The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 

Table of Contents
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CHAPTER 4: Tragedy in the Graveyard

Tom ran through the back roads until he was far away from the dreaded schoolyard. He sat for a long time by the side of the road with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. It seemed to him that life was nothing but pain and trouble. He had only meant the best for Becky Thatcher. What had he done that was so terrible? Nothing!

She had treated him like a dog. Oh, she would be sorry some day—maybe when it was too late!

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Tom’s mind wandered to thoughts of death. He could almost see it all now. They would carry his poor body into the church, and Becky and Aunt Polly would cry and cry. They would say all sorts of kind things about what a brave, wonderful boy he had been all along.

Tom was awakened from his fantasy by his old friend, Huckleberry Finn. The boys were overjoyed to see each other and began to play a lively game of Robin Hood.

When Tom realized that it was close to dinner time, he said good-bye to Huck. But they made arrangements to sneak out that night and meet in the graveyard, where they planned some more adventures.

At half past nine that night, Tom and Sid went to bed as usual. Tom waited for what seemed like eternity for Huck’s signal that the coast was clear. Finally, Tom heard the “meow” that meant Huck was waiting down by the woodshed.

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Overjoyed to See Each Other

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Tom opened the window, slipped out, and joined his friend. Huck was waiting with his dead cat, for they planned to swing it over a grave to see if this method would cure warts.

The boys walked about a mile and a half out of the village until they reached an old graveyard on a hill. Grass and weeds grew over the grounds, and many of the older graves were so sunken in that the gravestones could not be seen at all.

“Huck, do you believe that these dead people would like us being here?” whispered Tom.

“I wish I knew. It’s awful solemn, isn’t it?” answered Huck.

Just then, Tom thought he heard something. He grabbed Huck’s arm and the two boys froze.

“Did you hear it?” asked Tom. “There’s something coming this way, no doubt about it!”

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Tom Slips Out to Meet Huck.

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Some shadowy figures approached through the gloom. One was swinging an old-fashioned tin lantern. Huck shuddered and whispered, “It’s the devils, sure enough. Three of them. We’re goners now, Tom, can you pray?”

Just as Tom was about to begin praying, he recognized one of the figures. “They’re humans!” he whispered. “One of them, anyway. It’s old Muff Potter. I know his voice.”

The boys sat very still watching the three figures standing over a grave. The lantern light revealed their faces. It was young Dr. Robinson, Muff Potter, and fearsome Injun Joe, a murderer.

Potter and Injun Joe were unloading some rope and shovels from a wheelbarrow. Dr. Robinson stood beside them, urging them to hurry and dig open the grave before the moon came out.

After a while, their shovels struck something with a dull, woody sound. They hoisted a coffin out of the ground with their ropes, pried off the

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Shadowy Figures in the Graveyard

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lid, and removed a body. The corpse was placed in the wheelbarrow and covered with a blanket.

“Now it’s done,” said Injun Joe with a grunt. “Five more dollars or here it sits.”

The doctor protested, “But I paid you both in advance.”

But Injun Joe had been carrying an old grudge against the doctor’s father ever since the old man had him jailed for threatening his life. Now, he raised his fist to the doctor’s face.

Dr. Robinson struck out suddenly and knocked Injun Joe to the ground. Muff Potter jumped on the doctor, and the two men began to fight. In an instant, Injun Joe was on his feet. Wild fire was in his eyes. He snatched up Potter’s knife and crept around the fighters, seeking his chance to use it.

At the moment the doctor freed himself from Potter’s strong grasp, Injun Joe picked up a heavy tombstone and knocked out Potter with

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The Fight!

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it. Then he drove his knife into the doctor’s chest. The doctor reeled and fell on top of Potter. His blood was everywhere.

Injun Joe stood looking down at his two victims. The doctor groaned, gave a last gasp, and then was still. Injun Joe knelt down and went through the doctor’s pockets for money and other valuables. Then he placed the fatal knife in Potter’s open right hand.

In a few minutes, Potter came to. His hand closed upon the knife. He raised it, glanced at it, and dropped it with a shudder.

“Lord, how did this all happen?” he cried.

Injun Joe then told Muff Potter that he had seen the whole thing. “Potter,” he explained, “you were so drunk that you got into a fight with the doctor and wound up stabbing the poor man to death.”

At first, Potter refused to believe what Injun Joe had told him. But Injun Joe was so convincing, that Potter eventually accepted the

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Injun Joe Frames Potter

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story as true and begged his partner to keep it a secret. When this was agreed upon, the two men slipped silently away into the night. The murdered doctor, the blanketed corpse, the lidless coffin, and the open grave were all that remained of the night’s terror.

The two boys fled back towards the village, fearful of every shadow and speechless with horror.

“Huck, what do you think will happen?” Tom whispered breathlessly.

“If Dr. Robinson dies, I guess there will be a hanging,” answered Huck in between gasps for air.

Then both boys realized that they had been the only witnesses to the crime. Muff Potter had been out cold. Only Huck and Tom could point an accusing finger at the real killer. It was then that they understood the great danger they were in. Injun Joe was not likely to let them go

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Tom and Huck Flee.

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on living if he suspected that they had seen the murder and might give him away.

Once the boys were safely back in the village, they stopped to talk inside an old ruined building.

“Hucky, do you think you can keep mum about all this?” asked Tom.

“We got to keep mum, Tom. That Injun Joe would wipe us out in a minute if we were to squeal. Now listen, Tom, we’ve got to swear to keep quiet about all this.”

The boys agreed. In the darkness of night, they wrote out an oath on a piece of bark. It read: HUCK FINN AND TOM SAWYER SWEARS THEY WILL KEEP MUM ABOUT THIS AND THEY WISH THEY MAY DROP DOWN DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS AND ROT IF THEY EVER TELL.

Then they pricked their fingers and signed their initials in blood. They buried the bark and

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Writing the Oath

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whispered all sorts of magical words during the ceremony.

Now it was done. The oath had been sealed in blood. Tom and Huck would never tell anyone what they had witnessed that awful night. Their lips were sealed forever!

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Sealing the Oath in Blood

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Tom Sneaks In—Unnoticed?