Chapter 12 Chapter 10 The dog barks ominously, making things worse

Out of fear, the two children didn't say a word, just ran and ran quickly towards the village.They looked back while running from time to time, very worried about being followed.Every tree stump they met on the road was like a person, an opponent to them, and they were so frightened that they dared not even breathe.When they passed the farmhouse near the village, the frightened dog barked wildly, which made the wind blow on their legs. "I wish I could run all the way to the old tannery before I'm exhausted!" whispered Tom, who was out of breath. "I can't run much longer."

Huckleberry, too, was panting badly, which clearly showed that they were now in the same position.The two children kept their eyes on the desired destination, and ran there desperately with one heart and one mind.Gradually they ran closer.Then, side by side, they rushed through the open door, and flung themselves exhausted into the shadows within, feeling extremely comfortable.After a while they calmed down, and Tom whispered: "Huckleberry, what do you think the matter will turn out?" "If Dr. Robinson dies, I think it's going to be hanged." "Really?" "Nevertheless, I know, Tom."

Tom thought a little, and then said: "Then who is going to expose it? Is it us?" "Where did you go, what if things don't go well and Injun Joe doesn't hang? He's going to kill us sooner or later, that's for sure." "That's what I had in mind, Huck." "Let that fool Muff Potter do the exposing! He's always drunk." Tom was silent, still thinking.After a moment he whispered: "Huck, Moff Potter doesn't know what happened, how can he tell?" "Why didn't he know what happened?" "He'd just taken a blow when Injun Joe struck, and what else do you think he could see? Know anything?

"It's yours, yes, that's right, Tom." "Besides, if you think about it again, that blow might have killed him!" "No, it can't be, Tom. He was drinking, I could tell, and he drank a lot. That's the kind of man my pa is, and if he's drunk enough you're going to put a church on him." Startled him. That's what he said himself. So of course Muff Potter is no exception. But then again, if you've never been drinking, the blow might have killed you, and I can't quite say clear." Tom thought for a while longer and said: "Hatch, are you sure you won't speak out?"

"Tom, we've got to keep it secret, you know that. If that darn Injun Joe hadn't been hanged and we'd leaked it, he'd have drowned us both like two kittens. .Well, look, Tom, now we swear to each other--we must--that nothing will come out." "I agree. It couldn't be better. Well, put your hands up and swear: we..." "Oh, no, no, you can't just raise your hand and swear. It can only be used for small things like ladies swearing. They swear before and forget about it later, and they sell you in a fit of anger. Like we are today For such a big event, it’s not enough to just make a verbal oath, but to write it down and make an alliance with blood.”

Hearing what he said, Tom was overwhelmed with admiration.It was dark at night, and the surroundings were dark, which made people tremble with fear.This time, this place, and this scene are just in line with this atmosphere.He picked up a clean pine board from the ground by the moonlight, took out a small piece of "red inkstone" from his pocket, and scratched against the moonlight.He writes down slowly and heavily, and lifts up lightly and quickly.As he wrote, his mouth kept moving, as if he was trying to help.In the end, after a lot of effort, he drew the following sentences: Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swore to the Alliance of Heaven: We will strictly keep the secret, and if there is any selfish intention to leak the secret, we are willing to die on the spot without leaving any bones.

Huckleberry was completely convinced by Tom's fluent writing and loud content.Immediately he took a pin from his collar, and was about to bleed himself, when Tom said: "Don't be busy! It won't do. The pin is copper and may have a patina on it." "What it is?" "No matter what it is, it's poisonous anyway. Otherwise, you should swallow some of it right now, and you'll see it." So Tom took out a needle and removed the thread.The two children each poked their thumbs and squeezed out two drops of blood.Then they squeezed several times, and Tom immediately wrote his initials with blood on his little finger.He taught Huck to write H and F, and that was it, the oath was over.They said incantations and had a dry burial, burying the pine planks against the wall.They thought that the shackles that locked their tongues were buried with them, so that the key was useless.

At this time, on the other side of the dilapidated building, a figure sneaked in through the gap, but they didn't notice it. "Tom," whispered Huckleberry, "then we won't give away the secret, ever will, will we?" "That goes without saying. No matter what happens, everything is changing and we have to keep it a secret, otherwise we will 'die on the spot', you know that." "Yeah, I think that's right." They muttered again for a while.Presently there was the sound of a dog barking outside, long and mournful, not ten feet away from them.The two children were frightened for a while, and suddenly hugged each other tightly.

"Which of us is it crying about?" asked Huckleberry, panting. "I don't know, you peep through the cracks. Come on!" "I won't do it. Come and see for yourself, Tom!" "I can't--I can't look, Huck!" "Please, Tom. It's barking again!" "Oh, my God, thank God!" whispered Tom. "I can hear it. It's Bull Harbinson." -------- ①If Mr. Harbinson had a servant named Bull, Tom called him "Harbinson's Bull"; but if his son or dog was named Bull, Tom called him (it) Bull Harbinson. "Oh, that's all right, Tom, I nearly died of fright. I thought it was a wild dog."

