Chapter 4 Summary

Byron and Hightower face each other across the desk in Hightower's study. Byron tells Hightower about Lena, and about how Byron accidentally let it slip that Joe Brown is the same Lucas Burch whom she seeks. Hightower asks why Byron thinks this is a problem; after all, Lena had come looking for the father of her child, and Byron has helped her find him. Byron mentions the fire at the Burden house, but Hightower, in his isolation, has not heard the gossip surrounding the fire yet. Byron explains that Joe Christmas and Joe Brown had been living in the cabin on the Burden property, using the place as headquarters for their illegal whiskey business. Byron tells him the whole story - how Christmas took Brown on for a partner, and how both men quit their jobs at the mill to spend their days...