In chapter 31 the duke and king didn't go ashore for quite some time. When they got quite a ways down the river they felt they were safe enough to go ashore and try to get money out of people. They tried everything, but nothing seemed to work. The duke and king then sat together in the wigwam and talked very quietly by themselves. Huck and Jim were suspicious and scared of what they would do next. One day the king went to shore and said if he wasn't back by midday it was safe for the duke and Huck to come, he wasn't back so off to town they went. The king and duke got in a fight in town so Huck went back to the raft and was ready to be rid of them when he called for Jim and there was no answer. He found a boy walking on the road and asked if he had seen a black man, the boy told him that he had and that it was a runaway slave and they caught him and that the old man had given him back for $40. Huck was so upset and sad, they had put up with the theives and they had turned in this mans freedom for a lousy $40. Huck then spent some time deciding how he felt about all of this, he fought with himself and wrote a letter to Miss Watson say where Jim was. Then he sat there for a bit and decided he'd rather go to hell, tore up the letter and decided he would steal Jim back from slavery. Huck moved the raft and went back into town the next day where he ran into the duke. The duke thought that Huck had skipped out on them but Huck said he had been gone the whole day before and didn't know where the raft was and that his slave was gone. The duke began to tell Huck the truth about where Jim was but then stopped and thought up a lie, he told Huck to go there immediately and waste no time. This is what Huck wanted to hear, he went out in the country about a mile and then he turned back and headed towards where Jim really was.
In chapter 32 Huck goes looking for Jim. He's walking to the town and there are dogs that bark and howl at him and he knows better than to move. That's when a black woman and her children come out and then a white woman and her children come. The white woman is so excited to see Huck and thinks it's Tom at last! The woman goes on to ask everything about the family but Huck has no idea who Tom is and gets very uneasy when all of the sudden the woman decides she's going to play a trick on her husband and Huck hides under the bed. When her husband comes she asks if Tom has come yet and her husband responds that he hasn't and that he's awfully worried. She looks out the window and asks if that's someone coming, her husband looks and that's when Huck comes out. The husband asks who it is and she replies "it's Tom Sawyer." This relieves Huck because he can answer questions about Tom, and so he tells them stories of his family and how the steamboat broke which was why it took him so long. As time went on Huck became very comfortable being Tom until he heard a steamboat and wondered to himself, what if Tom does come? So Huck tells his aunt and uncle that he's going to go look for his bags. The man wanted to come with but Huck said he would go alone and that he could handle it, and off he went.
In chapter 33 when Huck is heading back into town there is a coach that he stoops because Tom is in it. At first Tom thinks that Huck is a ghost and begs him to do no harm for he would do the same. It took some time but Huck finally convinced Tom that he was real. Then Tom came up with a plan because Huck told him everything. Huck went back to the house and then along came Tom. The family was excited because strangers don't often call, and once Tom got there they all talked for a bit before he kissed his aunt. She was stunned and awfully offended until Tom announced he was Sid, his brother. She apologized and hugged and kissed him until she couldn't anymore. They all enjoyed a lovely dinner and Tom and Huck were to share a room. They went to town that night and Huck saw two men that were tarred and feathered and he knew off the bat it was the duke and king. Huck asked what had happened and someone told them that the crowd when in innocent enough and when the king was doing his act they all went and bombarded the stage and took the two off. Huck felt bad for the rascals although he didn't know why, just that he couldn't seem to feel bad for them.
Chapter 34 is full of plans by Huck and Tom. Huck comes up with a plan to get Jim out but Tom says it's too plain, which is what Huck thought he would say. Tom comes up with a plan and they go down to where Jim is being hidden and look around and Tom decides they should dig him out. Later they see the slave that lives where Jim is being held and he asks Tom and Huck if they want to come with him down there. They agree and when they see Jim he is so excited to see them, but they play it off to the slave that they have never seen each other before and that Jim didn't actually see anything. The slaves says that the witches have been haunting him lately, especially at night, and this is just a clear example of that. The slave left the room and Huck quickly told Jim that they're digging to get him out and that they're going to help him escape. When the boys went to leave they said they would come back if the slave wanted him to and he agreed and said especially at night because of the witches.
