Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Mark Twain)

Chapter I

The book begins with Tom Sawyer’s aunt- Aunt Polly- looking for the boy. After finding him and on the verge of hitting him for eating jam without permission, he tricks her and he manages to escape. She laughs off the event, then starts speaking to no one in particular about how she finds his behavior endearing, but her lackadaisical attitude is harmful to his character. She also says it’s hard for her to hit the boy as Tom is the son of his deceased sister. She figures she’ll let him get away today and just make him work the following day instead.

Tom returns to half-heartedly help out the family’s slave- Jim- and his half-brother- Sid. He explains to Jim and his quiet, half-brother what adventure he had while out and about. At dinner, Polly attempts to corner the boy into revealing that he had gone swimming, though he says his hair is damp because he poured water on it from a pump. She then checks to see if his shirt has remained sewed up as an unsewn shirt would indicate he had taken it off. It’s sewn, and Polly is satisfied that he went to school instead of swimming. Sid takes the opportunity to point out that the thread is a different color though, prompting Tom to run away from the table promising to beat Sid.

Though angry, Tom soon forgets his problems with a new whistling style that one of the slaves taught him. He is practicing when he walks into a well-dressed boy. After a minute of examining each other, Tom instigates an argument by proclaiming he could beat the other boy up. Their verbal argument becomes physical. They pause for a bit to proclaim how each of their older brothers- both made up- would beat the other one up. Tom draws a line in the sand, which the boy crosses, causing another fight. The boy concedes, crying, but then throws a rock when Tom turns his back. Tom chases the boy home.

When he gets back and sneaks into his room through a window, he finds Aunt Polly there. Seeing his dirty clothes, she resolves that she has to make him work for his own good.

Chapter II

Tom is tasked with whitewashing the fence, and quickly gives up on the project, feeling overwhelmed by the size of the fence. Jim passes by on his way to fetch water, and Tom attempts to switch chores with him, noting that there are usually other kids at the pump, and it’s an unsupervised task. Jim knows he shouldn’t, but agrees to when Tom offers him a marble and a look at his bruised toe. The deal is quickly cancelled as Aunt Polly comes to make sure the boys are doing their chores.

After having escaped his Aunt’s wrath, Tom examines what he has on him, knowing he can’t buy enough time from another boy to avoid doing this chore. A boy comes by, pretending to be a steamship, and makes fun of Tom for having to work. Tom doesn’t claim he is work, saying that boys don’t often get a chance to whitewash. Tom then manages to talk the other boy into paying to have a chance to whitewash. A series of other boys do the same, with Tom ending up with an apple, kite, rat, lots of marbles, and plenty more.

The fence ends up with three coats of whitewash, the project only stopping because Tom had run out of the paint.

Chapter III

Though filled with disbelief at first, Aunt Polly is surprised to find that the fence is whitewashed as Tom has just told her about. She lets him out to play, giving him a lecture on the value of honest work. On his way out, Tom notices Sid using the stairs outside of the house and decides to get revenge for the night before by throwing dirt at him. He manages to escape before Polly runs out to see what has happened.

After running a pretend battle between two armies of children with a good friend, Tom is struck by the attractiveness of a new girl that he passes by in front of Jeff Thatcher’s home. Though he had just won the interest of Amy Lawrence after a year of efforts, he immediately forgets her. He attempts to impress her with some boyish gymnastics, but sees her walking away. Before she steps inside though, she throws a flower over the fence. Tom rushes near it, but picks it up elaborately with his toes while doing something else. He continues his tricks but doesn’t get a response from her and eventually leaves.

He remains exuberant during dinner, but gets his knuckles hit when he tries to take sugar. Tom complains that Sid doesn’t get hit when he does the same, but Polly justifies it by saying that Sid isn’t as much trouble in general. When she goes into the kitchen, Sid attempts to take some sugar, but drops the jar on the floor instead. Wanting to savor the moment of Sid’s punishment, Tom remains silent, only to get slapped when Polly rushes in. When Tom informs her of the mistake, she justifies her abuse by saying he probably deserved it anyway for something he did earlier.

He walks away, knowing that his Aunt feels badly, and he begins to imagine how terrible he could make her feel if he ended up dead. As his cousin Mary chooses this moment to arrive home from a country trip, Tom decides to go mope somewhere else, sitting on a log by a river and wondered if this new girl he was infatuated with would mourn him if she knew he was dead. He relished in the sadness of all these thoughts for a bit, then heads to her house.

He sees a light in a second story window, and proceeds to lie under it. Thinking about how melodramatic it would be if he ended up dying there, the window opens, and a maid throws out a bucket of water onto him. He bolts back home.

Back in their room, Sid notes that Tom’s clothes are wet, but doesn’t say anything about it as Tom looks particularly testy. He also notices that Tom doesn’t say his prayers before going to bed.

