawyer if you missed this opportunity. I already know that when you begin to tell, you will decorate everything as it should.

“What do you say,” he says to me quite calmly, “if I tell you that I’m not going to tell you anything?”

I was amazed to hear such words from him.

- I'll say it's bullshit. Are you kidding, Tom Sawyer?

“Well, now you will see for yourself. Tell me, was the ghost barefoot?

- Not. Well, what of it?

“Wait, wait, now you will understand. Did he have boots on?

“Of course I saw them clearly.

“Can you swear you saw them?”

- Of course.

- Well, I can. And do you understand what that means?

- I don't understand anything. What does it mean?

- Here's what. This means that the thieves did not get the diamonds!

- That's the thing! Why do you think so?

“I don't think, I know. Haven't the trousers and the glasses and the sideburns and the bag and all his belongings turned into ghosts? Everything that was on it, everything turned into ghosts. And from this it is clear that his boots also turned into ghosts, because they were on him at the moment when Jack became a ghost. And if that's not proof that the robbers didn't get the boots, I'd like to know what more proof you need.

No, just think. I've never seen a head like this guy's. I also have eyes, and I also saw everything, but it would never occur to me. But Tom Sawyer is a different person. When Tom Sawyer looks at some thing, then this thing gets up on its hind legs and talks to him, she just reveals all her secrets to him. You're right, I've never seen such a head before.

“Tom Sawyer,” I said, “I will say again what I have said many times: I am not worthy to clean your shoes!” Well, okay, that's beside the point. The Lord God created us all, and to some he gave eyes that see nothing, and to others he gave eyes that see everything; and why he did it is not for us to judge. So, it had to be so, otherwise he would have arranged it differently. Now I realized that the thieves did not take away the diamonds. And that's why, what do you think?

“Because those two scared them off before they could take the boots off the corpse.

- Is that how it is? All clear. Just tell me, Tom, why don't we go and tell it all?

“Come on, Huck Finn, don’t you understand yourself? Can you guess what will happen next? The investigation will begin tomorrow morning. Those two will tell how they heard the screams and ran there, but too late to save the stranger. Then the jury will chat for a long time and finally decide that this man was shot, or stabbed to death, or he was hit on the head with something and, by the will of the Lord God, he gave his soul to him. After that, he will be buried, and the things will be auctioned off to pay the expenses. This is where our turn comes.

- How, Tom?

We will buy these boots for a couple of dollars! I almost choked with delight.

“Jesus, Tom, this is how we get the diamonds!”

– What did you think! A big reward will surely be announced for their discovery - a thousand dollars, no less. And we will get it! Now let's go to the house. And don't forget we don't know anything about any murder, or any diamonds, or any thieves.

I could only sigh at this decision. Of course, I would sell these diamonds - yes, yes, dear gentlemen! - for twelve thousand dollars. But I kept silent. There was no point in arguing with Tom anyway.

I only asked:

“Tom, how can we explain to Aunt Sally where we have been for so long?”

“Well, I leave that to you,” he said. “I hope you come up with something.

Here he is always so - strict and scrupulous. He will never lie.

We walked through a large yard, recognizing at every step familiar objects that it was so nice to see again, came to a covered passage between a large log house and a kitchen - all the same things hung on the wall, as always, even a washed-out green work jacket uncle Silas with a hood; she wore a rough white patch between her shoulder blades, so it always looked like someone had hit Uncle Silas with a snowball. We lifted the latch and entered.

Aunt Sally at that moment was tearing and throwing, the children huddled in one corner, and the old man, hiding in another, prayed for help in his hour of need. Aunt Sally rushed to meet us, laughing and crying, slapped us both on the face, hugged us, kissed us and gave us another slap in the face. It seemed that she would never get tired of it, she was so glad to see us. And then she said:

“Where have you been roaming all this time, you worthless bums?” I was so worried that I didn't know what to do. God knows when your things were brought in, and I have already cooked dinner four times again to feed you better as soon as you arrive, until my patience is completely exhausted, and I am now ready to skin you alive. My poor things, you must be dying of hunger! Well, everyone at the table, hurry up, don't waste your time.

Well, it was nice, I must tell you, again, as once, to sit at the table, and in front of you this delicious rye bread, and pork chops, and in general everything that you could wish for in this world. Uncle Silas gave us one of his most intricate blessings, which had as many complicated turns as layers in an onion, and while the angels sorted it out, I struggled to figure out how to explain the reason for our delay. When they put the food on our plates and we got down to business, Aunt Sally immediately asked me about it, and I began to mumble:

“Yes, you see… Mrs…

- Huck Finn! Since when did I become "Mrs" to you? Or have I ever been stingy with cuffs and kisses for you since the day you walked into this room and I mistook you for Tom Sawyer and thanked God for sending you to me even though you told me forty barrels of lies and I, like a fool, believed everything? Call me, as before, Aunt Sally.

So I did and I told her:

“Well, Tom and I decided to walk and get some forest air, and then we met Lem Beebe and Jim Lane, and they suggested that we go with them to pick blueberries and said that they could take Jupiter Dunlap’s dog, since they only what they said to him...

- Where did they see him? Uncle Silas asked. I looked at him, wondering why he was interested in such a trifle, and I see that he stared right into me with his eyes, so it hurt him. I was surprised and even confused, but then I gathered my thoughts and told him:

- Yes, when he was digging something with you, before sunset or around that.

Uncle Silas just chuckled, sort of disappointed, and stopped listening to me. Then I decided to continue and say:

Well, as I already explained...

Enough, you can go no further! interrupted Aunt Sally. She looked at me indignantly. “Huck Finn,” she said, “perhaps you can explain why they gathered for blueberries in September in our area?

Then I realized that I was confused, and bit my tongue. Aunt Sally waited, still staring at me, and finally said:

- And how could such an idiotic thought come to people's minds - to go picking blueberries at night?

“Why, they… ma’am, uh… they said they had a lantern, and that…”

"Shut up, I've had enough!" And tell me, what were they going to do with the dog? Hunt blueberries with her?

“I think, ma'am, that they—”

- Well, what about you. Tom Sawyer, what lies are you going to add to this pile of lies? Come on, talk, just before you start, I warn you that I do not believe a single word of yours. I know perfectly well that you and Huck Finn have been doing things that you shouldn't have done, because I know you both very well. Now explain to me about the dog and the blueberries and the lantern and all that nonsense.

And don't try to lead me by the nose, do you hear?

Tom put on a very offended look and said with dignity:

“I'm sorry that Huck is being scolded for slipping his tongue, and that can happen to anyone.

- How did he say that?

He said blueberries instead of strawberries.

“Aunt Sally, you unknowingly and certainly not intentionally fell into error. If you were a natural history student, as you should be, you would know that all over the world, with the exception of Arkansas, strawberries are always searched for with a dog ... and with a lantern ...

But then it hit him like an avalanche and completely overwhelmed him. She was so furious that the words didn't have time to come out of her mouth, they poured out in a continuous stream. And that was just what Tom needed. He's always like that - give her a reason, make her angry and let her scream. After that, any mention of what the argument was about will irritate her so much that she will never say a word again and will not allow others. And so it happened. When Aunt Sally was finally exhausted and had to stop, he calmly began:

“Anyway, Aunt Sally…”

- Shut up! she screamed. "I don't want to hear about it anymore!" Thus, nothing threatened us anymore and no one bothered us again with this delay. Tom did an excellent job.

Chapter VII Night Watch

Benny seemed terribly upset during dinner and sighed every now and then, but soon she began to ask us about Mary, about Sid, about Aunt Polly; then the clouds that had darkened Aunt Sally parted, her usual good mood returned, and she began to bombard us with questions too. Thus, the end of the dinner passed cheerfully and pleasantly. Only Uncle Silas did not take any part in our conversation, he was distracted, sighed endlessly and was clearly worried about something. It was very hard to see him so sad, upset and anxious.

Soon after dinner, a black man appeared, knocked on the door, put his head inside and, holding an old straw hat in his hand and grinding and bowing, said that the mass of Brais stands at the climb and waiting for his brother; he was tired of waiting for him with supper, and would Mass Silas be so kind as to tell him where Jupiter was?

I've never seen Uncle Silas speak with such irritation before. He shouted:

Am I his brother's keeper? - Here he immediately seemed to wilt; he seemed to regret having said so, and went on delicately: “Just don’t tell your master what I said. Billy; I’ve become very irritable lately, and you took me by surprise. and I can hardly imagine.

Tell him his brother is not here.

The Negro left, and Uncle Silas began to pace back and forth, muttering something under his breath and ruffling his hair. It was just incredibly pitiful to look at him. Aunt Sally whispered to us not to pay attention to Uncle because it embarrasses him. Since then, said Aunt Sally, how all these troubles began, he always thinks and thinks like that, and it seems to her that when he gets into such things, he himself hardly understands where he is and what is happening to him. And she added that Uncle Silas now sleepwalks much more often than before, and sometimes sleepwalks around the house and even around the yard, and if, said Aunt Sally, we meet him at such a moment, we must leave him alone. and don't touch. In her opinion, this does not harm him, and maybe even benefits him.

On days like these, only Benny can help him. She alone knows when to comfort him and when to leave him alone.

And Uncle Silas kept pacing up and down the room and muttering to himself until he got tired, then Benny went up to him, took his hand, put her other arm around him and led him away. Uncle Silas smiled at her and bent down to kiss her. His face gradually became calmer, and Benny persuaded him to go to his room. They were so affectionate with each other that it was touching to look at them.

Aunt Sally began to put the children to bed, Tom and I got bored, and we went for a walk in the moonlight, wandered into the garden, picked a watermelon and ate it while talking.

Tom told me that he was ready to bet that the quarrels were due to Jupiter, and he, Tom, at the first opportunity, would try to be in such a quarrel and observe. And if he's right, he'll do everything he can to get Uncle Silas to drive Jupiter away.

So we sat for two hours, smoked, chatted and gorged ourselves on watermelons; Finally it got quite late, and when we returned, everything in the house was dark and quiet, everyone was sleeping.

Tom - he always notices everything. And now he noticed that the old green work jacket had disappeared, and said that when we went out, it was in place. He said that something was wrong here, and we went to bed.

We heard Benny walking around her room behind the wall, and we decided that she was worried about her father and could not sleep. But we couldn't sleep either. For a long time we sat like that, smoking, talking in an undertone, and we were sad and dreary. We talked endlessly about the murder and the ghost, and we frightened ourselves so much that we could no longer sleep.

