Summary

In Chapter 14, “Salt” (111), Sam and Ba go to the field where Ba found the gold and Lucy goes to Teacher Leigh's house for extra lessons. While she is there, Teacher Leigh peppers Lucy with questions about herself, as he intends to include her in a monograph he is writing about the Western territory. Ma hides the gold Ba finds around the house. Teacher Leigh introduces Lucy to the genteel people he knows from back East when they visit. However, one day, she embarrasses him by answering a hypothetical question incorrectly. Already ashamed, Lucy steals some of Teacher Leigh's salt. Ma catches Lucy putting some of the salt in her stew, but she does not get angry at Lucy for taking it.

In Chapter 15, “Gold” (119), Ba takes Lucy to the gold field. He tells her a story about a lake that used to be...