Little Tommy Barnes was asleep now, and when they
waked him up he was scared, and cried, and said he
wanted to go home to his ma, and didn’t want
to be a robber any more.
So they all made fun of him, and called him cry-baby,
and that made him mad, and he said he would go straight
and tell all the secrets. But Tom give him five
cents to keep quiet, and said we would all go home
and meet next week, and rob somebody and kill some
people.
Ben Rogers said he couldn’t get out much, only
Sundays, and so he wanted to begin next Sunday; but
all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday,
and that settled the thing. They agreed to get
together and fix a day as soon as they could, and
then we elected Tom Sawyer first captain and Jo Harper
second captain of the Gang, and so started home.
I clumb up the shed and crept into my window just
before day was breaking. My new clothes was all
greased up and clayey, and I was dog-tired.
Well, I got a good going-over in the morning
from old Miss Watson on account of my clothes; but
the widow she didn’t scold, but only cleaned
off the grease and clay, and looked so sorry that I
thought I would behave awhile if I could. Then
Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed,
but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every
day, and whatever I asked for I would get it.
But it warn’t so. I tried it. Once
I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn’t
any good to me without hooks. I tried for the
hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn’t
make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss
Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool.
She never told me why, and I couldn’t make it
out no way.
I set down one time back in the woods, and had a long
think about it. I says to myself, if a body
can get anything they pray for, why don’t Deacon
Winn get back the money he lost on pork? Why
can’t the widow get back her silver snuffbox
that was stole? Why can’t Miss Watson fat
up? No, says I to my self, there ain’t
nothing in it. I went and told the widow about
it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying
for it was “spiritual gifts.” This
was too many for me, but she told me what she meant—I
must help other people, and do everything I could for
other people, and look out for them all the time,
and never think about myself. This was including
Miss Watson, as I took it. I went out in the
woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but
I couldn’t see no advantage about it—except
for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn’t
worry about it any more, but just let it go.
Sometimes the widow would take me one side and talk
about Providence in a way to make a body’s mouth
water; but maybe next day Miss Watson would take hold
and knock it all down again. I judged I could
see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap
would stand considerable show with the widow’s
Providence, but if Miss Watson’s got him there
warn’t no help for him any more. I thought
it all out, and reckoned I would belong to the widow’s
if he wanted me, though I couldn’t make out how
he was a-going to be any better off then than what
he was before, seeing I was so ignorant, and so kind
of low-down and ornery.
