In the 1850's in St. Petersburg, Missouri, two mischievous boys, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, find pirate's treasure while playing in a cave. Later, Huck goes to live in the house of the widow Douglas and makes an unsuccessful effort to adjust to school life. Tom, infatuated with Becky Thatcher, spends less time with Huck, who is about to run away when his drunken father kidnaps him and locks him in a shack. Overwhelmed by guilt for having let Huck down, Tom rescues Huck with the help of the widow Douglas' slave Jim, and the three decide to head south on the Mississippi River on a raft. Along the way, they encounter a pair of scoundrels, who command Tom's loyalty by pretending to be a king and duke. Tom and Huck, begging for food for the con men, meet a pair of recently orphaned sisters who await the arrival of two uncles from England, and the con men impersonate the uncles to steal the sisters' $14,000 legacy. Huck, however, is smitten with Mary Jane, the older sister, and at the last moment he and Tom foil the planned robbery. The three wanderers return home, and Huck cheerfully resumes school under Mary Jane's influence.