Excerpt from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
1 The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tom checked his whistle. A stranger was before him a boy a shade larger than himself... This boy was well dressed, too well dressed on a week-day…He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved but only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said:
2 "I can lick you!"
3 "I’d like to see you try it."
4 "Well, I can do it."
5 "No you can’t, either."
6 "Yes I can."
7 "No you can’t."
8 "I can."
9 "You can’t."
10 "Can!"
11 "Can’t!"
12 An uncomfortable pause. Then Tom said:
13 "What’s your name?"
14 "Tisn’t any of your business, maybe."
15 "Well I’ll make it my business."
16 "Well why don’t you?"
[…]
17 Another pause, and more eying and sidling around each other. Presently they were shoulder to shoulder. Tom said:
18 "Get away from here!"
19 "Go away yourself!"
20 "I won’t."
21 "I won’t either."
[…]
22 The new boy took two broad coppers out of his pocket and held them out with derision. Tom struck them to the ground. In an instant both boys were rolling and tumbling in the dirt, gripped together like cats; and for the space of a minute they tugged and tore at each other’s hair and clothes, punched and scratched each other’s nose, and covered themselves with dust and glory. Presently the confusion took form, and through the fog of battle
Tom appeared, seated astride the new boy, and pounding him with his fists. "Holler enough" said he.
23 The boy only struggled to free himself. He was crying mainly from rage.
24 "Holler enough!" and the pounding went on.
25 At last the stranger got out a smothered "Enough!" and Tom let him up and said:
26 "Now that’ll learn you. Better look out who you’re fooling with next time."
27 The new boy went off brushing the dust from his clothes, sobbing, snuffling, and occasionally looking back and shaking his head and threatening what he would do to Tom the "next time he caught him out." To which Tom responded with jeers, and started off in high feather, and as soon as his back was turned the new boy snatched up a stone, threw it and hit him between the shoulders and then turned tail and ran like an antelope. Tom chased the traitor home, and thus found out where he lived. He then held a position at the gate for some time, daring the enemy to come outside, but the enemy only made faces at him through the window and declined. At last the enemy’s mother appeared, and called Tom a bad, vicious, vulgar child, and ordered him away.
