Chapters 20-22 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 20, Mr. Brown plans to steal the slab of rock upon which Captain Cook was murdered. Twain intervenes, reprimanding Brown for his insolence. Unperturbed, Brown considers stealing the stone step onto which Cook drew the old Hawaiian king. Once again, Twain steps in and rebukes Brown. Finally the two men come upon the actual monument to Cook: a copper sheathed stump of a coconut tree with an inscription scratched on one side. The stump is all that remains of a tree shot by cannonball on the day of Cook's murder.

Twain and Mr. Brown are sad, lonely and hungry. The Boomerang is long overdue. Driven by hunger, the two men make comical (and unsuccessful) attempts to collect coconuts from a tree. Finally they hire a young native to scamper up a tree and secure food on their behalf...