All the while that Huck was following Injun Joe and his partner to the Widow Douglas’ house, Tom and Becky were still on the other side of the shore exploring the cave. Neither knew that the picnic party had long since departed. And, in the excitement of boarding the boat, no one in the laughing, shouting crowd of young people had noticed that Tom and Becky were not with them.
Without realizing it, Tom and Becky had lost their way. They had started through a long corridor in the cave and, at each new opening,
“We’re lost, Tom! We’ll never get out of here. The others have left, and we’ll surely die here before anyone finds us.”
Tom tried to cheer her up. He assured her that they would find a way out.
But after several hours, hunger and fatigue set in. They ate their last piece of cake, and Becky’s legs refused to carry her another inch. So she and Tom sat down and rested. In the light of their last candle, they talked of home, its comfortable beds, and all their friends. When the candle finally flickered and went out, Becky cried, and Tom frowned in silence. He was frightened too.
Time passed. Tom and Becky fell asleep and woke up several times. They had no way of
“Tom, do you think they’ll miss us and come and hunt for us?” Becky asked hopefully.
“Yes, they will! They certainly will!” Tom reassured her.
Tom and Becky both realized how worried and anxious their family and friends must be. Their conversation drifted off, and they became silent and thoughtful.
The hours passed, and hunger began to torment them again. They were getting too weak to even move when Tom suddenly gasped. “Sh! Did you hear that?”
They both held their breaths and listened. There was a sound like a faint, far-off shout.
Tom jumped up and quickly answered it. Then he helped Becky to her feet. Leading her
“It’s them!” shouted Tom. “They’ve come for us! Becky, we’re all right now!”
The joy of the prisoners was almost overwhelming. Their speed was slow, however, because large, deep pits were common in the cave, and they had to walk carefully. They shortly came to one pit and had to stop. It might be three feet deep, it might be a hundred. They could not pass it.
Tom got down on his stomach and reached down as far as he could. No bottom. They would have to stay there and wait until the searchers came. They listened for the shouts again, but the voices were becoming more and more distant. After a little while, they disappeared altogether.
Tom and Becky were miserable. Tom shouted until he was hoarse, but it was no use. Still, he talked hopefully to Becky as they groped their way back to a spring of fresh water they had passed earlier. They lay down to rest there, and the weary time dragged on.
When Tom awoke and could think clearly, he realized that there were some side passages along the corridors. It would be better to explore some of them than to sit and do nothing. So he took a ball of kite string from his pocket, tied it to a rock jutting out from the cave wall, and he and Becky started off. Tom led the way, unwinding the line as he groped along. At the end of twenty steps, the corridor ended in a ledge. Tom got down on his knees and felt below and then as far around the corner as he could reach. The moment his head turned the corner, his heart filled with joy. For not twenty yards away he saw a human hand holding a candle.
Tom stood up and began to shout. Instantly, that hand was followed by a body from behind a rock. Tom was paralyzed with fear when he recognized…Injun Joe!
But before Tom could grab Becky and run, Injun Joe fled into the darkness. He probably had not recognized Tom’s voice because of the echoes in the cave.
Still, Tom’s fright weakened every muscle in his body. He told himself that if he had strength enough to get back to the spring, he would stay there. Nothing would tempt him to risk meeting Injun Joe again. He did not want to alarm Becky by telling her what he had seen, so he explained that he had only shouted “for luck.”
But hunger led Tom to try again. After a long sleep, he awoke, ready to explore the cave once more. Becky was very weak. She had Sunk into a half-conscious state and would not be roused to go with him. She mumbled that she would
Tom choked back a sob and kissed her. He made a show of being confident of finding the searchers or an escape from the cave, but he was distressed with hunger and fear. Taking the kite string in his hand, he went groping down one of the passages on his hands and knees.