Huckleberry Finn Chapter 42

Uncle Silas goes to town and still doesn't hear anything about Tom. He goes home and remembers that he forgot to give Aunt Sally the letter he picked up from the post office the other day. She sees it is from her sister, Aunt Polly, but before she has a chance to read it, she runs out the door. She sees Tom being carried to the door on a mattress by Jim and the doctor. They see that Tom isn't well (he is sleeping), and quickly rush him off to the bedroom.

The doctor explains everything that happened and even tells them that Jim is a good person because he risked his freedom to help Tom. Huck is glad that they decide not to hang him and to treat him a little bit nicer.

Eventually Tom wakes up, and he tells Aunt Sally about how he and Huck freed Jim. She is shocked and wants to give them a good beating. Just as he is finished explaining everything, Aunt Polly walks in. She lets Aunt Sally know that Sid is really Tom, and Tom is really Huck Finn. Aunt Polly appears after hearing about Sid's arrival in a letter from Aunt Sally. She knew immediately that something was wrong. Tom finds out that Jim is being kept in the shed again, and gets very annoyed. He tells them that Jim is really free because Miss Watson freed him in her will after she died two months ago. Huck is in shock and cannot believe that Tom would go to all that trouble to free a free man. But he knows that this is Tom's style, to make everything just like an adventure.

Aunt Polly tells Aunt Sally that she wrote her two letters. Tom hid the one, and Aunt Sally was just about to read the other one when she saw Tom coming towards the house. Huck and Tom get reprimanded for playing such tricks and causing so much trouble.