The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Chapter 34
A ton of people head to the cave once they hear the news. But they discover that Injun Joe is dead... Tom is relieved, of course. Many people come to the funeral, and leave sastisfied (sp?).
Later on, Tom and Huck get together to discuss the still-missing treasure. Tom reveals that he has discovered the location of the treasure... the same cave he, Becky, and Injun Joe were trapped in!!! The boys pack up, and go to dig up the treasure.
It takes some time, smarts, and digging, but the boys eventually find the treasure. They put the treasure into bags to make it easier to carry, and head back to town. Tom grabs a wagon there, and they hide the treasure in the wagon, even covering it with old rags!
But as they pass the old Welshman's house, the dude runs out to get them. He rushes them to Widow Douglas' house, dragging the boys' wagon with them. All of them end up in a fancy-affair party, but the boys have no idea what's going on.
And neither do I! It's obviously a party of some sort, and the boys are important somehow. But other than that... I don't really have a clue what the heck is going on.
That's a nice part on Mark Twain. Plus, this "cliffhanger" is a good trick employed by Mr. Twain. It makes you want to stay, and figure out what the heck is going on.
We had another good scene. It was where Mark Twain was describing how the drop of water had been dropping for ages, and would for many more. He questions whether or not it had been dripping to be solely Injun Joe's water source, and whether or not it would have some other big purpose in ages to come. It was just a very good scene.
Wild West Central
Taking Care of the Baby
Once the gung-ho about the child's birth is done, it's time to actually take care of the child! There is much joy in this as well... but a lot of dread to boot. There was often a high death rate after birth.
There were also a lot of issues and fights. One was whether or not to breastfeed the child, or to use bottles. A mother's milk often proved to be the best, since cow's milk often had germs and poisonous stuff in it. But some women believed that breastfeeding made one look old, and they still cared about fashion. And sometimes a mother's milk had problems of its own.
Medicines was a big problem in the Wild West too. There were next to none there! So everything else was used... herbs, remedies, and other stuff. A good thing was that it helped build family bonds, but whether or not the "cures" and "medicines" would actually work was an iffy thing.
Being a Wild West mother was exhausting. The mom needed help constantly. And she got it everywhere... family, friends, and neighbors would team up to help the mom. But even then, the mother would have to think of ways to calm down the child... including ways which we now know is dangerous, like using opium!
There were concerns about the private areas in those days. Mothers would panic over their children masterubating (sp?), especially since it was looked down upon even in adulthood. Circumscioun (sp?) was a major question in those days, though not really for the Jewish folk. But even Jews would delay the tradition to make sure that the ritual was done properly.
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