The “Pain-killer” became a regular treatment, and to Tom Sawyer, it tasted like liquid fire. Tired of the daily doses, one day Tom feeds a spoonful to the cat Peter, which upon receiving the medicine begins to do somersaults in the air while “spreading chaos and destruction in his path.”
When Aunt Polly leams that Tom has fed the cat the pain-killer, Tom explains for his actions by saying that he “done it out of pity for the cat because he (the cat) hadn’t any aunt” to “bum him out” and “roast his bowels.”
