Monday morning was a bad time for Tom Sawyer. He always felt miserable (very unhappy) on Monday mornings. It was the start of a new week at school. Tom Sawyer hated school. He felt like a prisoner there.
Tom Sawyer lay in bed and thought. He wanted to be sick. If he was sick, he could stay home from school. He looked for a problem with his body. First, he thought about his stomach. But the pain soon went away.
Then Tom Sawyer found a loose tooth. This was lucky. He started to groan. But then he stopped. He knew Aunt Polly would pull the tooth out. That would hurt very much. He decided to save the tooth for later.
Tom Sawyer remembered a story about a sick man. This man almost lost a finger. Tom Sawyer looked at his sore toe. He did not know the right way to act sick, but he started to groan loudly anyway.
Sid was sleeping in the same bed. Sid did not wake up. Tom Sawyer groaned louder. He imagined that his toe really hurt. Sid continued to sleep. Tom Sawyer was angry. He shook Sid and said, "Sid! Sid!"
Tom Sawyer started to groan again. Sid woke up and looked at Tom Sawyer. Sid asked, "Tom! Tom! What is the matter?" Tom Sawyer did not answer at first. He only moaned. Finally, Tom Sawyer said, "Oh, do not move me, Sid!"
Sid was very worried. He wanted to call Aunt Polly. Tom Sawyer said, "No, do not call anyone. I forgive you for everything, Sid. Tell everyone I forgive them." Tom Sawyer was acting very well. Sid believed him.
Sid ran downstairs to find Aunt Polly. He cried, "Oh, Aunt Polly, come quick! Tom is dying!" Aunt Polly did not believe it. She said it was nonsense. But she ran upstairs anyway. Sid and Mary followed her.
Aunt Polly’s face was white. When she reached the bed, she asked, "Tom, what is the matter with you?" Tom Sawyer answered, "Oh, Aunt Polly, my sore toe is mortified (dead and turning black)!"
Aunt Polly sat down in a chair. She laughed a little, and then she cried a little. She knew Tom Sawyer was lying. She said, "Tom, stop this nonsense. Get out of bed now."
The pain in the toe went away. Tom Sawyer felt a little foolish. He said, "Aunt Polly, it felt dead! It hurt so much that I forgot about my tooth." Aunt Polly asked about the tooth. Tom Sawyer said it was loose and hurt very much.
Aunt Polly looked in his mouth. She said the tooth was loose, but he was not going to die. She told Mary to get some silk thread. She also asked for a hot piece of wood from the kitchen fire.
Tom Sawyer was afraid. He cried, "Please, Aunt Polly, do not pull it out! It does not hurt now. I want to go to school!" Aunt Polly laughed. She knew Tom Sawyer only wanted to go fishing.
Aunt Polly tied one end of the thread to the tooth. She tied the other end to the bed. Then she put the hot wood near Tom Sawyer’s face. Tom Sawyer jumped back. The tooth came out and stayed on the bed.
Tom Sawyer went to school after breakfast. He was now famous. He had a gap in his teeth. This gap allowed him to spit in a new and cool way. Many boys followed Tom Sawyer to see him spit. He was the most important boy in town.
On the way to school, Tom Sawyer met Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn was the son of the town drunk. All the mothers in the town hated Huckleberry Finn. He was a pariah (a person that people do not like or accept).
Huckleberry Finn was dirty and wore old clothes. He did not go to school or church. He could go fishing or swimming any time he wanted. He was free. Every other boy in the town was jealous of Huckleberry Finn.
Tom Sawyer said, "Hello, Huckleberry!" Huckleberry Finn had a dead cat. Tom Sawyer asked what a dead cat was good for. Huckleberry Finn said it could cure warts (small, hard bumps on the skin).
Tom Sawyer said that "spunk-water" was better for warts (small, hard bumps on the skin). Spunk-water was rain water inside an old tree. They talked about different ways to use magic to cure their skin.
Huckleberry Finn said you must take the dead cat to a graveyard (a place where dead people are buried). You must go at midnight when a bad person is buried. When a devil comes to take the bad person, you throw the cat at the devil.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn decided to go to the graveyard that night. Then Tom Sawyer saw that Huckleberry Finn had a tick (a very small insect that bites). Tom Sawyer wanted the insect very much.
Tom Sawyer offered to trade his tooth for the tick (a very small insect that bites). Huckleberry Finn looked at the tooth. He said, "It is a trade." Tom Sawyer put the insect in a box, and they went their separate ways.
Tom Sawyer arrived at school late. The teacher was angry. He asked why Tom Sawyer was late. Tom Sawyer saw a new girl with yellow hair. Her name was Becky Thatcher. There was an empty seat next to her.
Tom Sawyer said, "I stopped to talk with Huckleberry Finn!" The teacher and the students were shocked. Talking to Huckleberry Finn was a very bad thing. The teacher was very angry at Tom Sawyer.
The teacher hit Tom Sawyer with a stick many times. Then the teacher told Tom Sawyer to sit with the girls. The other students laughed. Tom Sawyer pretended to be sad, but he was actually very happy.
Tom Sawyer sat down next to Becky Thatcher. At first, she moved away from him. Tom Sawyer put a peach on her desk. She pushed it away. Tom Sawyer put it back. Finally, Becky Thatcher let the peach stay there.
Tom Sawyer began to draw on his slate (a small board used for writing in school). Becky Thatcher wanted to see. Tom Sawyer drew a house and a man. Becky Thatcher whispered, "It is beautiful. Now draw me."
Tom Sawyer drew a girl. Becky Thatcher liked the drawing very much. She asked Tom Sawyer to teach her how to draw. Tom Sawyer said he would teach her at noon. Then Tom Sawyer wrote "I love you" on the slate (a small board used for writing in school).
Becky Thatcher hit his hand, but she looked pleased. Just then, the teacher grabbed Tom Sawyer by the ear. The teacher took Tom Sawyer back to the boys' side of the room. All the children laughed at him.
Tom Sawyer tried to study, but he could not. He was too happy about Becky Thatcher. He made many mistakes in his classes. He even lost his medal for being the best student at spelling. But Tom Sawyer did not care.