The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 

Table of Contents
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CHAPTER 11: Aunt Polly Learns the Truth

Tom arrived home in a dreary mood, and his aunt’s first words showed him that he had brought his misery to the wrong place.

“Tom, I’ve a notion to skin you alive!” cried Aunt Polly.

“What have I done?” asked Tom in surprise.

“Done? You’ve done enough! Here I go over to Mrs. Harper’s house like an old softy, expecting to make her believe all that stuff about your dream, and then she tells me that Joe told her the whole truth. You really were here and heard

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the talk we had that night. Tom, I don’t know what’s to become of a boy who acts like that. It makes me feel so bad to think you could let me go to Mrs. Harper and make such a fool of myself and never say a word.”

Tom hung his head for a moment. He had no answer to give his aunt. He could only try to explain that he didn’t think it would turn out this way. But his explanation only made Aunt Polly angrier. Finally, Tom gave in and told his aunt that the real reason he had returned that night was to tell her that he really hadn’t drowned and to ease her mind.

Aunt Polly looked up sternly and said, “Tom, I would be the thankfulest soul in this world if I could believe that you ever had such a good thought, but you know you never did. And I know it too!”

Tom pleaded and tried to convince his aunt that he really was telling the truth. “When you

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Tom Explains His Visit.

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and Mrs. Harper got to talking about the ’funeral,” he said, “I just got all full of the idea of our coming and hiding in the church. It seemed like such a terrific plan, I couldn’t bear to spoil it. So I just put the bark back in my pocket and kept mum.”

“What bark?” Aunt Polly asked.

“The bark I wrote on to tell you we’d gone pirating. I wish now you’d woken up when I kissed you. I do, honest.”

The hard lines in his aunt’s face relaxed, and a sudden tenderness dawned in her eyes. She couldn’t believe that Tom had really kissed her. But she could tell that the boy was speaking the truth. Still, she had to be sure.

When Tom had gone off to school, Aunt Polly ran to the closet and took out the jacket he had worn on the pirating trip. She hesitated before putting her hand in the pocket. If Tom was lying this time, she couldn’t bear it. Twice she put her

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Aunt Polly Checks Tom’s Jacket Pocket.

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hand in the pocket and twice she pulled it away. But she could not resist. On the third try, she withdrew Tom’s piece of bark and read the note through flowing tears.

“I could forgive the boy now,” she cried, “even if he’d committed a million sins!”

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Aunt Polly Forgives Tom.

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The Measles!