Chapter IV

Sunday morning, Aunt Polly conducts family worship with some Scripture, and then has the boys learn their bible lessons. Sid has already memorized his verses, and Tom has picked out the shortest five he could find from the Sermon on the Mount. When tested by Mary to recite them, he is unable to. Mary promises a delightful surprise if he can, and he manages to do so. He receives a Barlow knife that while dull, can still scratch up wood. It’s this that he is planning to do when he is called to get ready for church.

After struggling against Mary to not wash his face, Tom eventually ends up clean and with his Sunday church clothes. Though he hates church, Tom is forced to go to Sunday school. Along the way, he runs into various children, trading them for tickets. It’s revealed that the tickets are part of an economy where children get an amount for how many verses they’ve learned, leading up to getting a bible once they’ve learned two-thousand verses. Though Tom has no desire for the actual book, getting one is a rare occasion that earns admiration- something he does want.

When the class is organized, their Sunday school teacher introduces an unknown man and his wife, along with the girl that Tom has gained a crush on. The man is a county judge named Thatcher, who is related to multiple people in town. As Judge Thatcher is given a tour of the place, everybody is making a show of being his or her best, including the judge himself. The teacher knows that the only way to make the school appear better would be to have a child receive a bible. Tom knows this and steps up with all the tickets he collected to get one. As he receives praise, the other children who traded their tickets are angered at being outsmarted.

Tom is introduced to Judge Thatcher. The young boy is nervous as he is speaking to the father of the girl he is enamored with. When the Judge asks Tom to name the first two anointed disciples, Tom stumbles and says David and Goliath.

Chapter V

The main service begins, and Tom is sitting on the edge of a pew away from a window to keep him from looking outside. The narrator goes through describing who makes up the congregation of St. Petersburg. He notes the silliness of having a mayor for such a small town, criticizes the church choir, notes the richest resident of the small town, and describes the minister’s preaching style and the effect it has on his listeners.

Tom’s boredom leads to him opening a small box he carries with him, inside of which is a pincher beetle. Tom drops the beetle after getting pinched by it, but can’t pick it up due to being scolded. A dog happens by, and after playing with the bug, sits on it and gets pinched. It runs around the building, passing by the altar and through the pews before getting tossed out by its owner through a window.

Everybody attempts to hide their laughter, but they’re all amused. Tom is as well, but is unhappy the dog took his beetle.

Chapter VI

Not wanting to go to school, Tom considers using a loose tooth as an excuse to go to school, but thinks better of it and attempts to fake that his toe hurts more than it does. He wakes up Sid, pleading for him to not say anything about his terrible pain and groaning, but wanting the exact opposite to happen. Sid brings up Aunt Polly, who panics only for a second before realizing it’s a hoax. Tom immediately drops the pretense but mentions his loose tooth. Despite protestations, Aunt Polly ties a piece of string around the tooth and links it to a bedpost.

While a yanked tooth causes Tom some pain, he also revels in the fact that his gap now makes him the center of attention at school as he can spit with it. Along the way to school, he meets up Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry is the son of the town drunk and is often dressed in the hand me downs of a man’s clothes, though he is a young boy himself. The mothers of the community dislike that he is a societal outcast, but that’s exactly what makes all the other boys want to be like him. Though forbidden to do so, Tom spends time with Huckleberry whenever he can.

Huckleberry is carrying a dead cat, explaining to Tom that he needs it to cure warts. After some disagreement about wart cures, Huckleberry explains a long remedy that is full of superstitious beliefs. One of Huckleberry’s wart theories is that throwing a dead cat after the devils that come to visit the grave of a bad person is a guaranteed way to get rid of warts. As a criminal named Hoss Williams was buried the night before, Huck intends to go that night. Tom plans to join him, telling Huck to come get him when ready. Before separating, Tom trades his newly lost tooth for a tick that Huck found.

Tom enters the school late, which causes him to be called up by the teacher. Seeing the hair of the girl he admires, Tom tells the truth about why he’s late instead of lying. He receives a whipping and is told to sit in the girls’ section of the school. Tom takes the opportunity to sit next to the girl. He makes multiple attempts to get her attention, finally able to catch it with a drawing he makes on his slate. He learns her name is Becky Thatcher and proposes teaching her how to draw. After some continued talking, the teacher separates them, placing Tom back in his usual seat where he can’t study now due to his positive anxiety.

Chapter VII

Bored and unable to focus, Tom remembers the tick he traded his tooth for and brings it out. He begins to play with, herding it with a pin. His best friend Joe Harper- who is sitting next to Tom- joins in. Tom eventually draws a line down the middle of the slate, declaring a line of interference so the boys wouldn’t get in each other’s way while playing. After a fight ensues between the boys because of the tick staying on Joe’s side, their teacher steps in to settle the dispute.

Tom arranges to meet with Becky by having her sneak off from her friends. He does the same, and they meet at the school where he teaches her to draw. They share a piece of gum, and get engaged according to Tom’s perception of the idea, which ends with them kissing. As Tom excitedly tells her about the advantages about being engaged- walking together, picking each other at parties, etc.- he lets it slip that he was already engaged once to Amy Lawrence. Becky responds badly to the revelation, sobbing. Tom tries to reconcile with her, but she seems resolute in her grief. He eventually leaves school for the day, leaving Becky alone with her sadness until the class reconvenes.

