Chapter VIII Summary

The narrator dreams that his soul takes offense at him and leaves him, and that he dies, but in the morning, he realizes that it's all a dream. Sergeant Pluck tells the narrator that he once dreamed that too much starch in his clothes gave him a slow leak, like a bicycle tire. The two policemen are still discussing their mysterious figures, and since the narrator is scheduled to be hanged in the morning, they consent to show him what the figures are for.

Pluck shows the narrator a map of the area in the plaster of MacCruiskeen's ceiling. Neither policeman made the map; it's always been there. The map shows a road to the left just past the police station that leads to eternity. Pluck leads the narrator to the hidden road and into a strange building, where he is...