in reality “Tom,” the rightful son of Percy and not the slave son of Roxana.

The years pass and Percy Driscoll dies in 1845. On his deathbed, Percy grants Roxana her freedom, and she resolves to work on the riverboats as a chambermaid. Meanwhile, just before Percy’s death, Percy’s brother Judge Driscoll buys Chambers to work for his family. After Percy’s death, Judge Driscoll adopts Tom.

The childless Driscolls enjoy having Tom to raise: “Mrs. York Driscoll enjoyed two years of bliss with that prize, Tom.”

After two years Mrs. Driscoll dies, and Mr. Driscoll and his sister Mrs. Pratt, also childless, continue to raise Tom.

Tom is sent to Yale when he turns nineteen. He lasts two years there and then returns to Dawson’s Landing with improved manners but no apparent desire to find a career or to take care of himself. He also returns with two new habits, drinking and gambling, that he conceals from Judge Driscoll.

Tom is not satisfied with small town life and begins making trips to St. Louis to indulge in his new habits.

Judge Driscoll retires and, with Pudd’nhead Wilson, starts the Freethinkers' Society. Unlike the rest of Dawson’s Landing, Driscoll admires Wilson’s intelligence but is unable to convince the townsfolk that Tom is not a fool.

The widow Cooper, known about town as Aunt Patsy, receives a letter from Italian twins from St. Louis, Luigi and Angelo Capello, who wish to rent a room in her house. This causes great excitement for the widow and her daughter Rowena. They show the letter to the townsfolk, who are equally excited at the prospect of meeting such an unusual pair of people. Such a thing has never happened in Dawson’s Landing before. Everyone eagerly awaits the twins’ arrival on Thursday.

The next day, much of the town comes to Aunt Patsy’s house to meet the twins and treat them like royalty. The twins are socially adept and converse easily and comfortably with everyone.

Near the end of the gathering, they sit down at the piano together and delight the houseful of people with their playing:

All the music that they had ever heard before seemed spiritless prentice-work and barren of grace or charm when compared with these intoxicating floods of melodious sound. They realized that for once in their lives they were hearing masters.

Earlier that morning, Pudd’nhead Wilson had been in his house looking out the window toward the Driscoll house when he saw, in Tom Driscoll’s upstairs bedroom, a young lady. To the best of Wilson’s knowledge there should have been no young lady in the Driscoll house. Her behavior in the room was unusual: "She was practicing steps, gaits, and attitudes, apparently; she was doing the thing gracefully, and was very much absorbed in her work."

Shortly afterward, Pudd’nhead talks to Mrs. Pratt (the Judge’s sister who lives there also), who makes no mention of the girl. Pudd’nhead comes away believing that Mrs. Pratt does not know that the young lady is in the house.

The author now backs up a bit to describe what has happened with Roxy for the past eight years. Roxy had indeed found work on the steamboat Grand Mogul after leaving Dawson’s Landing. This work went very well for her and she was able to save money toward her retirement. When she developed rheumatism in her arms, she decided that she would retire in New Orleans, where her money was in the bank.

However, Roxy discovers that the bank has failed and all her retirement money is gone. She returns to the steamboat and decides to go back to Dawson’s Landing, hoping that Tom, secretly her son, will have softened his attitude toward her and help her in her need.

When Roxy arrives in Dawson’s Landing, the Driscoll’s slaves, including her supposed son Chambers, are excited to see her and hear her stories about the steamboating life. At this time, Tom is away in St. Louis, and Chambers confides to Roxy that Tom has developed a gambling habit that has gotten him into great trouble. In fact, at one point, Tom was even disinherited by Judge Driscoll. The inheritance was restored on condition that Tom give up gambling, which he pretends to have done.

When Tom returns to Dawson’s Landing, Roxy comes to visit him, asking if he will help her out financially. Tom refuses and cruelly attempts to throw her out: “Now go away and don’t bother me anymore.”

Roxy, however, unbeknownst to Tom, knows about his gambling and what would happen if Judge Driscoll found out. When Tom tries to dismiss her, she responds:

You has said de word. You has had yo’ chance, en you has trompled it under yo’ foot. When yo git another one, you’ll git down on yo’ knees en beg for it!

Roxy then goes on to tell Tom that she knows he’s already been disinherited once. Tom is alarmed and attempts to give Roxy the dollar she asked for. But Roxy tells him that she also knows something else about him and makes him get down on his knees and beg her.