There was such complete silence all around, which happens only in the dead of night, and suddenly Tom nudged me with his elbow and whispered to me to look out the window. We saw a man wandering aimlessly up and down the yard as if he himself did not know what he was looking for. The night was rather dark and we couldn't see it properly. But here he went to the stile; the light of the moon fell on him, and we saw that he was holding a long-handled shovel, and a white patch glowed on the back of an old work jacket. Here Tom says:

- He walks in his sleep. I wish I could follow him and see where he's going. Look, he turned towards the tobacco plantation. Well, it's completely gone now. It's terrible that he can't find peace.

We waited a long time, but he never returned, or perhaps he returned by another route. Finally, we were completely exhausted and fell asleep. We had terrible dreams, millions of terrible dreams. However, before dawn we woke up - a thunderstorm began, a terrible thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, the wind bent the trees, an oblique downpour poured like buckets, and every ditch turned into a stormy river. Tom told me:

“Listen, Huck, I'm going to tell you a very strange thing. It's been so long since we got here last night, and no one knows about Jack Dunlap's murder yet, and the people who scared off Gal Clayton and Bud Dixon should have blabbed to everyone they met in the first half hour, and everyone who heard about it would immediately run to neighboring farms to be the first to break the news. Still, they had not had such a case, probably for thirty years. It's all very strange, Huck, I don't understand anything.

Tom was burning with impatience, waiting for the rain to stop so that he could jump out into the street, strike up a conversation with someone and listen to what they would tell us about the murder. He warned me that we should pretend to be terribly surprised and amazed.

As soon as the rain stopped, we were already outside. It was a fine early morning. We wandered along the road, meeting acquaintances every now and then, saying hello to them, talking about when we arrived, how things were at our place, how long we were going to stay here, and everything like that - and no one, not a single person, didn't tell us a word about the murder. It was completely incomprehensible, but it was true. Tom said that if we went to the sycamore grove, we would surely find a corpse there and not a single soul around. Not otherwise, he says, as those people who frightened off the thieves chased them so far into the forest that the thieves, perhaps, decided to take advantage of this and attacked them themselves. In the end, maybe they all killed each other and there was no one left alive who could tell about it.

So we chatted until we reached the sycamore grove.

At this point, goosebumps ran down my spine, and, despite Tom's insistence, I said that I would not take a step further.

But Tom couldn't resist, he had to see if the boots were still on the corpse. And he went there, but a minute later he jumped back out, and his eyes popped right out almost on his forehead with surprise.

“Huck,” he choked out, “he’s not there!” I was almost taken aback.

“Tom,” I said, “it can't be.

“And I tell you that he is not there. And there were no traces left. The ground is a little trampled down, but if there was blood, then it was washed away by rain, now there is nothing but dirt and slush there.

Finally I gave up and decided to go there and see for myself. Everything was as Tom said - the corpse disappeared without a trace.

"Here's a pound of raisins for you!" was all I could say. - The diamonds were ordered to bow. Do you think, Tom, maybe the thieves crept back in and dragged him away?

- Looks like it. So, apparently, it is. Except that's where they could hide it, do you think?

“I have no idea,” I said with disgust, “and I don't care about any of this anymore. They took the boots, and that was the only thing that bothered me. And the dead man will have to lie here in the forest for a long time before I start looking for him.

Tom, in general, was also not very interested in the fate of the deceased now, he was just curious about what happened to the corpse. But he said that we should still keep quiet and say nothing, because soon the dogs or someone else would definitely stumble upon the corpse.

We returned home for breakfast disappointed, disappointed, feeling that we had been cheated. Never in my life have I been so upset over some dead person.

Chapter VIII Conversation with a Ghost

It was an unhappy breakfast. Aunt Sally looked tired and old; she did not seem to notice that the children were quarreling and making noise at the table - and this was not at all like her. Tom and I kept quiet, we had something to think about without talking. Benny probably didn't sleep much at all at night, and when she lifted her head a little from her plate and glanced at her father, tears glistened in her eyes. As for Uncle Silas, breakfast was freezing on his plate, and he seemed not to notice what was in front of him - he kept thinking and thinking about something of his own, without uttering a word or touching food.

And in this silence, the head of the same black man again stuck out the door, and he said that mass Brace was terribly worried about the mass of Jupiter, which had not yet come home, and whether mass Silas would be so kind ...

The Negro looked at Uncle Silas, and the words stuck in his throat: Uncle Silas got up, holding his hands on the table and trembling all over; he gasped for breath, his eyes fixed on the negro, he took several convulsive sips, clutched his throat with his hand and finally managed to squeeze out a few incoherent words:

“What is he… what is he… what does he think?” Tell him ... tell him ... - Here he collapsed exhausted back into his chair and murmured in a barely audible voice: - Go away ... go away ...

The frightened Negro immediately disappeared, and we felt like ... - I can’t even say how we felt, but it was terrible to watch our old uncle Silas suffocate - his eyes stopped, and in general he looked like he was dying . None of us could move. Benny alone slid quietly around the table, tears streaming down her face; embracing her father, she pressed his old gray head to her breast and began to cradle him like a child. At the same time, she made a sign to us all to leave, and we went out, trying not to make noise, as if there was a dead person in the room.

Tom and I went into the woods and were very sad; on the way we talked about how things had changed compared to last summer when we lived here. Then everything was peaceful, everyone was happy, everyone around respected Uncle Silas, and he himself was cheerful, simple-hearted, affectionate and eccentric. And look at him now! If he wasn't crazy yet, we said, he wasn't far off.

It was a wonderful day, bright and sunny, we went further and further over the hills, towards the prairie, trees and flowers became more beautiful, and it was so strange to think that in such a wonderful world there is grief and trouble. And suddenly my breath caught, I grabbed Tom's hand, and all my livers and lungs went into my heels.

- Here it is! I whispered, and both of us, trembling with fear, hid behind a bush.

- T-s-s! Tom hissed. - Not a sound!

It sat, thinking, on a log in the lawn. I tried to take Tom away, but he did not want to, and I myself could not move. Tom began to explain to me that we would not have a second chance to see this ghost, and that he decided to get enough of it, even if he was in danger of death. There was nothing left for me to do but watch, although it made me feel like I was in a fever. Tom could not be silent; but he spoke all the same in a whisper.

“Poor Jackie,” he muttered, “he changed his clothes as he was going to. Now you can see what we weren't sure about - his hair. They are not as long as they were, he cut them short, as I said. Huck, I've never seen anything more natural than this ghost in my life.

“I didn’t see either,” I agreed. “I can find him wherever you want.”

“And I will know. It looks like a real person, exactly the same as before death.

So we continued to stare until Tom said:

“Huck, you know, this ghost is kind of strange. He is not supposed to walk during the day.

"It's true, Tom! I have never heard of them walking during the day.

"That's right, sir!" Not only do they only appear at night, they cannot appear until the clock strikes twelve. There is something wrong with this ghost, mark my words. I am sure that it has no right to appear during the day. And how natural it looks! Look, Jack was going to play deaf and mute so the neighbors wouldn't recognize him by his voice. What do you think, if we call to it, will it respond?

“God be with you, Tom, what are you talking about!” I'll die right there if you call him.

- Calm down, I'm not going to call him. Look, look, Huck, it scratches your head! You see?

“I see, so what of it?”

- Like what! Why would a ghost scratch its head? There's nothing to itch in there: the ghost has a head of fog or something like that. She can't scratch! The fog cannot itch, it is clear to every fool.

“Listen, Tom, if it’s not supposed to itch and can’t itch, then why does it put its hand in the back of the head?

Or maybe it's just a habit?

“No, sir, I don't think so. I don't like the way this ghost behaves. I have a strong suspicion that it's not real. It's as accurate as me sitting here. Because if it is... Huck!

- What else?

“Huck, you can’t see the bushes through it!”

“It's true, Tom. It is dense like a cow. I'm starting to think...

“Huck, it bit off a piece of tobacco!” Let the devils devour me, but ghosts do not chew tobacco - they have nothing to chew on! Huck!

- Well?

“Huck, it's not a ghost. This is Jack Dunlap himself.

- Yes, you're crazy! I exclaimed.

“Tell me, Huck Finn, did we find a body in the plane tree grove?”

“Or at least some trace of a corpse?”

- Here's your answer. There has never been a corpse.

“Wait, Tom, but we heard—”

Yes, we heard screams. But does this prove that someone was killed? Of course not. We saw four men running, then we saw him and we thought he was a ghost. And he was a ghost like you and me. It was none other than Jack Dunlap himself. And now it's Jack Dunlap. He cut his hair as he intended, and pretends he doesn't know anyone here, just like he said. Ghost! Is he a ghost? Yes, he is healthy as a bull!

Then I understood everything and realized that we composed too much ourselves. I was very glad that Jack was alive, and Tom was also glad. We began to think about whether Jack would prefer us to pretend that we had never seen him before, or vice versa? And Tom said that perhaps the best thing to do was to ask Jack himself, and went to him. I still kept behind, because who knows, or maybe it's still a ghost. Tom went up to Jack and said:

“Huck and I are terribly glad to see you, and you have nothing to fear that we will spill the beans. If you think it's safer for us to pretend we don't know you when we meet you, just tell us and you'll see that you can rely on us. We'd rather have our hand cut off than put you in any danger.

At first, he looked at us with surprise and, perhaps, without any pleasure, but as Tom spoke, his face became kinder, and when Tom had finished, he smiled at us, nodded his head, began to make some signs with his hands and hummed “goo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o,” as the deaf-mutes do.

At that moment we saw Steve Nickerson with his wife and children - they live on the other side of the field. And Tom said:

“You do it very well, I just have never seen anyone do it better in my life. So be it, pretend to be with us, for you it will be a practice, and you will not make mistakes. We'll keep our distance and pretend we don't know you, but any time you need our help, just let us know.

Then we went, as if walking, towards the Nickersons; and, of course, they began to ask what kind of person this was, and where he was from, and what his name was, whether he was a Baptist or a Methodist, and what party he was for - Democrats or Whigs, and how long he would be here, - in general, all those questions that people usually ask when a new person appears. Dogs, however, do the same. Tom said that he was deaf and mute, and he only hummed and waved his arms, so that it was impossible to understand anything. The Nickersons immediately approached the deaf-mute and began to play a joke on him, and we watched this with alarm. Tom said that Jack would take some time to get used to acting like a deaf-mute and that he would start talking before he had time to figure out what to do. Finally, we were convinced that Jack was behaving perfectly well and making all kinds of signs with his hands perfectly, and we went to the school, which was about three miles from here, in order to get to the break between lessons.

