Chapter 9 Summary

Henderson wakes up at dawn, still feeling happy from the night before. He thinks to himself that it will be one of the greatest days of his life. The pink morning light on a clay wall reminds him of the color of the sky on an evening from his boyhood, in the town where his family vacationed and his brother later drowned. His gums ache with the beauty of the light on the wall. He is so moved that he presses his face against the wall, lest he miss the moment, and his spirit swells. The light feels like a good omen to Henderson (the opposite of the octopus in France), and he turns to the bomb project intently. As he prepares the bomb, Mtalba returns and dances and recites to the court her love for Henderson. He believes she has fallen in...