When Roxy sees Tom on his knees, she says:

Fine nice young white gen’l’man kneelin’ down to a nigger wench! I’s wanted to see dat jes once befo’ I’s called. Now, Gabr’el blowde hawn, I’s ready . . . Git up!

Roxy takes the dollar and a bottle of whisky. She tells Tom to meet her at the haunted house later that night, and she will tell him what she knows.

Tom feels that because he has knelt down to a black woman, a former slave, he has fallen to the lowest possible level. Upon returning home, he thinks to himself, "I thought I had struck the deepest depths of degradation before, but oh, dear, it was nothing to this."

Tom goes to the haunted house to meet Roxy at the appointed time. Roxy has set up one room as a living quarters. She tells Tom that he is actually her son, a black man, and no relation to the Driscolls. She threatens to reveal to Judge Driscoll that she switched Tom and Chambers years ago to save her own son from the perils of slavery.

At first, Tom is belligerent and disbelieving, but Roxy’s manner convinces him that it is true. Roxy tells him that he must give her half of his $50 monthly allowance in exchange for her silence.

Tom asks who is real father is. Roxy tells him that his father is the now-deceased Colonel Cecil Burleigh Essex. Roxy says that he should be proud of his heritage because "Dey ain’t another nigger in dis town dat’s as high-bawn as you is."

With his new knowledge, Tom has a difficult night’s sleep. He suddenly begins to reflect on the unfortunate fate of the black man and intolerable conditions of the slave.

Initially, Tom’s new knowledge changes how he looks at his world. He suddenly feels inferior to the people he has known his whole life—the way a slave might normally feel.

To pay his gambling debts of $300, Tom had previously gone on a “theft-raid” through the town, sneaking into people’s houses and stealing their valuables. He made enough money from that raid to settle his debts in St. Louis and avoid another “smashing of the will” by his uncle.

But Tom soon got himself into another financial mess and planned another theft-raid to pay for it. He disguised himself as a girl; he was actually the “girl” whom Puddn’head Wilson saw through the window the day the twins were presented to the town at Aunt Patsy’s home. During this reception, with so many of the townspeople away from home at Aunt Patsy’s, Tom conducted a successful raid on their houses.

After conducting his theft-raid, Tom returned to Aunt Patsy’s house (no longer disguised as a girl). While Pudd’nhead Wilson talked to the twins, Tom mentioned Wilson’s fingerprinting hobby and Wilson fingerprinted Tom and the twins.

Tom’s attitude toward Wilson was very condescending. He brought up the fact that Wilson sometimes did palm readings for people. Tom does not believe in the veracity of palmistry.

However, one of the twins, Luigi, said that he was accurately read before in Europe. When Wilson read Luigi’s palm he saw that Luigi killed a man in his past. Luigi confirmed this fact, and Tom was impressed with Wilson’s performance.

When Wilson offered to read Tom’s palm, Tom snatched his hand away, afraid of what it might reveal to Wilson. At that moment, a man named John Buckstone arrived to invite the twins to a meeting of the “Rum Party,” a group of citizens supporting the right to drink alcohol in Dawson’s Landing. The twins accepted the invitation.

During the Rum Party meeting, the crowd discovered that the twin Angelo is not a drinker and does not support their cause. They good-naturedly drank a toast to him anyway.

Tom became intoxicated and, just as the party chairman was about to give a speech, insulted the twins:

Boys, I move that he [the party chairman] keeps still and lets this human philopena [two kernels of the same nut—a reference to the fact that they are identical twins] snip you out a speech.

Furious at the remark, Luigi literally kicked Tom off the stage. Tom landed in the middle of the surprised and drunken first row. They passed him roughly back to the second row. Tom continued to be passed backward, and fighting broke out among the intoxicated men.

During the fighting, torches dropped and a fire broke out in the building. Fortunately, the town fire company was housed in the same building and they put the fire out, using much more water than necessary and drenching both the building and the men.

Judge Driscoll, already in bed, hears nothing of the fracas at the Rum Party meeting. In the morning he goes fishing with his longtime friend Pembroke Howard.

Later on their way home, they meet a man who tells them that the Judge’s nephew Tom received a “kicking” at the hands of Luigi the previous night. He also tells them that Tom immediately took Luigi to trial over the altercation. Luigi’s lawyer was Puddn’head Wilson; it was his first case. Luigi was found guilty and fined $5.

Judge Driscoll, however, is furious that Tom took Luigi to trial over the matter; this is not the way gentlemen settle their differences. When he demands that Tom challenge Luigi to a duel, Tom refuses: "Oh, please don’t ask me to do it, uncle! He is a murderous devil—I never could—I—I’m afraid of him."

