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Tom Sawyer Abroad 41
Then he got still; but he warn't still ten minutes till we got suspicious, and wished he would start up his noise again, so we could tell where he was. By and by there was a flash of lightning, and we see him start to get up, but he staggered and fell down. We heard him scream out in the dark:
" They don't want to go to England. All right, I'll change the course. They want to leave me. I know they do. Well, they shall — and now /"
I 'most died when he said that. Then he was still again — still so long I couldn't bear it, and it did seem to me the lightning wouldn't ever come again. But at last there was a blessed flash, and there he was, on his hands and knees crawling, and not four feet from us. My, but his eyes was terrible! He made a lunge for Tom, and says, "Overboard you go!" but it was already pitch-dark again, and I couldn't see whether he got him or not, and Tom didn't make a sound.
There was another long, horrible wait; then there was a flash, and I see Tom's head sink down outside the boat and disappear. He was on the rope-ladder that dangled down in the air from the gunnel. The professor let off a shout and jumped for him, and straight off it was pitch-dark again, and Jim groaned out, " Po' Mars Tom, he's a goner!" and made a jump for the professor, but the professor warn't there.
Then we heard a couple of terrible screams, and then another not so loud, and then another that was 'way below, and you could only just hear it; and I heard Jim say, 4lPo' Mars Tom!" |
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