Aunt Polly catches Tom Sawyer trying to escape from the house so that he can get out of his chores. He distracts her, runs outside, and then jumps over the fence. Aunt Polly laughs about Tom’s antics but feels that she’s failing her dead sister’s boy. She plans on making him work Saturday as punishment.

Tom plays hooky from school. That night, over dinner, Polly tries to catch him in a lie. She tries to get him to admit that he went swimming since the day was so warm. Tom claims he just ran a pump over his head with some other boys, which is why his hair is damp. Aunt Polly says that if he went swimming, his collar would no longer be sewn, which she had done that morning. Tom proudly displays his sewn collar, but his brother, Sid, tattles on him: He says that Tom’s collar is sewed with black thread, but Aunt Polly used white thread that morning.

Tom runs outside to escape another scolding. Soon, he forgets his troubles and practices whistling. A well-dressed boy appears, and Tom judges him harshly. They size each other up, exchange insults, and then shove each other.