CHAPTER VII

At sunrise, Pap startles Huck awake and questions his gun. Huck claims he was guarding against an intruder, which inspires Pap to warn him to wake him next time. Sent to check fish lines, Huck notices the river rising and captures an unmanned drift canoe, secretly hiding it for a future escape.

Later, when a raft of logs floats by, Pap tows it to town to sell, locking Huck in the cabin. Huck slips out through the sawed escape hole, transfers food, tools, ammunition, blankets, and cookware to the hidden canoe, and conceals his exit by brushing away signs of tampering.

To prevent pursuit, Huck stages his own murder. He kills a wild pig, smashes the cabin door, bloodies an axe, drags a heavy, rock-filled sack from the “body” to the river to mimic a corpse being hauled away, and dumps the pig. He then creates a false trail by leaking cornmeal to a distant lake and tying the sack shut again to imply the killers fled that way.

At dusk, Huck hides under willows with the canoe, planning to settle at Jackson’s Island. When a skiff rows past, he recognizes a sober Pap and immediately pushes off, drifting among the logs to avoid notice as he passes the ferry landing and overhears distant talk in the night.

Before dawn, Huck reaches Jackson’s Island, slips into a hidden inlet on the Illinois side, secures the canoe, and watches the river and a passing raft in the growing gray light. Confident in his ruse and refuge, Huck retreats into the woods to sleep.