Chapter 11 Chapter 9 The Tragedy at the Graveyard, Potter's Suffering

At half-past nine that night Tom and Sid were put to bed as usual, and they said their prayers, and Sid promptly fell asleep.Tom wasn't asleep, he was lying on the bed, waiting impatiently.It seemed to him that it was almost dawn when he heard the clock strike ten!This is so disappointing.He wanted to roll over and move as his nerves demanded, but he was afraid of waking Sid, so he lay motionless with his eyes fixed on the dark night sky.Everything was silent and eerie.Then in the silence, a small, barely audible movement gradually grew louder.All I could hear was the pendulum ticking.The beams of those old houses also mysteriously cracked.The stairs are also faint and creaking.It was obvious that ghosts were moving around.From Aunt Polly's bedroom came a regular, muffled snore.Then a cricket began to make a disturbing chirp, and no one could tell where it was.Then there was an eerie ticking sound from a small borer in the wall over the bed, which made Tom startle--it seemed to mean that someone's days were numbered.Then a dog howled in the distance, and this bark vibrated in the night sky, echoing the faint barking of a dog in the distance.Tom was absolutely miserable.Finally he decides that time has stopped and eternity has begun.He dozed involuntarily. The clock struck eleven, but he did not hear it.Later, in his drowsy, half-sleeping state, there was a very miserable meowing sound from outside.A neighbor opened the window and the sound startled him.A scolding of "Go away! You plague cat!" and the sound of an empty bottle smashing on his aunt's wooden shed brought him fully awake, and in a moment, he put on his coat and hat, and came out of the window. , crawling on the roof.As he climbed, he gave a cautious "meow" once or twice; then he jumped up to the log cabin, and from there to the ground.Huckleberry Finn was already waiting there, still holding his dead cat.Then the two children disappeared into the darkness together.Half an hour later, they were walking through the tall grass in the cemetery.

This is an old-fashioned cemetery in the west, located on a hill about a mile from the village.There is a crooked wooden fence around the cemetery, some places fall inward, some places slope outward, in short, no place is straight.The entire cemetery was overgrown with weeds, all the old graves had collapsed, and there was not even a tombstone on the grave.The domed, moth-eaten wooden sign was helpless, stuck crookedly on the grave.Most of the signs that once had something like "In Memory of So-and-so" are no longer legible, even in the light of day. A breeze blew through the woods, making a rustling sound, and Tom feared it might be the ghosts complaining of being disturbed.The two children seldom spoke, that is to say, they only dared to speak quietly, because at this time and here, everywhere was solemn and silent, which was depressing.They found the newly raised tomb they were looking for.Within a few feet of the grave, three large elm trees grew together, and there they hid.

They waited in silence for what seemed a long time, and there was a dead silence save for the distant hooting of an owl.Tom was overwhelmed with boredom, and he had to break the silence to say something, and he asked in a low voice: "Hatch, do you believe the dead want us here?" Huckleberry whispered: "Whom am I asking? It's frighteningly quiet here, isn't it?" "yes." For a long while they were silent, each thinking about it in his own mind.Then Tom whispered again: "Hey, I say Hatch—did you know Hosse Williams heard us?" "Of course. At least his ghost can hear."

Tom paused a moment before saying: "I wish I had said 'sir' when I mentioned him. But I never disrespected him. Everyone called him Hoth." "Tom, be very, very careful when you talk about dead people." This remark dampened Tom like a bucket of cold water, and the conversation broke off. After a while Tom took Huck's arm and said, "Hush!" "What's the matter, Tom?" They pressed close together, their hearts pounding. "Hush! Here we go again! Didn't you hear?" "I--" "Listen! Listen now." "Oh, my God, Tom, they're coming, they're coming, really! What shall we do?"

"I don't know. Do you think they'll see us?" "Oh, Tom, they can see at night like cats. I wish I hadn't come." "Oh, don't be afraid. I don't think they'll bother us. We're not messing with them. If we don't move, they probably won't notice us at all." "Tom, I can't think of it. But God, I'm shaking all over." "listen!" The two children leaned very close, bowed their heads, and held their breath.At this time, a low voice came from the distant cemetery. "Look! look there!" whispered Tom. "What's that?"

"It's a will-o'-the-wisp. Oh, Tom, that's too scary." In the darkness, a few vague shadows came over, an old-fashioned tin lantern swayed back and forth, and the ground was illuminated with spots of light.Huck immediately said tremblingly: "It must be a ghost, my God, there's three of them! Tom, we're dead! Can you still pray?" "I'll try, but don't be afraid. They won't hurt us. Now I lie down and sleep, and I—"' "Hush!" "What is it, Huck?" "It's a man! At least one is a man. That's the voice of old Muff Potter."

"No—that's not his voice." "I bet I'm not mistaken, you've got to be absolutely quiet. He's not that smart, he won't see us. Probably drunk as usual - the goddamn useless old thing!" "Well, I'll keep quiet. Now they're not gone. Can't find them. Now they're at it again. Now they're up. And down. And again. Plenty! They're right this time direction. Now, Huck, I hear another voice, and that's Injun Joe." "Yes, the murderous bastard! I wish they were all ghosts, and ghosts are much better than them. What bad idea can they get here?

