{"id":"01KG2TSH59Z145C2NZBCKFERTZ","cid":"bafkreibuzp4c5rmn3spx4gw5s5yfpo4ch4q4pib2gsezcp2d2x5wh7grg4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7220,"extracted_at":"2026-01-28T17:35:34.223Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG2T4RHC4E1XKJ12BJRXE8E8","start_line":7159,"text":"could not bear to give up the fun at Widow Douglas’. And why should he\r\ngive it up, he reasoned—the signal did not come the night before, so\r\nwhy should it be any more likely to come tonight? The sure fun of the\r\nevening outweighed the uncertain treasure; and, boy-like, he determined\r\nto yield to the stronger inclination and not allow himself to think of\r\nthe box of money another time that day.\r\n\r\nThree miles below town the ferryboat stopped at the mouth of a woody\r\nhollow and tied up. The crowd swarmed ashore and soon the forest\r\ndistances and craggy heights echoed far and near with shoutings and\r\nlaughter. All the different ways of getting hot and tired were gone\r\nthrough with, and by-and-by the rovers straggled back to camp fortified\r\nwith responsible appetites, and then the destruction of the good things\r\nbegan. After the feast there was a refreshing season of rest and chat in\r\nthe shade of spreading oaks. By-and-by somebody shouted:\r\n\r\n“Who’s ready for the cave?”\r\n\r\nEverybody was. Bundles of candles were procured, and straightway there\r\nwas a general scamper up the hill. The mouth of the cave was up the\r\nhillside—an opening shaped like a letter A. Its massive oaken door stood\r\nunbarred. Within was a small chamber, chilly as an icehouse, and walled\r\nby Nature with solid limestone that was dewy with a cold sweat. It was\r\nromantic and mysterious to stand here in the deep gloom and look out\r\nupon the green valley shining in the sun. But the impressiveness of the\r\nsituation quickly wore off, and the romping began again. The moment\r\na candle was lighted there was a general rush upon the owner of it; a\r\nstruggle and a gallant defence followed, but the candle was soon knocked\r\ndown or blown out, and then there was a glad clamor of laughter and a\r\nnew chase. But all things have an end. By-and-by the procession went\r\nfiling down the steep descent of the main avenue, the flickering rank of\r\nlights dimly revealing the lofty walls of rock almost to their point of\r\njunction sixty feet overhead. This main avenue was not more than\r\neight or ten feet wide. Every few steps other lofty and still narrower\r\ncrevices branched from it on either hand—for McDougal’s cave was but a\r\nvast labyrinth of crooked aisles that ran into each other and out again\r\nand led nowhere. It was said that one might wander days and nights\r\ntogether through its intricate tangle of rifts and chasms, and never\r\nfind the end of the cave; and that he might go down, and down, and\r\nstill down, into the earth, and it was just the same—labyrinth under\r\nlabyrinth, and no end to any of them. No man “knew” the cave. That was\r\nan impossible thing. Most of the young men knew a portion of it, and it\r\nwas not customary to venture much beyond this known portion. Tom Sawyer\r\nknew as much of the cave as any one.\r\n\r\nThe procession moved along the main avenue some three-quarters of\r\na mile, and then groups and couples began to slip aside into branch\r\navenues, fly along the dismal corridors, and take each other by surprise\r\nat points where the corridors joined again. Parties were able to elude\r\neach other for the space of half an hour without going beyond the\r\n“known” ground.\r\n\r\nBy-and-by, one group after another came straggling back to the mouth\r\nof the cave, panting, hilarious, smeared from head to foot with tallow\r\ndrippings, daubed with clay, and entirely delighted with the success of\r\nthe day. Then they were astonished to find that they had been taking\r\nno note of time and that night was about at hand. The clanging bell had\r\nbeen calling for half an hour. However, this sort of close to the day’s\r\nadventures was romantic and therefore satisfactory. When the ferryboat\r\nwith her wild freight pushed into the stream, nobody cared sixpence for\r\nthe wasted time but the captain of the craft.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG2TRB94G7SZYKWA552CCM9X","peer_label":"CHAPTER XXIX","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG2T4RHC4E1XKJ12BJRXE8E8","peer_label":"tom_sawyer.txt","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H","peer_label":"Test Collection","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG2TSH37ABYAEE9DK31SY3PF","peer_label":"Chunk 1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG2TSH37R7G43W2MK72WEPGR","peer_label":"Chunk 3","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-28T17:35:34.757Z","ts":"2026-01-28T17:35:35.721Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}