"The Doing of It" Summary

For a week, Inman follows the yellow man's map to the sketchy edges. There is much open ground here and at night, he hides from riders with quick triggers. Seeing houses with great white columns, Inman is sickened to think he has fought so the owners can live in luxury. He yearns for the thinly populated mountains. As he climbs, autumn advances swiftly, and he spends a rainy night in the hollow of a chestnut tree, feeling like a gnome or troll or outcast, ready to fall on passers-by. He dreams of Fredericksburg and awakens shivering and sour. His legs are numb, and he feels like a traveling shade. As he waits for feeling to return, he contemplates how this could be the last day of his life. Dry heaves and a throbbing neck conspire...