Chapter VIII

Tom heads off to the forest to sulk. He considers death again, wondering how the people in his life would feel if he were gone. As he can’t die temporarily and doesn’t feel that his church attendance record is good, he fantasizes about leaving town to a become a soldier, tracker, or pirate. The last option seems most attractive to him.

He speaks an incantation and digs up a marble that he had left hidden earlier. To his surprise, he finds that a superstition that says that by burying a marble and leaving it for two weeks that all the marble one has ever lost will be found in that spot. He suspects that a witch has interfered with his ritual and confirms it with another.

After going back to find the marble he left behind in the dirt, he hears a small trumpet blast from the forest. He goes to his hidden supply box in the forest and takes a bow and a fake sword. He runs into Joe Harper, and they begin to act out scenes about Robin Hood. They play roles and switch around for a time. Once done, they complain about how there are no longer any grand outlaws, proclaiming they’d rather live in Sherwood forest than be President of the U.S.

Chapter IX

With night here and Tom impatiently waiting, Huck finally arrives to pick him up. Tom sneaks out his room window, and they walk to the graveyard a mile or so outside of town. The boys discuss what they think the dead can and can’t do. They end up hiding near Hoss Williams’ grave so as to catch the devils that come by, but get scared as soon as they start to hear rustling. After hearing them speak, the boys start to recognize that they’re actually hearing three local men- Muff Potter, Injun Joe, and Doctor Robinson. The first two men are known pariahs, Muff Potter being a drunkard and Huck saying Injun Joe is a murderer.

Dr. Robinson orders the other two men to dig out the grave, and has them place Williams’ body in a sack and onto a wheelbarrow. Joe claims that Robinson won’t be able to take the body without another fee, even though Robinson says that two men have already been paid. Joe reminds Robinson that when he was wandering around the town asking for food, Robinson’s father had him imprisoned for vagrancy, so this extra charge will be compensation for that event. Robinson punches Joe down, causing Potter to start grappling with the doctor. Joe picks up Potter’s knife, and when Robinson finally knocks out Potter, stabs Robinson, killing him.

Tom and Huck run away unnoticed at the sight of the murder. Joe places the bloody knife in Potter’s hand, and waits for him to wake up. Potter- too drunk to remember anything- is fooled into believing he killed Robinson. Joe tells him to run, and he’ll take care of the scene. Potter leaves his knife behind, and after a few minutes, Joe leaves the scene as it is.

Chapter X

The boys run hard until they reach a tannery. After a minute’s rest, they discuss what the events mean, suspecting there will be an execution. Tom points out that perhaps Potter didn’t see that Joe murdered Robinson as he was struck at the moment the stabbing happened. Huck suspects that his drunkenness kept him lucid, but it wasn’t their business to go telling in any case as it might put their lives in danger. They then sign a contract with their blood declaring that neither will speak upon pain of death.

A dog howls, and they take that to mean that a curse is come upon them and bemoan their past, mischievous behavior. They spot that the stray dog is turned away from them though, so it can’t be them that are cursed. At this point, the boys hear snoring coming from the other end of the building. After some hesitation, they sneak over and see that it’s Muff Potter sleeping there. They leave, and notice that the stray dog is pointed at Potter’s direction, which lets them believe that it’s Potter who received the bad omen. Tom insists that the omen means death, but Huck disagrees, recounting a recent event where a person was merely burned.

The boys go their own ways, and Tom sneaks back in where an awoken Sid quietly watches him. Sid tattles on Tom the next morning, causing Aunt Polly to cry over the boy, making Tom’s dour mood feel worse with guilt. He goes to school and is flogged along with Joe Harper for skipping class yesterday. He spends the day absent-mindedly looking at the wall. He suddenly notices that his elbow is resting and a hard object wrapped in paper. It turns out be the brass knob that he tried to give Becky yesterday when she had been crying.

Chapter XI

During class, the news that Robinson was dead had spread around town, leading the teacher to excuse the class for the day. Someone had recognized Potter’s knife at the scene of the crime, and another had seen Potter washing himself just after midnight. The washing was more suspicious than the time as Potter was known as a filthy individual. The entire town was searched for Potter, and then the sheriff sent out horses as he couldn’t be found inside the village.

The town head over to the graveyard, where Tom and Huck silently acknowledged each other. Suddenly someone spots Muff Potter coming to the graveyard. He makes no attempt to run away as the sheriff drags him to the crime scene. He cries and tries to claim his innocence- though no one has made any accusations- then falls to the ground when he sees that he left his knife there. He appeals to Joe to affirm his innocence, but Joe then describes the previous night’s events by framing Potter. When asked why he came back, Potter claims he felt like he had no other choice.

