Part 1 Chapter 4 Summary

Three years pass uneventfully. The family prospers under the leadership of Alexandra. The hard times then come in the form of three years of drought. During the first year, the Bergsons manage because labor is cheap when crops fail. In the second year Lou and Oscar put in bigger crops than average and then lost everything.

As the second summer of drought was passing, Carl comes to visit Alexandra. He sees her standing alone in her garden; characteristically she is lost in thought. He tells her that his family has decided to give up and move to St. Louis. Carl's father is taking a job in a tobacco factory. Carl himself will learn engraving and take a job in Chicago.

Alexandra takes the news very hard. Carl insists that it will be one less drag on her. Even Carl's father depends...