Page 157 - the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer

and drink to him. Smaller boys than himself flocked at his
heels, as proud to be seen with him, and tolerated by him,
as if he had been the drummer at the head of a procession
or the elephant leading a menagerie into town. Boys of his
own size pretended not to know he had been away at all; but
they were consuming with envy, nevertheless. They would
have given anything to have that swarthy suntanned skin
of his, and his glittering notoriety; and Tom would not have
parted with either for a circus.
At school the children made so much of him and of Joe,
and delivered such eloquent admiration from their eyes,
that the two heroes were not long in becoming insufferably
‘stuck-up.’ They began to tell their adventures to hungry lis-
teners — but they only began; it was not a thing likely to
have an end, with imaginations like theirs to furnish ma-
terial. And finally, when they got out their pipes and went
serenely puffing around, the very summit of glory was
reached.
Tom decided that he could be independent of Becky
Thatcher now. Glory was sufficient. He would live for glory.
Now that he was distinguished, maybe she would be want-
ing to ‘make up.’ Well, let her — she should see that he could
be as indifferent as some other people. Presently she arrived.
Tom pretended not to see her. He moved away and joined a
group of boys and girls and began to talk. Soon he observed
that she was tripping gayly back and forth with flushed face
and dancing eyes, pretending to be busy chasing school-
mates, and screaming with laughter when she made a
capture; but he noticed that she always made her captures

1 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer