Chapter 1 Summary

Spunk Banks is a giant of a man and a bully, and he has taken Joe Kanty's wife, Lena, for his own without regard to Joe's feelings. All the loungers at the village store watch as Spunk and Lena come walking down the street. Elijah Mosley and Walter Thomas gossip about Spunk's behavior and the fact that Joe, a much smaller man, has not been able to do anything about the situation.

Spunk, who works at the sawmill, is something of a hero to the men because he isn't afraid of anything. Poor Joe comes into the store and the men ridicule him for the way Spunk and Lena have become a pair.

Walter doesn't approve of Spunk's taking Lena just because Joe is timid, but Elijah protests. He says that doesn't have anything to do with it. It's just that Spunk wants...