Chapters Twenty-Three through Twenty-Five Summary

In Chapter Twenty-Three, the McTavish brothers return from Scotland to stay in Grouard. They bring valuable books with them and offer some to Katherine, who chooses The History of China, Vols. I, II, and III as her winter reading. Katherine knows that her interest is in China, the world's oldest civilization. Katherine loses herself in the world of China. She imagines herself in the many roles of which she reads. Katherine relates the stories to Mike, who, try as he might, cannot understand her fascination.

A knock at their door brings a woman named Wiya-sha who tells Mike that her baby is sick and choking. Mike leaves to take care of the many sick people who suffer or die from the diphtheria epidemic. He tries to keep his wife and children quarantined during this time. A woman...