The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
Table of Contents
Chapter 8 to Chapter 14
Chapter 8
Huck camps at Jackson Island and in the morning, he sees the search crew on the river trying to raise his corpse by shooting a cannon. The crew consists of Judge Thatcher, Tom, Aunt Polly, Pap and others. Huck is hungry and wants to eat, but he does not want to risk starting a fire, so he snatches a loaf of bread stuffed with quicksilver from the river, which the crew has set out to help locate the dead. This tides him over, and he begins to explore the island.
During his exploration, Huck stumbles upon the slave Jim who has run away from Miss Watson. At first Jim thinks Huck is a ghost because he has heard of Huck’s “death.” Huck tells the story of his escape from Pap, and Jim tells the reason for his running away: a slave trader had come to town and Jim overhead Miss Watson say that she could get $800 for Jim, so Jim ran off before any sale could take place. Huck is shocked, but he has given his word not to tell anyone, and so he says that he will keep it even if he is accused of being an “Abolitionist.”
They eat. Jim relates a number of superstitions to Huck and several anecdotes about Jim’s financial misadventures, which all came about from failed investments: one in a cow, another in a bank, and another in a supposedly lucky fool.
In this chapter, both Huck and Jim show some common sense: Huck manages to fill his belly without drawing attention to his whereabouts, and Jim shows some wisdom concerning wealth (which he has learned the hard way).
Chapter 9
Huck and Jim discover a cave where they can store their traps and stay dry while it storms. Huck enjoys himself and is glad Jim could interpret the actions of the small birds and identify a need to find shelter from the coming storm.
While on the island, they catch a log raft floating down the river. They also investigate the contents of a two-story house also floating down the river. Inside is a dead man who has been shot in the back. Jim looks at...
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