Joe repeats his testimony under oath, and the boys are shocked that God doesn’t send a lightning bolt down to kill the man. They suspect he has made a deal with the devil and plan on watching at night to see if he meets with Satan.

Tom spends the following week worried. Sid brings up at the breakfast table the fact that Tom talks and rolls around in his sleep a lot. Aunt Polly suggests that it must be the murder as her sleep has been restless, as well. Tom makes up a toothache as an excuse to tie up his jaw. Sid still listens though, taking off the wrap then placing it back on after spending time trying to decode what Tom is saying. Sid also notices that whenever the schoolboys find a dead cat and hold an inquest, Tom doesn’t participate- something he finds odd as Tom is often the first to lead in various activities.

Tom secretly starts giving Muff Potter things through the jail’s window to ease his conscience. People want to tar-and-feather Injun Joe for grave robbing, but his physical presences is such that no one will start the process. There’s also the fact that he never mentioned the grave robbing in his confessions yet, so there wasn’t any legal ground to start a trial about it.

Chapter XII

Tom begins thinking less about the events of the murder and more about Becky Thatcher. She stops attending school, and Tom comes to learn that she is at home sick. He loses interest in play and Aunt Polly worry leads to her using various home remedies to make him feel better. She uses a water treatment that includes dousing him in water of various temperatures. When that doesn’t work, she begins using a medicine that tastes terrible. Tom grows tired of the routine of being distressed and decides that by claiming he loves the medicine and asking for it, Polly will get annoyed enough to let him do it himself. It works, and Tom slowly takes bits of the medicine and pours it into a hole in the floor. Aunt Polly catches the trick after Tom gives a bit to the cat and he causes a ruckus. Tom frames their subsequent argument as what hurt the cat could hurt him, and Aunt Polly concedes.

Tom spends the days at school pretending to be sick before it starts. The claim allows him to stand by the gate, alone. He then keeps an eye out towards Becky’s house, trying to see if she is coming. When she doesn’t, he sits in his chair downtrodden. Finally, she returns to school and Tom begins to run around and yell in an attempt to impress her. After a big show, she mentions how silly it is to act such a way, making Tom feel embarrassed.

Chapter XIII

Tom begins to feel that melancholic melodrama again and thinks about how sad he and the rest of the world will be when he has left to pursue a life of crime; he cries at the thought. He runs into Joe Harper, who is feeling the same way after being accused of drinking milk he never had. Joe had been on the path to becoming a hermit, but Tom convinces him that the life of a pirate was the more attractive option.

They enlist Huck to join them, and pick out Jackson Island as their base- a small strip of land that lay in the Mississippi River. The boys hadn’t considered who to pirate from, but they make grand plans for their base and spread word around town about it. The boys decide to meet at midnight with various victuals and take a raft across the river to the island. With new monikers set, they shout out sailing terms that they’ve read in books but don’t know what they mean.

On the island after a hearty meal, the boys imagine how the other kids would envy their new careers, and consider how much better it is than being a hermit. They then start falling asleep, with Huck going first. Joe and Tom still recite their prayers to themselves, afraid that not praying would incur God’s wrath. They also started feeling guilty about having stolen a rack of bacon and a whole ham. They had never taken things so large before, so their conscience weighs on them. They decide that during their piracy career, they won’t ever steal again, and they fall asleep to the compromise.

Chapter XIV

The following morning, the boys find that the raft has drifted away, but aren’t bothered much by it as they don’t have a desire to return home. After having a bacon and fresh fish breakfast, they start to explore the island. After a morning of swimming and walking, they return to their base on the island. They all begin to feel homesick, but none will admit it. At this point, they hear loud noises and go to shore to see that a steam ferry and multiple skiffs are upon the river.

They figure out that they’re being searched for, and feel validated in their choices. They revel in the thought that everyone misses them, and eventually have dinner and lay down. The mood darkens again though as they begin to realize how everyone back home is feeling sad. Joe attempts to bring up the idea of going back, but is shot down. Tom stays up as the others go to sleep, then writes two notes. He places one in Joe’s hat, along with various other trinkets of his, and then keeps the other note for himself. He then sneaks off and runs to the shore.

Chapter XV

Tom swims over to the Illinois side of the Mississippi as it’s much closer than the Missouri one, and sneaks aboard a skiff. The skiff travels over the river, and Tom sneaks out again. He creeps on over to his house, where his aunt, Joe Harper’s mom, Mary and Sid are all sitting in a room.

He manages to sneak into the house and under a bed near them, where he catches their conversation. He hears them speak about how much they miss them and hears them crying, and it takes much of his will to refrain from jumping out and announcing himself. He learns that people think they drowned because the missing raft they had taken was found underwater. If the bodies of the boys aren’t found by Sunday, the church will hold a service for them that day.

As everyone begins to go to sleep, Tom is about to leave the note he wrote earlier on Aunt Polly’s bed stand. He decides against it though, and returns to the island by taking a skiff to the other side, away from the island. He gets back to base in the morning just in time to hear Joe and Huck discussing whether Tom has abandoned them or not. Tom bursts in and then tells them of what he did on the shore.

