Huckleberry Finn

You don't know about me without you've read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was mostly true, only with some stretchers, as I reckon most folks put in. After that, I got a heap of money from a robber's stash, and the Widow Douglas, she took me in to "sivilize" me. Her and Miss Watson, her sister, were always trying to teach me manners and religion, which mostly just made me itch and feel cramped. I couldn't stand it, all that praying and properness. But then my Pap, he showed up again, a ragged, drunk old man, and he just wanted my money. He took me off to a cabin in the woods, where he locked me up and beat me. I tell you, it was a rough life.

I couldn't take it no more, so I decided to light out. I faked my own murder, making it look like robbers killed me, with some pig's blood and a broken-down door, and then I slipped away in a canoe. I landed on Jackson's Island, figuring I was free. But lo and behold, who do I find there but Miss Watson's Jim, a runaway slave. He'd overheard her talking about selling him down to New Orleans, and he wasn't about to let that happen. We decided then and there to stick together, two runaways, and head down the Mississippi River, aiming for the free states.

Our journey started quiet-like, just the two of us on a raft, floating down the big river. We found a whole house floating by after a flood, and inside was a dead man shot in the back. Jim wouldn't let me look at his face, saying it warn't for a boy to see. Later, I snuck into a town dressed as a girl to get news, and I heard folks were looking for Jim, thinking he'd killed me for my money. We had to clear out fast. We were trying to get to Cairo, where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi, so we could turn north to free territory. But a thick fog rolled in, thick as pea soup, and we missed our turn. It was a bad feeling, knowing we were heading deeper into slave country.

Then a steamboat smashed right into our raft one night, and Jim and me got separated. I washed ashore and ended up with the Grangerfords, a fine, rich family who took me in. They were in a terrible, long-standing feud with another family, the Shepherdsons, and nobody even remembered what started it. I saw a young Grangerford boy, Buck, about my age, get killed in a shootout, and it made me sick to my stomach, all that senseless killing. I found Jim again, who had fixed up the raft, and we didn't waste no time getting back on the river, away from all that foolishness.

Soon enough, we picked up two more passengers: a couple of scoundrels who called themselves a Duke and a King. They were con artists, plain and simple, always cooking up some scheme to swindle folks out of their money. They put on a terrible show called "The Royal Nonesuch" in one town, and it was so bad, the audience got mad enough to tar and feather them. But the worst was when they pretended to be the long-lost brothers of a dead man named Peter Wilks, trying to steal his inheritance from his sweet, innocent nieces. I felt so bad for those girls that I tried to mess up the Duke and King's plan, even stuffing the stolen gold into Wilks's coffin. The real brothers showed up eventually, and the frauds got exposed, but they still managed to get away.

Our luck ran out when those two low-down rascals sold Jim to a farmer named Silas Phelps. That's when I had a real wrestle with myself. Society said I was doing wrong by helping a runaway slave, that I'd go to hell for it. But I thought about Jim, how good he'd been to me, how we were friends, and I decided right then and there, "All right then, I'll go to hell!" I vowed to free him, no matter what.

I went to the Phelps farm, and they mistook me for their nephew, Tom Sawyer. It wasn't long before the real Tom showed up, and he played along, pretending to be his own brother, Sid. Tom, being Tom, couldn't just free Jim the simple way. He had to make it into a grand, complicated adventure, full of secret messages, ropes made of sheets, and digging tunnels with knives. It was all for fun and glory to him.

We finally made our escape attempt, and it was a mess, just like Tom's plans always were. Tom got shot in the leg, and Jim, instead of running for his freedom, stayed behind to help get a doctor for Tom, which led to him being captured again. But then, the truth came out: Miss Watson had died and set Jim free in her will all along. And it turned out that dead man in the floating house, the one Jim wouldn't let me see, was my Pap. So, I was clear of him for good. Aunt Sally, Mrs. Phelps, she wanted to adopt me and "sivilize" me again, but I'd had enough of that. I figured I better light out for the Territory, because I've been there before.