These individuals form part of a story that Paul's father Hubbard Christopher loves to tell his son Paul. Connecticut Yankees before the American Revolution, the Hubbards move to the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts and settle peacefully on land ceded to them by the Mahican Indians. "The First Aaron" is the pioneer. The family takes in the sole survivor of a measles epidemic, Indian Joe, who befriends protagonist Paul Christopher's great-great-grandfather, "The second Aaron." Indian Joe is framed for killing a neighbor, John Parker, and hanged. Years later, another neighbor, Eleazer Stickles, on his deathbed confesses to second Aaron murdering Indian Joe. Second Aaron had never believed his friend guilty and had silently attended church weekly to glare at the people who had hanged Joe. Paul sees Indian Joe's gravestone, into which "vindicated" is carved. As a political prisoner in the Republic of China years later, Paul tells these odd stories to his jailer.
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