Summer brought with it the usual adventures, hopes, and disappointments. It was Tom’s unfortunate luck to catch the measles, and he had to stay in bed for almost three weeks. Those weeks seemed like an eternity, and when at last he was out again, the whole town was buzzing with excitement.
Muff Potter’s murder trial was finally starting. It was the topic of every conversation. Tom could not escape it. Every mention of the murder sent a shudder through him and kept him in a cold sweat all the time.
When he couldn’t stand it any longer, Tom looked for Huck. He had to have a talk with him. It would be some relief to unseal his tongue for a little while. In addition, he wanted to assure himself that Huck had kept the morbid secret.
“Huck, have you ever told anybody about…that?” whispered Tom.
“About what?” asked Huck.
“You know what.”
“Oh! Of course I haven’t.”
“Never a word?”
“Never a solitary word. So help me!”
Tom felt more comfortable, but he insisted that they swear again to keep mum about what they had seen that fateful night.
After Huck and Tom sealed their pact with another oath of blood, they discussed the fate of poor Muff Potter.
“I’ve heard talk that the people plan to lynch him if the court frees him,” said Tom.
The boys took a long walk and had a long talk, but it brought them little comfort. As twilight drew on, they found themselves hanging around the neighborhood of the jail-house. They somehow hoped that something would happen to clear away their problems. But nothing did.
The boys did as they had often done before. They went to the cell grating on the ground floor and gave Potter some tobacco and matches. Luckily, there were no guards around. Muff was always so thankful for their little gifts, that it only made their consciences ache more.
After the visit, Tom went home miserable. That night, his dreams were full of horrors.
Each day during the trial, Tom hung around the courtroom, drawn by an almost irresistible impulse to go in. But he forced himself to stay out. Huck was having the same experiences.
Finally, the great day came—the day that the jury was to make its decision. The villagers filed into the courtroom and sat waiting for the news. The judge and jury entered and took their places.
Shortly afterward, Potter was brought in. He looked pale and haggard, timid and hopeless. All eyes were on him. Injun Joe sat in the gallery, looking fierce and angry.
Instead of waiting for the jury to reveal its decision, Potter’s attorney rose to make an announcement. He had an important new witness and wanted to change Potter’s plea to “not guilty.”
In a firm clear voice, he said, “Call Thomas Sawyer to the stand.”
Looks of puzzled amazement appeared on every face in the courtroom, Muff Potter’s included. Every eye fastened itself on Tom with interest as he rose and took his place on the stand. He was scared, but he took the oath
Then the defense attorney asked the fateful question. “Thomas Sawyer, where were you on the seventeenth of June, about the hour of midnight?”
Tom glanced at Injun Joe’s iron face, and his tongue froze. The audience waited breathlessly for Tom’s reply, but his words refused to come.
After a few moments and a few deep breaths, Tom relaxed enough so that his words began to flow. He told the whole story. He explained why he and Huck had been in the cemetery that night and described every detail of the ghastly murder.
On hearing Tom’s story, Injun Joe sprang from his seat, tore his way through the crowd, and leaped through the window.
As a result of Tom’s testimony, Muff Potter was set free. But Injun Joe was still alive and out there somewhere, waiting…