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"Uneasy!" she says, "I'm ready to go distracted! He must a come; and

you've missed him along the road. I know it's so -- something tells me so."

"Why Sally, I couldn't miss him along the road -- you know that."

"But oh, dear, dear, what will Sis say! He must a come! You must a

missed him. He" ssssssssss

"Oh, don't distress me any more'n I'm already distressed. I don't know

what in the world to make of it. I'm at my wit's end, and I don't mind ac-

knowledging 't I'm right down scared. But there's no hope that he's come; for

he couldn't come and me miss him. Sally, it's terrible -- just terrible -- something's

happened to the boat, sure!" ssssssssss

"Why, Silas! Look yonder! -- up the road! -- ain't that somebody coming?"

He sprung to the window at the head of the bed, and that give Mrs. Phelps the

chance she wanted. She stooped down quick, at the foot of the bed, and give me

a pull, and out I come; and when he turned back from the window, there she

stood, a-beaming and a-smiling like a house afire, and I standing pretty meek

and sweaty alongside. The old gentleman stared, and says:

"Why, who's that?"

"Whodo you reckon 't is?"

"I haint no idea. Who is it?"

"It's Tom Sawyer!"

By jings, I most slumped though the floor. But there warn't no time to swap

knives; the old man grabbed me by the hand and shook, and kept on shaking;

and all the time, how the woman did dance around and laugh and cry; and then

how they both did fire off questions about Sid, and Mary, and the rest of the

tribe.

But if they was joyful, it warn't nothing to what I was; for it was like being

born again, I was so glad to find out who I was. Well, they froze to me for two

hours; and at last when my chin was so tired it couldn't hardly go, any more, I

had told them more about my family -- I mean the Sawyer family -- than ever

happened to any six Sawyer families. And I explained all about how we blowed

out a cylinder-head at the mouth of White Kiver and it took us three days to fix

it. Which was all right, and worked first rate; because they didn't know but

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