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“ Tom Sawyer , you crept up on me ! ” she cried . “ Now I’ll get a beating , and I’ve never had one at school in my life ! ” And she ran out . That afternoon Mr Dobbins found the torn book . He asked every child in the room , one by one , “ Did you tear this book ? ” At last he came to Becky . Her face was white , and her hands were shaking . Suddenly Tom jumped up . “ I did it ! ” The whole school stared at him . Tom walked to the front and took the hardest beating of his life . But he did not mind at all . He had seen the look in Becky’s eyes . After school Becky waited for him . “ Tom , how could you be so noble ? ” she said . X . The Trial In the summer holidays the trial of Muff Potter began , and people talked about nothing else . Every word about it made Tom’s heart cold . He was sure that Potter was going to hang . “ Huck , have you told anybody about that thing ? ” Tom asked his friend . “ Of course I haven’t . But I’m sorry for Muff Potter . He never hurt anybody . He gave me half a fish once , when there wasn’t enough for two . ” “ And he mended my kites for me , Huck . Oh , I wish we could get him out of there . ” That evening the two boys went to the little prison window again . “ You’ve been very good to me , boys , ” said Potter . “ Better than anybody else in this town . Everybody else has forgotten old Muff . Shake hands with me , boys . ” That night Tom’s dreams were full of horrors . The next day the whole village went to the court . The trial went badly for Potter . One man said that he saw Potter washing in the stream early that morning . Another said that the knife was Potter’s . Joe told his lying story again with his hard , calm face . Potter’s lawyer did not ask any of them a single question . People began to whisper angrily . Then Potter’s lawyer stood up . “ Call Thomas Sawyer ! ” Tom walked to the front of the room , pale and afraid . Joe’s eyes were on him . “ Thomas Sawyer , where were you on the seventeenth of June , at about midnight ? ” Tom looked at Joe’s iron face , and his tongue did not work . After a few moments his voice came back , very quietly . “ In the graveyard . ” A little smile passed over Joe’s face . “ Were you anywhere near the grave of Hoss Williams ? ” “ Yes , sir . As near as I am to you . I was hiding behind the big trees . ” Joe’s smile was gone . “ Did you carry anything there ? ” “ Only a … a dead cat . ” Everybody laughed , and the judge asked for silence . “ Now , my boy , tell us everything that happened . Don’t be afraid . ” Tom began . At first he spoke slowly , but soon the words came more easily . Every eye in the room was on him . “ … and when the doctor hit Muff Potter with the board and Muff fell down , Joe jumped with the knife and … ” Crash ! Quick as lightning , Joe jumped to the window . He pushed his way past everybody who tried to stop him , and then he was gone .
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