Discuss how we learn through Aunt Polly’s actions that she is stern but also gentle, loving, and sentimental. *

In Chapter Fifteen, Tom eavesdrops as Aunt Polly and Mrs. Harper are weeping and praying for the lost boys, who are presumed to be dead after drowning in the river. He learns that if the bodies remain undiscovered until Sunday, then a funeral service is to be held that morning. Staying hidden until everyone has either left or retired to bed, Tom hears Aunt Polly "making broken-hearted ejaculations" in her sleep, sobbing for "her Tom," and asking for forgiveness for every licking and scolding. Touched and full of pity for the old woman, Tom finally steals out from under the bed when Polly is finally asleep and kisses her on the lips. But after thinking twice, he decides not to give Aunt Polly his letter. Instead, he returns to the ferry landing, and makes his way back to the island on a stolen skiff.