Back in St. Petersburg, people are very unhappy. It is Saturday afternoon, and the funeral for the boys is the next morning. Becky, alone in the schoolyard, is sad because she gave up Tom's prized knob, and has nothing to remind her of him. She regrets rejecting Tom, and cries. Other children come along and they talk about they last time they saw Tom and Joe, and how both boys predicted that something was about to happen. "The group loitered away, still recalling memories of the lost heroes, in awed voices." Chapter 17, pg. 107
The next morning, the townsfolk come together at the church. Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and the Harper family enter, dressed entirely in black, and the entire church stands as they take their seats in the front pew. The minister leads the congregation in a hymn, and speaks kind words about the boys. As he goes on, the people begin to cry. At that moment, the door to the church opens, and Tom, Joe and Huck enter. "They had been hid in the unused gallery listening to their own funeral sermon!" Chapter 17, pg. 109
Their families, overcome with joy, grab Tom and Joe and begin to hug and kiss them. Tom tells Aunt Polly that it's not fair that no one is happy to see Huck, and Aunt Polly begins to hug him as well, making Huck more uncomfortable than if he had just been ignored. The minister leads the entire congregation in a joyous hymn, and Tom is very proud. After the service is over, the congregation leaves the church full of joy at the power of the hymn.
"Tom got more cuffs and kisses that day--according to Aunt Polly's varying moods--than he had earned before in a year; and he hardly knew which expressed the most gratefulness to God and affection to himself."Chapter 17, pg. 109
