| "TOM!"
*There
was* No answer
(PN).
"TOM!"
*There
was* No answer
(PN).
"What's
gone {with that boy},
I wonder[CNE]?
You TOM!"
*There
was* No answer
(PN).
The
old lady pulled
her
spectacles (DO) down
and looked
{over them}{about the room};
then
she
put
them (DO) 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
(PN),
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[Note #1]
{for a moment},
and
then said[CNE],
not
fiercely, but
still loud
enough {for the furniture}to
hear:
"Well, I
lay[CNE]
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 (DO) to punctuate
the
punches with.
She resurrected
nothing
(DO) {but the cat}.
"I never
did see the
beat (DO) {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
(PN). *There
was* No Tom
(PN).
So she
lifted
up
her voice
(DO) {at an angle}
calculated
{for distance} and
shouted[Note
#2]:
"Y-o-u-u TOM!"
There[Note]
was a slight noise
(PN) {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 (DO)
you been
doing {in
there}?"
*I
have been doing* "Nothing (DO)."
"Nothing
(DO)! Look {at
your hands}.
And look {at
your
mouth}.
What IS
that
truck (PN)?"
"I don't
know,
aunt."
"Well, I
know.
It's
jam
(PN) -- that's[CNE]
what (PN)
it is.
Forty
times I've said[CNE]
if you didn't
let
that
jam
(DO)
alone I'd
skin you (DO). Hand
me
(IO) that
switch
(DO)."
The
switch
hovered {in
the air} --
the
peril was
desperate (PA) --
"My! Look
{behind
you}, aunt!"
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