The Judge cannot stomach Tom’s fear and cowardice, so he tears up the will, disinheriting him again.

Tom leaves the house, distraught over his predicament. Eventually he winds up at Wilson’s house, where he tells Puddn’head his troubles.

While they are talking, Judge Robinson and two other townsmen arrive and the three begin talking about all of the thievery going on in town lately. Tom, the unknown actual thief, listens with interest.

Their conversation reveals that they believe that the latest thief is an old black woman. One of the stolen items is a very valuable knife belonging to the twins. They also reveal that a large reward has been offered for the return of the knife and the name of the thief. For this reason, the thief cannot hope to sell the valuable knife because it would surely result in the thief’s own identification and capture.

This news secretly staggers Tom. He knows he cannot sell the most valuable item in his possession—the twins’ knife.

As their conversation closes, Judge Robinson and the other men ask Wilson to run for the office of mayor. Wilson accepts.

Meanwhile, Pembroke Howard has arranged for a duel between Luigi and Judge Driscoll. Driscoll is pleased to be able to settle the matter in a gentlemanly fashion. He also decides that, since he could die in the duel, he will reinstate Tom as his heir. He writes another will. Tom hears the Judge and Pembroke discuss the will and, knowing he has been reinstated, vows to reform and stay reformed this time.

However, Tom still has the problem of his gambling debts. He knows that the items he stole from his last raid will not cover what he owes the people in St. Louis. This realization makes him feel that he is in a hopeless situation.

When he hears gunshots, he goes outside and walks westward. He runs into Roxy, who tells him about the duel. When Tom tells her that he earlier refused to duel Luigi himself, Roxy says, "You has disgraced yo’ birth. What would yo’ pa think o’ you? It’s enough to make him turn in his grave."

Neither Luigi nor the Judge are killed in the duel, although Luigi is wounded in several places. Roxy herself suffers a superficial injury when a bullet ricochet grazes the end of her nose.

Tom tells Roxy about the will. Roxy tells Tom forcefully that he must stay out of trouble to avoid losing his inheritance again. She outlines his future conduct this way:

You ain’t gwine to steal a pin—‘ca’se it ain’t safe no mo’; en you ain’t gwyne into no bad company—not even once, you understand; en you ain’t gwyne to drink a drop—nary single drop; en yo ain’t gwyne to gamble one single gamble—not one!

Then she tells Tom that his Uncle is bound to die soon and he will get the inheritance. In the meantime, he will go to St. Louis and make a deal with his creditors, promising to pay monthly interest on his debt. He will raise this money by selling what he can of the items he stole in Dawson’s Landing.

They estimate that they can hold off the creditors for about six months this way. If the Judge hasn’t died by then, they will trust in providence for a solution at that time.

The people of Dawson’s Landing are very excited over recent events and most excited about the duel between Luigi and Judge Driscoll. The twins’ popularity in the town soars and they are asked to “stand for seats in the forthcoming aldermanic board.”

Tom is not pleased with the twins’ popularity. One day he meets Constable Blake and Puddn’head Wilson in the street. During their conversation, Tom insinuates that Blake has done an incompetent job of investigating the thefts and that Wilson’s plan for discovering and apprehending the thief of the twins’ valuable knife is flawed and hopeless.

By the end of the conversation, Tom cleverly has convinced Blake and Wilson that the twins’ missing knife either never really existed or was still in their possession. Tom says that it is his opinion that the twins claimed the knife was stolen simply to gain attention and impress the town with their reward offer.

Tom attempts to improve his relationship with Judge Driscoll by telling him that it wasn’t out of cowardice that he refused to duel Luigi. Rather, since Luigi was a ”confessed assassin,” it would not have been gentlemanly to agree to a duel with him. The Judge agrees with Tom, relieved in his belief that his nephew is not a coward after all.

However, the Judge is furious that Luigi, in dueling with him, besmirched his honor. He and Tom plan to get even with the twins.

Tom then boards a boat to St. Louis with a bag filled with the articles he has stolen, planning to sell them and pay interest to his creditors. But in the night a thief comes and steals the bag.

When Tom tells Roxy of this setback, she comes up with a plan. Her plan is to give up her freedom by allowing Tom to sell her back into slavery for $600. Tom is then to pay off his creditors and, in a year, buy her freedom from her master.