Chapter XVI

The boys spend the day running around naked and playing games, swimming. Once evening arrives though, Joe finally decides he wants to head back home. Tom tries to convince them to get excited about the island by suggesting treasure is buried there, but can’t get them into it. After much quarreling, Huck decides he wants to leave as well and gets ready along with Joe. Tom is left with no choice but to reveal a plan he has been hatching. The boys get excited about the idea and decide to stay on the island.

Tom and Joe attempt to learn how to smoke from Huck, and though they enjoy the activity at first, they soon grow sick. Joe makes up an excuse about losing his knife, giving the boys a chance to split up. When Huck goes to look for them a while later, he finds them asleep. When Huck starts preparing their after dinner smokes, Tom and Joe make excuses about eating bad food.

A storm hits the area during the night, and the boys- unprepared for rain- have to find shelter under a tarp they had brought. After it passes, they start up another fire and discuss the storm, unable to sleep on any of the wet ground. Once morning hits, they sleep on the drier sand. After a late lunch, the boys start to get homesick again, so Tom distracts them with the idea of playing as Indians. After running around and returning for dinner, they hesitantly share a peace pipe, as the rules of living as an Indian demand them to.

Chapter XVII

While the boys are off playing on Jackson Island, the town is mourning their absence. Becky cries over missing Tom. The other schoolmates reminisce on what was the last thing they saw of Tom and Joe.

The next day, the church holds its service for the boys. The minister ascribes only positive traits to their memories and everyone is in tears over the eulogy, including the minister himself. In the midst of the service, the three boys come walking down the aisle. They had been watching the entire thing from an unused gallery. Everybody begins to celebrate their appearance, with Tom and Joe receiving affection from their respective guardians. Tom insists that Huck receive affection as well, though Huck prefers no one to pay attention to him.

Chapter XVIII

The next morning, Tom is at the breakfast table with his family as Aunt Polly starts to make him feel guilty about not having left them a message that they were okay, noting that Sid would have done so. Tom then begins to describe how he had a dream and recounts what he saw the night he came to leave a note. Aunt Polly doesn’t see through the fraud, thinking that Tom was having a prophetic dream and admiring him for it.

At school, Tom is the center of attention along with Joe, and they both celebrate it. Becky attempts to get Tom’s attention, but he pretends to be as indifferent to her as she was to him the last time they met. Becky eventually changes tactics and begins to spend time with another boy in the class- Alfred Temple. Alfred is the same boy that Tom got into a fight with earlier in the book. Tom is sufficiently jealous of her actions and goes off during lunchtime in a fit of rage. Becky realizes her actions went too far, and leaves Alfred by himself in confusion. After some time, Alfred realizes that Becky had used him to make Tom jealous, and his hate for Tom grows. He wonders about an opportunity to get Tom in trouble, and notices Tom’s spelling book as he is walking in. He spills ink on the day’s homework. Becky sees him do it and decides to tell Tom as a way to reconcile their relationship. She changes her mind though and decides to let him get in trouble as revenge for making her feel terrible earlier.

Chapter XIX

Returning home for lunch, Aunt Polly begins scolding him as she finds out through Joe Harper’s mother that Tom’s “dream” was actually just him recounting what had happened the night he snuck over. Tom attempts to explain that he still came to comfort her, though she doesn’t initially believe it. After some coercing, she accepts it and tells him to run off to school. She finds the jacket that Tom took to the island and is torn between whether to confirm his story about the note on the piece of bark. After much debate, she checks and finds that his story was true as the piece of bark that said they were okay was still in one of the pockets.

Chapter XX

The encounter with Aunt Polly lifts Tom’s spirits, and he even apologizes to Becky on his way back to class. Becky doesn’t take it though, making Tom angry again. Walking into class, Becky sees the opportunity to sneak a peek at a secret book that their teacher has kept locked up but often reads to himself. Becky takes the chance and finds that the book is one on human anatomy. Tom sneaks up behind her, surprising her and causing her to rip half of a page. Becky runs away, convinced that Tom will tattle on her, though Tom doesn’t have any inclination not to.

Once the class was seated, Tom’s ruined notebook comes out, and he is punished for it. Tom doesn’t think much of it though. When the teacher soon discovers his book has been ripped, he goes through asking each child. As he is asking Becky, her nervousness is easily evident. Tom steps and takes the blame before she cracks, causing him to be held after school for two hours. Becky waits for him, and they reconcile as she tells him that it was Alfred that spilled the ink on his work. Tom vows revenge.

Chapter XXI

As summer vacation comes near, the schoolmaster becomes stricter as he wants them all to perform well during the ‘Examination.’ The Examination is a sort of performance for the entire town where the schoolchildren show off their knowledge through recitations and competitions. The youngest children of the school are getting the worst of it, so they group together and try to figure out some way to get back at the teacher.

