It was written when Cather was living in Cherry Valley, New York, with Isabelle McClung whilst Alexander's Bridge was being serialised in McClure's.
The next day, the two brothers talk about Lou Sandberg's suicide - Nils dismisses the old man for his folly.
A year after the couple's departure, Eric is on a train bound for New York City where he is to board a ship to join his brother and Clara in Bergen, Norway.
However, Eric decides to stop at Red Oak, Iowa and return home to his mother, as he doesn't want to leave her alone in the house.
Once he is back, she says she has been milking the cows instead of asking a local boy to do the job for her: she did not want people to talk.