Answer:
emotion or atmosphere created by the author.
Explanation:
In English literature, a tone can be defined as the attitude of an author or writer towards a subject.
This ultimately implies that, the point of view or perspective of an author toward a subject in a literary work is his or her tone.
Also, you should note that a "tone" is a literary device in literature and as doesn't mean the way people speak or the pitch used by a speaker in contemporary english language.
Basically, the tone of a text expresses or reflects the mood of an author of a literary work and as such goes a long way to affect the countenance of the reader. Therefore, the tone being used by an author in a literary work such as articles, novels, stories etc., has the potential of evoking various emotions and shaping the perspective of a reader of the piece of writing.
In this context, the mood of a story simply means the emotion or atmosphere created by the author through the use of setting, imagery, descriptions and attitude. Thus, the emotions elicited may include feelings of anger, fear, calm, joy, happiness, sadness, compassion, etc.