The Girls of Good Fortune

The water is icy, and Celia struggles to swim with Owen to shore. When they reach dry land, they lack money and are not sure where to go. A man named Matthew finds them in an alley and leads them to an area of lean-tos, tents, and small campfires. Matthew gives them a blanket for warmth, and an old man sitting at the fire shares the moonshine in his jug. Because Celia has lost her false facial hair, Matthew rubs old coffee grounds on her face to resemble stubble. He tells her and Owen where they can hop a train to travel north. When Owen speaks of his family, Matthew and Owen quote the poem “Annabel Lee,” by Edgar Allan Poe. Exhausted, Celia falls asleep.

Later, when Celia cannot find Owen, she worries that she has been abandoned. However, she soon finds him in conversation with Matthew, as the two seem to share an intimate rapport. Celia accuses Owen of misleading Lettie. Owen replies that Lettie told Celia several lies, one of which was his supposed wooing of her; this deception was undertaken to get Celia to meet with him. The man behind the deal to remove Celia was Gordon Humphrey; he runs the Dewdrop Inn and several gambling halls.