The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

So endeth this chronicle.  It being strictly a history of a boy, it must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming the history of a man.  When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop—­that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can.

Most of the characters that perform in this book still live, and are prosperous and happy.  Some day it may seem worth while to take up the story of the younger ones again and see what sort of men and women they turned out to be; therefore it will be wisest not to reveal any of that part of their lives at present.