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The




Adventures

of

Tom

Sawyer




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M

A Few Words to Begin

OST OF THE adventures

in this book really happened. One or two were my own experiences.
The others were experiences of boys in my school. Huck Finn really
lived. Tom Sawyer is made of three real boys.
My book is for boys and girls, but I hope that men and women
also will read it. I hope thatit will help them to remember pleasantly
the days when they were boys and girls, and how they felt and thought
and talked, what they believed, and what strange things they sometimes did.

Mark Twain
in the State of Connecticut,
Hartford 1876

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Aunt Polly
Decides Her Duty

“Tom!”
No answer.
“TOM!”
No answer.The old lady looked around the room.
“When I find you, I—”
She did not finish. With her head down, she was looking under the
bed. Only the cat came out.
She went to the open door and looked toward the garden. No Tom
was there. She shouted:
“You, Tom!”
There was a little noise behind her. She turned and caught a small
boy, stopping him before he could escape.
“What were you doing in thatcorner?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing! What is that on your hands and face?”
“I do not know, Aunt Polly.”
“I know. You have been eating sweets. I have told you a hundred
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Mark

Twain

times not to eat those sweets.”
Her hand was raised in the air—it started down—it was very near—
“Oh! Look behind you, Aunt!”
The old lady turned. The boy ran. In a moment he was up on the
high board fence.Then he was on the far side of it.
His Aunt Polly was surprised. Then she laughed a little.
“That boy! I never know what he will do next. And he knows that
I do not want to hit him. But I should. And if he does not go to school
this afternoon, I must make him work tomorrow. He does not like work.
Especially on Saturday, when there is no school, he does not like work.
All the other boys will beplaying. But I must try to make him a good
boy. He is my dead sister’s son, and it is my duty. I must do my duty.”
Tom did not go to school and he had a very happy afternoon. He
came home late. He hurried to do his share of the evening work. His
brother Sid had already finished his share. Sid was a quiet boy, who
had no adventures and also no troubles.
While Tom sat eating, his Aunt Pollyasked questions. She hoped
to learn about his afternoon.
“Tom, was it warm in school?”
“Yes, Aunt Polly.”
“Did you wish to go swimming, Tom?”
Tom began to feel afraid. What did she know about his afternoon?
“No, Aunt Polly. Not very much.”
She touched his shirt. It was dry. But Tom knew what she would
touch next. He said quickly, “Some of us put water on our heads because
we were hot. Myhair is not dry yet.”
He watched her face. Yes, she believed him. He was safe.
And Aunt Polly was glad to believe that he had been good.
The summer evenings were long. Tom walked along the street, whistling like a bird. Then he stopped whistling. He had met a stranger, a boy
a little larger than he was.
The boy’s clothes were new and good, and he was wearing shoes.
Tom would wear shoes andgood clothes like these only to church on
Sunday. Tom looked and looked. The boy’s clothes seemed to become
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better and better, and his own clothes seemed to grow poorer.
Neither boy spoke. If one moved, then the other moved. But they
moved only to the side, in a circle. They remained face to face and eye
to eye. Then Tom said:
“I can beat you!”“Try.”
“I can.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, you can’t.”
“I can.”
“You can’t.”
“Can!”
“Can’t!”
A moment of quiet. Then Tom said:
“I could beat you with one hand.”
“Do it. You say you can do it.”
“That hat!”
“Hit it off my head if you can.”
“I will.”
“You are afraid.”
“I am not afraid.”
“You are.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
More moving in a circle. Now they were shoulder...