Chapters 3 and 4 Summary

Calpurnia's interest in science prompts her to study the nightly "possum wars" that take place on the back porch. A possum comes by to forage for kitchen scraps and is met by a cat. The possum then pretends to be dead and when the cat eventually walks away, the possum gets up and leaves. Calpurnia discusses this with her grandfather, and also asks him how he first became interested in science. He tells her that in 1865, he was commander of an infantry unit during the Civil War. One day he raised his hand in the air to signal his troops and a bat flew into it. He took the bat into his tent, where it stayed for several hours. It flew out during the night, but returned early the next morning and stayed in the tent. On the last day of...