CHAPTER I
“TOM!”
No answer.
“TOM!”
No answer.
“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!”
No answer.
The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for “style,” not service—she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear:
“Well, I lay if I get hold of you I’ll—”
She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.
“I never did see the beat of that boy!”
She went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the tomato vines and “jimpson” weeds that constituted the garden. No Tom. So she lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for distance and shouted:
“Y-o-u-u TOM!”
There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight.
“There! I might ’a’ thought of that closet. What you been doing in there?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What is that truck?”
“I don’t know, aunt.”
“Well, I know. It’s jam—that’s what it is. Forty times I’ve said if you didn’t let that jam alone I’d skin you. Hand me that switch.”
The switch hovered in the air—the peril was desperate—
“My! Look behind you, aunt!”
The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger. The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and disappeared over it.
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In American English, instead of saying “What’s that truck?” (which is outdated), you can say:
What’s that mess?
What’s that stuff?
What’s that gunk?
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Hand me vs. Give me
1. Hand me
Literal meaning: “Give it to me with your hand.”
Usage: Usually for physical objects being handed over, not for abstract things.
Tone: Slightly more formal or a bit commanding (like a direct order).
Examples:
Hand me the book. → «Give me the book.»
Hand me that pen. → «Give me that pen.»
General meaning: “Give it to me.”
Usage: Broader — can be used for physical objects or abstract things (like time, a chance, information).
Tone: Usually direct and conversational, less formal or commanding than hand me.
Examples:
Give me your phone. → «Give me your phone.»
Give me a chance. → «Give me a chance.»
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In modern English, the phrase “on the instant” is pretty much obsolete.
It was common in the 19th century and in classic literature, meaning “immediately” or “at that very moment.”
Today, in everyday speech and modern writing, people usually use:
immediately
right away
at once
Modern examples:
Old-fashioned: The lad fled on the instant.
Modern: The boy ran off immediately.
Conversational: The boy ran off right away.
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Chatgpt:
“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder?” — is totally informal. It sounds just like something an old Southern lady or a small-town mom might say back in the 1800s.
Basically, “What’s gone with that boy?” is a dialect version of something more standard like 👉 “What’s happened to that boy?”
or
👉 “Where’s that boy gone?”
Mark Twain used that kind of speech on purpose to make the dialogue sound real — like how people actually talked in his fictional town of St. Petersburg.
If you wanted to say it in modern casual English, it’d be more like: 👉 “Where’s that kid gone?”
or
👉 “What’s that boy up to now?”
Nowadays, “gone with” has a different feel. It usually means “disappeared along with” or “left together with,” like:
“Gone with the Wind” → “disappeared like the wind.”
“My appetite’s gone with the smell.” → “I lost my appetite because of that smell.”
So in modern usage, it’s not idiomatic for “happened to” anymore — it’s more literal.
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looked over them = looking over the glasses (around the room, nearby things)
looked out under them = looking from under the glasses (outside, like through a window or out into the yard)
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‘I lay’ feels old-fashioned or regional compared to ‘I swear’ or ‘I bet.’ You don’t hear it much in modern American English, but it pops up in period dialogue or when writers are mimicking a certain accent.
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“never did see” Using did here is just for emphasis—it really strengthens the negative. Nowadays, you’d usually just say I never saw or, in casual speech, I’ve never seen.
“the beat of that boy” the beat = the guy’s strength, skill, or pluck of that boy = basically “about that boy” In modern casual English, you’d probably say something like I’ve never seen a boy like that or I’ve never met a boy like that.
Style / Modernity This is very colloquial, 19th-century American speech. Using did for emphasis and beat in this sense is pretty much outdated today. You don’t see it much in modern writing, though it’s still understandable in historical quotes or literature.
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1. She went to the open door
Meaning: She went to the open door and actually got there.
to → shows the destination; she reached a specific point.
This is perfect when the author wants to show that she stood in the doorway (which happens next: and stood in it).
2. She went toward the open door
Meaning: She moved in the direction of the door, but it doesn’t necessarily mean she reached it.
toward → only shows direction, not arrival.
If you follow it with and stood in it, toward is a bit redundant because arriving at the door is already clear from stood in it.
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In American English, instead of the more literary/narrative phrasing:
“She lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for distance and shouted”
you could say in casual, everyday speech:
She yelled as loud as she could.
She shouted, trying to make her voice carry.
She hollered so it would reach him.