Tom lives with his aunt Polly and often gets into trouble. Aunt Polly tells him to whitewash the fence, so he tells his friends that painting the fence is fun and they beg him to let them help. Tom falls in love with a new girl, Becky, but she finds out that he liked another girl before and breaks up with him. Tom and Huckleberry visit a graveyard and witness the murder of Dr. Robinson at the hands of Injun Joe.
Tom, Huck and their friend Joe run away and the town thinks they are dead. Tom sneaks back home to watch the commotion and decides to return during his funeral. Back at school, Tom takes the blame for ripping a book that Becky had damaged and gets back on her good side. Tom testifies against Injun Joe in court but Joe escapes the courthouse. In the summer, the boys go hunting for treasure.
They find Injun Joe who is looking to bury treasure somewhere. Huck stays to watch while Tom goes on a school picnic. He and Becky go into McDougal's Cave and get lost for days. Huck reports Injun Joe's plan to hurt Widow Douglas and Injun Joe runs to hide in McDougal's Cave. Tom and Becky see him and manage to hide and escape the cave. They tell the town that Injun Joe is in there and the town blocks up the cave. Tom and Huck discover where Joe hid the gold in the caves near his corpse.