Summary

Chapter 15: Lou returns as narrator of Chapter 15, trying to convince the sulking Candy that inevitable changes in her relationship with Mathu must cause her to change her attitude. He also demands an answer to his proposal of marriage. Her response comes in the form of a slap.

Mapes calls everyone into the house, and Charlie reveals that he is the one who truly killed Beau after an altercation in the cane field. He had asked Mathu, his godfather, to take the fall for him. He claims that after hiding out in the bayou, a voice told him to return and take responsibility for his actions. Because of this, he feels like he is now a man. Charlie agrees to let Mapes take him in, but before they can leave, Luke Will arrives and demands that the killer be handed over.

Chapter 16: Thus begins Coot (Sidney...