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."As the service proceeded, the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces, the winning ways, and the rarepromise of the lost lads that every soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang inCHAPTER XVII 77remembering that he had persistently blinded himself to them always before, and had as persistently seen onlyfaults and flaws in the poor boys.The minister related many a touching incident in the lives of the departed,too, which illustrated their sweet, generous natures, and the people could easily see, now, how noble andbeautiful those episodes were, and remembered with grief that at the time they occurred they had seemed rankrascalities, well deserving of the cowhide.The congregation became more and more moved, as the pathetictale went on, till at last the whole company broke down and joined the weeping mourners in a chorus ofanguished sobs, the preacher himself giving way to his feelings, and crying in the pulpit.There was a rustle in the gallery, which nobody noticed; a moment later the church door creaked; the ministerraised his streaming eyes above his handkerchief, and stood transfixed! First one and then another pair of eyesfollowed the minister's, and then almost with one impulse the congregation rose and stared while the threedead boys came marching up the aisle, Tom in the lead, Joe next, and Huck, a ruin of drooping rags, sneakingsheepishly in the rear! They had been hid in the unused gallery listening to their own funeral sermon!Aunt Polly, Mary, and the Harpers threw themselves upon their restored ones, smothered them with kisses andpoured out thanksgivings, while poor Huck stood abashed and uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what to door where to hide from so many unwelcoming eyes.He wavered, and started to slink away, but Tom seized himand said:"Aunt Polly, it ain't fair.Somebody's got to be glad to see Huck.""And so they shall.I'm glad to see him, poor motherless thing!" And the loving attentions Aunt Polly lavishedupon him were the one thing capable of making him more uncomfortable than he was before.Suddenly the minister shouted at the top of his voice: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow--SING!--andput your hearts in it!"And they did.Old Hundred swelled up with a triumphant burst, and while it shook the rafters Tom Sawyer thePirate looked around upon the envying juveniles about him and confessed in his heart that this was theproudest moment of his life.As the "sold" congregation trooped out they said they would almost be willing to be made ridiculous again tohear Old Hundred sung like that once more.Tom got more cuffs and kisses that day--according to Aunt Polly's varying moods--than he had earned beforein a year; and he hardly knew which expressed the most gratefulness to God and affection for himself.CHAPTER XVIII 78CHAPTER XVIIITHAT was Tom's great secret--the scheme to return home with his brother pirates and attend their ownfunerals.They had paddled over to the Missouri shore on a log, at dusk on Saturday, landing five or six milesbelow the village; they had slept in the woods at the edge of the town till nearly daylight, and had then creptthrough back lanes and alleys and finished their sleep in the gallery of the church among a chaos of invalidedbenches.At breakfast, Monday morning, Aunt Polly and Mary were very loving to Tom, and very attentive to hiswants.There was an unusual amount of talk.In the course of it Aunt Polly said:"Well, I don't say it wasn't a fine joke, Tom, to keep everybody suffering 'most a week so you boys had a goodtime, but it is a pity you could be so hard-hearted as to let me suffer so.If you could come over on a log to goto your funeral, you could have come over and give me a hint some way that you warn't dead, but only runoff.""Yes, you could have done that, Tom," said Mary; "and I believe you would if you had thought of it.""Would you, Tom?" said Aunt Polly, her face lighting wistfully."Say, now, would you, if you'd thought ofit?""I--well, I don't know.'Twould 'a' spoiled everything.""Tom, I hoped you loved me that much," said Aunt Polly, with a grieved tone that discomforted the boy."Itwould have been something if you'd cared enough to THINK of it, even if you didn't DO it.""Now, auntie, that ain't any harm," pleaded Mary; "it's only Tom's giddy way--he is always in such a rush thathe never thinks of anything.""More's the pity.Sid would have thought.And Sid would have come and DONE it, too.Tom, you'll lookback, some day, when it's too late, and wish you'd cared a little more for me when it would have cost you solittle.""Now, auntie, you know I do care for you," said Tom."I'd know it better if you acted more like it.""I wish now I'd thought," said Tom, with a repentant tone; "but I dreamt about you, anyway.That's something,ain't it?""It ain't much--a cat does that much--but it's better than nothing.What did you dream?""Why, Wednesday night I dreamt that you was sitting over there by the bed, and Sid was sitting by thewoodbox, and Mary next to him.""Well, so we did.So we always do.I'm glad your dreams could take even that much trouble about us.""And I dreamt that Joe Harper's mother was here.""Why, she was here! Did you dream any more?""Oh, lots.But it's so dim, now."CHAPTER XVIII 79"Well, try to recollect--can't you?""Somehow it seems to me that the wind--the wind blowed the--the--""Try harder, Tom! The wind did blow something.Come!"Tom pressed his fingers on his forehead an anxious minute, and then said:"I've got it now! I've got it now! It blowed the candle!""Mercy on us! Go on, Tom--go on!""And it seems to me that you said, 'Why, I believe that that door--'""Go ON, Tom!""Just let me study a moment--just a moment.Oh, yes--you said you believed the door was open.""As I'm sitting here, I did! Didn't I, Mary! Go on!""And then--and then--well I won't be certain, but it seems like as if you made Sid go and--and--""Well? Well? What did I make him do, Tom? What did I make him do?""You made him--you--Oh, you made him shut it.""Well, for the land's sake! I never heard the beat of that in all my days! Don't tell ME there ain't anything indreams, any more.Sereny Harper shall know of this before I'm an hour older.I'd like to see her get aroundTHIS with her rubbage 'bout superstition.Go on, Tom!""Oh, it's all getting just as bright as day, now.Next you said I warn't BAD, only mischeevous andharum-scarum, and not any more responsible than--than--I think it was a colt, or something.""And so it was! Well, goodness gracious! Go on, Tom!""And then you began to cry.""So I did.So I did.Not the first time, neither.And then--""Then Mrs.Harper she began to cry, and said Joe was just the same, and she wished she hadn't whipped himfor taking cream when she'd throwed it out her own self--""Tom! The sperrit was upon you! You was a prophesying--that's what you was doing! Land alive, go on,Tom!""Then Sid he said--he said--""I don't think I said anything," said Sid."Yes you did, Sid," said Mary."Shut your heads and let Tom go on! What did he say, Tom?"CHAPTER XVIII 80"He said--I THINK he said he hoped I was better off where I was gone to, but if I'd been better sometimes--""THERE, d'you hear that! It was his very words!""And you shut him up sharp.""I lay I did! There must 'a' been an angel there.There WAS an angel there, somewheres!""And Mrs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]