CHAPTER XXXVI

After nightfall, Huck and Tom descend the lightning rod, gather their fox-fire, and begin digging under Jim’s bed with case-knives. The work proves impossibly slow and blisters their hands. Tom concedes they must use picks and shovels but pretend they are case-knives to keep it “regular,” and they rapidly deepen the tunnel.

Unable to manage the lightning rod with sore hands, Tom lets Huck guide him up the stairs, “letting on” it’s a rod. The next day, Tom steals a pewter spoon, a brass candlestick, and candles for pens, while Huck steals tin plates. Tom rejects simply passing items through the hole and insists they must first “post” Jim.

Late that night they complete the tunnel, slip under Jim’s bed, wake him, and confirm his condition. Jim urges a quick chain-cutting escape, but Tom outlines an elaborate plan: smuggle items via Nat, plant small things on Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally for Jim to lift, and have Jim keep a shirt-journal in blood. Jim, trusting their supposed expertise, agrees.

In the morning, Tom chops the candlestick, hides a piece in Jim’s cornpone to create a “mystery,” and watches Jim nearly break his teeth. A pack of hounds suddenly floods the cabin; Nat faints, crying “witches.” Tom distracts the dogs with meat, calms Nat, and reframes the disturbances as supernatural.

Seizing on Nat’s fear, Tom orders a “witch pie” to feed the supposed spirits and instructs Nat to turn his back when they deliver things, and never to handle the “witch-things.” Nat, terrified, agrees, enabling Tom’s theatrical smuggling scheme while prolonging Jim’s escape.