Clear

Ivar waits most of the afternoon before searching for John. He wanders around the island but doesn’t find him. When he approaches the Baillie house, however, he sees the door swinging open.

Ivar enters and finds the things John left behind before he went to bathe and injured himself, including the box printed with the Lowrie name and the gun. Ivar remembers the gun, as Strachan had once used it to hit Jenny in the head after she refused his unwanted sexual advances. Ivar realizes that John is working for Strachan. Ivar feels foolish for bringing John into his home, and for taking care of him. He imagines his grandmother scolding him and wonders what his life would be like if he went to the New World with his mother, grandmother, and Jenny.

Upset, Ivar takes the Lowrie box and gun with him. When he returns home, Ivar stashes the box around the back of the house before going inside. John is there and gives him a clumsy speech explaining that he’s forgiven Ivar for hiding the calotype and cooked halibut for him and Ivar to eat.