CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Boys Come back from the Dead

The next day was a sad one for the village. It was the day that everyone was to meet at the church and pray for their lost boys. Everyone was so sad that they didn't even talk much to each other, and the children didn't play as they usually did.

For Becky Thatcher, this was a truly terrible day. She remembered how she had treated Tom. And as she thought about this she said to herself: "If only I could see Tom again, I'd tell him how sorry I was and how happy I would be to get engaged again." And then she cried.

The day before, many children from the school gathered at the front gate to think and talk about Tom and Joe and all of the games they had played with them, and all of the times those two boys had gotten into trouble. They missed them both terribly. One boy said that he had been the last person to see them alive. The children had many questions for him. This made the boy feel very proud.

The church bell rang all morning for the people to remember the boys. At ten o'clock, everyone came to the church and sat quietly waiting for the prayer service to begin.

The last people to enter the church were the families of the dead boys. As Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and all of the Harpers walked down the center of the two rows of seats, the rest of the people stood up out of respect for them. Once the two families were seated in front, the minister began to talk about the boys. He talked about how wonderful they were, which made many people feel guilty for having once thought of them as bad boys. Between prayers everyone cried.

Then, suddenly, at the back of the church, there was the sound of a door being opened slowly. There was total silence inside and everyone turned to see what was happening. And soon, walking before them all, were the very boys they were there to pray for.

Both Tom's and Joe's families came running to greet them with tears of joy. Huck felt a little embarrassed and tried to leave the church, but Tom caught him and said to his aunt: "It's not very fair that Huck doesn't have anyone to greet him."

Aunt Polly smiled even more and taking Huckleberry in her arms said, "You can think of Tom's family as your family, Huckleberry!" This just made Huck even more embarrassed.

"Oh, what a wonderful day this has turned out to be! Let me hear all of you sing as loud as you can!" shouted the minister.

And so the church was filled with singing voices. Tom even sang, and loudly too. He knew that this would be a day he would always remember.

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