Sublime Nature in Tom Sawyer?

Have we encountered sublime nature in Tom Sawyer yet? If so, where and how does it function? Does the sublime come and go or is it ever-present? How do we know when we've switched from a pastoral dominated scene to one ruled by the sublime? Is that question even valid?

At this point, I would say that we have not yet encountered sublime nature in Tom Sawyer. I have read the first 15 chapters and to this point I don't remember any kind of pastoral nature. Nature is described regularly throughout the text, but to this point I can't remember any instance where it was clear that nature was a powerful, dominant force over the humans.

But from the viewpoint of the town and it's citizens, there is one major encounter with sublime nature. That encounter is the supposed death of Tom, Huck, and Joe Harper. Because they found their raft washed up 6 miles downstream, the townspeople think that the three boys were rafting in the middle of the channel, capsized, and drowned. Tom watches them crying and praying for him. They claim that the three were just innocent little boys who couldn't survive the rough waters that swallowed them up. Also, they begin to feel guilt for the way they treated Tom and his friends just before they ran away. They say that the boys were just innocent children who were just a little, "mischeevous," and didn't know what they were getting into. In fact though, the boys were very capable of surviving the elements, and are at this point in my reading, living happily on Jackson island.