By late afternoon, Moon sees that Hal and Kit are tiring, so he slows the pace of their hike and does “a better job clearing a trail for them” (120). Moon stops when they find a small pond and tells the boys they can rest. He begins making a fish spear. Once Kit and Hal are up, they corral fish to one end of the pond by stomping and splashing. Moon spears six bass. Hal falls in and gets soaked. Thinking Kit tripped him, he wrestles Kit into the water as well. They laugh over the dunking but are soaked through. Moon rigs up a drying rack for their wet clothes.

It gets dark as they sit near the fire, eating fish and talking about their pasts. Moon explains that Constable Sanders might be angry since Moon hit him. Hal shares that his mother left his father, taking Hal along, but could not control Hal’s unlawful behavior, so  he went to Pinson. Hal misses his father very much. Kit says he has been in and out of many hospitals for long-term stays with his sickness. He went to Pinson after his last lengthy stay in a hospital. Kit mentions getting injections in his back and medicine that caused his hair to fall out.