Lines 1329 - 1377 Summary

For four days Thompson agonizes over her apparently sinful life while Davidson remains at her side throughout as a confidant and confessor. Although the days become an agony of unnatural excitement for the inhabitants of the trader's house they appear to have a profound effect on Thompson. Her entire demeanor changes and her physical person becomes disheveled and drab. She remains in her night-dress for four days and does not wear stockings. Meanwhile the driving rain continues unabated and the mosquitoes begin to thrive.

Dr. Macphail is particularly strained by the bizarre ritual being enacted between Davidson and Thompson. Although he feels Thompson is being treated grossly unfairly, he yearns for her departure such that a semblance of normalcy can return to his life. Mrs. Davidson also worries that her husband is exerting himself beyond his strength. On the evening before...