Summary

In Chapter 5, Silas noticed the spinal deformity in Marshal Farmer’s back. He told the “cantankerous old man” that his father could “realign the vertebrae” to ease his pain (105). The marshal jokingly dismissed the comment and instructed Silas to start setting up camp. That night, the marshal explained who Mac Boat was. He gleefully recounted the story of a Scottish counterfeiter who joined the Orange Street Gang in New York and escaped a deadly shootout with the place. He disappeared with twenty thousand dollars in stolen gold coins and the police never apprehend him or recovered the loot.

That night, Silas thought about Mittenwool and pondered his connection with the ghost. He knew that Mittenwool was his first word and that the teenage boy had been with him since he was a baby. When Silas was scared or lonely, Mittenwool would soothe...