Dr. Forrest comes to set Jim’s broken leg in a painful process that hurts him. While this procedure takes place, the three children wait downstairs. Peter annoys his sisters by speaking graphically about the process of setting bones and will not cease despite their protests. His sisters get their revenge by agreeing to pretend to set an injured leg for him, only to tie him up instead. When Dr. Forrest discovers what happened, he is displeased. He takes Peter with him to his surgery, and while there, gives Peter a talk about the differences between boys and girls, claiming that “girls are so much softer and weaker than we are” (328), and urging Peter to be more sensitive to his sisters’ feelings considering this fact. Peter does not seem to understand the full implications of Dr. Forrest’s advice, and at first is still rude to his sisters when he returns home, but they eventually make up.

Afterward, Peter speaks to his mother, and during their conversation Peter reveals that he feels the absence of his father very keenly. He wants Jim to stay with them, so that he can finally have some male companionship in the home.