"We left John Canty dragging the rightful prince into Offal Court, with a noisy and delighted mob at his heels." Twain aims for our compassion as the true prince struggles to get free, all the while raging against the cruel treatment by Tom Canty's father. The old man is ready to use his cudgel against the child when someone in the crowd stays Canty's hand. Canty is not to be stopped, however, and he delivers a severe blow to the bystander's head. The wounded man sinks to the ground, and the mob passes on. Finally they all arrive at Canty's den, and the prince sees Tom's mother and sisters — "animals habituated to harsh usage"; Tom's grandmother looks like "a withered hag with streaming grey hair and malignant eyes."
Prodded by Canty, the prince proclaims himself to be Edward, Prince of Wales. Tom's mother rushes to him, convinced that he is mad, and the prince tells her again that he is not her son: his father is King of England, whereupon she can do nothing but wail brokenheartedly. Tom's sister pleads with her father to be gentle with the boy, saying that rest will heal his madness. Canty, however, asks what the boy has managed to beg that day, and when the prince dismisses such "sordid matters," Canty and Tom's grandmother thoroughly beat him and send him to bed.
In the darkness, Tom's mother ponders what she has heard and the differences between her son and this mad boy: is he really her son? At last, she devises a test: Tom Canty habitually covers his eyes with his hands, palms outward, when confronted with sudden bright lights or noises. Thus she thrusts her candle into the prince's face and thumps loudly on the floor; the boy is startled, but he makes no gesture with his hands. She soothes the prince back to sleep, but she is left more confused than ever.
