The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Chapters 5-6 Free Famous Kids' Audiobooks.
this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org the adventures of tom sawyer by mark twain chapter five the pinch bug and his prey about half past 10 the cracked bell of the small church began to ring and presently the people began to gather for the morning sermon the sunday school children distributed themselves about the house and occupied pews with their parents so as to be under supervision aunt polly came and tom and sid and mary sat with her tom being placed next to the aisle in order that he might be as far away from the open window and the seductive outside summer scenes as possible the crowd filed up the aisles the aged and needy postmaster who had seen better days the mayor and his wife for they had a mayor there among other unnecessaries the justice of the peace the widow douglas fair smart and forty a generous good-hearted soul and well-to-do her hill mansion the only palace in the town and the most hospitable and much the most lavish in the matter of festivities that saint petersburg could boast the bent and venerable major and mrs ward lawyer riverson they knew notable from a distance next the bell of the village followed by a troop of lawn clad and ribbon-decked young heartbreakers then all the young clerks in town in a body for they had stood in the vestibule sucking their cane heads a circling wall of oiled and simpering admirers till the last girl had run their gauntlet and last of all came the model boy willie mufferson taking as heedful care of his mother as if she were cut glass he always brought his mother to church and was the pride of all the matrons the boys all hated him he was no good and besides he had been thrown up to them so much his white handkerchief was hanging out of his pocket behind as usual on sundays accidentally tom had no handkerchief and he looked upon boys who had as snobs the congregation being fully assembled now the bell rang once more to warn laggards and stragglers and then a solemn hush fell upon the church which was only broken by the tittering and whispering of the choir in the gallery the choir always tittered and whispered all through service there was once a church choir that was not ill-bred but i have forgotten where it was now it was a great many years ago and i can scarcely remember anything about it but i think it was in some foreign country the minister gave out the hymn and read it through with a relish in a peculiar style which was much admired in that part of the country his voice began on a medium key and climbed steadily up till it reached a certain point where it bore with strong emphasis upon the topmost word and then plunged down as if from a springboard shall i be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease whilst others fight to win the prize and sail through bloody seas he was regarded as a wonderful reader at church sociables he was always called upon to read poetry and when he was through the ladies would lift up their hands and let them fall helplessly in their laps and wow their eyes and shake their heads as much as to say words cannot express it it is too beautiful too beautiful for this mortal earth after the hymn had been sung the reverend mr sprague turned himself into a bulletin board and read off notices of meetings and societies and things till it seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of doom a queer custom which is still kept up in america even in cities away here in this age of abundant newspapers often the less there is to justify a traditional custom the harder it is to get rid of it and now the minister prayed a good generous prayer it was and went into details it pleaded for the church and the little children of the church for the other churches of the village for the village itself for the county for the state for the state officers for the...