Page 253 - the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer
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to drink. That little piece is our last candle!’
              Becky gave loose to tears and wailings. Tom did what he
            could to comfort her, but with little effect. At length Becky
            said:
              ‘Tom!’
              ‘Well, Becky?’
              ‘They’ll miss us and hunt for us!’
              ‘Yes, they will! Certainly they will!’
              ‘Maybe they’re hunting for us now, Tom.’
              ‘Why, I reckon maybe they are. I hope they are.’
              ‘When would they miss us, Tom?’
              ‘When they get back to the boat, I reckon.’
              ‘Tom,  it  might  be  dark  then  —  would  they  notice  we
           hadn’t come?’
              ‘I don’t know. But anyway, your mother would miss you
            as soon as they got home.’
              A  frightened  look  in  Becky’s  face  brought  Tom  to  his
            senses and he saw that he had made a blunder. Becky was
           not to have gone home that night! The children became si-
            lent and thoughtful. In a moment a new burst of grief from
           Becky showed Tom that the thing in his mind had struck
           hers also — that the Sabbath morning might be half spent
            before Mrs. Thatcher discovered that Becky was not at Mrs.
           Harper’s.
              The children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle
            and watched it melt slowly and pitilessly away; saw the half
           inch of wick stand alone at last; saw the feeble flame rise and
           fall, climb the thin column of smoke, linger at its top a mo-
           ment, and then — the horror of utter darkness reigned!

                                       The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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