Book 2: Chapter 1 Summary

Jim has now been living with his grandparents for three years. The family decides to move into the town of Black Hawk to leave the hard work of the farm behind. Jim is thirteen at this time and is supposed to attend school. The move happens during March, and Jake and Otto work for the family until the very end before they decide to go back to rejoin the Wild West, despite discouragement from the Burdens. By the end of April, the Burdens feel like town people. Jim's grandparents are actively involved in the church, and Jim is picking up schoolboy behaviors like teasing girls and using bad language. Mrs. Harling, the Burden's neighbor, keeps an eye on Jim and does not let him play with her children if he is out of line.

Country neighbors stop by all of the...