The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 

Table of Contents
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CHAPTER 6: The Cat and the Pain-Killer

This was a bad time for Tom Sawyer. Aside from his sleepless nights, he had another problem. Becky Thatcher had stopped coming to school. Tom began finding himself hanging around her house, watching her window, and feeling miserable. He’d heard she was ill. What if she should die!

There was no joy in life for poor Tom. He put away his bat and his ball and dragged himself through each day.

Aunt Polly became alarmed. She had never seen Tom this way. She tried all sorts of

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homemade remedies on the boy, but nothing seemed to work. Instead of getting better, Tom just seemed to grow paler and more dejected. What bothered Aunt Polly more than anything was Tom’s total indifference to all her usual remedies. Ordinarily, he would put up an incredible fuss when he had to swallow medicines, take hot oatmeal baths, or suffer under hot compresses.

Then Aunt Polly heard of “Pain-Killer”—a medicine she saw advertised in a magazine. When it arrived, she tested it. It was horrible! But, at least if Tom complained, he would show some spark of his old self again.

She gave him a teaspoonful and watched for the result. Her fears were instantly put to rest, for Tom showed an unusual interest in the medicine.

What Aunt Polly did not know was that Tom was becoming bored with his unhappy existence. He was also tired of all her attempts to

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An Advertisement for “Pain-Killer”

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nurse him back to health. So he thought of various plans for getting out of this situation. It finally hit him that the best thing to do was to pretend to actually enjoy the “Pain-Killer.” He began to ask for it so often that he became a nuisance, and Aunt Polly wound up telling him to simply help himself. Little did she suspect that Tom was pouring the liquid into a crack in the parlor floor when nobody was looking.

One day, when Tom was getting rid of the medicine this way, his aunt’s cat, Peter, came into the parlor. Peter eyed the spoon in Tom’s hand and seemed to beg for a taste.

“Don’t ask for it unless you want it, Peter,” said Tom.

But Peter meowed that he did want it.

“You better make sure.”

Peter was sure.

Tom pried open the cat’s mouth and poured down the “Pain-Killer.” Peter sprang a couple of yards into the air and let out a loud war whoop.

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Giving Peter the “Pain-Killer”

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Then he set off around the room, banging against furniture, upsetting flowerpots, and making a mess of the house.

Aunt Polly entered the room and stared in amazement as Peter did a few double somersaults and sailed through the open window, carrying with him the rest of the flowerpots.

Tom lay on the floor laughing so hard he was crying. But he finally did manage to tell his aunt what had made the cat act so crazy. The old woman’s face broke into a smile. She had to admit that it was a cruel thing for the boy to have done, but at least it was a sign that Tom had his old lively spirit back.

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Peter Acts Crazy.

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Becky Won’t Look at Tom.