United States or Chile ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Nothin' without Tom Sawyer no great men but Tom Sawyer, and he ain't a man yet. There ain't anybody in his book that can't be matched by some one in this town but there's no one in his book to equal Linkern, and this is Linkern's town. And I've been thinkin' about it." I says: "There you have it, Mitch. It's true.
Then Mitch took my hand and said, "A week from Saturday be down at the corner where Linkern got the line wrong, and I'll have everything ready, and we'll go." So I promised, and Mitch said good-by and left. I could hardly wait for Saturday to come, for there wasn't anything to do. And everywheres in the house I saw somethin' that made me think of Little Billie.
"Yes, and not exactly either. I believe that." "Did he talk to you to-day?" "Yes, sir." "What did he say?" "He told me to do my duty, that doing my duty was more'n findin' treasure; that Linkern did his duty; that this was Linkern's county right here, and that no boy who was raised here in this town could fail to do his duty without insultin' the memory of Linkern."
'Wal, says he, 'I took a egg shell and sunk one half of it in the sand; then I melted some zinc and lead and poured it into the egg shell, and made two of these; then I took a old boot and cut out some leather and sewed the leather around these two halves with squirrel's hide; then I made a loop for the wrist of squirrel's hide'; and then Linkern says, 'Look at this. He handed a slung-shot to the feller; and says, 'Take your knife and rip it open. So he did, and there fell out the two halves molded in this here egg shell, and so the slung-shot belonged to this feller and didn't belong to Duff at all.
"How did he happen to be talking about Blackstone's Commentaries?" "He told me that Linkern found Blackstone's Commentaries in a barl." There was a titter in the court room. "Did you believe him?" "Yes, sir." "What were you doin' out there?" "Diggin' for treasure." "Oh, like Tom Sawyer?" "Yes, sir." "And so now you're testifyin' like Tom Sawyer?" "Yes, sir." "Don't you dream a good deal, my boy?"
Miller looked up at the statue of Linkern and began to study it, and he says: "I brought you boys to Springfield and out here to learn and to get things into your mind. You'll remember this trip as long as you live. It's the first time you've ever been here, and you'll be here lots of times again, maybe; but you'll always remember this time.
If every boy felt as I do, they'd never be another war. They couldn't get me into a war except to defend the country, and it would have to be a real defense. You know, Skeet, we came here from Missouri, where there was awful times during the war; and my pa thinks the war could have been avoided. He used to blame Linkern, but he don't no more.
"My pa says we won't appreciate it or understand it all for years to come." So I went on tellin' Mitch how my grandpa hired Linkern once in a lawsuit; then we went to the court house, for I wanted to show Mitch some things I knew about.
Mitch was quiet for a minute and then said: "Don't you 'spose the man who sold the barl to Linkern knew the books was in there? Of course he did. And if he did, why didn't he take the books and study and be president? He couldn't, that's why. If you call books treasure, they ain't unless they mean something to you. But take money or jewels, who is there that they don't mean somethin' to? Nobody.
So while we was lookin' at them papers, John Armstrong came in to pay his taxes or somethin' and he knew me because him and my pa had played together as boys. He was a brother of Duff which Linkern had defended for murder, and I tried to get him to tell Mitch and me about the trial, but he didn't have time, and he said: "The next time you come to your grandpap's, come over to see me.
Word Of The Day