The dog howled again, and the children's spirits sank again. "Oh, my God! That fellow is no Bull Harbinson!" whispered Huckleberry. "Go and see, Tom!" Tom trembled, but walked over and out by the crack Look. "Oh, Huck, that's a wild dog!" said Tom almost inaudibly. "Come on, Tom, come on, who is that dog barking at?" "Huck, it must be howling us, why did we hug each other?" "Well, Tom, I think we're both dead. I know what's going to happen to me, too, for I've done so many bad things." "It's a mess, and it's all because of my truancy and disobedience. I'd be a good boy like Sid if I'd done it, but I won't. But if I'm spared this time, I bet I'll do a good job in Sunday school!" Tom started to sniff a little as he spoke. "Are you still bad?" Huckleberry sniffed. "Tom Sawyer, you're a heaven and a hell to me. Oh, my God, my God, if only I were half as you are."

Tom choked up and said in a low voice: "Look, Hatch, look, it's facing away from us now." Huck was delighted, looked at it, and said: "That's right, it's facing away from us, was it like this just now?" "Yeah, but I'm a fool to think of it. Oh, look, it's pretty good. So whose is it howling this time?" The dog stopped howling, and Tom listened alertly. "Hush! What's that sound?" he whispered. "Like—like a pig sound. No, Tom, it's a human snoring." "Yes, it's snoring! Huck, where are you listening?" "I'm sure it's over there. At least it sounds like it's coming from that end. My daddy used to sleep over there with the pigs sometimes, and if he'd snort it would be a hell of a blast. Shut your ears. Besides, I don't think he'll ever come back to this town." The two children wanted to try their luck again to see if they could escape. "Hatch, if I take the lead, do you dare to go and see with me?" "I don't want to go. Supposing it's Injun Joe, Tom!" Tom was just shaken, but he still couldn't resist the strong temptation.The two decided to give it a try, and they reached a tacit agreement: as soon as the shouting stopped, they would run away.So, one after the other, they tiptoed and walked over secretly.Not five paces from the man, Tom broke a branch with a snap.The man hummed and moved a little, his face was exposed to the moonlight, it turned out to be Moff Potter.Just now, when Muff Potter moved, the hearts of the two children rose to their throats, thinking that this time they would not be able to run, but now the fear has passed.They tiptoed and slipped to the outside of the dilapidated windshield wooden wall, and said goodbye after not walking far.The long, mournful bark of the dog came again in the night air.They turned and saw the strange dog within a few feet of the lying Moff Potter, facing him, howling. "Oh, my god, it was him who barked the dog!" The two children exclaimed in unison. "Hey, I said Tom, listen to them, about two weeks ago, there was a wild dog barking around Johnny Miller's house in the middle of the night; , but no one died." "Well, I know, no one's dead, but didn't Gross Miller fall into the kitchen fire the following Saturday and burn badly?" "That's true, but she's alive and recovering after all." "Then I ain't got nothing to say, you'll see! Like Muff Potter, she's going to die, that's what the niggers said. Huck, they're good for things like that." When they broke up, they were still thinking about this problem.It was almost daylight when Tom climbed into the bedroom through the window.He took off his clothes lightly, and when he fell asleep, he was glad that no one noticed when he went out.But he didn't realize that Sid, who was snoring softly, was not asleep and had been awake for an hour. Tom woke up to find Sid dressed and gone.It was already dawn, and there was no one in the dormitory, so one could tell it was getting late.Tom was surprised—why wasn't anyone calling him today?If it was the old days, they would have to stare at him and get up.Thinking of this, he felt that the situation was a bit bad.In less than five minutes, he dressed and went downstairs, feeling out of place and sluggish.The whole family had finished breakfast, but they were still sitting at the table, and no one blamed him for being late, and no one looked at him.Everyone was silent and looked very serious, which made his heart cold.He sat down and pretended to be happy, but it was easier said than done.Everyone neither laughed nor squeaked.So he had no choice but to remain silent, feeling extremely heavy. After breakfast Tom was called aside by his aunt, and with a beaming face he thought his wish was about to be fulfilled: whipping.But instead of beating him, his aunt stood beside him and wept bitterly.She cried and blamed Tom for how he could hurt a man her age like this.Then she said, since Tom didn't listen to her anymore, let him go on like this, and give up on himself until it killed her.Those words were more effective than a thousand lashes, and Tom's heart ached more than his flesh.He burst into tears, begging his aunt to forgive him, and pledging to repent over and over again.In this way, the aunt finally forgave him, but he felt that she hadn't completely forgiven him, so he was still dubious.He was so sad when he left that he couldn't even think of getting revenge on Sid, but Sid didn't do it: he quickly slipped out the back door.Tom came to school with a sad face and a sullen look.He, along with Joe Harper, had been whipped for playing truant the previous day.When he was being whipped, he looked worried and didn't pay attention to such trivial things as whipping.Afterwards, he went to his seat and sat down, resting his chin on the table with his hands in pain, staring at the wall in a daze.His elbow was pressed against something hard, and it took a while before he slowly moved his elbow sadly and picked it up with a sigh.The things were wrapped in paper, he opened the paper bag, and then sighed heavily, it turned out that his copper handle was wrapped in the paper bag!This was like adding insult to injury, Tom completely collapsed.