Chapters 4 and 5 Summary

As Margret tends to her work on the mill's ledgers, Dr. Knowles and one of the clerks, Mr. Pike, stop in Margret's office to look at the caged chicken. Mr. Pike acknowledges that Mr. Holmes is the only one who feeds the chicken and that Holmes has a kinder disposition to animals than he does toward people. Dr. Knowles, fully aware of Margret's broken engagement to Holmes, watches her face for traces of interest but finds none.

Dr. Knowles and Mr. Pike discuss the imminent purchase of the mill by Mr. Holmes and a man named Mr. Herne, whose daughter will stand in his place in the daily operations. Margret pauses only slightly upon hearing these words, passes the notion off as ridiculous, and proceeds with her work.

Down the hall, the other clerks discuss the acquisition of the mill in...