Summary

Part III is titled The Fall of the Year. Chapter 14 is titled “One Serious Suitor.” The chapter opens with another poem from the Sweet Singer of Sycamore Township. This is one titled Ode to Autumn. This includes the phrase that there are “peaches yet to pickle” and the sound of the school bell to herald the changing seasons. Russell notes that there are forces keeping him from going to the Dakotas. He notes that he would go there with his wife many years in the future, but “If there's one thing you can't see at the age of fifteen, it's ahead” (151). Russell continues to go to school each day, resigned but relieved, and secure in his father's love and under his sister's direction. Tansy has regained control at school. Glenn and Charlie keep their distance. One day, Little Britches recites a poem she...