- The next morning, Jim doesn't really want to talk about the dead man on the grounds that it will bring back luck.
- Of course, Jim had predicted bad luck the day before on account of Huck touching a snakeskin with his hand.
- And here they are having scored a slew of supplies (and $8) from a dead man's floating house! Bad luck schmad luck, he says.
- But Jim insists the bad luck is on its way.
- Three days later, Huck plays a prank on Jim; he kills a rattlesnake and puts it in Jim's bed to scare him.
- Unfortunately, the rattlesnake's mate comes and lies down with its dead partner (aw), and then bites Jim when he gets into bed.
- Yeah, not so much bad luck as, well, Huck being a doofus.
- Huck feels awful but isn't about to let on that the whole thing is his fault. Still, he follows Jim's detailed instructions to ward off any more bad luck.
- Jim slugs away at some leftover whiskey to help the pain, and Huck declares he'd rather be bitten by a rattlesnake than drink any of that stuff.
- Now we get to the good stuff: Jim decides that Huck should dress up like a girl and go to town to try and find some news.
- Huck, obviously, thinks this is a great idea.
- He puts on a dress (part of the supplies he and Jim found in the floating house), paddles in, and comes to the door of a little shanty. Through the window he can see a middle-aged woman sitting alone and knitting—prime bait for his scheme.