I was so upset that Jack didn't tell me about the fight in the sycamore grove and how he was almost killed, that my mood was even spoiled; and Tom felt the same way, but he said that if we were in Jack's place, then we too would be careful and keep quiet so as not to get caught.

The boys and girls at school were terribly happy for us, and we had a lot of fun there during their break. On the way to school, the Henderson sons saw an unknown deaf-mute and told about him, so that everyone only talked about him, everyone wanted to see him, because they had never seen a deaf-mute in their life, in a word, this caused a general excitement.

Tom told me that it was terribly difficult to remain silent under such circumstances, and that if we now told everything we know, we would become heroes, but even more heroic to remain silent - maybe only two boys in a million are capable of that. That's how Tom Sawyer reasoned, and someone would have tried to judge better.

Chapter IX Jupiter Dunlap Found

In the very first days, the deaf-mute became everyone's favorite. He was already known on all the farms in the district, everyone was busy with him and looked after him and were terribly proud that we had such a wonderful person. Some invited him to breakfast, others to dinner, others to dinner, they stuffed him to overflowing with corn porridge with pork and never got tired of staring at him, marveling at him, and everyone tried to learn at least something about him - he seemed very unusual figure . There was no sense in his signs, no one could understand him, and he himself probably did not know what he wanted to say, but he buzzed regularly, and everyone around was extremely pleased and listened with interest as he buzzed.

He carried with him everywhere a slate board and a stylus - everyone wrote questions on it, and he wrote answers; but no one but Brace Dunlap could make out anything in his scrawl. Brace said that he, too, did not understand them very well, and for the most part guessed what was being said. According to Brace's stories, it appeared that the deaf-mute had come here from afar; he used to be rich, but the crooks he trusted ruined him, now he is a beggar and has nothing to live on.

Everyone praised Brace Dunlap for his kindness: he gave the poor cripple a separate wooden hut, ordered his negroes to take care of him and bring him food as much as he wanted.

He was deaf-and-dumb several times in our house as well - the fact is that Uncle Silas himself suffered so much these days that every other unfortunate person was a consolation to him. Tom and I gave nothing away that we had met him before, and he did not show in any way that he knew us.

Uncle Silas's family talked about their troubles in front of the deaf-mute as if he wasn't even there, but we reasoned that there was nothing wrong with him hearing these conversations. Usually he did not pay attention to these conversations, but sometimes he seemed to listen.

Two or three days passed in this way, and everyone around was seriously alarmed because Jupiter Dunlap had disappeared to no one knows where. Everyone asked each other what could have happened to him. But no one knew anything, everyone just shook their heads and said that it was very strange. Another day passed, and another, and everyone around began to say that he must have been killed. Oh, and everyone here was alarmed! The tongues crackled. On Saturday, several people - in twos, threes - went to search the forest, hoping to find the remains of Jupiter. Tom and I undertook to help them, and it was wonderfully interesting. Tom was so passionate about this business that he was no longer up to food, not to rest. He said that if we find a corpse, then we will become famous and there will be more talk about it than if we drowned.

The rest of the search soon got tired, and they abandoned them, but not Tom Sawyer - it was not in his nature.

On Saturday night he did not sleep at all - he was still trying to come up with a plan. And by morning the plan was ready. Tom pulled me out of bed and, terribly worried, said:

- Huck, get dressed quickly, I thought! We need a bloodhound! Two minutes later we raced along the road to the town. Old Jeff Hooker had a bloodhound, and Tom hoped to beg for it. I tell him:

“Listen, Tom, the tracks are too old, and besides, you know it rained.

“It doesn't matter, Huck. If the body is hidden somewhere here in the forest, then the bloodhound will find it.

If it was killed and buried, then it is unlikely that it was buried deep, and if the dog gets to this place, then it will surely smell it. Huck, I swear we'll be famous, that's as sure as you were born.

He was all on fire, and when Tom catches fire with something, it is impossible to stop him. So it was this time. In less than two minutes, he imagined everything - not only found the corpse, no - he had already attacked the trail of the killer. Since this was not enough for him, he was already going to pursue the killer until ...

“Well, okay,” I said, “you first find the body. I think that this will be enough for now. Or maybe there is no corpse at all and no one was killed at all. This guy could just go somewhere, and no one killed him.

Tom seems to be confused and says:

“Huck Finn, I've never met a man like you who tries so hard to mess things up.

If you yourself don’t hope for anything, then you interfere with others. Well, what's your joy in pouring a tub of cold water on this corpse and saying that there was no murder at all? No. I don't understand how you can do that. I wouldn't do that to you, you know that. We have such a wonderful opportunity to become famous and ...

“Well, go ahead, go ahead,” I tell him, “I am very sorry and take my words back. I didn't want to say anything. Do as you please. I have nothing to do with him. If he was killed, then I'm just as happy about it as you are, but if his ...

“I never said I was happy, I just…

“Well, then I’m just as upset as you are. In general, use this opportunity as you see fit. And this guy...

“I didn't talk about the possibility, Huck Finn. Nobody talked about it. And as for…

Then Tom forgot what he was talking about, and, thinking, went on. It was evident that he was again gradually coming into a rage; and indeed, he soon told me:

“Huck, it would be a first-rate thing if we found the body after everyone gave up looking for it, and then we also uncover the killer. It will be an honor not only for us, but also for Uncle Silas, because we will do it. This case will raise him again, you'll see.

However, when we showed up at Jeff Hooker's forge and told him why we came, he ridiculed the whole idea.

“You can take the dog,” he said, “only you won’t find a corpse, because there isn’t one at all.” Everyone quit looking and did the right thing. It took a little thought, and everyone realized that there was no corpse at all. And I will explain to you why. Tell me, Tom Sawyer, why does a man kill another man? Answer me.

- Well, how why ...

- Answer, answer. You're not a fool. Why is he killing him?

“Sometimes it happens out of revenge, sometimes…

- Stop. Not all at once. Revenge, you say. Correctly. Now tell me, who could have anything against that fool? Well, think for yourself, who could need to kill a rabbit like Jupiter?

Tom was puzzled. I realized that until now it had never occurred to him that some reason was needed to kill, and now he realized that really hardly anyone had a grudge against such a lamb as Jupiter.

And the blacksmith continued:

“Now you see for yourself that revenge has nothing to do with it. Well, what else could it be? Robbery? And you know what, it looks like the truth. We've hit the nail on the head with you! Yes, yes, not otherwise, as someone coveted his suspenders, well, and ...

Then he himself became so ridiculous that he began to laugh. He laughed, burst into laughter, choked with laughter until he was completely exhausted, and Tom looked so sad and ashamed at the same time that I understood that he regretted having come here. And old Hooker did not let up. He listed all the possible reasons why one person would kill another, and it was clear to every fool that none of these reasons fit this case.

There was no end to Hooker's ridicule, he scoffed at the whole idea and at those who were looking for the body. Finally he said:

- If they had even a drop of brains in their heads, they would have guessed that this lazy bum had fled somewhere simply because he decided to take a break from work. In a couple of weeks, this slacker will show up back.

And what will it be like for you then! But if you feel like it, it's up to you, take the dog and go look for the remains!

And Jeff Hooker burst into his roaring laughter again. Retreat - Tom after all this was no longer possible, and he said:

- All right, let her off the chain. The blacksmith released the dog, and we went home with him, hearing peals of laughter behind us.

The dog was wonderful. No breed of dog has such a good character as bloodhounds, and this bloodhound knew and loved us. She jumped and ran around, glad to be free. But Tom was so depressed that he did not even look at her. He said that he was very sorry that he did not think carefully before taking on this idiotic case. Tom had already anticipated how Jeff Hooker would tell everyone he met about us, and there would be no end to the jokes.

In such a gloomy mood we trudged back home. Just as we were passing through the far corner of our tobacco plantation, the dog suddenly howled; we rushed to it and saw that our bloodhound was digging the ground with all his might, from time to time raising his muzzle up and howling.

The place where the dog was digging was a fairly well-defined quadrangle - under the rain, the earth settled here and a depression formed. We stood in silence, looking at each other. The bloodhound dug the ground several inches, grabbed something with his teeth and pulled it out - it was a hand.

Tom gasped and whispered:

Let's go, Huck! It's him! I was frozen with fear. We rushed to the road and called the first people we met. They took a shovel from the shed and dug up the corpse. Everyone was terribly excited. It was impossible to make out the faces of the dead man, but there was no need for this. Everyone said:

- Poor Jupiter, these are his clothes, down to the last rag. Some rushed to tell the neighbors the news and tell the judge to start an investigation. And Tom and I rushed home. We burst into the room where Uncle Silas, Aunt Sally and Benny were sitting, and Tom, out of breath and happy, blurted out:

“And Huck and I found the corpse of Jupiter Dunlap!” They found it themselves, with a bloodhound! Everyone dropped it! If not for us, it would never have been found! But he was killed! A club or something like that. And now I will look for the killer - and I will find him, you will see, I will find him!

Aunt Sally and Benny jumped up, pale with astonishment, while Uncle Silas swayed in his chair and fell to the floor, groaning:

“Oh my God, you already found him!”

Chapter X The Arrest of Uncle Silas

We froze in horror at these words. For at least half a minute we were unable to move our arms or legs. Finally, we somehow came to our senses, lifted Uncle Silas and sat him in a chair. Benny began to caress her father, kiss and comfort him. Poor Aunt Sally tried to do the same. But only both of them were so shocked and confused that they hardly understood what they were doing. It was terrible to look at Tom - he was completely numb at the thought that he had brought his uncle into trouble a thousand times worse than before; and perhaps all this would not have happened if it were not for his desire to become famous and if he, following the example of all the others, would have left the corpse to lie where it lay. But soon Tom got over his excitement and said:

“Uncle Silas, never say those words again. This is dangerous, and besides, there is not a shadow of truth in them.

Aunt Sally and Benny were very glad to hear this, and they themselves began to say the same thing, but the old man sadly and hopelessly shook his gray head, tears rolled down his face, and he muttered:

“No… I did it… poor Jupiter… I did it… It was terrible to listen to him. Uncle Silas told us that it all happened the day Tom and I arrived, just before sunset. Jupiter pissed him off until Uncle Silas went berserk, grabbed a stick and hit Jupiter on the head with all his might, causing him to fall over. Then Uncle Silas was frightened and upset, knelt beside him, raised his head and began to beg Jupiter to say that he was alive. Little time has passed. Jupiter woke up, saw who was supporting his head, jumped up as if he was scared to death, jumped over the fence and rushed into the forest. After that, Uncle Silas decided that he hadn't hit him that hard.

