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Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Summary

Po Campo wins the crew in a morning: an omelette of seventy plover's eggs gathered on the walk in, then a stew of ingredients he refuses to name, and finally fried grasshoppers dipped in the molasses Call was saving. Deets tries the first one, pronounces it candy, and the whole outfit eats them but Jasper, who hesitates too long, and Augustus, whose pride will not let him be outcooked. Asked about his wife, Po Campo says calmly that she lives in hell, where he sent her; her behaviour was terrible but she made good biscuits. That night Jake gallops in half drunk demanding to know where Lorena is — she and the horses are gone from his camp. Augustus, who has forgotten her all day, saddles up at once, refuses to take Dish or Jake, and rides after Blue Duck alone. Deets, who lost the trail once, warns that Gus will have no one to watch behind him.

Analysis

Comedy and catastrophe in a single scene: grasshoppers dipped in molasses, then Jake galloping in to report Lorena gone. Po Campo's calm confession of wife-murder sits between them, establishing that this novel will not sort its characters into the harmless and the dangerous.

Plates

First light by the wagon, Call and Augustus arguing about the stampede and the Indian while they wait on a cook who has not arrived.
00 First light by the wagon, Call and Augustus arguing about the stampede and the Indian while they wait on a cook who has not arrived.
Pea Eye lopes in and unfolds himself off his horse to report that Newt is alive, only thrown.
01 Pea Eye lopes in and unfolds himself off his horse to report that Newt is alive, only thrown.
Seen from camp, Newt and the new cook two hundred yards out, walking in circles in the grass as if looking for lost objects, the donkey trailing far behind.
02 Seen from camp, Newt and the new cook two hundred yards out, walking in circles in the grass as if looking for lost objects, the donkey trailing far behind.
Newt and Po Campo reach the wagon carrying the plover's eggs slung between them in the old man's serape, and Po Campo greets the outfit.
03 Newt and Po Campo reach the wagon carrying the plover's eggs slung between them in the old man's serape, and Po Campo greets the outfit.
Po Campo's grill — two branding irons laid across chunks of firewood, the huge skillet, the egg pie cut into slices, the two blue pigs eating the shells.
04 Po Campo's grill — two branding irons laid across chunks of firewood, the huge skillet, the egg pie cut into slices, the two blue pigs eating the shells.
Jasper praises the bird-egg pie and Augustus, outcooked in five minutes, sulks with his slice untouched.
05 Jasper praises the bird-egg pie and Augustus, outcooked in five minutes, sulks with his slice untouched.
"No, she lives in hell, where I sent her" — Po Campo speaks of his wife's biscuits and the camp goes silent.
06 "No, she lives in hell, where I sent her" — Po Campo speaks of his wife's biscuits and the camp goes silent.
Deets is the first to try a fried grasshopper, dips it in the saved molasses, and grins: tastes just like candy.
07 Deets is the first to try a fried grasshopper, dips it in the saved molasses, and grins: tastes just like candy.
Jake Spoon gallops in half drunk, jumps down off a lathered horse and asks whether Lorie is there.
08 Jake Spoon gallops in half drunk, jumps down off a lathered horse and asks whether Lorie is there.
Augustus rides the sorrel out of the firelight alone after Blue Duck, refusing Dish and Jake, with nobody to look behind him.
09 Augustus rides the sorrel out of the firelight alone after Blue Duck, refusing Dish and Jake, with nobody to look behind him.