Tom，“saidArthurgently，afteranotherminute，“doyouseewhyIcouldnotgrievenowtoseemydearestfrienddie？Itcan’tbe——itisn’t——allfeverorillness。Godwouldneverhaveletmeseeitsoclearifitwasn’ttrue。Idon’tunderstanditallyet；itwilltakememylifeandlongertodothat——tofindoutwhattheworkis。“
WhenArthurstoppedtherewasalongpause。Tomcouldnotspeak；hewasalmostafraidtobreathe，lestheshouldbreakthetrainofArthur’sthoughts。Helongedtohearmore，andtoaskquestions。Inanotherminutenineo’clockstruck，andagentletapatthedoorcalledthembothbackintotheworldagain。
Theydidnotanswer，however，foramoment；andsothedooropened，andaladycameincarryingacandle。
Shewentstraighttothesofa，andtookholdofArthur’shand，andthenstoopeddownandkissedhim。
“Mydearestboy，youfeelalittlefeverishagain。Whydidn’tyouhavelights？You’vetalkedtoomuch，andexcitedyourselfinthedark。“
“Ohno，mother；youcan’tthinkhowwellIfeel。Ishallstartwithyouto-morrowforDevonshire。But，mother，here’smyfriend——here’sTomBrown。Youknowhim？“
“Yes，indeed；I’veknownhimforyears，“shesaid，andheldoutherhandtoTom，whowasnowstandingupbehindthesofa。ThiswasArthur’smother:tallandslightandfair，withmassesofgoldenhairdrawnbackfromthebroad，whiteforehead，andthecalmblueeyemeetinghissodeepandopen——theeyethatheknewsowell，foritwashisfriend’soveragain，andthelovely，tendermouththattrembledwhilehelooked——shestoodthere，awomanofthirty-eight，oldenoughtobehismother，andonewhosefaceshowedthelineswhichmustbewrittenonthefacesofgoodmen’swivesandwidows，buthethoughthehadneverseenanythingsobeautiful。Hecouldn’thelpwonderingifArthur’ssisterswerelikeher。
Tomheldherhand，andlookedonstraightinherface；hecouldneitherletitgonorspeak。
“Now，Tom，“saidArthur，laughing，“whereareyourmanners？
You’llstaremymotheroutofcountenance。“Tomdroppedthelittlehandwithasigh。“There，sitdown，bothofyou——
Here，dearestmother；there’sroomhere。“Andhemadeaplaceonthesofaforher——“Tom，youneedn’tgo；I’msureyouwon’tbecalledupatfirstlesson。“Tomfeltthathewouldriskbeingflooredateverylessonfortherestofhisnaturalschool-lifesoonerthango，sosatdown。“Andnow，“saidArthur，“Ihaverealizedoneofthedearestwishesofmylife——
toseeyoutwotogether。“
AndthenheledawaythetalktotheirhomeinDevonshire，andthered，brightearth，andthedeepgreencombes，andthepeatstreamslikecairngormpebbles，andthewildmoorwithitshigh，cloudytorsforagiantbackgroundtothepicture，tillTomgotjealous，andstoodupfortheclearchalkstreams，andtheemeraldwatermeadowsandgreatelmsandwillowsofthedearoldroyalcounty，ashegloriedtocallit。Andthemothersatonquietandloving，rejoicingintheirlife。Thequartertotenstruck，andthebellrangforbed，beforetheyhadwellbeguntheirtalk，asitseemed。
ThenTomrosewithasightogo。
“ShallIseeyouinthemorning，Geordie？“saidhe，asheshookhisfriend’shand。“Nevermind，though；you’llbebacknexthalf。AndIshan’tforgetthehouseofRimmon。“
Arthur’smothergotupandwalkedwithhimtothedoor，andtheregavehimherhandagain；andagainhiseyesmetthatdeep，lovinglook，whichwaslikeaspelluponhim。Hervoicetrembledslightlyasshesaid，“Good-night。YouareonewhoknowswhatourFatherhaspromisedtothefriendofthewidowandthefatherless。MayHedealwithyouasyouhavedealtwithmeandmine！“
Tomwasquiteupset；hemumbledsomethingaboutowingeverythinggoodinhimtoGeordie，lookedinherfaceagain，pressedherhandtohislips，andrusheddownstairstohisstudy，wherehesattilloldThomascamekickingatthedoor，totellhimhisallowancewouldbestoppedifhedidn’tgoofftobed。Itwouldhavebeenstoppedanyhow，butthathewasagreatfavouritewiththeoldgentleman，wholovedtocomeoutintheafternoonsintotheclosetoTom’swicket，andbowlslowtwisterstohim，andtalkofthegloriesofbygoneSurreyheroes，withwhomhehadplayedformergenerations。SoTomrousedhimself，andtookuphiscandletogotobed；andthenforthefirsttimewasawareofabeautifulnewfishing-rod，witholdEton’smarkonit，andasplendidly-boundBible，whichlayonhistable，onthetitle-pageofwhichwaswritten——“TOM
BROWN，fromhisaffectionateandgratefulfriends，FrancesJaneArthur；GeorgeArthur。“
