Nascent Drama

[The Dork Lord]

There was a considerable pause, while the boys canvassed this matter inwardly. Then Tom whispered:

"Say, Hucky -- do you reckon Hoss Williams hears us talking?"

 

[The Dork Lord]

"O' course he does. Least his sperrit does."

Tom, after a pause:

 

[The Dork Lord]

"I wish I'd said Mister Williams. But I never meant any harm. Everybody calls him Hoss."

"A body can't be too partic'lar how they talk 'bout these-yer dead people, Tom."

 

[The Dork Lord]

This was a damper, and conversation died again.

Presently Tom seized his comrade's arm and said:

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Sh!"

"What is it, Tom?" And the two clung together with beating hearts.

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Sh! There 'tis again! Didn't you hear it?"

"I -- "

 

[The Dork Lord]

"There! Now you hear it."

"Lord, Tom, they're coming! They're coming, sure. What'll we do?"

 

[The Dork Lord]

"I dono. Think they'll see us?"

"Oh, Tom, they can see in the dark, same as cats. I wisht I hadn't come."

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Oh, don't be afeard. I don't believe they'll bother us. We ain't doing any harm. If we keep perfectly still, maybe they won't notice us at all."

"I'll try to, Tom, but, Lord, I'm all of a shiver."

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Listen!"

The boys bent their heads together and scarcely breathed. A muffled sound of voices floated up from the far end of the graveyard.

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Look! See there!" whispered Tom. "What is it?"

"It's devil-fire. Oh, Tom, this is awful."

 

[The Dork Lord]

Some vague figures approached through the gloom, swinging an old-fashioned tin lantern that freckled the ground with innumerable little spangles of light. Presently Huckleberry whispered with a shudder:

"It's the devils sure enough. Three of 'em! Lordy, Tom, we're goners! Can you pray?"

 

[The Dork Lord]

"I'll try, but don't you be afeard. They ain't going to hurt us. 'Now I lay me down to sleep, I -- '"

"Sh!"

 

[The Dork Lord]

"What is it, Huck?"

"They're humans! One of 'em is, anyway. One of 'em's old Muff Potter's voice."

 

[The Dork Lord]

"No -- 'tain't so, is it?"

"I bet I know it. Don't you stir nor budge. He ain't sharp enough to notice us. Drunk, the same as usual, likely -- blamed old rip!"

 

[The Dork Lord]

"All right, I'll keep still. Now they're stuck. Can't find it. Here they come again. Now they're hot. Cold again. Hot again. Red hot! They're p'inted right, this time. Say, Huck, I know another o' them voices; it's Injun Joe."

"That's so -- that murderin' half-breed! I'd druther they was devils a dern sight. What kin they be up to?"

 

[The Dork Lord]

The whisper died wholly out, now, for the three men had reached the grave and stood within a few feet of the boys' hiding-place.

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Here it is," said the third voice; and the owner of it held the lantern up and revealed the face of young Doctor Robinson.

 

[The Dork Lord]

Potter and Injun Joe were carrying a handbarrow with a rope and a couple of shovels on it. They cast down their load and began to open the grave. The doctor put the lantern at the head of the grave and came and sat down with his back against one of the elm trees. He was so close the boys could have touched him.

 

[The Dork Lord]

"Hurry, men!" he said, in a low voice; "the moon might come out at any moment."