Chapter 5. Rescuing Jim
Everybody stares at the two men. The King and the Duke don't show any surprise. Then the big man says to the King, “So, you're Harvey Wilks? Tell me about your journey here.” The King tells him about his journey on the steamboat the day before the funeral.
The man listens, then tells everyone how he remembers seeing the King in a canoe with Tim Collins and a boy.
“Do you know the boy?” asks the Doctor.
“Yes,” says the man pointing at me. “There he is.”
“Well,” says the Doctor, “if these two aren't fraudsters, then I'm an idiot! Let's take them to the tavern and find out.” So they take us all to the hotel in the village.
“Where's the money?” asks the Doctor.
“I put it in a safe place for my nieces,” says the King, “but I'm sure the slaves have it now!”
Nobody believes him and they continue to ask us lots of questions. Then they ask the King to write a few words on a piece of paper but nobody can read it.
The lawyer examines the writing and takes out some old letters. “This isn't Harvey Wilks' writing!” he says.
Then the real Harvey Wilks says to the King, “If you're Harvey Wilks, prove it! Tell me about the tattoo on my brother's chest.”
The King thinks for a while, then replies, “It's a small, thin, blue arrow – that's what it is.”
“Did you hear him?” shouts the real Harvey Wilks. “He's wrong! I know the correct answer! The real tattoo is the letters P-B-W!”
Nobody says anything. They don't know who to believe.
Then the lawyer says, “Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's go and dig up the body.” So everybody goes to the graveyard. I'm really scared now. The big man holds onto my hand so I can't get away. It's dark and it starts to rain, but the men dig and dig. At last they get the coffin and open it. Somebody shouts, “Here's the bag of money!” The big man goes to look and I run and run!
I run fast down the road. I get into a canoe and go down the river until I find the raft and Jim.
“Let's go, Jim!” I shout. He's so happy to see me. But then I see the King and the Duke.
“Are you running away from us? !” the King shouts as he gets onto the raft. He's very angry.
We don't stop at any towns for days and days. When they think we're safe, the King and the Duke start playing their games again tricking, people out of their money. One day I see them talking quietly. Jim and I are worried now.
The next day we stop at a village called Pikesville. The King goes to the village and tells us to stay on the raft and wait for him. At midday, the Duke and I go to find him. He's in a bar and he's very drunk. The Duke is very angry with him. They start fighting so I run back to the raft and shout, “Jim, let's go!” But Jim isn't there. I run into the woods but Jim isn't there. I see a boy and I ask him about Jim.
“Yes, he's down at Silas Phelps' place,” the boy says. “And an old man has forty more dollars in his pocket.” Now I know the King's new trick.
So the next day, I go down the river in the canoe to Silas Phelps' place. I walk along the road. It's a sunny day. As I am climbing over the fence, two dogs run up to me. After a few minutes there are about fifteen dogs around me. A servant and some children run out of the house along with a white woman of about forty five.
She looks at me and shouts: “Ah, it's you, at last!”
“Yes,” I reply.
“It's Tom Sawyer! He's back!” says the woman.
Tom Sawyer?! She thinks I'm Tom Sawyer. This is Tom's Aunt Sally. She takes me into the house and tells me her husband, Tom's Uncle Silas, is looking for Tom.
“Here he comes,” she says. “Let's play a joke on him! Stay here.”
An old man comes into the house.
“Is he with you?” she asks.
“No,” says the man. “I'm so worried. Where is he?” Then she tells me to come out of my hiding place.
“Here he is,” she shouts. “It's Tom Sawyer!” They both start laughing and dancing, and we talk about Tom's family for hours. It's good to be Tom Sawyer. I'm happy.
But, I think, maybe Tom is coming back on a steamboat right now. I must stop him before they find out I'm Huck Finn.
“Aunt Sally,” I say “My bag is in town. I need to go and get it.” So I take the wagon.
But along the road, I see another wagon. It's Tom Sawyer!
When he sees me, he says, “Huck! Why are you here to haunt me? !” He's scared.
“No!” I say. “I'm not a ghost. I'm not dead.”
“I don't understand,” he says.
“I'm NOT dead,” I tell him. “It's just a trick.”
He's happy to see me. I tell him I want to rescue Jim.
“I can help you get him back!” he says. We make a plan and he puts his bag in my wagon.
I drive quickly back to Silas' place.
After some time, Tom comes to the farm. He's wearing old clothes and he tells them he is Sid Sawyer, my brother.
“Tom and I wanted to surprise you!” he tells his Aunt and Uncle.
After dinner, Tom and I go to bed in the same room. When everyone is asleep, we climb out of the window.
“I think I know where Jim is!” Tom says. “In the hut in the garden.”
We go to the hut and look in the little window. There's lots of farm equipment inside, but we can't see anything else.
“I think he's in here,” says Tom. “We can dig a tunnel to get him out.” That's the plan.
The next morning, we see one of the servants with some food.
“Is that for the dogs?” asks Tom.
“Yes, for the dog. Do you want to see him?” says the servant.
We go into the hut and Jim is there.
“Why, Huck!” he shouts.
“Do you know this man?” the servant asks me.
“Why do you think that?” asks Tom.
“He speaks like he knows your friend,” the servant replies.
“No,” says Tom “I think you're wrong.”
That night we start digging. It takes us two nights until we come up under Jim's bed. He's so happy to see us he cries. We tell Jim to wait another day or two, and then we go back to our bedroom.
Later that night, Tom and I make a plan.
“I can write an anonymous letter to Uncle Silas and tell him that someone's planning to steal the slave” says Tom.
“Why?” I ask.
“So the adventure is more exciting!” he says.
The next night, we go to get Jim.
“Come on, let's go!” Tom says, and we run.
Suddenly, a man shouts: “He's gone!”
We run and run. Some men fire their guns at us.
“You're free, Jim!” we say. “I've got a bullet in my leg!” says Tom. He's bleeding.