Ileaveyoualltoguesshowheslept，andwhathedreamtof。
“TheHolySupperiskeptindeed，Inwhatsowesharewithanother’sneedNotthatwhichwegive，butwhatweshare，Forthegiftwithoutthegiverisbare。
Whobestowshimselfwithhisalmsfeedsthree，Himself，hishungeringneighbourandMe。“
LOWELL，TheVisionofSirLaunfal。
Thenextmorning，afterbreakfast，Tom，East，andGowermetasusualtolearntheirsecondlessontogether。Tomhadbeenconsideringhowtobreakhisproposalofgivingupthecribtotheothers，andhavingfoundnobetterwayasindeednonebettercaneverbefoundbymanorboy，toldthemsimplywhathadhappened；howhehadbeentoseeArthur，whohadtalkedtohimuponthesubject，andwhathehadsaid，andforhisparthehadmadeuphismind，andwasn’tgoingtousecribsanymore；
andnotbeingquitesureofhisground，tookthehighandpathetictone，andwasproceedingtosay“howthat，havinglearnthislessonswiththemforsomanyyears，itwouldgrievehimmuchtoputanendtothearrangement，andhehoped，atanyrate，thatiftheywouldn’tgoonwithhim，theyshouldstillbejustasgoodfriends，andrespectoneanother’smotives；but——“
Heretheotherboys，whohadbeenlisteningwithopeneyesandears，burstin，-
“Stuffandnonsense！“criedGower。“Here，East，getdownthecribandfindtheplace。“
“OTommy，Tommy！“saidEast，proceedingtodoashewasbidden，“thatitshouldeverhavecometothis！IknewArthur’dbetheruinofyousomeday，andyouofme。Andnowthetime’scome。“
Andhemadeadolefulface。
“Idon’tknowaboutruin，“answeredTom；“IknowthatyouandI
wouldhavehadthesacklongagoifithadn’tbeenforhim。AndyouknowitaswellasI。“
“Well，wewereinabaddishwaybeforehecame，Iown；butthisnewcrotchetofhisispastajoke。“
“Let’sgiveitatrial，Harry；come。Youknowhowoftenhehasbeenrightandwewrong。“
“Now，don’tyoutwobejawingawayaboutyoungSquare-toes，“
struckinGower。“He’snoendofasuckingwiseacre，Idaresay；butwe’venotimetolose，andI’vegotthefivescourtathalf-pastnine。“
“Isay，Gower，“saidTomappealingly，“beagoodfellow，andlet’stryifwecan’tgetonwithoutthecrib。“
“What！inthischorus？Why，weshan’tgetthroughtenlines。“
“Isay，Tom，“criedEast，havinghitonanewidea，“don’tyouremember，whenwewereintheupperfourth，andoldMomuscaughtmeconstruingofftheleafofacribwhichI’dtornoutandputinmybook，andwhichwouldfloatoutontothefloor，hesentmeuptobefloggedforit？“
“Yes，Irememberitverywell。“
“Well，theDoctor，afterhe’dfloggedme，toldmehimselfthathedidn’tflogmeforusingatranslation，butfortakingitintolesson，andusingittherewhenIhadn’tlearntawordbeforeIcamein。Hesaidtherewasnoharminusingatranslationtogetacluetohardpassages，ifyoutriedallyoucouldfirsttomakethemoutwithout。“
“Didhe，though？“saidTom；“thenArthurmustbewrong，“
“Ofcourseheis，“saidGower——“thelittleprig。We’llonlyusethecribwhenwecan’tconstruewithoutit——Goahead，East。“
Andonthisagreementtheystarted——Tom，satisfiedwithhavingmadehisconfession，andnotsorrytohavealocuspenitentiae，andnottobedeprivedaltogetheroftheuseofhisoldandfaithfulfriend。
Theboyswentonasusual，eachtakingasentenceinturn，andthecribbeinghandedtotheonewhoseturnitwastoconstrue。
OfcourseTomcouldn’tobjecttothis，as，wasitnotsimplylyingtheretobeappealedtoincasethesentenceshouldprovetoohardaltogetherfortheconstruer？ButitmustbeownedthatGowerandEastdidnotmakeverytremendousexertionstoconquertheirsentencesbeforehavingrecoursetoitshelp。Tom，however，withthemostheroicvirtueandgallantry，rushedintohissentence，searchinginahigh-mindedmannerfornominativeandverb，andturningoverhisdictionaryfranticallyforthefirsthardwordthatstoppedhim。ButinthemeantimeGower，whowasbentongettingtofives，wouldpeepquietlyintothecrib，andthensuggest，“Don’tyouthinkthisisthemeaning？“
“Ithinkyoumusttakeitthisway，Brown。“AndasTomdidn’tseehiswaytonotprofitingbythesesuggestions，thelessonwentonaboutasquicklyasusual，andGowerwasabletostartforthefivescourtwithinfiveminutesofthehalf-hour。
WhenTomandEastwereleftfacetoface，theylookedatoneanotherforaminute，Tompuzzled，andEastchokefulloffun，andthenburstintoaroaroflaughter。