“However,” Uncle Silas continued, “it was only fear that gave him a little strength, but of course, his strength soon left him, and he fell down somewhere in the bushes; there was no one to help him, and he died there.

At these words, the old man again began to cry and say that he was a murderer and that he had the curse of Cain on him, that he had disgraced the whole family and that he would definitely be exposed and hanged.

“No, no,” interrupted Tom, “no one will expose you. You didn't kill him. One blow couldn't kill him. Someone else did it.

“Alas,” my uncle wailed, “I did it and no one else did it. Who else could have anything against him?

And he looked at us, as if in the hope that one of us would name a person who would have something against this harmless nonentity. But it was useless to look - we had nothing to say. He understood this and again fell into despair. I have never seen a more unhappy and pitiful face than he had at that moment. Then an unexpected thought struck Tom, and he exclaimed:

- Wait! But someone has buried it! Who… And then he stopped. I knew why. When Tom said these words, a shiver ran down my spine, because I remembered how we saw Uncle Silas sneaking out of the yard that night with a shovel in his hands. I knew Benny had seen it too because she had mentioned it somehow.

Tom immediately tried to change the subject and began to ask Uncle Silas not to tell anyone.

We all also began to persuade Uncle Silas that he should keep quiet and that it was not his place to slander himself; that if he keeps silent, no one will ever know, and if everything turns out and trouble falls on him, then he will destroy the whole family and kill them all, and no one will benefit from this. Finally, Uncle Silas gave us a promise to keep quiet. We all breathed a sigh of relief and tried to cheer up Uncle. We told him that the main thing was that he should be silent, and soon the whole thing would be forgotten. We all assured Uncle Silas with one voice that no one would ever suspect him, no one would ever think of it, he was so kind and he had such a good reputation; and Tom, with all his tenderness and cordiality, began to say:

- No, just think for a minute, - said Tom, - you judge. Here is Uncle Silas, all these years he was a preacher, not getting a penny for it, all these years he did good to people, regardless of anything, whenever it was in his power. Everyone loves and respects him, he has always been a peaceful person and never interfered in other people's affairs, everyone in the neighborhood knows that he cannot hit a person. Suspect him? It's as impossible as...

"In the name of the State of Arkansas, I'm arresting you for the murder of Jupiter Dunlap!" the sheriff's voice boomed through the door.

It was a terrible moment. Aunt Sally and Benny rushed to Uncle Sanias and hung on him, lamenting and weeping. Aunt Sally started yelling at the sheriff and the people who came with him to get out that she would not let Uncle Silas go; the Negroes crowded at the door were weeping. All in all, I couldn't take it anymore. Such a scene could break a man's heart, and I left the room.

Uncle Silas was to be put in a miserable village prison, and we went to see him off; On the way, Tom began to whisper to me excitedly: “You can imagine what a wonderful business this will be and how much danger we will face when we help him out of here on some dark night. This case will be circulated everywhere, and we will surely become famous. ” However, Uncle Silas dismissed this plan the minute Tom whispered it into his ear. The old man declared that it was his duty to obey the representatives of the law, whatever they did to him, and that he would remain in prison for as long as necessary, even if there were no doors and locks. Uncle's words greatly disappointed Tom, but there was nothing to be done.

Nevertheless, Tom considered himself to blame for the misfortune of Uncle Silas and firmly decided that, one way or another, he must release the old man from prison. So, when he said goodbye to Aunt Sally, he told her not to worry, because he decided to intervene in this matter and will deal with it day and night until he breaks this game and proves the innocence of Uncle Silas. Aunt Sally was quite touched and began to thank Tom. She told him that she was sure he would do his best. She assigned us to help Benny run the house and look after the children. We tearfully said goodbye to her and went back to the farm, while Aunt Sally stayed with the jailer's wife until October, when the trial was to take place.

Head Tom Sawyer exposes killers

This month has been very difficult for all of us. Poor Benny tried to be as cheerful as possible, and Tom and I did our best to keep the mood in the house, but all this, as they say, was in vain. The same story happened in prison. We went there every day to visit the old people. But they were still in a terrible mood. Uncle Silas hardly slept at night and often wandered in his sleep; he looked completely exhausted and exhausted, his mind seemed to be clouded, and we were all terribly afraid that these worries would finish him off and drive him to the grave. And when we tried to cheer him up, Uncle Silas just shook his head and said that if we carried the burden of murder in our hearts, we would not talk like that. Tom, and all of us, convinced Uncle Silas that it was not a premeditated murder, but an accidental one, but for him there was no difference. When the time of judgment approached, he was already bluntly stating that he had tried to kill Jupiter. You know, it was already a disaster. The matter thus became many times worse, and Aunt Sally and Benny were completely at a loss. With some difficulty, we obtained a promise from Uncle Silas that he would not talk about the murder in front of strangers. We were already happy with it.

All month long, Tom has been racking his brains over what plan to come up with to save Uncle Silas. How many times at night he did not let me sleep, endlessly inventing more and more new plans, but he could not come up with anything sensible. It seemed to me that nothing would come of Tom's idea - it all looked too hopeless, and I completely lost heart. But Tom was not discouraged. He firmly clung to this matter and continued to think, make plans and rack his brains.

Finally, in mid-October, the trial took place. We were all seated in the hall, which, needless to say, was packed. Poor Uncle Silas! He himself looked no better than a dead man, his eyes were sunken, he was emaciated and was terribly gloomy. Beside him sat Benny on one side and Aunt Sally on the other, both veiled, both trembling with fear. Tom was sitting next to our protector and, of course, was sticking his nose into everything. Both the defender and the judge allowed him to do this. At times, Tom essentially pushed the defender back and took matters into his own hands. And I must say that it was not bad at all, because the defender was from provincial lawyers and, as they say, there were not enough stars from the sky.

The jury was sworn in, then the prosecutor stood up and began his speech. It contained terrible accusations against Uncle Silas. The old man only sighed and moaned loudly, while Benny and Aunt Sally wept bitterly. We were just confused when we heard the prosecutor talking about the murder, it looked so different than in the story of Uncle Silas. The prosecutor stated that he would prove that two witnesses saw Uncle Silas kill Jupiter Dunlap, and saw that he did it on purpose, and heard Uncle Silas say that he would kill Jupiter, just at the moment when he hit him with a stick, that witnesses saw Uncle Silas hide the corpse in the bushes and saw that Jupiter was dead. The prosecutor claimed that Uncle Silas then came and dragged Jupiter's corpse to the tobacco plantation, and two other witnesses saw it. And in the night, the accuser continued, Uncle Silas came back and buried the body, and again he was seen doing it.

I thought to myself that poor Uncle Silas had lied to us, believing that no one had seen him - he did not want to break the hearts of Aunt Sally and Benny. And rightly so; if I were in his place, I would lie just like he did, and everyone would do the same to save them from misfortune and grief, in which they are not to blame.

Our defender was completely sour at the same time, and Tom was confused, but then he pulled himself together and began to pretend that he didn’t care about all this, but I saw how he felt. Well, the audience - she was completely noisy and excited.

When the prosecutor told the court everything he was going to prove, he sat down and began to call witnesses.

At first, he called a bunch of people to confirm that there was a very bad relationship between Uncle Silas and the deceased. And they all testified that they had heard Uncle Silas threatening Jupiter many times, that the relationship between Uncle Silas and Jupiter was getting worse and worse, everyone knew it and talked about it; they said that Jupiter was afraid for his life and told two or three of them himself that Uncle Silas would someday get angry and kill him.

Tom and our lawyer asked them a few questions, but it was useless - all the witnesses firmly stood their ground.

The prosecutor then called Lem Beebe, who took the witness stand. Then I remembered that we had seen Lem and Jim Lane that evening, remembered how they talked about asking Jupiter for a dog, and how then because of this the story with blueberries and a lantern began. Then I remembered how Bill and Jack Weavers walked past us, talking about how some black man stole a bag of corn from Uncle Silas, and how our ghost appeared after them, and how we got scared ... The deaf-mute was also here in court, - out of respect, they put a chair behind the barrier so that he could sit down with all the comforts, crossing his legs, while everyone else was sitting in such cramped conditions that it was impossible to breathe. I remembered all that day, and it became so sad when I thought how good everything was then and what misfortunes have befallen us since then.

Lem Bib took the oath and began to speak:

- On that day, it was the second of September, I was walking, and Jim Lane was with me. It was before sunset. We heard a loud conversation, like a quarrel, we came closer - only walnut bushes that grow along the fence separated us from the conversation, and we hear a voice: “I have already told you more than once that someday I will kill you.” We recognized the voice of the defendant and immediately saw how a baton flashed over the bushes and fell, we heard a dull thud and a groan. Slowly we moved closer to look, and saw the dead Jupiter Dunlap, over which stood the defendant with a club in his hand.

Then he dragged the body into the bushes and hid it there. And we crouched lower so that he would not notice us, and left.

You know what it was like to listen to it. Everyone's blood froze in their veins from this story, there was such silence in the hall, as if there was not a soul there.

And when Lem finished, everyone began to sigh and groan and look at each other, as if wanting to say: “Think, what a horror! What a passion!”

Here one thing struck me. All the time while the first witnesses told the court about quarrels, threats, and the like, Tom listened attentively to them; as soon as they were finished, he immediately lashed out at them and tried his best to catch them in a lie and refute their testimony. And then everything went the other way around! When Lem started talking and didn't say a word about the fact that they were talking to Jupiter and were going to take the dog from him, it was clear that Tom was eager to torture Lem with cross-examination, and I was already sure that Tom and I were about to Let's take the witness stand and tell them what they're talking about.

Jim Lane actually talked. But when I looked at Tom again, I broke out in a cold sweat. He was deep in thought - it seemed that he was now many, many miles away. He didn't hear a word of what Lem Bib was saying, and when he finished, Tom was still deep in thought. Our defender nudged him with his elbow. Tom seems to wake up and says to him:

“Take care of this witness if you need to, and leave me alone, I have to think.

I was completely taken aback, I could not understand anything.

And Benny and Aunt Sally looked completely dead, they were so excited. They both lifted their veils and tried to catch Tom's eye, but it was useless, I couldn't catch his eye either. Our goofy defender tried to bring Lem down with his questions, but nothing came of it, and he only messed up.

