Chapter XIII

Trapped on the sinking Walter Scott with murderous criminals, Huck and Jim find the criminals' skiff tied at the stern. While the criminals re-enter the cabin to rob their victim, Huck and Jim cut the rope and glide silently away into the darkness, leaving the criminals stranded on the doomed vessel.

Worried about leaving the murderers to drown, Huck rows to a ferry and invents a yarn about Miss Hooker being stranded on the wreck, persuading the watchman to go investigate. Huck watches from hiding as the ferry approaches the wreck, then escapes toward Jim.

After a long search in the storm, a lightning flash reveals the raft floating ahead. Huck and Jim happily climb aboard with the loot from the wreck, then hide the skiff and sleep. The doomed wreck floats past empty—the criminals presumably drowned.