Chapter 5 Summary

The next day begins with the housekeeper waking the men at 9:00 in the morning, each blaming the others for not waking them all up sooner.

At breakfast, they check the weather forecast. J. remarks that weather forecasts are useless things, as they forecast "precisely what happened yesterday or the day before, and precisely the opposite of what is going to happen to-day" (p. 43).

After breakfast, Harris and J. move the luggage outside to wait for a cab. This is the first time it has all been in one place, and J. is surprised at the bulk of it all. As they wait for the cab, a group of boys gathers around starts teasing the men. The group gets larger and the teasing continues that the men must be embarking on a long journey into Africa, or across the Atlantic.

The cab finally arrives...