Chapter 1 Summary

Robert tells us he should have been in school the day of his adventure with the cow. He starts the day in school but he angrily takes off when a fellow student teases him about his plain clothes during recess. Robert wears clothes that are made of plain cloth and sewn at home by his mother because of his Shaker beliefs. He leaves before the recess bell rings, heading out into the countryside.

As Robert wanders, he hears an anguished noise and turns to find his neighbor's cow out in the fields in labor but unable to deliver her calf. Although Robert does not say so, we can see that he's had some experience delivering livestock. He can see the head of the stuck calf sticking out of the rump of the cow. Robert tries to be friendly with the cow, but, as...