However, Tom tricks Roxy by selling her to an Arkansas cotton planter. This is considered to be selling her “down the river” toward the south, meaning that her working and living conditions will be difficult. Roxy, taken in by the contrived conversation between the planter and Tom, believes that she is being sold into a pleasant situation.

The next day Roxy realizes that the boat is headed south, not north. Forlorn at this deception, she laments, "Oh, de good Lord God have mercy on po’ sinful me—I’s sole down de river!"

During the election season, Judge Driscoll and Tom work behind the scenes to discredit the twins, who are running for alderman. Judge Driscoll gives the final speech and uses the opportunity to thoroughly lambaste the twins, insinuating that they never lost the valuable knife in the first place and that one of them is a killer.

The Judge’s speech works and the twins are defeated. The Judge falls ill after the wear and tear of the campaign. The twins, now humiliated, withdraw from society, and Luigi challenges the Judge to another duel.

Tom returns to St. Louis.  One night, as he enters his room, he is surprised to see what he believes is a man follow him into the room. It turns out to be Roxy, who has escaped from her master in Arkansas. Roxy tells Tom that she was abused in Arkansas and ran away after striking her overseer.

After questioning Tom closely, Roxy finds out that her “master” found Tom and enlisted his help in finding and returning Roxy to him as a fugitive slave. Roxy orders Tom to return to Dawson’s Landing to ask the Judge for enough money to buy her freedom. Tom reluctantly agrees but, knowing this will result in his disinheritance yet again, decides on his own to steal the money from the Judge rather than ask him for it.

Luigi has challenged Judge Driscoll to a duel but Judge Driscoll refuses, saying that he will not fight with an assassin “in the field of honor.”

This puts Luigi and Judge Driscoll in the position of having to be ready to kill each other the next time they see each other. Puddn’head Wilson warns Luigi:

The Judge is still a little used up by his campaign work, and will not get out for a day or so; but when he does get out, you want to be on the alert.

Tom, having returned from St. Louis, sneaks into the house to rob the Judge. He puts on his girl’s clothes and, feeling vulnerable, also takes the twins' Indian knife with him for protection. His plan is to steal the key to the Judge’s safe and rob the safe.

In the act of robbing the judge, Tom kills him with the Indian knife, which he leaves behind with his fingerprints. Tom leaves in his girl disguise as people arrive in response to the Judge’s scream and makes his way to St. Louis.

Out walking, the twins run quickly into the judge’s house when they hear his scream. Citizens and authorities all assume that Luigi is the murderer and Angelo the accomplice, and both twins are arrested.

Puddn’head Wilson takes the case as the twins’ lawyer. Pembroke Howard is the prosecutor. Several weeks later, the trial opens.

The prosecution presents as evidence Luigi’s desire for revenge; the fact that the judge and Luigi were likely to attempt kill each other in lieu of a duel; and the murder weapon, the Indian knife, which everyone had suspected was still in the twins' possession.

Wilson’s defense notes that the twins made no effort to leave the judge’s house the night of the murder, as you would expect of someone who had just committed a crime. They also had no blood stains on their persons, even though the murder had been bloody.

As Tom watches the trial, he believes he has made no mistakes that will lead to his detection as the true murderer.

One night Tom comes to visit Puddn’head to needle him a little about the trial. Wilson has his fingerprint collection out. When Tom picks up the glass strip with the old fingerprints of Roxy and himself and Chambers from years ago, Puddn’head suddenly realizes that one of the prints on the strip is the same as the print from the bloody knife. He says nothing to Tom about this.

When Tom leaves, Wilson looks at the prints, which were collected over time, and realizes that the prints of Tom and Chambers are not the same from one sample to another. This perplexes Wilson greatly. 

After falling asleep he has a dream, then wakes up and looks at the sets of prints again. Wilson is astonished when he realizes that Chambers and Tom were switched as babies: "It’s so! Heavens, what a revelation! And for twenty-three years no man has ever suspected it!"

When the trial continues, Wilson startles the spectators by agreeing with the prosecution’s assertion that whoever left the prints on the knife is the killer. Then through a series of demonstrations, Wilson shows with the fingerprint evidence that the real killer is Tom.

Tom makes no attempt to deny the accusation. He "turned his ashen face imploringly toward the speaker, made some impotent movement with his white lips, then slid limp and lifeless to the floor."

Later, through some legal maneuvering, it is determined that since Tom is now technically a slave and since Percy Driscoll’s estate was in arrears at the time of his death, Tom is now property with a monetary value.

Since the estate still owed money to its creditors, "As soon as the Governor understood the case, he pardoned Tom at once, and the creditors sold him down the river."