"A Vow to Bear" Summary

Inman loses track of miles and hours as he walks remote areas. He offers to bury a grief-stricken mother's child on a knoll where four gravestones already stand. He places her in a coffin he has lovingly built and lined. The woman declines to say anything, knowing it will come out bitter. Inman fills the hole and accepts an invitation to eat. He chokes up, seeing the meal the woman prepares and says it requires special thanks for which he cannot find words. The woman suggests some and Inman begins eating. She shows him a daguerreotype of three adults and six children; she is now the sole survivor. She sends him on his way, and that night sleep comes hard to Inman. The next few nights, he finds shelter in the haunts of birds. A...