"Where is that boy? Tom!" Aunt Polly looked under the bed but she only found the cat. "Tom!" she cried.
Then she heard a noise behind her. A small boy ran past and she stopped him with her hand.
"What are you doing, Tom?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"Nothing. Look at your hand and your mouth. I told you not to eat the jam."
"Oh, Aunt Polly, look behind you!"
The old lady looked and Tom ran away. Aunt Polly was surprised and then she laughed.
"I never learn. Tom always plays tricks on me and I never learn. I love Tom. He's my sister's child - she's dead. But it's not easy to look after him. Tomorrow is Saturday and there's no school. But Tom must work tomorrow. He hates work but he must do it."
Tom lived in the small village of St Petersburg with his Aunt Polly, his brother Sid and his sister Mary. The summer evenings were long, and in the evenings Tom liked walking around the village. One evening he saw a big boy in front of him. The boy was a stranger. Tom was surprised because he did not see new people often. This boy had very nice, expensive clothes. "He's got shoes, a new shirt and a tie. And it's not Sunday," Tom thought. "My clothes are old and ugly."
Tom looked at him and the big boy looked at Tom. Tom did not like him. Finally he said, "I can beat you!"
"Why don't you try?" said the boy.
"Well, I can," said Tom.
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
There was silence.
"You're afraid," said the boy.
"I'm not afraid," said Tom.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
There was more silence.
Then Tom pushed the boy and the boy pushed Tom. Soon they were on the ground. Tom pulled the boy's hair and hit him hard. They both fought a lot. The big boy was angry and started crying.
"Stop," he said, "Stop!"
"Now, that will teach you something," said Tom.
Tom arrived home late and he was very dirty. When Aunt Polly saw his dirty clothes, she thought, "What can I do with this boy? Well, tomorrow is Saturday, and he must work."
Saturday morning was beautiful and sunny. It was summer and the world was happy. Tom sat in front of the fence and looked at it. It was thirty yards long and nine feet high. He was very unhappy.
"It's Saturday and I must paint this long fence. All my friends will laugh at me," he thought.
He put his long brush in the white paint and started painting. He stopped and looked at his work. Then he continued painting.
After a few minutes he had a great idea. He continued painting the fence. He saw his friend Ben Rogers in the street. Ben had an apple in his hand. He came to look at the fence.
"You're working for your aunt," said Ben.
Tom said nothing. He continued painting.
"I'm going swimming but you can't come with me. You're working," said Ben.
"Do you call this work?" asked Tom.
"Of course it's work. You're painting a fence," said Ben.
"Maybe it's work but maybe it isn't. I like it!" said Tom, "I can swim every day, but I can't paint a fence every day."
Ben watched Tom. He painted slowly and carefully. He often stopped and moved back from the fence. He looked at his work and smiled. Ben was suddenly interested in the fence and said, "Let me paint a little, Tom."
Tom thought for a moment. "I'm sorry, Ben. Aunt Polly wants me to do it because I'm very good at painting. My brother Sid wanted to do it, but he's not good at painting."
"Oh, please, Tom! Please can I paint? I'm good at painting too. Here, you can have some of my apple."
"No, Ben, I can't -"
"Then take all of my apple!"
Tom was happy but he did not smile. He gave Ben the brush and sat down to eat the apple.
Tom's other friends came by. At first they laughed at him. But soon they all wanted to paint the fence. Billy Fisher gave Tom a kite and Johnny Miller brought him a dead rat. His other friends gave him an old knife, a cat with one eye, an old blue bottle, an old key and other interesting things. His friends painted the fence and Tom now had a lot of interesting things. He went back home.
"Aunt Polly, can I go to play now?"
When Aunt Polly saw the beautiful white fence she was very happy. She gave Tom a big apple and said, "Yes, go and play! But don't come home late!"
CHAPTER TWO
Tom and Huck
The next day was Sunday. Tom wore his clean Sunday clothes - he hated this! Tom, Sid and Mary always went to Sunday school on Sunday morning. But Tom was not a good student and never listened to the teacher.
After Sunday school Tom and his family went to church. This Sunday he had a big black beetle in his pocket. When the Reverend started speaking, Tom took the black beetle out of his pocket. He put it on the floor.
There was a little dog in the church. It saw the beetle and wanted to play with it. Suddenly the beetle bit the dog's nose. The little dog barked and everyone looked at it. It jumped and ran after the black beetle. It ran all about the church barking and making a lot of noise.
The people in the church laughed silently. Their faces were red. The Reverend continued talking but no one listened to him. Tom was happy because he had an interesting morning in church.
On Monday morning Tom did not want to get up.
"Get up immediately, Tom, and get ready for school!" Aunt Polly cried.
On his way to school Tom met his friend Huckleberry Finn. Huck's father drank whiskey all the time and did not work. Huck had no mother and no home. He lived in the streets and did not go to school. His clothes were old and dirty. He went fishing and swimming when he wanted. Huck was happy.
All the mothers of the village hated him because he was lazy and used bad language. All the children of the town liked him very much. They admired him.
