Chapters 17 through 20 Summary

In "Three Soldiers", as Bess and Mary take Homer's lunch to the telegraph office, they run into a trio of soldiers, who introduce themselves as Fat, Horse and Texas. The two girls agree to go to the movies with the soldiers, who are on a temporary leave, because as Bess says, they're "lonely". At the telegraph office, the soldiers send telegrams home, revealing their real names. At the movies, conversation between the soldiers and the girls turns patriotic, and there are several comments about great Americans and how great the country is. In another part of the country, Marcus Macauley is in a bar with another soldier, talking with two girls in the same way as the soldiers in Ithaca are talking to Mary and Bess. Back in Ithaca, Diana and the seemingly drunk Spangler come into the movie theatre. A...