In chapter 35 nothing satisfies Tom. Everything that needs to be done he has to make harder. Tom claims that he knows what he's doing because he's read it in the book. Everything that Huck and Tom need to help Jim escape they're allowed to steal on the account of they're doing it for the prisoners. However, when Huck steals a watermelon from the slave pasture Tom makes him give the slaves 10 cents because Tom says they don't need that to get Jim out. Huck also says they need to find picks and shovels so they can dig out Jim, but Tom says that this was too easy and that the prisoners would do that. Tom decided that they had to steal 3 knives and dig Jim out with those until a rise came and then they would get him out quickly. Huck pointed out there was a large rusty knife around the corner of the slave house, but Tom didn't need to say much and sent Huck to steal knives from the house.
Chapter 36 they work to dig out Jim with their knives, but it blistered their hands too quickly. Tom said that this wouldn't work for them because they were in a hurry and prisoners had years and years to do it so he decided they could pretend that the shovels and picks were knives and they could dig him out. When they got through Jim was so excited to see them, but Tom told Jim how everything would happen. Jim would have to look for things that they sent him from his aunt and uncle. Huck didn't see the sense in this but there was no stopping Tom when he got an idea in him. Tom put a candle stick in Jim's food one night and Jim almost broke all of his teeth off, he never bit into anything every again without putting his fork in it three or four times. One night the dogs came in through the hole that Huck and Tom had gotten through and Tom opened the door and threw out a piece of Tom's meat. When he got back he was consoling the slave that lived there, who was going on about the dogs or devils that he had just seen. Tom told him that he needed to make a witches pie, the slave asked Tom to do it and he agreed on some conditions. He had to put his back to the pie and when it was done no matter what do not touch anything that the witches left. The chapter ended with the slave guaranteeing he would never get close to anything that the witches had touched.
In chapter 37 Tom's aunt noticed that the shirt was missing, then the spoon and the candlestick and so on. She went on a fit about how her husband couldn't keep a shirt to save his life, she blamed the rats on the candlestick and candles. Then he found the spoon in his pocket and it was quite the incident. When he went down to close up the rat holes, Huck and Tom had already done it and the man was very confused. Later Tom said he thought there were still only 9 spoons (Huck had taken one and hid it up his sleeve). The woman was dumbfounded and counted them again, she counted 9 and then Huck put the spoon back and she got 10. This happened many times over so no matter when she counted them she wouldn't trust herself. This way Huck and Tom were able to steal the spoon and she wouldn't notice. That night the put the sheet back on the clothes line and stole one from the closet. She vowed she would never count any of them again because it would be the death of her. Huck and Tom then figured out how to cook the pie and put the rope ladder in the pie. The slave didn't look when they put the pie on Jim's plate and didn't see when Jim tore into the pie and got the ladder out and hid it.
Chapter 38 is full of new tasks that Jim must do as a prisoner before he can escape. Tom has Jim and Huck making pens so that Jim can write in the wall before he leaves, but then Tom decides that it needs to be in stone so he and Huck set out to find a rock for him to write in. They find a good rock but Huck and Tom can't move it so they go and get Jim to help them, he takes his chain off the bed and helps them go get it, the rock then can't get through the hole but Jim quickly makes it big enough for the rock to get through. Once the rock has been brought Tom asks if Jim has an spiders around, Jim responds no but he doesn't want any and that he would rather have a rattlesnake. Tom thinks that's a good idea and that Jim has to tame the snake and make it his pet. Jim does not like this idea and says he won't do it, then Tom asks if there are any rats because all prisoners have rats. Jim again responds no but he doesn't want any either, but Tom insists on it. Next Tom tells Jim that he needs to raise a plant and he can only do it with his tears. Jim becomes quite upset and says how it's very difficult to be a prisoner, Tom gets upset and almost gives up on Jim until Jim apologizes and says he won't act like that anymore.
