Angrily, Armand leaves the bridge. As he walks, he comes upon a man fishing; the man is pulling in his fishing line, hoping to find a big fish, but instead finds a single shoe. Armand says, “Ah, that’s the way our hopes go, monsieur” (50), but he is quickly delighted to realize that the newly caught shoe is the match to one he’s been carrying around just in case he found the other someday. The man gives him the shoe and Armand comments that “[…] that just goes to show we should never give up hope” (50).

Armand finds a new bridge to sleep beneath but does not rest well. He worries about the children and whether they will be too cold and lonely. He tries to convince himself that he’s not worried by talking about how the family had no right to take over the spot he considered home. When he wakes up in the morning, he discovers that it has snowed. He worries about what the children will do and thinks that, without supervision, they will probably play in the snow, get sick, and die. He resolves to go back, claiming it’s because he wants to “show them” they’d mistreated him (51).