On the day of the Examination, the students begin go on about the business of displaying what they’ve learned. Tom attempts to recite the ‘Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death’ speech, but falls halfway through to stage fright. The awful poetry goes on until the teacher decides to draw a map of America on the chalkboard for the geography challenge. It’s at this point that the boys unleash their plan: a cat tied up and gagged is lowered from above the teacher and steals his wig. The entire crowd erupts in laughter, ending the Examination and starting off summer vacation.

Chapter XXII

Tom joins the Cadets of Temperance as he enjoys their outfits, but is finding it hard to abide by the group’s laws. As the Fourth of July parade is too far away for him to stick to the rules, he pins his hopes on the dying Judge Frazer. After wavering health, it seems the judge is going to recover, forcing Tom to resign from the group. Right after, Judge Frazer then dies, letting the Cadets take part in the procession and annoying Tom in that he wasn’t able to participate.

The dullness of summer vacation starts to hit Tom, though it’s broken up every now and then by travelling shows and performers. All the while, Tom continues to think of the murder.

The measles take Tom to bed for two weeks, during which a religious revival hits town. When Tom gets better, he finds that all his friends- including Huckleberry- are up to charity and scripture quoting, leaving him with no one to play with. He relapses and is in bed for three more weeks. Once he is well again, he finds that Joe and Huck have returned to their old ways, eating a stolen watermelon.

Chapter XXIII

The trial over the murder begins in earnest, and Tom feels as if every remark about it made in his presence is made to get him to confess what he knows. He confers with Huck on the matter, making sure again that they’ll never tell. Both boys discuss how bad they feel about Muff Potter being wrongly treated as the man has been kind in the past to the boys. As they continue their habit of sneaking him things through his cell, one particular moment hits their guilt hard. He thanks them sincerely for their little gifts and warns them of the dangers of drinking. He seems ready to take punishment for a crime he didn’t commit.

On the last day of the trial, witnesses were called to confirm the circumstantial evidence that made Potter look guilty. Potter’s lawyer did no cross questioning, giving the impression that he wasn’t interested in defending the man. The lawyer then calls Tom Sawyer to the stand, to everyone’s surprise. After nervously eyeing Injun Joe, Tom begins to tell the tale of what actually happened during the night of the murder. At the climax of his telling, Injun Joe manages to rush out and escape.

Chapter XXIV

Muff Potter is let go and embraced by the community. Though Tom is joyed at the recognition people give him, he is also scared as Injun Joe remains loose. Tom had told Muff’s lawyer his tale the night before he testified, and though Huck’s involvement was known, Injun Joe’s quick escape had kept his involvement secret. Though rewards are offered and a detective is brought, no sign of Injun Joe is found, leaving Tom anxious.

Chapter XXV

Tom gets the inclination to dig up some treasure and enlists Huck to join him. After a misinformed discussion about treasure burying tactics, the value of jewelry, and the Kings of Europe, they decide to start digging under the many trees of a hill some three miles away. They begin to discuss what they’ll do with the treasure, with Huck saying he’d spend it all before his father got a hold of it and Tom saying he’d use it to get married. After many fruitless digging efforts, the boys decide that they’ve gone about the whole thing wrong and need to come back at midnight.

After another failed attempt during the night, Huck is on the verge of giving up. He then suggests looking in the haunted house nearby. They argue a bit about it and decide to do it. Once overlooking the house though, they become instantly scared and decide to head home instead.

Chapter XXVI

Returning the next day to get their tools, the boys are anxious to get to the house. Huck points out that it’s Friday though, and apparently it’s an unlucky day. They instead play Robin Hood, and head home. The following morning, the boys head into the house to explore. After exploring the upstairs for a bit, they hear noises downstairs and begin to hide. They spot two men come in and notice that one of the men is a deaf and dumb Spaniard who has been seen around town lately. The Spaniard speaks- to the boys’ surprise- and it turns out to be Injun Joe. He’s speaking with the other man about committing a crime, and how they couldn’t get work done the day before because of the two boys up on the hill.

The men sleep until sundown, and while the boys make one attempt to leave, the creaky floor prevents any further tries. When sunset hits, the men stir up. They reveal they have six hundred dollars worth of silver buried under a rock in the house, which makes the boys forget their fears as they grow excited. As the second man is grabbing a bit of money, he hits upon another box and paws a bit of gold. Injun Joe notes that he saw some digging tools earlier and brings them by. They dig up thousands of dollars worth of gold, exponentially increasing the boys’ excitement. Injun Joe suddenly realizes that the pick had fresh dirt on it and becomes immediately paranoid. He tries to go upstairs, but the rotting wood of the staircase collapses under his weight. The men decide to take the treasure to a different location.

Heading home, they realize that the ‘revenge job’ Injun Joe had mentioned in the house may have been meant as taking his revenge on Tom.