The referee then called Jim Lane, who repeated word for word what Lem had said before him. Tom no longer listened to him at all, he sat deep in thought, and his thoughts hovered somewhere far away. The goofy defender again began to interrogate Lane alone and again got into a mess. The prosecutor sat extremely pleased, but the judge was upset. The fact is that Tom had the rights of a real defense attorney, because the laws of the state of Arkansas allow the accused to choose anyone to help the defense attorney, and Tom talked Uncle Silas into choosing him, and now that Tom was silent, the judge did not like it.

Our goofy defender only got one thing out of Lem and Jim, he asked them:

Why didn't you tell everything you saw?

We were afraid that we ourselves would be involved in this matter. Besides, we were just out hunting downriver for a whole week. But as soon as we got back and heard they were looking for Jupiter's body, we went to Brace Dunlap and told him everything.

- When it was?

“Saturday evening, the ninth of September. Here the judge interrupted them:

“Sheriff, arrest both witnesses on suspicion of harboring a murderer.

The accuser jumped up in indignation and began to object:

“Your Honor, I protest against such an unjustified—”

“Sit down,” said the judge, placing his long hunting knife on the pulpit, “and I ask you to respect the court!”

That was the end of the matter. Then Bill Weavers was called.

Bill took the oath and declared:

“On Saturday, the second of September, before sunset, I walked with my brother Jack past the field belonging to the defendant; we saw a man who was carrying something heavy on his back, and we decided that this was a black man who had stolen corn. But then we saw it, and it seemed to us that this was one person carrying another, and judging by the way he hung on him, we decided that it was probably a drunk. We recognized the preacher Silas by his walk and thought that he had found drunken Sam Cooper on the road: the preacher is trying to get Sam back on the right path, so he decided to drag him away from sin.

I saw people sitting in the hall trembling: they imagined how Uncle Silas was dragging the murdered man to his tobacco plantation, where the dog later found the corpse. There was resentment written all over their faces, and I heard a guy say, “This is the most cold-blooded job ever, dragging the man you just killed like this and burying him like cattle. And also a preacher!

Tom sat deep in thought and paid no attention to anything. The lawyer had to interrogate the witness himself, he tried his best, but it was of little use.

Following Bill Weavers, his brother Jack was called, who repeated the whole story word for word.

Brace Dunlap next took the witness stand.

He had a completely dead look, he was almost crying.

Everyone around whispered, stirred, many women were already wiping their tears and sighing pitifully: “Unfortunate, poor thing!” Everyone in the hall fell silent and prepared to listen.

Brace Dunlap took the oath and began his speech:

“I have been seriously worried about my brother for a long time, but I certainly did not imagine that things had gone as far as he told me. I could never imagine that there would be a person whose hand would rise to strike such a defenseless creature as my brother. “Here it seemed to me that Tom started up, but then he thought again.)

“You understand,” Brace continued, “it never occurred to me that a preacher could harm him—it was wild to even imagine. And I did not pay attention, and now I will never forgive myself in my life: if I reacted differently, then my poor brother would be with me now, and not lying dead.

Here Brace seemed to lack the strength to continue, he waited a few minutes, and everyone around gasped and groaned, women cried; then there was dead silence, and everyone heard the groan that escaped poor Uncle Silas.

“On Saturday, the second of September,” continued Brace, “Jupiter didn't come home for supper. After a while, I began to worry and sent one of my blacks to the defendant to find out what was the matter, but the black came back and said that his brother was not there. I got even more worried. I went to bed, but could not sleep at all, and got up late at night, went to the preacher's house and wandered about there for a long time, hoping that I would meet my poor brother. I did not suspect then that he was no longer alive ... - Brace fell silent again, now the women were crying all as one. - Of course, I didn’t meet him, I returned home and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. A day or two passed, and the neighbors also began to worry and recall the threats that the defendant had showered on his brother. There was a suspicion that my brother was killed, but I did not believe it. A search began, but his body was not found. I then decided that my brother had probably gone somewhere to take a break from all these troubles, and would return when he forgot about his grievances. But on the ninth of September at night, Lem Beebe and Jim Lane came to me and told me everything...told me about the horrendous murder. My heart was broken. And then I remembered one case, which at one time I did not pay attention to.

I heard that the defendant has a habit of walking around in his sleep and does not know at that moment what he is doing. I will tell you what I remember. Late that terrible Saturday night, as I was wandering around the defendant's house in desperation, I stopped at a tobacco plantation and heard someone digging - petrified earth. I went closer, parted the shrub that grows along his hedge, and saw the defendant, who had a long-handled shovel in his hands, and he was finishing filling a large hole with earth. The defendant had his back to me, but it was a moonlit night, and I recognized him by his old jacket: it had a white patch on its back, as if it had been hit by a snowball. He was burying the man he killed...

With these words, Brace fell into a chair and sobbed; in the hall, only lamentations, crying and exclamations were heard: “This is terrible! .. This is incredible!” Everyone was in terrible agitation, and the noise was such that it was possible to go deaf. And suddenly Uncle Silas jumped up white as paper and shouted:

- All this is true! Until the last word! I killed him, and killed him on purpose! I swear to you, it stunned the audience. Everyone jumped up from their seats, trying to get a better look at him, the judge pounded his gavel on the table with all his might, the sheriff yelled: “Hush! Stop the mess in court!

And in the midst of all this noise and uproar stood our old man, shaking all over, with burning eyes; he tried not to look at his wife and daughter, who clung to him and begged him to calm down, he pushed them away and shouted that he wanted to cleanse his soul of crime, wanted to remove this unbearable burden that he could no longer endure for an hour! And then Uncle Silas began his terrible story, and everyone in the hall - the judge, the jury, the prosecutor and the defense, the public - listened with bated breath, and Benny and Aunt Sally sobbed so that it seemed their hearts would break.

And you think - Tom never even looked at Uncle Silas! Never! So I sat there, staring at something—I can't tell what it was.

And Uncle Silas, choking with excitement, went on and on:

- I killed him! I'm guilty! But I did not want to harm him - no matter how much they lied here that I threatened him - until the very moment when I swung a stick at him - then my heart turned to stone, pity left my soul, and I hit him with desire kill. At that moment, all the evil that had been done to me arose in me, I remembered all the insults that this man and his rascal brother inflicted on me, how they conspired to slander me and defame my good name, how they pushed me into actions that were supposed to destroy me and my family, and yet we never did them anything bad.

They wanted to take revenge on me. For what? Because my innocent poor daughter, sitting next to me now, refused to marry that rich, impudent and ignorant coward Brace Dunlap, who shed false tears here for his brother, although in fact he never loved him. (Here I noticed that Tom started up and seemed to be delighted with something.) At that moment I forgot about God and remembered only my troubles, God forgive me! And I hit him! I immediately regretted it, I was seized with remorse, but I thought about my poor family and decided that for the sake of their salvation I must hide what I had done, and I hid the corpse in the bushes, then dragged it to a tobacco plantation, and went there late at night with a shovel and buried it there...

At that moment, Tom jumped up and shouted:

- Now I know! He waved his hand very majestically towards Uncle Silas and said to him:

- Sit down! A murder has been committed, but you have nothing to do with it!

Well, I must tell you, everyone froze here, and you could hear a fly fly by. Uncle Silas sat down on the bench in total confusion, but Aunt Sally and Benny didn't even notice, they were so shocked, they were staring at Tom, their mouths were still gaping, they just couldn't think of anything. And everyone in the hall sat completely stunned.

I have never seen people in my life look so helpless and confused. And Tom, completely calm, turned to the judge:

“Your Honor, will you permit me to speak?”

For God's sake, speak up! - only the bewildered and embarrassed judge could say.

And Tom stood for a second or two - for effect, as he called it - and calmly began to say this:

“For two weeks now, there's been a little notice on the courthouse offering a two thousand dollar reward to anyone who finds two large diamonds stolen in St. Louis. These diamonds are worth twelve thousand dollars. But we will return to this later. And now I will tell you about the murder - how it happened and who committed it, in all details.

Everyone leaned forward, trying not to miss a word.

“This man here, Brace Dunlap, who mourned so much here about his murdered brother, although you all know that he didn’t put a penny on him, wanted to marry this girl, but she refused him. Brace then told Uncle Silas that he would make him regret it. Uncle Silas knew the power of Brace Dunlap and knew he couldn't fight him. So he was afraid, and worried, and tried to do everything he could to soften and appease Brace Dunlap. Uncle Silas even took this nonentity, his brother Jupiter, to his farm, and began to pay him a salary, depriving his family of everything necessary for this. And Jupiter began to do everything that his brother prompted him to insult Uncle Silas, torment and excite him. He tried to make Uncle Silas offend him so that the neighbors would think badly of Uncle Silas. And so it happened. Everyone turned their backs on Uncle Silas and started saying the nastiest things about him, and this upset and tormented him so much that he was simply not himself.

Now, on that very Sabbath that's been talked about so much here, the two witnesses who spoke here, Lem Beebe and Jim Lane, passed by where Uncle Silas and Jupiter Dunlap were working. This is the only truth of what they said here, everything else is a lie. They didn't hear Uncle Silas say he was going to kill Jupiter, they didn't hear the sound of the blow, they didn't see him killed, and they didn't see Uncle Silas hiding something in the bushes. Look at them - see how they regret now that they gave free rein to their tongues. In any case, they will regret it before I finish talking.

That Saturday night, Bill and Jack Weavers actually saw a man pulling another. Here they told the truth, and everything else is a lie.

Firstly, they decided that it was some kind of Negro dragging corn from the field of Uncle Siles. They had no idea that someone had heard their conversation. Notice how stupid they look now. The fact is that they later found out who it was, and why they swore here, that they recognized Uncle Silas by their walk, they themselves know - after all, when they swore here, they knew that it was not him.

One man did indeed see a dead man being buried in a tobacco field, but it was not Uncle Silas who buried him. Uncle Silas was sleeping peacefully in his bed at that time.

And now, before continuing, I want to ask you if you have ever noticed that when a person is deeply thoughtful or excited, he, without noticing it, makes some certain gesture. Some stroke their chins, some scratch their noses, others rub their necks, others twist a chain, others a button. There are also those who draw some number or letter with their finger on the lower lip, on the cheek or under the chin. It happens to me, for example. When I'm worried or in deep thought, I draw the letter "B" on my cheek or lip and almost never notice what I'm doing.

Tom made a good point about this. I myself do the same, only I draw the letter "O". And I saw that many were nodding their heads in agreement with Tom.

“Now I will tell you more. That Saturday—no, it was the night before—a steamboat landed at Flagler's Wharf, forty miles away. There was heavy rain and thunder. There is a thief on this ship, and he had those two diamonds that were advertised on the door of the court. This thief secretly landed on the beach with his bag and disappeared into the darkness, hoping to get safely to our town. But on the same ship were hiding two more of his former accomplices, who, he knew, were going to kill him and take the diamonds at the first opportunity. The fact is that the three of them stole these diamonds, and he alone grabbed the jewelry and disappeared with them.

