| Share page |
|
108 Tom Sawyer Abroad
over there and sold it out; and there ain't ever going to be any opposition, either, because we'll take out a patent."
" My goodness," I says, " we'll be as rich as Creosote, won't we, Tom?"
" Yes—Creesus, you mean. Why, that dervish was hunting in that little hill for the treasures of the earth, and didn't know he was walking over the real ones for a thousand miles. He was blinder than he made the driver."
" Mars Tom, how much is we gwyne to be worth?"
" Well, I don't know yet. It's got to be ciphered, and it ain't the easiest job to do, either, because it's over four million square miles of sand at ten cents a vial."
Jim was awful excited, but this faded it out considerable, and he shook his head and says:
" Mars Tom, we can't 'ford all dem vials — a king couldn't. We better not try to take de whole Desert, Mars Tom, de vials gwyne to bust us, sho'."
Tom's excitement died out, too, now, and I reckoned it was on account of the vials, but it wasn't. He set there thinking, and got bluer and bluer, and at last he says:
" Boys, it won't work; we got to give it up."
"Why, Tom?"
" On account of the duties."
I couldn't make nothing out of that, neither could Jim. I says:
" What is our duty, Tom? Because if we can't git |
||