Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary

John Singer had taken Jake home with him the night before, and the man awakens in Singer's cool, dark and comfortable room. Singer provides water for a bath and makes him fresh coffee, but he never speaks, only smiles. Finally, Singer gives Jake a card that explains he is a deaf mute, he can read lips and there's no need to shout. Though the room is the most pleasant he has ever been in, Jake feels the overwhelming need to leave.

Jake refuses Singer's offer of a place to stay and leaves to find a job. He finds a newspaper ad for a mechanic. Since it is Sunday, he decides to walk and finds himself in the mill section of town where the houses and the children are equally thin. He finds the address for the job, which happens to be...