Less than ten minutes after this man went ashore, and these guys found out about it and rushed after him. Probably, by the light of matches, they found his footprints. In any case, they quietly followed in his footsteps all Saturday. Before sunset, he reached a sycamore grove near Uncle Silas's field and took shelter there to change before entering the city. It happened right after Uncle Silas hit Jupiter Dunlap on the head with a truncheon—and he really hit him.

But at the moment when the pursuers saw that the thief had disappeared into the sycamore grove, they jumped out of the bushes and rushed there after him. They attacked him and started beating him. He screamed and moaned, but they mercilessly killed him. Two people who were walking along the road at that time heard his cries and rushed into the plane tree grove - and they were heading there anyway - and when the killers saw them, they took to their heels, and the two who came rushed after them. But they did not chase for long - a minute or two, and then slowly returned back to the plane tree grove.

What did they then do? I'll tell you. They found clothes that the murdered thief managed to pull out of his bag, and one of them put it on.

Tom waited a minute - again for heightened effect - and just continued:

“The man who put on the clothes of the murdered man was… Jupiter Dunlap!”

- God! - exclaimed in the hall, and Uncle Silas sat completely stunned.

“Yes, yes, it was Jupiter Dunlap. And, as you know, not dead at all. Then these two took off the dead man's boots and put on him the old torn shoes of Jupiter, and Jupiter Dunlap put on the dead man's boots. Then Jupiter Dunlap stayed in the grove, and the second man hid the corpse and after midnight went to the house of Uncle Silas, took there an old green work jacket that hung on a rope in the passage between the house and the kitchen, a long-handled shovel, made his way to the tobacco plantation and buried there is a corpse.

Tom stopped and was silent for half a minute.

Who do you think the victim was? It was... Jack Dunlap, the long-lost burglar!

- God!

“And the man who buried him was… Brace Dunlap, his own brother!”

- God!

“And who do you think, this grimacing idiot who has been pretending to be deaf and mute for several weeks now?” It's Jupiter Dunlap!

What started here! There was such an uproar that you would never see such a commotion in your entire life. And Tom jumped up to Jupiter and tore off his glasses and fake sideburns. Before us was the murdered Jupiter, alive and intact. Aunt Sally and Benny, crying, rushed to hug and kiss Uncle Silas, and squeezed the poor old man so hard that he completely lost his head. And the audience began to shout:

- Tom Sawyer! Tom Sawyer! Shut up everyone, let him talk further! Tell me more, Tom Sawyer!

Tom was on top of bliss, because don't feed him bread, just let him be the center of attention, be a hero, as he says. When all was quiet, he spoke again:

“There is little left for me to say: when Brace Dunlap tormented Uncle Silas to the point where the poor old man went completely mad and ended up hitting his empty-headed brother on the head with a club, Brace probably thought that was the right time. Jupiter ran into the woods to hide there, and I think their plan was to have Jupiter escape that place that very night. Then Brace would have convinced everyone that Uncle Silas killed Jupiter and buried his corpse somewhere. Thus, Brace hoped to finish off Uncle Silas and get him to leave these places, and maybe hang him, I don’t know. But when they found their murdered brother in the sycamore grove - although they did not recognize him, he was so mutilated - they came up with another trick: dress Jupiter in Jack's clothes, and bury him in Jupiter's clothes and bribe Jim Lane, Bill Weavers and the rest give false evidence. Look at them all, what they look like - I warned them that they would be sorry before I finished talking, and so it happened ...

Well, Huck Finn and I were on the same boat with the thieves, and the dead man told us all about the diamonds; besides, he told us that those two would kill him if they caught him. We promised to help him as much as we could. We were just near the sycamore grove and heard how he was killed there, but we got into the grove only early in the morning, after a downpour had passed, and in the end we decided that no one had been killed there. And when we saw Jupiter Dunlap here, dressed exactly as Jack was going to change, we were sure it was Jack, and he was bellowing, pretending to be deaf and mute, as agreed.

After everyone stopped looking for the body, Huck and I continued to search - and found the body. Of course, we were terribly proud of this, but when Uncle Silas told us that it was he who killed Jupiter, we were just dumbfounded. We were terribly sorry that we found the body, and decided to save Uncle Silas from the gallows, if only we could. It was not easy, because Uncle Seelas did not allow us to steal him from prison, as we stole, if you remember, our Negro Jim.

All this month I've been racking my brains to think of some way to save Uncle Silas, but I couldn't think of anything. So today, when we came to the courtroom, I had no plan, and I did not see a way out. But then I noticed something, and that something made me think. It was a trifle, and I could not be sure, but I began to remember and follow. All the time I pretended to sit in thought, I was watching. And soon, just as Uncle Silas blurted out his confession that he had killed Jupiter Dunlap, I again saw what I expected.

Then I jumped up and interrupted the meeting - I realized that Jupiter Dunlap was sitting in front of me. I recognized him from one movement that I noticed earlier and remembered. A year ago, when I was here, I noticed it.

At this point, Tom would be silent and pondered for a minute - again for effect - I knew his tricks very well. Then he turned, as if about to return to his seat, and drawled in this lazy and casual way:

“Well, that seems to be all.

I have never heard such a noise, the whole hall shouted:

- What have you seen? Don't you dare leave, you little devil! What, you painted all this until we were salivating, and now you want to leave? Are you saying what he did?

Well, you yourself understand that this was all Tom needed - he did all this for effect, in fact, in fact, he could not have been dragged from this podium by a whole team of oxen.

“It's a trifle, a trifle,” he said, “I noticed that he was a little worried when he saw that Uncle Silas himself was climbing into the noose because of a murder he did not commit. He became more and more agitated, and I watched him without showing a look - and suddenly his fingers moved restlessly, and soon he raised his left hand and began to draw a cross on his cheek with his finger. That's when I caught him.

Everyone seemed to have gone crazy, started screaming, kicking their feet and clapping their hands - and Tom Sawyer was so proud and happy that he no longer knew how to behave. Then the judge leaned down from his pulpit and asked:

“Tell me, did you really see all the details of this strange conspiracy and all this tragedy that you told here?”

“No, your honor, I didn’t see any of that.

- Didn't you see anything? But you told us this story as if you saw everything with your own eyes.

How did you manage to do it?

Tom answered him calmly and casually:

“I just listened carefully to the evidence and compared it, Your Honor. It's business as usual for a detective, anyone could do the same.

- Nothing like this! One in a million can do it. You are an exceptional boy.

Then Tom began to applaud again, and he ... well, he would not exchange this minute for a whole silver mine.

Finally, the judge asked him again:

“But are you sure you told us the whole strange story correctly?”

- Yes, your honor. Here's Brace Dunlap, if he wants to try to deny his involvement in this case. I guarantee that I will make him regret if he decides to do this. You see, he is silent. And his brother is also silent. And all four witnesses who lied so much because they were paid for it do not want to say anything.

Well, Uncle Silas also can not object, even if he speaks under oath.

Well, you yourself understand that these words caused new noise and laughter in the hall, even the judge could not stand it and laughed. Tom felt at the height of bliss. And then, amid everyone's laughter, he turned to the judge and said:

“Your Honor, there is a thief in the hall.

- Yes, sir. And on it are those same diamonds worth twelve thousand dollars.

My God, it was like a bomb explosion! Everyone shouted:

- Who is he? Who is he? Point to him!

And the judge said:

“Show him, my boy. Sheriff, you arrest him. Who is it? Tom said:

– This resurrected dead man is Jupiter Dunlap. There was another burst of astonished and excited screams, but Jupiter, who had been so shocked by everything that had happened before, now looked completely stunned. He screamed, almost crying:

- Well, that's a lie! Your honor, this is unfair, I've had a bad time already. Everything that was said here is true, Brace pushed me into it, he persuaded me, promised to make me rich, so I agreed.

And now I'm sorry; I'd rather not do this. But I didn't steal any diamonds, I'll fail in this place! Have the sheriff search me.

Tom interrupted him:

“Your Honor, calling him a thief is not entirely correct, and I exaggerated here a little. He really stole the diamonds, but he didn't know it himself. He stole them from his brother Jack when he lay dead, and Jack stole them from two other thieves. Just Jupiter did not know that he was stealing them, and for a whole month he walked around with them. Yes, sir, he's got twelve thousand dollar worth of diamonds on him, a fortune, and he's been begging for a month. Yes, Your Honor, they are still on it.

The judge ordered:

Sheriff, search him. Well, what can I say, the sheriff searched him from head to toe - searched his hat, socks, seams, boots - everything that was possible, and Tom stood nearby, completely calm, preparing a new effect. Finally the sheriff finished, everyone sat disappointed, and Jupiter said:

- Well, you see? What did I say?

Then the judge said:

“It seems, my boy, that this time you are mistaken.

Tom here adopted a theatrical pose and, scratching his head, pretended that he was thinking painfully. Then he kind of beamed and said:

- Ah, that's the point! And I completely forgot. I knew it was a lie. And he says:

“Would anyone here be so kind as to lend me a small screwdriver?” There was such a screwdriver in your brother's bag, which you stole, Jupiter, but I don't think you brought it here.

- No, of course, she was of no use to me, and I gave her away.

“That's because you didn't know what it was for.

Jupiter had by this point put his boots back on, and when the screwdriver Tom had asked for was passed over the heads of the assembly, Tom ordered Jupiter:

- Put your foot on a chair.

Then he knelt down and began to unscrew the steel plate from the heel. Everyone watched his movements in awe. And when Tom pulled out a huge diamond from his heel, lifted it up and the diamond sparkled in the sun, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, everyone gasped. And Jupiter looked so pitiful and dead that it’s even impossible to say. Well, when Tom pulled out the second diamond, Jupiter turned sour. He imagined how he could run away abroad and become rich and independent there, if only it occurred to him why there was a screwdriver in the bag. The excitement in the hall was indescribable, and Tom bathed in the rays of glory. The judge took the diamonds, stood up to his full height behind his pulpit, pushed his glasses to his forehead, cleared his throat and said:

“I will keep them for the time being and inform the owners, and when the owners send for them, it will be a real pleasure for me to present you with a reward of two thousand dollars, for you deserve this money. And besides, you deserve the deepest and most sincere gratitude of our entire community for the fact that you saved an innocent and slandered family from shame and death, and saved a kind and honest person from a shameful death. We are also grateful to you for having exposed and handing over to justice the cruel and vile scoundrel and his vile accomplices.

