- It's Tuesday night now and everyone's sad and tired. Mrs. Thatcher and Aunt Polly are overwhelmed by anxiety.
- In the middle of the night the bells start ringing: the kids have been found. Everyone runs out to meet them on their way back home.
- Tom gets to be the center of attention again, and he tells everyone about how he stumbled upon a tiny passage that led outside of the cave – at a point five miles from its entrance – how he and Becky escaped, hitched a ride on a passing boat, and made their way home. Soon all the searchers, including Judge Thatcher, are called back and given the good news, and Tom and Becky are given a few days to recuperate.
- Soon enough, Tom's feeling better, and he attempts to visit Huck. Huck's laid up too, so treasure hunting is off the menu for a little while.
- In the meantime, word gets round that Injun Joe's companion has been found floating in the river.
- When Tom hears that Huck is finally feeling better, he heads over to see him, but not before checking on Becky. When he gets to the Thatcher house, he gets to chatting with the Judge and his friends about his experience in the cave. When one of Judge Thatcher's men asks if Tom would ever go back in the cave and Tom answers in the affirmative, the judge gives a big laugh and tells him, well, that he never can go in, because he's had the entranced locked up with a big metal door.
- Tom nearly faints when he hears this, but after some water is thrown at his face – no, really – he tells Judge Thatcher the awful truth: Injun Joe is in the cave.