Chapter 8 Summary

Robert is awakened in the middle of the night to hard rain, thunder, and yellow light coming from the shed. He hears voices downstairs, of his mother and his Aunt Carrie, and a woman he doesn't immediately recognize. Moving closer, he identifies the voice of a neighbor, Mrs. Hillman. At first, the woman refuses the invitation to enter the house, but finally she comes in. She reveals that her husband has taken a wagon and team and gone out in the night, to "rile" a grave.

As the mother and aunt make tea, Mrs. Hillman speaks about the problem, but from what she says, the reader realizes that Robert really doesn't understand what is going on. However, Papa asks him to get dressed and hitch up the ox to the wagon, which he does, shaking and worried. He joins the grownups in the...