Chapter Nine Summary

A family in town, the Brights, are hard hit by the typhoid that has been spreading. Three of the children and their mother are all killed by the disease, so the town preacher calls for a pound party in honor of the Brights family. At a pound party, each member of the congregation brings a pound of food - eggs, molasses, bread, coffee, etc - to the family in need. It is considered a spiritual duty to care for those less fortunate. Tom plans to bring a pound of molasses to the family and is annoyed when Ginny comes out with several jars of preserves and jelly, a cake, a canister of coffee, two dozen eggs, sheets and pillowcases, and some clothes she hadn't worn in a while. Tom thinks that if they deliver all these supplies, everyone will think they're...