Chapters 13 - 16 Summary

In Jimmy Rose, William Ford, the narrator, recalls a long friendship with Jimmy Rose. Rose had been a man of substance and well-known in social circles. He had entertained lavishly until an unexpected business turn left him impoverished and hiding from debtors. Over the next twenty-five years, Rose lives as a pauper, indulged to occasional meals by former business acquaintances. Throughout it all, Rose remains essentially happy and positive. As an old man, Rose grows sick and approaches death—he is nursed by a rich young woman but somewhat resents his situation contrasted to her cheery, youthful situation. Rose then dies, and sometime later the narrator happens to move into the same rundown tenement in which Rose lived out his poor days.

In I and My Chimney, the narrator and his family live in a large but peculiar country home...