I m agreed. It s the best thing. Would you just hold hands and swear
that we
Oh no, that wouldn t do for this. That s good enough for little
rubbishy common things specially with gals, cuz _they_ go back on you
anyway, and blab if they get in a huff but there orter be writing bout
a big thing like this. And blood.
Tom s whole being applauded this idea. It was deep, and dark, and awful;
the hour, the circumstances, the surroundings, were in keeping with it.
He picked up a clean pine shingle that lay in the moon-light, took a
little fragment of red keel out of his pocket, got the moon on
his work, and painfully scrawled these lines, emphasizing each slow
down-stroke by clamping his tongue between his teeth, and letting up the
pressure on the up-strokes.
Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swears they will keep mum about This and
They wish They may Drop down dead in Their Tracks if They ever Tell
and Rot.
Huckleberry was filled with admiration of Tom s facility in writing, and
the sublimity of his language. He at once took a pin from his lapel and
was going to prick his flesh, but Tom said:
Hold on! Don t do that. A pin s brass. It might have verdigrease on
it.
What s verdigrease?
It s p ison. That s what it is. You just swaller some of it once you ll
see.
So Tom unwound the thread from one of his needles, and each boy pricked
the ball of his thumb and squeezed out a drop of blood. In time, after
many squeezes, Tom managed to sign his initials, using the ball of his
little finger for a pen. Then he showed Huckleberry how to make an H and
an F, and the oath was complete. They buried the shingle close to the
wall, with some dismal ceremonies and incantations, and the fetters
that bound their tongues were considered to be locked and the key thrown
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