In chapter 39 Huck and Tom have to get all of the items to make Jim's time as a prisoner a real one. They catch about 15 rats but the younger kids get into the trap to see if the rats will come out, and of course they did. Aunt Sally was raging mad and she punished Huck and Tom but it didn't amount to much so Huck didn't mind. Then they went and got snakes and left them under their bed when they went down for dinner and they didn't get the bag tied up all the way so the snakes were able to get out. Aunt Sally never really recovered from that, every time one dropped on her she would freak out and whenever she saw one she would scream. Even a good two weeks after all of the snakes were gone she would still scream if you touched her shoulder. Huck and Tom went and got a great number of bugs and spiders and frogs and Jim said that all of this in his little area left him no room. Jim said there wasn't enough room in the bed for him and when there was he couldn't sleep because of all of the activity. Once all of the preparations were done for Jim Tom devised a plan to escape. He wrote a warning letter for the "servant girl" to push under the front do, who was really Huck dressed up in girl clothes. Then Tom wrote a letter saying that he was part of a group of people who were going to steal their runaway slave and the letter gave instructions on what to do, and asked for no reward.
Chapter 40 allllllll the action happens! The boys were very happy with themselves and made breakfast before they returned home. When they got home they everyone was in a frantic mood about something and the boys didn't need to be told. They were told to go up to bed right after dinner and they prepared for their night. When they woke up the butter that Huck had left out was gone. Tom told Huck he needed to go down to the cellar and get more butter, when he came up Aunt Sally was questioning why he was up and sent him to the sitting room to wait for her. Huck got to the room and there were farmers there with their guns. This made Huck's stomach drop with fear. When Aunt Sally was questioning him he didn't know how to answer and then the butter started to melt and she feared his brains was coming out of his head! When she took off his hat and saw the butter and bread she was no longer mad and sent him to bed. Huck rushed to where Tom was and told him they must go now, Jim was there also and off they went. They ran and then Tom's clothes got caught on something and it made a snapping noise that brought all of the farmers towards them and shooting. They ducked as the farmers were behind them and the farmers kept running, when the dogs came they saw that they knew Huck and Tom and kept going after all the action. When they got away to the canoe and were on their way to the raft is when they realized that Tom had been shot. Before they got to the raft Jim declared they would not leave until they had fetched a doctor. Tom tried to fight them but he said if it must be done then you had to blindfold the doctor and take him all around the town so he wouldn't know where he was going and then bring him to the canoe.
In chapter 41 Huck got the doctor to come and, of course, made up a story so that he would come and not tell anyone why. Huck decides to go to sleep for a bit in a pile of wood and when he woke up he ran straight into Uncle Siles. Huck told him a story that him and Tom had tried to follow the farmers and dogs but they outran them and they got lost. Huck said that Tom went to the post office so him and his uncle went there to wait for Tom, when Tom didn't come his uncle insisted that they go home. Once they got home everyone was trying to understand how everything had gotten done that they found where Jim had stayed. The women said that there had to be at least 40 slaves there every night to pull all of that off. When Tom was still not home after dinner his uncle went to the town to wait for him for a few hours and returned alone. Aunt Sally then puts Huck to bed and asks him not to leave so that they both don't go missing. Huck goes down twice to run and check on Tom and there's Aunt Sally sitting in the front window with her candle, the third time he goes down the sun is coming up and there's Aunt Sally sitting there asleep.
Chapter 42 Tom finally returns with the doctor and Jim. The doctor tells the story of how much help Jim was but he didn't dare leave because he didn't want the runaway slave to get away. In the morning he was able to get some men from the river to help tie up Jim so that they could back, but he told the towns people not to cuss him out because he was a good man. Once Tom woke up he told Aunt Sally the ENTIRE story of everything that him and Huck did to set Jim free. When he finally realized that Jim wasn't free he felt awfully sick and then when Polly walked in he stopped mid sentence. That's when Huck hid under the bed and Polly told Sally how Tom was actually Tom and Huck was actually Huck. She wasn't surprised that Tom was up to something, especially because she sent him here with no one to watch over him. They all found out that Jim was actually already free because Miss Watson had died and freed him in her will. Tom already knew that and just wanted the adventure of getting him out.
In the end they fixed Jim up really well, especially when they heard what a help he was to the doctor. When Tom said he wanted to go over and see the Indians Huck said he would go but didn't have any money because he figured his father had gone and gotten it from the judge. Tom assured him he hadn't and Jim told Huck that his father was never coming back. Huck asked why until Jim finally explained that the body they saw in the abandoned house was his father's.
Lots and lots of thoughts to come! I just wanted to make sure to have the summaries up by class! I'll be all over my thoughts and analyzing what I think tomorrow!
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