During two long weeks Tom lay a prisoner, dead to the world and its happenings. He was very ill with measles. When he got upon his feet at last and moved feebly downtown, a melancholy change had come over everything and every creature. There had been a “revival,” and everybody had “got religion,” not only the adults, but even the boys and girls. Tom went about, hoping against hope for the sight of one blessed sinful face, but disappointment crossed him everywhere. He found Joe Harper studying a Testament, and turned sadly away from the depressing spectacle. Every boy he encountered added another ton to his depression; and when, in desperation, he flew for refuge at last to the bosom of Huckleberry Finn, he was confronted with a dreadful sight. His own self, or some doppleganger, sat reading scripture to Huck. The pair looked up at Tom with serene eyes and smiled.
By and by St. Petersburg came to be known as the most respectable town in Missouri, and no boy in town was more respectable than Tom Sawyer.