Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapter 42 Summary

Summary

The chapter opens with the household uneasy after a sleepless night; the old man (Silas Phelps) and Aunt Sally sit at breakfast fretting about Tom’s absence until they discover a letter from Aunt Polly and then the startling sight of Tom on a mattress, the doctor, and Jim in Aunt Sally’s dress, bound. Aunt Sally rushes to Tom, fearing he is dead, and Tom’s partial fevered talk convinces her he is alive but not fully himself. Men who have been involved in the capture debate hanging Jim for example, but the doctor vouches for Jim’s faithful nursing of the wounded boy and explains how Jim helped him—this softens the men, who promise to stop cursing Jim though they keep him chained and under guard.

Huck follows the commotion and stays out of sight while Aunt Sally tends Tom through the night. In the morning Tom wakes and begins to brag about the elaborate