Chapter XXVII

Tom spends the night dreaming so often about the money that he convinces himself that none of the events even happened. He talks to Huck the next morning, letting him bring up the subject so as to affirm the truth of the matter. He does, and the boys express considerable regret at the loss of the treasure. Tom becomes insistent on finding out where location ‘Number 2’ that Injun Joe had said he would take the money is. The boys deduce that it may be a room number in a tavern, and Tom goes by himself to check out the two taverns in town. One claims that a lawyer occupies the number 2 room, and the other claims that their number 2 room is locked up because it’s haunted. This piques Tom’s suspicions and works with Huck to figure out how they’re going to get in. They figure to pick up as many keys as they can and try to get into the room through a back entrance. Tom then tells Huck to keep an eye out for Injun Joe and to follow him if spotted.

Chapter XXVIII

The night is too clear for them to attempt to sneak in for a couple of days, but they finally get a dark night where they feel confident enough to sneak in. Huck stands watch while Tom goes down the alley to where the entrance is. After some time passes, Huck gets nervous as he has seen no sign of Tom. Tom then comes running out of the alley, telling Huck to run, as well.

Tom then describes that while the keys were making too much noise, he discovered that the door to the place wasn’t locked at all. Upon opening it, he finds Injun Joe blacked out from drinking. The room is filled with barrels of whiskey. The boys decide that that must be the place where the money is hidden, and decide to wait until they’re sure Injun Joe is out before they try to go in again.

Chapter XXIX

Becky returns to town and her and Tom spend time together. She plans the picnic party she promised long ago, and a group of the children take a trip aboard a steamer. Becky’s mom suggests she stay over at someone’s house, and Becky decides on the Harper home. Tom convinces her instead to go get ice cream at Widow Dogulas’ home instead. The thought of possibly missing out on hearing Huck call him up if he spotted something is troublesome, but he puts the thought aside. After frolicking and eating, the group explores McDougal’s cave, a large systems of underground tunnels by the river.

Huck was standing watch while the party’s steamer came passed by. He had almost given up hope on the effort when he hears a door closing. He spies the two men carrying a box and decides to follow them, suspecting that they’re moving the treasure. He follows them quite a ways until he thinks he has lost them. Suddenly he realizes they’re extremely near, close to Widow Douglas’ house. He hears Injun Joe talk about how her dead husband was the one that had him whipped and mistreated. He decides to get revenge on the man by hurting her, cutting off parts of her face and head. While the partner thinks it a bit gruesome, Injun Joe is intent on doing it and threatens to kill his partner if he doesn’t come along. They can’t act now though as it seems the Widow has visitors.

Huck manages to quietly sneak away and ends up running to a nearby house owned by the Welshman. Making them promise not to tell anyone he told them this, he informs them of what he heard. The Welshman and his three sons rush off armed with Huck back to the spot. As Huck waits behind a boulder, he hears the guns fire off and a yell. He runs away.

Chapter XXX

The following morning just before Dawn, Huck goes back to the Welshman’s house. He is happily invited in and learns that while shots were fired, no one on either side was hurt, and the two criminals managed to get away. Huck is asked for a description of the two men, and the Welshman quickly recognizes that they’ve been spotted before on the Widow’s property. The Welshman’s boys are sent out to get the sheriff and find a posse, and Huck is asked for a more detailed description of how he came upon the men. Huck doesn’t want to let out that he knows it was Injun Joe, so he continues to describe him as the deaf and dumb Spaniard that’s been seen around town. His story fails though as he reveals he heard the Spaniard speak. Huck hesitantly reveals that the Spaniard is Injun Joe.

Huck also learns that the box they were carrying with them wasn’t the gold at all, but burglarizing tools. He hides as Widow Douglas, and other visitors come in to thank the Welshman. He tells them that thanks go to someone else, but won’t reveal Huck’s identity as promised.

Being Sunday morning, the mothers gather to talk and learn that Tom and Becky aren’t at each other’s houses. No one noticed them missing from the boat, and someone suggests that they may still be in the cave system. A large search party spends all day and night looking for them without success. The Welshman returns after the first day’s search to find that Huck has a fever. He gets the Widow Douglas to look after him as he returns to the search. Three days of searching continue without any success. At one point, Huck gets up and asks the Widow if anything was found in the tavern where Injun Joe was staying. He finds out there was, but it was only liquor. He asks if Tom had been the one to find it, and the Widow begins crying, though Huck doesn’t know why. He goes back to sleep, wondering if the treasure has been officially lost.

Chapter XXXI

The book goes back to the day of the picnic and focuses on Tom and Becky. They explored the caves like everyone else had, going with no one but each other down the various tunnels. They happen upon a crevice that leads deeper downward into the system, and they follow it, leaving smoke markings upon the cave walls to remember their way. They run into a nest of bats that are stirred up by their arrival and are forced to run away. In the panic, they didn’t get a chance to keep track of which way they had gone, officially getting themselves lost. After some despair, they begin to try to find a way out, attempting to conserve the few candles they took with them.