Well, what can I tell you, for complete happiness, do not grab only a brass band. Tom later said that he felt the same way.

The sheriff immediately took Brace Dunlap and all his company, and a month later the judge sentenced them all to prison.

From that day on, as in the old days, all the inhabitants of the district again began to gather in the little old church of Uncle Silas, everyone tried to be as kind and amiable as possible to him and to his whole family. And Uncle Silas delivered such utter, such confused and idiotic sermons that after them people had difficulty finding their way home in broad daylight. But everyone pretended that these were the best and most brilliant sermons they had ever heard in their lives, stood in the church and cried from love and pity for Uncle Silas. It seemed to me that I would go crazy, that these sermons would simply drive me to delirium tremens and my brains would dry up completely. But gradually, because everyone was so kind to him, Uncle Silas returned to his senses, and his head became as strong as before, and this can be said without flattery. The whole family was perfectly happy, and there was no limit to their gratitude and love for Tom Sawyer; this love and gratitude also extended to me, although I had nothing to do with it. And when those two thousand dollars arrived, Tom gave me half and didn't tell anyone about it. Well, it didn't surprise me.

Warning

An attempt to find the motive for the birth of this story will be prosecuted. An attempt to extract some morality from the novel is punishable by exile, and for an attempt to find a hidden meaning in it, the guilty will be shot by order of the author by the head of his artillery.

Chapter I

Civilize Huck. - Moses and the reeds. - Miss Watson. Tom Sawyer is waiting.

If you have not read the book entitled The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, then you know absolutely nothing about me. However, there is nothing particularly illegal here. The book was written by Mark Twain, generally speaking, quite truthfully. It is clear that the matter was not without some embellishments, but after all, as they say, the light stands on this. Almost everyone I have ever met has lied a little on one occasion or another. The only exceptions to the general rule are: Aunt Polly, and the widow, and, perhaps, the red-haired beauty Mary. Aunt Polly is the one who is Tom's aunt. About her and the widow Douglas are told in the already mentioned book, generally speaking, truthful, if you do not pay attention to some of the embellishments in it. As for Mary, she will be discussed ahead.

There is some information about myself in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It tells how Tom and I found money hidden by robbers in a cave, and thus got rich. Each of us had six thousand dollars in pure gold. It was strange even to look at such a lot of money, stacked in regular columns. Judge Thatcher took all this money and paid it for interest, whereby it brought each of us a dollar a day for a whole year, that is, much more than we were able to spend. Widow Douglas took me to her house, looked at your obedient servant as her own son and set out to civilize him. Taking into account the deadly correct and decent way of life of a widow, it was extremely difficult for me with her, and when I had to be completely unbearable, I ran away from her. Once again in rags and in a large granulated sugar barrel, I felt free and contented again, but Tom Sawyer sought me out. He persuaded me to return to the widow and behave decently, promising as a reward for this to accept me in a gang of robbers, which he was going to organize. In view of such a tempting promise, I immediately returned to the widow.

Seeing me, she burst into tears, called me a poor lost lamb, and gave me many other similar nicknames, without, however, having the slightest desire to offend me. I was again put on a new dress, in which I sweated all the time and felt as if my whole body was convulsed. Everything went back to the old track. The widow called the whole family to dinner at the bell. On hearing the bell, one had to go to the dining room at once, but meanwhile, having reached there, it was still impossible to get something to eat immediately: one had to wait until the widow, bowing her head, muttered a little bit over the dishes, although with them without that all seemed to be going well. Everything was fried and cooked in moderation. It would be a different matter if a keg of some sort of mixture were brought to the table; then the spells could perhaps come in handy: the contents would be better mixed, the juice would be released from itself and it would become tastier.

After supper, the widow would take out a large book and begin to teach me about Moses and reeds. I struggled to find out all the ins and outs about him, and over time I got the widow to explain that this same Moses had died a long time ago. Then I completely ceased to be interested in him, because I do not speculate in such goods as the dead.

After a very short time, I felt the desire to smoke and asked the widow to let me do it; she did not agree - she declared smoking an unclean, dense, dirty habit and demanded that I give it up completely. People all the time in general are like this - they are addicted to things about which they know absolutely nothing. If only Mrs. Douglas was fond of Moses and constantly talked about him, although, as far as I know, he was not related to her. Moreover, not the slightest use could come from him for anyone, since he had already died long ago. For all that, Mrs. Douglas lashed out at me terribly for smoking, which still had some use. Meanwhile, the widow herself took snuff and did not find anything wrong in it, no doubt, because she did it herself.

Miss Watson, a rather thin old maid with glasses, has just arrived and settled in with Mrs. Douglas. Armed with the ABC, she pounced on me and worked mercilessly for almost an hour until the widow begged her to let my soul go to repentance. I really could not endure such torture any longer. Then, for about an hour, there was mortal boredom. I fidgeted in my chair every now and then, and Miss Watson stopped me every minute. "Sit tight, Huckleberry! - Don't swing your legs! - Why are you so squirming? - Stay straight! "Don't yawn or stretch, Huckleberry!" "Couldn't you be more decent?" - she said to me, and then began to explain that with such bad behavior, it is not surprising to end up in a very bad place called hell. I, in the simplicity of my soul, decided that it would not hurt me to go there, and frankly told her about it. She was terribly furious, although there was not the slightest ill intention on my part. I generally wanted to go somewhere; where exactly - it was completely indifferent to me, since I longed, in essence, only for change. The old maid announced that it was very bad of me to say such things, that she herself would never say anything like that in the world and intended to live in such a way as to get into a place of evil, "where the righteous rest." I personally did not see the slightest advantage for myself in being in the same place with her, and therefore decided in my mind not to make the slightest attempt to do so. However, I did not tell her about my decision, as this could only irritate her and would not bring me any benefit.

Miss Watson, feeling herself set in motion, could not stop soon, and continued to tell me about the place of evil. She assured that a man who fell there lived perfectly: all day long, until the end of time, he only does what he walks around with a harp and sings. This prospect did not particularly appeal to me, but I did not express my opinion to her, but only asked her what she thought: would Tom Sawyer end up in a place of evil or not? She sighed heavily and, after a pause, answered in the negative. I was very glad about this, because I was extremely anxious not to be separated from him.

Miss Watson kept pushing me; I'm very tired and tired of it. In the end, however, the negroes were called into the room, they began to say prayers and went to their bedrooms. I went into my little room with a candle, which I put on the table, and then, sitting down on a chair near the window, I tried to think of something amusing, but nothing good came out of me. I felt so sad that at that moment I even wanted to die. The stars shone, it seemed, somehow sadly; from the forest came the melancholy rustle of leaves; somewhere in the distance an owl was crying, of course, over the dead man; there was a howl of a dog and the plaintive cry of "uive-poor-ville", foreshadowing someone's death; the wind began to whisper something, which I could not make out, but why cold sweat broke out all over my body. Then I heard from the forest the muffled voice of a dead man who needs, but fails to express what lies in his soul. The poor man cannot lie quietly in his grave and must wander at night in inappropriate places. I completely lost heart and was especially upset that I did not have any comrade at hand. Soon, however, a spider descended on me and crawled along my shoulder.

I hurriedly shook it off me, and it fell right on the candle and, before I could move, it was all wrinkled and burned. I myself knew that this was a terrible omen and that the death of the spider would bring me misfortune. This upset me to such an extent that I almost tore my clothes. It is true that I immediately got up and walked three times around the room following the same footprints, each time signing myself with a cross, and then tied a tuft of my hair with a thread, in order to protect myself in this way from witches. However, I still could not feel completely calm. It helps when, instead of nailing a found horseshoe over the doors, you lose it, but I have never heard that you can similarly prevent misfortune after you happen to kill a spider.

Trembling all over, I sat down again on a chair and took out a pipe for myself, intending to smoke. The house was dead silent now, and there was no way the widow could find out about my trick. But then, after a long time, I heard a clock somewhere far away in the city begin to beat: boom, boom, boom ... They struck twelve times, and then everything was quiet again and even seemed to be quieter than before. Shortly after, I heard a branch crackle down in the darkness in the thicket of trees, and, holding my breath, I began to listen. Immediately after that, a cat’s meow was heard from there: “Meow-meow! ..” “Well, that’s all right,” I said to myself and immediately answered in turn: “Meow-meow! in a gentle tone, put out the candle, climbed out of the window onto the roof of the shed, slowly rolled down it, jumped to the ground and made his way into the thicket of trees. There, indeed, I saw Tom Sawyer waiting for me.

Chapter II

Tom and I happily escape Jim. — Jim. - Tom Sawyer's gang. - Deep plans.

We tiptoed between the trees, heading towards the far end of the garden, ducking so that the branches wouldn't catch on our heads. Passing by the kitchen, I stumbled on the root of a tree and fell, and, of course, made a small fraction of the noise. We lay down on the ground and lay perfectly still. Jim, Watson's tall negro, was sitting just in the doorway, on the threshold. We could distinguish it quite clearly, as a candle was burning in the kitchen. He stood up, stretched out his neck, listened in silence for a minute, and then asked:

- Who's there?!

Getting no answer, he began to listen again, and then he tiptoed out of the kitchen and stopped right in the gap between me and Tom. We were so close to him that we almost touched him. For several minutes, which seemed to me very long, not a single sound was heard, and yet all three of us almost touched each other. Just at this time, I itched near the ankle, but I did not dare to scratch it. After that, I had a terrible itching near my ear, and then on my back, just between my shoulders. It seemed to me that I would simply die if I decided to hold out any longer. By the way, I happened to notice this property more than once after myself: as soon as you are in a decent society or at a funeral, you try to fall asleep, not feeling a particular desire to do so - in short, every time when itching is completely inopportune, you will certainly feel the urge to this in almost a thousand places. Soon, however, Jim broke the silence and asked:

– Who are you? Where are you?! Rip the dog of my cats, if I haven't heard something like that here! OK! I already know what I'll do! I'll sit right here and listen until I hear something again.