Both children stopped and whispered no more.At this moment the three men came to the grave, and stood not a few feet from where the children hid. "Here we are," said a third, and the lantern-bearer held up the lantern, and in the light there appeared the face of young Doctor Robinson. " Potter and Injun Joe were pushing a wheelbarrow with a rope and two shovels.They unloaded the car and began digging the grave.The doctor put the lantern on the grave, went under the elm tree, and sat down with his back against one.The tree was so close that the two children could reach out and touch him.

"Dig fast, boys!" he whispered. "The moon could come out any minute." They responded in rough voices and continued digging.For a while, all they could hear was the crackling sound of their shovels throwing dirt and stones.It was very monotonous and harsh.Then a shovel touched the coffin with a low, wooden sound.After a minute or two, the two men lifted the coffin out and put it on the ground.They pried open the coffin lid with a shovel, got the body out, and dumped it on the ground.The moon came out from behind the clouds and shone on the pale face of the corpse.They prepared the car, put the body on it, covered it with a blanket and tied it with rope.Potter took out a large switchblade, cut the end of the rope hanging from the car, and said:

"Doctor, the damn thing is done now. Take another five bucks, or don't take it away." "Yes, that's right!" said Injun Joe. "Well, I say, what does that mean?" asked the doctor. "According to your request, I have already given you money in advance." "That's right, but it's more than that," said Injun Joe, walking up to the doctor who was already on his feet. "One night five years ago, I went to your father's kitchen to beg for something to eat, and you kicked me out, and you said that there was nothing good for me to go to the kitchen; since then, I swear: It costs a hundred I will settle you for years. Your father put me in a cell because I am blind. Do you think I will let it go? The blood of the Indians was not in vain. Now that you are in my hands, you have to Pay for it."

Speaking of which, he had already started shaking his fist in front of the doctor to threaten him.The Doctor knocked the villain down with a sudden blow, and Porter dropped the knife, yelling, "Hey, how dare you hit my friend!" Then he and the Doctor wrestled.The two fought desperately, stepping on the grass on the ground and kicking the mud flying.Injun Joe got up quickly from the ground, eyes burning with anger, grabbed the knife that Potter had thrown on the ground, stooped like a cat, and walked quietly around the two fighters, Looking for opportunities.Suddenly the doctor threw his opponent away, grabbed the heavy headstone on Williams's grave, and knocked Potter down with a single blow.At the same time, the bastard took the opportunity to stab the knife all the way into the doctor's chest.The doctor wobbled and fell, his body on top of Potter.Potter was covered in blood.Then dark clouds hid the dreadful spectacle, and the two terrified children ran away in the darkness. Presently the clouds receded and the moon appeared again, and Injun Joe stood beside the two men and gazed at them.The doctor mumbled something, took a long breath or two, and died peacefully.The bastard also said: "That's evened out—you bloody fellow." Then he searched the body again, and then he placed the murderous knife in Potter's open stone hand, and sat on the broken coffin.Three-four-five minutes passed before Potter began to move and moan.His hand held the knife.He raised the knife and glanced at it, then shuddered, and the knife fell to the ground.Then he sat up, pushed the body away from him, and stared at it for a moment, then looked around, bewildered.His eyes met Joe's. "My God, what's the matter, Joe?" he said. "It's a terrible thing," said Qiao, without moving. "Why do you want to do this?" "Me! I didn't do it." "Listen! How can you deny this." Potter trembled with terror and turned pale. "I think I'll be sober. I didn't feel like drinking tonight, but I'm still getting more foggy than when we came here. I'm so groggy now that I can hardly remember anything. Tell me, Joe, man, honestly, did I do it? Joe, I don't want to do that. In goodness, I don't want to do that, Joe, tell me what's going on? Joe? Oh, it's horrible— —He is so young and promising, with a bright future." "Hey, it's just the two of you wrestling, and he hits you with the tombstone, and you're knocked down. Then you get up, wobbly, and that's it, you grab the tombstone The knife stabbed into his body all at once. At this time, he gave you another blow, so you just lay here, as if you were dead, unconscious, and have been lying down until now." "Oh, I don't know what I've done. If I'd been sober, I'd have died right away. I think it's all about the whiskey, and the impulsiveness. Joe, I haven't used it before." A weapon. I've fought, but never used a weapon. People know that. Joe, don't you tell it! Joe, it's funny you say you won't. Joe, I've always liked you, and I've always been on your side. Don't you forget, Joe, you won't tell, will you?" And the poor fellow, clasping his hands, fell on his knees imploringly before the cruel in front of the murderer. "Yes. Muff Potter, you've been good to me, and I won't do you any wrong. Well, I say it's fair." "Oh, Jo, you are so kind. I wish you the best of luck." Potter began to cry. "Oh, come on, don't say any more. This is not the time to cry. You go that way, and start now, without leaving any footprints." Potter started off at a trot, and soon broke into a gallop.The bastard stood there, looked at his back, and muttered to himself: "He was hit, and he didn't sober up. Look at him, he probably can't remember this knife. Even if he gets up, He's gone miles and miles away. He wouldn't dare come back here for a knife all by himself—the coward." Two or three minutes later, only the moonlight illuminated the murdered man, the blanket-wrapped body, the uncovered coffin, and the dug-up grave.Everything returned to calm again.