Tom Sawyer smiled at me. "Yes, Huck," he said. "Of course I'll help you."
He was quiet for a few minutes thinking.
Then he grinned and told me how I could keep pretending to be Tom Sawyer.
I thought his plan just might work. I never knew anyone better at thinking up plans than Tom.
Soon we were back at the Phelps' house. "Well, who's this?" Aunt Sally asked when we came in the door.
All the little cousins gathered around, looking at us curiously.
"This is my brother, Sid," I said. "I wanted his visit to be a surprise.
That's why I had to go back to the dock—to get him and bring him here."
Aunt Sally looked really surprised. "We're certainly happy to see you," she said, "but my sister's letter said only Tom would be visiting."
"That's right," said the real Tom. "But I begged and begged Aunt Polly to let me come, and at the last minute she finally agreed. So here I am!"
Aunt Sally gave him a big hug. Then she called Uncle Silas to come and meet Sid.
They were nice people, and it never occurred to them that they were being tricked.
The Phelpses fed us a delicious dinner with enough food for seven families.
Tom and I had agreed that we must not ask about Jim because we weren't supposed to know about him.
But we hoped that someone would mention him. Finally, during dinner, someone did.
One of my little cousins asked, "Pa, may Tom and Sid and I go to the show in town?"
"No," said Uncle Silas. "I heard from the runaway slave that it is a stupid show.
He said those two actors have been cheating people all along the river.
I warned a man in town, and he said the townspeople would capture the rascals this evening and throw them out of town."
Now Tom and I knew that Jim really was nearby.
I said that my brother and I were tired, and we went up to our bedroom right after dinner.
"I've got to warn the king and the duke," I told Tom. "They don't know that they're in danger."
We climbed out of our bedroom window and slid down the lightning rod that ran up the side of the house.
We ran down the road, but when we reached the town, we met a noisy, angry crowd.
Some of them were carrying a long pole, with two fellows tied up and hanging underneath it.
They were covered from head to toe with tar and feathers.
It was hard to recognize them, but I knew they must be the king and the duke.
Even though they were scoundrels, I felt sad to see them being treated so roughly.
Tom and I saw that we couldn't do anything to help, so we turned back.
At first we were quiet, thinking about the two men as we walked.
Then Tom said, "I think I know where Jim is!"
"Where?" I asked.
"In that shed behind the kitchen. Didn't you see the servant go out the back door while we were eating?
He was carrying some food. Who do you think it was for?"
"I don't know," I said. "Maybe for the dogs?"
"No, he must be locked in the shed," Tom continued.
"When we were getting up from the table, the servant brought Uncle Silas a big key, and he put it in his pocket."
I couldn't believe how smart Tom was. He had figured out everything.
"So how should we rescue Jim?" Tom asked.
"Let's find out from the servant whether Jim is really in the shed," I said.
"Then, tomorrow night, when Uncle Silas is asleep, we'll take the key from his pocket.
He leaves his trousers hanging on the chair in his bedroom.
We'll free Jim and run down to the riverbank where the raft is hidden.
We'll all get aboard and escape down the river. Wouldn't that work?"
"It might work," said Tom, looking very disappointed. "But it's too simple."
Then Tom told me his plan, which had lots of things to do and would take quite a while.
I thought his plan would probably free Jim, but it might also get us killed.
However, I was so grateful to him for helping me that I didn't object.
When we got back, the house was dark and still, so we tiptoed around to the shed.
On the back wall of the shed, we saw a high square window with a board nailed across it.
"We can pull off that board," I said, "and then Jim can squeeze out the window."
"I hope we can think of an escape that's more interesting than that!" said Tom scornfully.
Next to the shed was a small unlocked hut.
We opened the door, struck a match, and looked inside.
We saw rusty old tools, including spades and picks.
"Now I know what we can do," said Tom happily.
"We can dig Jim out. It will only take about a week."
The back door of the house wasn't locked, so I entered quietly and went up to the bedroom.
But Tom, who always wanted adventures, was determined to climb up the lightning rod and through the window.
After he slipped and fell three times, I finally persuaded him to use the stairs like me.