{"id":"01KG16RJF50QB59GAJGJ24FK1D","cid":"bafkreidt2lr52drxpgz5z76daxpziusl3tjcitjxsju6jfjvfjoetg4wmy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2519,"extracted_at":"2026-01-28T02:26:17.021Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG0K71QZ8KK7RGEGSNTB5534","start_line":2397,"text":"“Blame it, I ain’t going to stir him much.”\r\n\r\n“Let him alone, I tell you.”\r\n\r\n“I won’t!”\r\n\r\n“You shall—he’s on my side of the line.”\r\n\r\n“Look here, Joe Harper, whose is that tick?”\r\n\r\n“I don’t care whose tick he is—he’s on my side of the line, and you\r\nsha’n’t touch him.”\r\n\r\n“Well, I’ll just bet I will, though. He’s my tick and I’ll do what I\r\nblame please with him, or die!”\r\n\r\nA tremendous whack came down on Tom’s shoulders, and its duplicate on\r\nJoe’s; and for the space of two minutes the dust continued to fly from\r\nthe two jackets and the whole school to enjoy it. The boys had been\r\ntoo absorbed to notice the hush that had stolen upon the school awhile\r\nbefore when the master came tiptoeing down the room and stood over them.\r\nHe had contemplated a good part of the performance before he contributed\r\nhis bit of variety to it.\r\n\r\nWhen school broke up at noon, Tom flew to Becky Thatcher, and whispered\r\nin her ear:\r\n\r\n“Put on your bonnet and let on you’re going home; and when you get to\r\nthe corner, give the rest of ’em the slip, and turn down through the\r\nlane and come back. I’ll go the other way and come it over ’em the same\r\nway.”\r\n\r\nSo the one went off with one group of scholars, and the other with\r\nanother. In a little while the two met at the bottom of the lane, and\r\nwhen they reached the school they had it all to themselves. Then they\r\nsat together, with a slate before them, and Tom gave Becky the pencil\r\nand held her hand in his, guiding it, and so created another surprising\r\nhouse. When the interest in art began to wane, the two fell to talking.\r\nTom was swimming in bliss. He said:\r\n\r\n“Do you love rats?”\r\n\r\n“No! I hate them!”\r\n\r\n“Well, I do, too—_live_ ones. But I mean dead ones, to swing round your\r\nhead with a string.”\r\n\r\n“No, I don’t care for rats much, anyway. What I like is chewing-gum.”\r\n\r\n“Oh, I should say so! I wish I had some now.”\r\n\r\n“Do you? I’ve got some. I’ll let you chew it awhile, but you must give\r\nit back to me.”\r\n\r\nThat was agreeable, so they chewed it turn about, and dangled their legs\r\nagainst the bench in excess of contentment.\r\n\r\n“Was you ever at a circus?” said Tom.\r\n\r\n“Yes, and my pa’s going to take me again some time, if I’m good.”\r\n\r\n“I been to the circus three or four times—lots of times. Church ain’t\r\nshucks to a circus. There’s things going on at a circus all the time.\r\nI’m going to be a clown in a circus when I grow up.”\r\n\r\n“Oh, are you! That will be nice. They’re so lovely, all spotted up.”\r\n\r\n“Yes, that’s so. And they get slathers of money—most a dollar a day, Ben\r\nRogers says. Say, Becky, was you ever engaged?”\r\n\r\n“What’s that?”\r\n\r\n“Why, engaged to be married.”\r\n\r\n“No.”\r\n\r\n“Would you like to?”\r\n\r\n“I reckon so. I don’t know. What is it like?”\r\n\r\n“Like? Why it ain’t like anything. You only just tell a boy you won’t\r\never have anybody but him, ever ever ever, and then you kiss and that’s\r\nall. Anybody can do it.”\r\n\r\n“Kiss? What do you kiss for?”\r\n\r\n“Why, that, you know, is to—well, they always do that.”\r\n\r\n“Everybody?”\r\n\r\n“Why, yes, everybody that’s in love with each other. Do you remember\r\nwhat I wrote on the slate?”\r\n\r\n“Ye—yes.”\r\n\r\n“What was it?”\r\n\r\n“I sha’n’t tell you.”\r\n\r\n“Shall I tell _you_?”\r\n\r\n“Ye—yes—but some other time.”\r\n\r\n“No, now.”\r\n\r\n“No, not now—to-morrow.”\r\n\r\n“Oh, no, _now_. Please, Becky—I’ll whisper it, I’ll whisper it ever so\r\neasy.”\r\n\r\nBecky hesitating, Tom took silence for consent, and passed his arm about\r\nher waist and whispered the tale ever so softly, with his mouth close to\r\nher ear. And then he added:\r\n\r\n“Now you whisper it to me—just the same.”\r\n\r\nShe resisted, for a while, and then said:\r\n\r\n“You turn your face away so you can’t see, and then I will. But you\r\nmustn’t ever tell anybody—_will_ you, Tom? Now you won’t, _will_ you?”\r\n\r\n“No, indeed, indeed I won’t. Now, Becky.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG16PT3KEBJQWSRSHS02JKBA","peer_label":"CHAPTER VII","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG0K71QZ8KK7RGEGSNTB5534","peer_label":"tom_sawyer.txt","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS","peer_label":"More Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG16RJJ08EFKB308KKH6VB24","peer_label":"Chunk 1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG16RJHP1CWJSY9STMXJHGY1","peer_label":"Chunk 3","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-28T02:26:17.422Z","ts":"2026-01-28T02:26:18.383Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}