Chapters 32 and 33 Summary

In "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms", Homer rides his bicycle to deliver a telegram far outside of town, and Marcus and a number of other soldiers are on "an American passenger train [moving] swiftly over American earth through an American night". Marcus and his best friend, an orphan named Tobey, speak at poetic length about their fear of dying, about how Tobey has come to know and love Ithaca through Marcus's stories, of Marcus's pride in his father and family, and of Tobey's loneliness. Marcus tells Tobey of his hope that Tobey will make his home in Ithaca, and that Tobey will fall in love with and marry Bess. Tobey says he's often thought of the same things, and then prays that what he dreams of will happen. Meanwhile, the other soldiers on the train are singing rowdy songs, but eventually...