Tom and Huck capture several rats to put in Jim’s cabin, but one of the Phelps boys finds the box and lets all of the rats free into the house. After several creatures are accidentally freed in the Phelps’ house, Tom and Huck finally capture enough rats, spiders, and snakes, and put them in Jim’s cabin. Jim complains that there is not enough room for him, and if he ever becomes free he “wouldn’t ever be a prisoner again, not for a salary.”
After three weeks, everything is finally ready for the grand escape. To finish off the scheme, Tom writes an anonymous letter to the Phelps saying that a “desperate gang of cutthroats” will attempt to steal Jim out of the cabin.
Huck returns to the house to pick up some butter and finds that the Phelps have gathered 15 men to battle the gang of cutthroats. Alarmed, Huck sneaks out the window and warns Tom that the men are here, and they must all escape immediately. When the men come to the cabin, Jim and the boys slip out of the hole and head for the river amidst shouts and gunshots. They make it to the raft but then discover that Tom has been shot in the calf. Tom tells them to shove off, but Jim will not leave until a doctor has looked at Tom.
