Summary

After a sleepless night, Ellen awakes to find her husband looking pale and sick. Matt says that he is fine, and wants to go into town to look for the man who tried to harm his youngest son, and, along the way, to thank Mr. Burdow for helping him out.

Before he can leave, however, Matt suffers a heart attack. Ellen finds him lying on the ground. Matt revives, but his health remains bad.

His father ill, Jethro is forced to take on even more of the responsibilities of running the farm.

A neighbor tells Jethro about a battle at Pittsburg Landing, in which 12,000 of Grant’s troops were killed. Afraid for the health of his father, Jethro decides not to tell him about the battle, at least not until they had heard from Tom or Eb.

Talking with Jenny about the battle later, Jethro notes that everytime the North doesn’t lose badly to the South, they call it a victory, and they wonder aloud what this might mean for Grant’s career.

Working in the fields together, Jethro and Jenny become close. When Jenny receives a letter from Shad, Jethro wants to read it, as letters had always been shared before. He is hurt when Jenny reads only portions of the letter to him and to the rest of the family. Nancy explains to him that sometimes people write things that are intended for only one other person, a lesson that Jethro comes to understand and accept.

Later that night, they hear horses outside. Going outside to see who it is, they hear voices and see the outline of three people on horseback.

Something is thrown at the gate: a warning from people who are angry with the Creighton family because of Tom having sided with the South.

A few weeks pass, their fears subside, and then they awake to find their barn burning.