Hours go by, and they can’t find a way out. Tom insists on finding a place for water, and they do so. There, Tom reveals that they’re on their last candle. Becky weeps and they watch the last bit burn away. Waiting they hear some shouting and Tom attempts to shout back with no reply. Time continues to pass, and their despair grows. Tom takes a piece of kite string, ties it to an outcropping, then attempts to do some further exploration by himself as Becky seems resigned to die by the water. At one point, he sees a light and a hand up ahead and shouts. The light reveals itself to be owned by Injun Joe though, running away from the sound of the voice. Tom is terrified and returns to Becky, explaining the shout was just for luck. Though still scared of running into Injun Joe, his fear of being stuck there is greater, so Tom head off once again with kite string in hand.

Chapter XXXII

As Tuesday afternoon hits, the town is convinced that the kids have been lost. Most all the folks looking in the caves have given up save for Becky’s father and a few men. That same night though, a carriage comes into town announcing that the children have been found. The town rejoices. Tom explains that after searching various tunnels, he just happened to spot daylight in one of them. Going forward, he sees a way out onto Mississippi River shore. He returns to get Becky, and they hail down a raft with some men. They learn that they are five miles from the cave’s entrance, and the folks on the ship get them food and make them rest a bit before returning into town.

The children end up in bed for a few days as the adventure has worn them out quite a bit. Tom visits Huck once he’s better, but isn’t allowed to tell any exciting stories as Huck is still sick. The body of Injun Joe’s accomplice had been found drowned. On his way to visit his friend, Tom stops by Becky’s house were Judge Thatcher and a few friends converse with him. Here, Tom finds out that the Judge has had the entrance door to cave laden with iron and triple-locked so as to prevent further accidents like this one. Shocked, Tom reveals that Injun Joe was in the caves.

Chapter XXXIII

As it turns out, Injun Joe had made it back to the entrance to the cave but had already been locked out. His starved corpse is found next to that of some bats he had presumably eaten. His bowie knife was broken, and there were scratches along the door, implying he had tried to cut his way out, though the effort would have been futile as a large rock also barred his way. He is buried near the cave, and his grave becomes part of the place’s attraction.

Tom visits Huck the day after the funeral and they explain each to each other what had happened on their individual adventures. As their conversation continues, Tom exclaims that the treasure wasn’t in room Number 2 of the tavern, but remains in the cave. They outfit themselves and head back to where Tom managed to escape the tunnels. He leads them back to the spot where he saw Injun Joe and finds a cross there as they had thought. They dig around and find that a stone was covering up a chasm at the end of which holds the treasure, a keg, and some guns. The boys leave the guns and kegs for future robbing expeditions and pack up the money. Once home, they borrow a wagon and head towards the Widow Douglas’ house, where they plan to hide it.

Passing the Welshman’s house, the boys are stopped by the man and told to follow him up to Widow Dogulas’ house. He carries their wagon for them, convinced it’s just old, heavy metal that they’ve gathered up to sell. Once at the house, family and friends meet them. They’re told to clean up and put on the new suits that have been bought for them.

Chapter XXXIV

As the boys are left to dress, Huck suggests escaping, since he has no desire for large crowds. Tom reassures him though. It’s at this point that Sid comes in. He reveals to them that the Welshman is planning to reveal a secret, and most everybody knows that it’s going to be revealed that Huck was the one that informed the Welshman about the robbers. At the dinner table, this is exactly what happens, making Huck even more uncomfortable at the attention he is receiving. The Widow Douglas expresses her gratitude, proclaiming she plans to take Huck into her house to educate him and save up money to put him in business one day. Tom says this won’t be necessary, since Huck is already rich. The jokes are quickly silenced as Tom brings in the bags of gold from the wagon. After explaining how they acquired it, the money is counted up to $12,000.

Chapter XXXV

The boys’ fortune made public, many townsfolk start tearing up haunted houses and caves in search for their own. The found money is invested for the boys, giving them a dollar a day. Judge Thatcher’s admiration for Tom after saving his daughter grows ever more once he hears how he took a whipping for her when she had ripped the schoolmaster’s book. Judge Thatcher aims to make sure Tom has admission to both the military academy and a good law school, should the boy choose to employ himself in either or both professions.

Huck is taken in by the Widow Douglas. His life becomes ordered, clean, and he sleeps on cleans sheets and a soft bed. Unsurprisingly, Huck despises this life and goes missing for two days. The river is searched for his body, the town is scoured, but no one can find him. Tom sneaks to an empty hog shed behind the old slaughterhouse, and finds Huck there. Huck hates living with the Widow and wants to give up his share of the money if being rich requires changing his life. Tom then describes how Huck can’t be part of the robber’s gang if he isn’t respectable, as though politeness may not be a characteristic of a pirate, it certainly is one of robbers. The threat of not being included in the gang frightens Huck enough to go live with the Widow until he’s proper enough to become a criminal.

Conclusion

The novel ends with a narrator saying that while the boys grew up to be happy and prosperous, it would be best to not reveal any more about their lives in case another book is to be written about them.