Summary

The story opens on a farm on a winter day. The farm is owned by the Segren family, who employs a hired hand, Hans "Big Hans" Esbyorn. The story is narrated by the family’s boy, Jorge. Hans enters the house with the young boy of the nearby Pedersen family. The boy is unconscious from cold exposure, as Hans found him lying in a snow bank. At Hans’ urging, Jorge helps gather coal to help warm the boy, and Hans tells Jorge to wake Jorge’s father, Magnus "Pa" Segren. Jorge reluctantly wakes his father, who is an alcoholic and is generally mean. Jorge tells Pa about the Pedersen boy, but Pa merely tells Jorge to go away. Jorge returns to Hans, who is placing hot towels on the Pedersen boy. Hans says that they need whiskey for the boy. Jorge’s mother, Hed...