Chapter 17 Summary

Charlie is in a ravine he wandered into in the morning fog. Charlie wanders around the ravine for a while, trying to find a way out. Finally, Charlie gives up and sits on a log. Charlie is not afraid. He is simply dulled by the circumstances he finds himself in. Charlie has been lost before, once in the hallway of his school and once at the county fair, but he has never been lost like this.

Charlie lifts his watch to his ear, hoping to hear the calming tick, but the watch has stopped. Charlie does not understand why the watch does not work. Aunt Willie normally winds the watch for him every morning. Charlie attempts to copy what he has seen Aunt Willie do with the watch, but he accidentally pulls the stem out of the watch. Charlie tries to find the...