"Hello, Huckleberry! What's that?"
"It's a dead cat," said Huck.
"What will we do with it?" asked Tom.
"I want to take it to the graveyard after midnight," Huck said, "A dead cat can call ghosts out of their graves."
"Really?" asked Tom.
"Well, old Mrs Hopkins told me. She's a witch and she knows about these things," said Huck.
"Can I come with you?" asked Tom.
"Of course! Or are you afraid of ghosts?" asked Huck.
"Afraid of ghosts! Of course not!" said Tom, "Come and call me at my window at eleven o'clock tonight."
Tom was late for school. The teacher was angry and said, "Thomas Sawyer! Why are you late again?"
Suddenly Tom saw a new girl in the classroom. She had blue eyes and long blonde hair. She was very beautiful. Tom looked at her. He was in love! There was a free chair next to her and Tom wanted to sit there. But how?
Tom thought quickly and said, "I stopped to talk to Huckleberry Finn."
The teacher was very angry. "You know you must never talk to that boy!" The teacher took his stick and hit Tom.
"Now go and sit with the girls!" said the teacher.
The children laughed at Tom. He sat down next to the new girl. He looked at her. Then he drew a picture of a house.
"Let me see it," she whispered.
Tom put the picture in front of her.
"It's nice. Draw a man," she said.
Tom drew a man near the house. It was a terrible picture, but the girl liked it.
"You draw beautifully. I can't draw," said the girl.
"I can teach you after school," said Tom.
"Oh, thank you!"
"What's your name?" Tom asked.
"Becky Thatcher. I know your name. It's Tom Sawyer."
That night Tom and Sid were in bed at half past nine. Sid was soon asleep but Tom was not. At eleven o'clock he heard Huck meow. He dressed quickly and went out of the bedroom window.
"Let's go!" whispered Huck. He had his dead cat. Tom and Huck walked down the dark road. They walked for about half an hour. The graveyard was on a hill. There were a lot of trees and a lot of graves; everything was dark and scary. The wind made strange noises and dark clouds covered the moon.
"Are the ghosts making these noises?" thought Tom. He was afraid but he said nothing.
"Now let's find the grave of Hoss Williams," said Huck.
They soon found the grave.
"Here it is. He died last week," said Huck.
"Do you think Hoss Williams can hear us?" asked Tom.
"Well, I think his ghost can hear us," said Huck.
"Then let's call him Mr Williams," said Tom.
"Alright," said Huck, "But everybody called him Hoss."
"Sh!"
"What is it, Tom?" asked Huck.
"Do you hear the noise? Look over there, Huck! Oh, no!" said Tom.
CHAPTER THREE
The Graveyard
"Ghosts!" said Huck, "I can see ghosts! They're coming here. I'm really scared!"
"Can ghosts see us?" asked Tom.
"Ghosts can see everything," answered Huck, "Oh, why did I come here?"
"Don't be afraid. We must be very quiet," said Tom.
The three ghosts moved quietly in the graveyard. They came close to Tom and Huck.
"Tom!" whispered Huck, "They're not ghosts. They're humans. One of them is Muff Potter."
"You're right. And there's Injun Joe and Dr Robinson. But why are they here?" said Tom.
"They're grave robbers. They want to rob a grave. The doctor wants a dead body," said Huck.
"But why?" asked Tom.
"He cuts bodies and studies them. My father told me about Dr Robinson," said Huck.
The three men were at Hoss Williams's grave. Injun Joe and Muff Potter started digging. Soon the grave was open. They found the dead body and pulled it out of the ground.
"Well, doctor, do you want us to take the body to your house?" said Muff, "You must give us five dollars."
"What!" said Dr Robinson angrily, "I paid you this morning. I'm not giving you more money!"
"I want more money, Doctor," said Injun Joe, "Five years ago I came to your father's house. I asked you for something to eat. You gave me nothing. I still remember that. Now you must give me more money."
Injun Joe took the doctor's arm and the doctor hit him. Injun Joe fell to the ground.
"Don't hit my friend!" cried Muff Potter. Muff and Dr Robinson started fighting.
Everything happened very quickly. Dr Robinson hit Muff Potter on the head. Muff fell to the ground. Injun Joe took Muff's knife. He saw Muff on the ground and he killed Dr Robinson with the knife. The doctor fell on top of Muff and covered him with blood.
Injun Joe looked at the two men on the ground. First he robbed the dead doctor. Then he put the bloody knife into Muff's right hand.
A few minutes passed and Muff moved a little and opened his eyes. He pushed the doctor's body away. He looked at the knife in his hand.
"What - what happened, Joe?" he asked slowly.
Injun Joe said, "Something very bad, Muff. Why did you kill him?"
"I didn't kill him!" said Muff. He was very confused, "I drank too much whisky last night. I don't remember anything! Tell me, Joe. What happened?"
"You fought with the doctor. He hit you on the head and you fell to the ground. Then you got up, took your knife and killed him," said Injun Joe.