CHAPTER THIRTY

Tom is Again a Hero

After two more days had gone by, most of the people of the village had given up on finding the two children. Both Mrs Thatcher and Aunt Polly were in terrible condition and did nothing but cry day and night.

But one night, at around three o'clock the church bells started ringing. Everyone quickly dressed and met in the street. Down by the river shouting could be heard: "The children are found!" Aunt Polly couldn't believe her ears.

The whole village gathered to hear Tom tell his story.

" ... So I walked as far as the string could go, trying every path I could find, but every time I came to a wall. But at the end of the fourth path, just as I was about to try another direction, I saw a light far away in the distance. So, I put the string down and ran to it. When I got there, I found a hole in the cave, and when I put my head through it I found that I was outside again. And just below me was the river. When I went back to get Becky, she thought I was joking and wanted me to leave her alone to die, but I kept pulling at her and eventually she got up and followed me out."

When the children ran down to the river there was a boat passing by, so they shouted.

"The men told us we were five miles away from the cave entrance. We couldn't believe how far we had walked!"

It took three days of rest for the children to return to their normal health. When Tom found out about Huckleberry's illness, he went to see him over at Mrs Douglas' home. There, he was told not to mention his adventure to Huckleberry, because he was still too weak to be excited. Old Man Jones told Tom that Indian Joe's partner had been found dead in the river. He probably hadn't been a good swimmer and drowned while trying to run away.

Tom visited Becky Thatcher's home two weeks later and was told by her father that the entrance to that cave was now completely covered, so that no one would ever be able to explore it again.

Tom's eyes suddenly widened and he shouted, "But, Sir! Indian Joe is inside!"

(end of section)