Holes Chapter 19 Summary

  • Stanley wakes up one night to hear Squid crying in the cot next to his. When he oh-so-kindly asks him if he's all right, Squid says he's fine. But in the morning, when Stanley asks if he's feeling better, Squid freaks out on him and tells him to keep quiet. Well, then. He never learned that sharing is caring, apparently.
  • Later, Stanley and the gang are out on the lake digging their holes when Mr. Sir comes by with the water truck. After he's gone, Magnet offers the other boys some sunflower seeds – turns out he stole Mr. Sir's burlap sack when he wasn't looking.
  • Stanley knows this is bad news and doesn't want anything to do with the bag. But when Zigzag tosses it to Stanley, the bag spills all over Stanley's hole. Uh oh.
  • Sure enough, Mr. Sir comes back and looks into all the half-dug holes to find the culprit. When he finds the bag in Stanley's hole, Stanley takes the blame. The other boys play along, acting as though they knew nothing about it.
  • This is what we call taking one for the team.
  • Mr. Sir is skeptical (he doesn't buy it), but he tells Stanley to get into the water truck so they can go tell the Warden about the incident.
  • Although he's dreading his confrontation with the Warden, Stanley still notices – and appreciates – the brief break from digging that he gets to enjoy.