Chapter 3 Summary

The story that Allie Fox tells Charlie is that the family was successfully homesteading in Maine, living on a self-sufficient farm, when Tiny Polski heard of Fox's fame as an inventor. The wealthy farmer traveled to Maine and begged Fox to come to work for him. In fact, the family farm in Maine was a failure because Fox refused to use pesticides. Fox refused to eat for a while and was confined in an institution he called the Buzz Palace. After his release, Fox was fine, except that he forgot his children's names occasionally. The family went to Hatfield with nothing. Fox liked starting from scratch.

At the farm, Allie Fox shows his newest invention to Polski, who he calls the runt, Roly or Dr. Polski. Although Fox works for Polski, it is impossible for Charlie to think of anyone as his father's...