On Sunday morning there were no happy faces in St Petersburg. Aunt Polly and Joe’s mother and father were in the church, and all the boys’ friends. The minister said some very nice things about the three boys, and the boys’ families cried and cried. Everybody cried. And little Becky Thatcher did not stop crying for one second.
There was a small noise at the back of the church, but at first nobody heard it. Then the minister looked up – and suddenly stopped speaking. Everybody turned to look. Their mouths opened and stayed open.
And into the church came the three dead boys – Tom first, Joe next and then Huck.
For a second nobody moved or spoke, and then the noise began. Aunt Polly and Joe’s mother ran to the boys and took them in their arms. Aunt Polly cried and laughed and cried again.
‘Oh, Tom!’ she said. ‘You’re a bad boy, but I love you!’
Suddenly, the minister called out, ‘Oh, happy days! Sing, good people of St Petersburg! Sing and be happy!’ And everybody sang and smiled and laughed for a long time. It was St Petersburg’s happiest funeral.