Sitting down on the path so that he was just between me and Tom, he leaned against a tree and spread his legs wide, as a result of which one of them almost grazed my leg. Then my nose began to itch to the point that tears came to my eyes, but I still did not dare to itch; then something began to tickle me inside my nose, and finally, right under my nose, above my lip. I really don't know how I managed to restrain myself and lie still. This unfortunate state lasted for six or seven minutes, but those minutes seemed like an eternity to me. I itched in eleven different places; I felt that I could not endure a single minute more, and so I clenched my teeth and decided to try my luck. Just at that moment, Jim began to breathe heavily, and immediately after that he began to snore. I was not slow then to calm down and come to a normal state. Tom gave me a signal, champing his lips slightly, and we crawled further on all fours. When we crawled back about ten feet, Tom whispered to me that it would not be bad to tie Jim to a tree for fun, but I categorically refused, explaining that a negro could wake up and raise such a cry that would wake the whole house, and then my absence would be revealed. It suddenly occurred to Tom that he had taken too few candles with him, and therefore he expressed a desire to go into the kitchen and borrow there. I advised him to refrain from such an attempt, as Jim might wake up in the meantime and go there too. Tom wanted, however, to accomplish some risky feat at all costs. He and I, therefore, crept quietly into the kitchen and obtained three candles there, in payment for which Tom laid five cents on the table. Then we left the kitchen, and I really wanted to get out of there, but I couldn’t cope with my friend. He crawled back on all fours to where Jim slept to play some trick on the Negro. I waited impatiently for him, and it seemed to me that he was very slow, since there was dead silence all around.

Immediately after Tom's return, we continued our way along the path, rounded the garden fence, and gradually climbed the steep slope of the hill to the very top. Tom told me at the same time that he took off Jim's hat and hung it on a branch of the same tree under which the negro slept. Jim stirred slightly, but did not wake up. Afterward, Jim claimed that the witches had bewitched him, driven him into a state of insanity and rode him all over the state, and then sat him again under a tree and, to remove all doubt, hung his hat on a bough. The next day, repeating this story, Jim added that the witches had taken him to New Orleans, and after that, with each new retelling, he expanded the area of ​​his wanderings more and more. In the end, it turned out that the witches rode him all over the world, tortured him almost to death, and brutally kneaded his back. It is clear that Jim was terribly proud of this. It got to the point that he almost did not honor other blacks with his attention. They sometimes came several miles away to listen to his adventures, and he began to enjoy extraordinary respect and honor among them. Completely alien Negroes sometimes stood near the fence, gaping, and looked at Jim, as if at some kind of miracle. When it gets dark, the Negroes, sitting near the fire in the kitchen, always talk among themselves about sorcerers and witches. If anyone had such a conversation and tried to prove himself to be a knowledgeable person in this part, Jim had only to come in and say: “Um, do you know anything about magic?” - and the talkative negro, as if someone had clogged his throat with a cork, immediately fell silent, and then slowly faded into the back rows. Jim drilled a hole in a nickel and, having threaded a string through it, wore the coin constantly around his neck, explaining that this was a talisman handed down by the devil himself, who announced that he could cure all diseases and, if necessary, call sorcerers and witches. To do this, it was necessary to utter only a small spell, which he kept, of course, a secret. Negroes came from all over the neighborhood to Jim and gave him everything they had just to look at this nickel, but under no circumstances agreed to touch it, knowing that it had been in the hands of the devil himself. Jim, as a servant, fell into complete disrepair: to such an extent he became arrogant and vain after he personally saw the devil and carried witches on his back.

Climbing to the very top of the hill behind Mrs. Douglas's house, we looked around the village below, and noticed three or four lights flickering in the windows of houses where there were probably sick people. The stars above us shone even brighter than these lights, and below, behind the village, flowed a river, a mile wide, majestic and calm. Coming down the hill, we found Joe Harper, Ben Rogers, and two or three other boys waiting for us in an old abandoned leather hut. Untying the boat, we got into it and went down the river, about two and a half English miles, to a deep depression on the upland bank.

Having moored there, we went ashore and reached a place overgrown with bushes. Tom took an oath from all the boys not to reveal his secret, and then led us through the thickest thicket to a cave located in a hill. There we lit candles and crawled on our hands and knees for about a hundred and fifty paces through a low, narrow passage. Then this underground corridor became higher, so that it was possible to walk already standing. Tom began to look into its various side passages. Soon he bent down and disappeared into the wall, where no one else would have noticed the existence of the hole. We had to make our way several dozen steps again along a narrow corridor, and then we entered a fairly large room, hazy, damp and cold. There we stopped, and Tom addressed us with the following statement: “Now we will form a gang of robbers, which will be called Tom Sawyer's gang. Anyone who wants to join her must swear allegiance to their comrades and sign this oath with their own blood! Tom took out of his pocket a sheet of paper on which the oath was written and read it aloud to us. Each boy took an oath to stand behind the gang and never reveal its secrets. If someone insults a boy belonging to a gang, the offender and his family must immediately be put to death by that of the robbers to whom this will be prescribed by the chieftain. The one who has received such an order is forbidden to eat and sleep until he has killed the intended victims and carved on their chests the cross that was supposed to serve as the conventional distinguishing mark of Tom Sawyer's gang. Persons who did not belong to the gang were forbidden to use this brand. The perpetrator was prosecuted for the first time, and in case of repetition he was sentenced to death. If any of the members of the gang dared to divulge its secrets once, a terrible fate awaited him. The oathbreaker would first have his throat cut, and then his corpse would be burned and his ashes scattered to the wind, his name would be blotted out with his own blood from the list of robbers, and he would never be remembered again, except with the most terrible curses. Best of all, it was recognized not to remember the traitor at all and to betray his name to eternal oblivion.

We all really liked this formula of the oath, and we asked Tom, did he really come up with such a wonderful thing? He frankly admitted that something belonged to him personally, but most of it was borrowed from books that described the exploits of land and sea robbers. According to him, every decent band of robbers certainly had their own oath.

It occurred to some of us that it would be nice to massacre the whole family of a boy who cheated on a gang. Tom recognized this idea as brilliant and immediately made an appropriate addition to the sworn list in pencil. Then Ben Rogers remarked:

- Well, here, for example, Huck Finn, who has no family! How would we apply this clause to him?

“Why, he has a father,” objected Tom Sawyer.

- Let's suppose that it is so, but now you won't find his father even with dogs. Before, he used to lie drunk with pigs in the tannery, but for about a year now there has not been a word or a breath about him.

A heated debate flared up on this controversial issue. They wanted to exclude me from the list of candidates for robbers, referring to the absence of a family or in general a person who, in the event of my betrayal, could be slaughtered, as a result of which I seemed to be in a more advantageous position than the rest of the gang. No one could think of a way out of this situation, we were all at a loss and kept silent. I was about to burst into tears, when suddenly a happy thought flashed through me: I offered Miss Watson as a surety for myself.

- If I decide to change, it will be possible to kill her!

All at once exclaimed joyfully:

- Of course, you can! Everything, then, is now in order! Huck can join the gang!

Each of us pricked his finger with a pin in order to get blood for his signature, and out of illiteracy I put a cross on the sworn sheet.

- Well, what will our gang do for a living? asked Ben Rogers.

“Only robbery and murder,” replied Tom Sawyer.

What are we going to break? Houses, barnyards or...

“We don’t want to do things like this!” This would not be robbery, but simply robbery; we are not robbers, but real robbers, knights of the high road. We will put on masks, stop stagecoaches and carriages, kill passers-by and take away their money and watches.

“Is it really necessary to kill?”

- Of course, it is necessary. This is considered the best way to deal with passers-by. Some authorities hold a different opinion on this matter, but the majority find it most appropriate to kill, and end in the water. However, it will be possible to bring some travelers here to the cave and keep them here until they pay off.

“How will they pay off when we take everything from them?”

“I don’t know, but that’s just the way it is with robbers. I've read about the ransom in books, and we should take it to the board.

- What will we be guided by when we do not understand what is the matter?

– You never know what we do not understand, but still we must be guided. After all, I told you that it is written in books. Would you really like to step back from the printed text and make such a mess that you won’t even clear up later?

- All this is good for you to say, Tom Sawyer, but still it is not clear how the captives will buy off from us when they have not a penny left for their souls? What are we going to do with them anyway? In what sense, I would like to know, is the word "pay off" to be understood?

“Probably in an allegorical sense. We will probably keep them in our cave until they die a natural death.

- Well, that's what I understand! That will probably be okay. So it would be possible to declare from the very beginning that we will keep them here until they pay off with death. Nothing to say, bitter will be their fate when they run out of everything to eat and they are convinced of the futility of trying to escape from here!

“Strange things you say, Ben Rogers!” Is it possible to run away when there will be a sentry here, ready to shoot them as soon as they lift a finger.

- Clockwork!!! This was just not enough! Do any of us have to sit all night without sleep just to watch them! That would be pure nonsense! Why not take a good club and force them to pay off with it as soon as they get here?

“You can’t, because there’s nothing about it in the books!” The whole question of Ben Rogers is whether we should follow the rules or just act randomly. After all, those who wrote the books knew, I hope, exactly how to act? Of course, you and I could not teach them anything, on the contrary, we should learn from them. Therefore, sir, we will treat the prisoners as it should be - in print.

- Well, okay, I agree to everything, but, no joke, it seems a little inappropriate to me. Well, shall we also kill women?

“Ah, Ben Rogers, if I were such an ignorant person, I still wouldn’t ask such wild questions!” Is it possible to kill women?! No, sorry, there is nothing like that in any book. The women are brought here to the cave and treated with disgusting politeness, so that in the end they fall in love with us and show no more desire to return home.

- Well, well, let them live! But I just don't want to do things like that. Our cave will be filled with such a lot of all kinds of women and good fellows, awaiting ransom, that there will be no place left for the robbers themselves. However, continue, Mr. Ataman, I do not intend to object to you.

Young Tommy Barnes had fallen asleep by then. When we woke him up, he fell into a very bad mood, burst into tears, announced that he wanted to go home to his mother and did not want to be a robber anymore.

The whole gang began to laugh at him and call him a crybaby. This annoyed him, and he announced that on returning home, the first thing he would do was reveal all the secrets of our gang. Tom Smart gave the little one five cents to calm him down, and said that now we would all go home, and next week we would get together to rob the glory and, no doubt, we would kill a lot of people then.

Ben Rogers explained that he was only allowed to leave the house on Sundays, and expressed his wish that the gang would go on a loot the next first Sunday. All the other robbers admitted, however, that on holidays it was a sin to engage in such matters. Thus the issue was settled. We agreed to meet once more and fix the day of our first exit onto the main road as soon as possible. Then, with due observance of all the required formalities, we chose Tom Sawyer as the chief chieftain and Joe Harper as his deputy to our gang, and returned home.

Just before dawn I climbed onto the roof of the shed and climbed back out the window of my room. My new dress was all soiled and smeared with clay, and I myself was tired like the last dog.