Summary—Chapter 14: Happy Camp of the Freebooters
The next day, the boys wake on Jackson’s Island and find
that their raft has disappeared, but the discovery hardly bothers
them. In fact, they find relief in being severed from their last
link to St. Petersburg. Huck finds a spring nearby, and the boys
go fishing and come up with a bountiful and delicious catch. After
breakfast, Tom and Joe explore the island and find pirate life nearly
perfect. In the afternoon, however, their enthusiasm and conversation
fade, and they begin to feel the first stirrings of homesickness.
In the late afternoon, a large group of boats appears
on the river, and, after some confusion, the boys realize that the
townspeople are searching for them, assuming they have drowned.
This realization actually raises the boys’ spirits and makes them
feel, temporarily, like heroes. After dinner, however, both Tom
and Joe begin to consider the people who may be missing them terribly.
Hesitantly, Joe suggests the possibility of returning home, but
Tom dismisses the suggestion. That night, however, Tom decides to
cross the river back to town to observe the local reaction to their
absence. Before he leaves, he writes messages on two sycamore scrolls,
then puts one in his pocket and one in Joe’s hat.
Summary—Chapter 15: Tom’s Stealthy Visit Home
Tom swims from the end of a sandbar to the nearby Illinois
shore and stows away on a ferry to cross back to the Missouri side.
At home, Tom finds Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and Mrs. Harper sitting together.
He hides under a bed and listens to their conversation. With the
exception of Sid, they all talk about how much they miss the boys
and wish they had been kinder to them. Tom learns that the search
crew has found the raft downstream, so everyone assumes that the
boys capsized in midstream and drowned.
After the company has gone to bed, Tom goes to his aunt’s
bedside and almost places one of his sycamore scrolls on her table,
but he decides against it. He returns to the island, finds Huck
and Joe making breakfast, and tells them of his adventures.
Summary—Chapter 16: First Pipes—“I’ve Lost My Knife”
The boys find turtle eggs on the sandbar that afternoon
and eat fried eggs for supper that night and for breakfast the following
morning. They strip naked, swim, and have wrestling matches and
a mock circus on the beach. Homesickness mounts, however, and Tom
finds himself writing “BECKY” in the sand.
Joe suggests again that they return home, and this time Huck sides
with him. The two boys prepare to cross the river, and Tom, feeling
suddenly lonely and desperate, calls to them to stop. He then tells
them of a secret plan that he has devised. After hearing his plan
(we do not yet know what it entails), both boys agree to stay and
their spirits are rejuvenated.
That afternoon, Tom and Joe ask Huck to teach them how
to smoke. Huck makes them pipes, and they sit together smoking and commenting
on how easy it is. They imagine the effect they will produce when
they go home and smoke casually in front of their friends. Eventually,
however, both boys begin to feel sick, drop their pipes, and declare
that they need to go look for Joe’s knife. Huck finds them later,
fast asleep in separate parts of the forest, probably after having
vomited. That evening, Huck takes out his pipe and offers to prepare
theirs for them, but both boys say they feel too sick—because of
something they ate, they claim.
