Chapter2-page_18-22

Chapter 2, Murder in the Graveyard

Tom Sawyer thought about Becky on the way from school.

That night, Aunt Polly sent Tom and Sid to bed at 9 o 'clock, as usual.

Sid went to sleep quickly, but Tom was awake.

He was waiting for Huck, but soon he fell asleep too.

He woke up with a meowing sound.

It was 11 o 'clock, so he quickly got out of the bed

and jumped out of the window.

Huck was waiting there with the dead cat in his hand.

The two boys walked to the graveyard in the dark.

They got there in half an hour.

Huck put the dead cat on a new grave.

They sat behind the big trees near it and began to wait for the spirits.

The graveyard was very dark and quiet.

There was only the sound of the light wind.

It scared Tom.

He thought the spirits were coming.

The boys were silent for some time.

Afterwards, Tom said,

maybe the dead people's spirits are angry because we are near their graves.

I don't know, said Huck.

Oh, I forgot to tell you.

This is the grave of Hoss Williams.

He died last week, you know.

Tom was more scared now.

I hope he doesn't see us, he said.

Suddenly he heard a noise.

He pulled Huck's sleeve.

Do you hear something?

He asked quietly.

Perhaps the spirits are looking for us.

They can see in the dark like cats, Huck whispered.

Both boys were trembling in fear now and their hearts were beating very fast.

Tom told Huck not to move and said,

let's stay still.

Then there were voices coming from the far end of the graveyard.

In a few minutes, three shapes appeared in the dark.

They were carrying a light.

Look, three ghosts are coming this way, said Huck.

We are in big trouble.

Then he cried out.

Tom, they are not ghosts.

They are men.

I hear old muff potter's voice.

He is drunk again.

And I know the other voice.

It is engine Joe.

The boys waited quietly behind the trees.

They did not move.

The three men stood beside the new grave.

In the light from their lantern, the boys saw the third man's face.

It was Dr. Robinson, the young doctor in the village.

Start digging.

Be quick.

Shout to the doctor to muff potter in engine Joe.

He wanted to use William's body in his medical research.

Potter in engine Joe finished digging soon.

When the grave was open, they took the coffin out.

Then they took the dead body out of it.

Now the moon was shining.

So the boys saw a dead Haas William's face clearly.

Potter in engine Joe put the corpse in a wheelbarrow and covered it with a blanket.

Before moving the barrel, muff potter held up his knife at Dr. Robinson and threatened him.

Now you must pay us five dollars more, he said.

Or we will leave the corpse right here.

We won't take it to your house.

What do you mean?

I paid you just this morning, the doctor said.

This time, engine Joe came closer to the doctor.

But you still owe me, he shouted at him.

Five years ago, I came to your house and asked for some food.

You and your father sent me to jail.

You said I was a thief.

Now you will pay for it.

He was holding his fist up at the doctor as he said these words.

So the doctor hit him hard in the face and engine Joe fell on the ground in pain.

At that moment, muff potter dropped his knife and cried out at the doctor.

How can you hit my partner?

The next moment, the doctor and muff potter were fighting, rolling on the ground and beating each other.

While the doctor and potter were fighting, engine Joe quickly rose to his feet and grabbed potter's knife from the ground.

He was waiting for a chance to stab the doctor.

At that moment, the doctor got free from muff potter.

He removed a heavy board from William's coffin and knocked potter down to the ground with it.

Suddenly, engine Joe moved behind the doctor and stabbed him in the back with the knife.

The doctor died and fell on potter.

His blood covered potter's clothes.

Engine Joe placed the bloody knife in potter's open right hand and sat down.

Two or three minutes later, potter began to move in pain.

He looked at the knife in his hand.

When he sat up, he saw the dead body.

What happened here?

He asked engine Joe.

You killed the doctor, Joe said.

Why did you do that?

I didn't do it.

I don't remember anything.

I was drunk, said potter.

I won't tell anyone that you killed him.

Now run away quickly, Joe said.

Potter quickly ran away in fear, but he forgot to take his knife.

Joe picked it up and placed it next to the doctor's dead body.

Then he also disappeared in the darkness.

Tom and Huck watched everything in horror.

They were very scared.

After engine Joe left, they began to run back to the village.

The doctors in Hoss Williams' dead bodies, the opened coffin, and the knife were all left in the graveyard.

Before they reached the village, the boys stopped running and tried to think.

What are we going to do now, Huck?

Asked Tom.

We saw the murder.

We must forget about it.

We can't say anything to anyone.

Engine Joe will kill us too if we do, answered Huckleberry.

You're right, said Tom.

Potter was very drunk, and after the doctor hit him with the board, he didn't see anything.

So he won't remember anything.

Only you and I know what happened tonight, and we must keep it as a secret.

Let's promise not to tell anyone about it.

The next morning, Tom went to school, but he was still afraid and worried about last night.

By noontime, all the villagers heard about the murder.

They all went to the graveyard.

Tom went to.

He saw Huck in the crowd, but didn't talk to him.

The sheriff's men found Potter's knife next to the doctor's dead body.

They thought Potter was the murderer.

They found engine Joe and questioned him.

Joe said Muff Potter stabbed the doctor, so they arrested Muff Potter and put him in prison.