Chapter 6 Summary

Rosskam and Francis have to halt the wagon because a fire has broken out which sends huge flames into the sky. They are choked by the smoke as policemen route traffic into a U-turn. Rosskam is forced to turn back up Pearl Street, following the line of Francis' old neighborhood. At the site of the trolley strike, Francis sees the ghost of Fiddler Quain, the man who helped him ignite the bedsheets on that fateful day in 1901. Soldiers had split open Fiddler's skull with a rifle butt and he lived for many years as a vegetable, cared for by his sister Martha. Martha had refused to forgive Francis, whom she blamed for encouraging her brother to commit the act of violence. Fiddler's ghost tells Francis not to worry about Fiddler's violent actions; Francis should worry about the violent actions he's committed with his...