MINERVA

n most countries they’re awful high up in the nobility—dukes and such.” “Now, Tom, hain’t you always ben friendly to me? You wouldn’t shet me out, would you, Tom? You wouldn’t do that, now, _would_ you, Tom?” “Huck, I wouldn’t want to, and I _don’t_ want to—but what would people say? Why, they’d say, ‘Mph! Tom Sawyer’s Gang! pretty low characters in it!’ They’d mean you, Huck. You wouldn’t like that, and I wouldn’t.” Huck was silent for some time, engaged in a mental struggle. Finally he said: “Well, I’ll go back to the widder for a month and tackle it and see if I can come to stand it, if you’ll let me b’long to the gang, Tom.” “All right, Huck, it’s a whiz! Come along, old chap, and I’ll ask the widow to let up on you a little, Huck.” “Will you, Tom—now will you? That’s good. If she’ll let up on some of the roughest things, I’ll smoke private and cuss private, and crowd through or bust. When you going to start the gang and turn robbers?” “Oh, right off. We’ll get the boys together and have the initiation tonight, maybe.” “Have the which?” “Have the initiation.” “What’s that?” “It’s to swear to stand by one another, and never tell the gang’s secrets, even if you’re chopped all to flinders, and kill anybody and all his family that hurts one of the gang.” “That’s gay—that’s mighty gay, Tom, I tell you.” “Well, I bet it is. And all that swearing’s got to be done at midnight, in the lonesomest, awfulest place you can find—a ha’nted house is the best, but they’re all ripped up now.” “Well, midnight’s good, anyway, Tom.” “Yes, so it is. And you’ve got to swear on a coffin, and sign it with blood.” “Now, that’s something _like_! Why, it’s a million times bullier than pirating. I’ll stick to the widder till I rot, Tom; and if I git to be a reg’lar ripper of a robber, and everybody talking ’bout it, I reckon she’ll be proud she snaked me in out of the wet.” CONCLUSION So endeth this chronicle. It being strictly a history of a _boy_, it must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming the history of a _man_. When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop—that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can. Most of the characters that perform in this book still live, and are prosperous and happy. Some day it may seem worth while to take up the story of the younger ones again and see what sort of men and women they turned out to be; therefore it will be wisest not to reveal any of that part of their lives at present. *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, COMPLETE *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project G