Chapter III.

Tom as a General—Triumph and Reward

—Dismal Felicity—Commission and Omission

ILLUSTRATIONS

Tom Sawyer

Tom at Home

Aunt Polly Beguiled

A Good Opportunity

Who's Afraid

Late Home

Jim

'Tendin'to Business

Ain't that Work?

Amusement

Becky Thatcher

Paying Off

After the Battle

"Showing Off"

Not Amiss

Mary

Tom Contemplating

Dampened Ardor

You th

PREFACE

Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.

The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the We st at the period of this story—that is to say, thirty or forty years ago.

Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.

THE AUTHOR.

HARTFORD, 1876.