Tom Dennis Fitzgerald, a.k.a. The Great Brain Timeline and Summary

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• Papa orders the first water closet in Adenville. Tom charges kids a penny apiece to watch Mr. Harvey dig the hole for the cesspool in the backyard. After it's installed, he tries to charge a penny apiece to watch the toilet flush. Mamma interrupts this scheme and makes him pay all the money back.
• Tom and his brothers get the measles. J.D. attempts a scheme of his own, getting himself infected with the mumps in order to have an illness first for once. Tom and Sweyn are so mad they give J.D. the silent treatment, but Tom agrees to lift the punishment in exchange for J.D.'s real Indian beaded belt.
• Tom and Sweyn teach J.D. to swim. Tom arranges to mate J.D.'s dog, Brownie, to the Jensens' dog, Lady. Tom works out a plan to rescue the Jensen brothers and Lady when they are lost in Skeleton Cave.
• Tom charges Seth Smith and Pete Hanson a penny every Sunday to lick the spoon when the Fitzgeralds make ice cream.
• The new teacher, Mr. Standish, paddles Tom, so Tom swears revenge and very nearly gets Mr. Standish fired by planting evidence to suggest he is a secret drinker.
• Lady's puppies are weaned, and Tom completes his scheme by charging Mr. Monaire two silver dollars for the pup he gets from the litter.
• Tom stumbles on Andy Anderson's plan to kill himself and declares that he can teach Andy to be useful again—in exchange for Andy's erector set.
• Tom successfully teaches Andy to do everything he did before, but he realizes that it's wrong to charge him for it. He reforms, even going so far as to return J.D.'s real Indian beaded belt.