The chapter in TOM SAWYER where he and Becky got lost in the cave impressed me greatly.

[raccoon]

I first read it when I was 10, and that whole chapter (Chapter 31) really stayed in my memory. The following passages in particular.



"Listen!" said (Tom).

Profound silence; silence so deep that even their breathings were conspicuous in the hush. Tom shouted. The call went echoing down the empty aisles and died out in the distance in a faint sound that resembled a ripple of mocking laughter.

"Oh, don't do it again, Tom, it is too horrid," said Becky.

"It is horrid, but I better, Becky; they might hear us, you know," and he shouted again.

The "might" was even a chillier horror than the ghostly laughter, it so confessed a perishing hope...



While he was deep in his musings, Becky woke up with a breezy little laugh—but it was stricken dead upon her lips, and a groan followed it.

"Oh, how COULD I sleep! I wish I never, never had waked! No! No, I don't, Tom! Don't look so! I won't say it again."

"I'm glad you've slept, Becky; you'll feel rested, now, and we'll find the way out."

"We can try, Tom; but I've seen such a beautiful country in my dream. I reckon we are going there."




Tom said they must go softly and listen for dripping water—they must find a spring. They found one presently, and Tom said it was time to rest again. Both were cruelly tired, yet Becky said she thought she could go a little farther. She was surprised to hear Tom dissent. She could not understand it. They sat down, and Tom fastened his candle to the wall in front of them with some clay...

By-and-by Becky suggested that they move on again. Tom was silent a moment. Then he said:
"Becky, can you bear it if I tell you something?"

Becky's face paled, but she thought she could.

"Well, then, Becky, we must stay here, where there's water to drink. That little piece is our last candle!"



The children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched it melt slowly and pitilessly away; saw the half inch of wick stand alone at last; saw the feeble flame rise and fall, climb the thin column of smoke, linger at its top a moment, and then—the horror of utter darkness reigned!



http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74

[John Q. Citizen]

1. Yes, quite the scary tale.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

2. I think I can do you one better

Read Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. There is a harrowing passage where four soldiers escape from a cave through tunnels they had dug. The cave is filled with water for reasons I won't spoil, but they had previously dug safe rooms that hold air, and they have to stay in each room for hours to decompress. Just thinking now about swimming in absolute darkness, feeling for the hole on top of the tunnel that leads to air, is giving me the willies.

[Zarya]

3. As a school assignment, it put me to sleep.

I had to read Tom sawyer, sometime back in high school, overa decade ago. I struggled to finish reading it, because I was so extensively bored. I have actually always for the most part enjoyed reading. Therefore, I think it may be a matter of tastes. However, I recall feeling that Mark twain was complteley overhyped. I am more mature now, and my overall tastes have changed; so I might want to consider giving the book a second look.