O Pioneers!: Part 4, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

The day after Emil returns from Mexico, Alexandra proudly drives him to the French Church for a supper. He wears the Mexican costume he brought home, and Alexandra informs him that all the girls there will be wearing fancy costumes—Marie will be wearing a Bohemian dress and telling fortunes. Alexandra is proud of her brother and satisfied with her life’s progress. She believes that her work has been successful because out of her father’s children, there is one of them—Emil—who has a personality distinct from the soil.

When they arrive at the church, Amédée, now a new father, rushes out to embrace Emil. He tells Emil how wonderful it is to have a son, and Emil laughs and tells him that he has brought cups and spoons and blankets for the boy. The other French boys crowd around Emil, admiring his costume and telling him what has happened in town since he left. Emil has many friends among the French and the Spanish boys, since they are less suspicious of new things than are the Swedish and Norwegian boys. The French boys carry Emil off to see the new clubroom at the post office.

Alexandra wanders into the basement, where the women are setting up their stands. Marie sees her and rushes to her, only to stop short when she sees that Emil is not there. Alexandra reassures her that Emil will be along shortly and compliments Marie’s coral earrings, which once belonged to Marie’s grandmother. Marie wears a Bohemian costume with a short red skirt and yellow turban.

When Emil returns from the post office, he lingers outside with the boys, singing and talking on the terrace. It makes Marie nervous to be able to hear but not see him, but once the boys arrive in the basement, she forgets her annoyance and runs to greet Emil. She admires his costume and asks about Mexico, and when everyone sits down to supper, she drags Frank’s arm so that they are sitting across from the Bergsons. Marie hangs on to every word that Emil says about matadors, breaking out in a volley of questions after he finishes his story.

After supper, there is a game of charades and an auction, at which Emil allows everyone to bid on one of his turquoise shirt studs. Marie attempts to get Frank to bid, but he refuses, and the stud goes to a French girl. Marie shrugs and sets up at her fortune-telling tent, which soon becomes very popular. Frank glowers at the side, and his jealousy is all the more painful because he cannot affix it to any one source—Marie is kind to everyone. He broods over the way Marie once loved him and no longer does.

Amédée calls to Emil and tells him that they are planning to play a joke on the girls. At eleven o’clock, Amédée will switch off the electric lights, at which point every boy will have a chance to kiss his sweetheart. The only problem is the candle in Marie’s tent, and Amédée enlists Emil to blow out the candle, as he has no sweetheart. Emil agrees.

At five minutes to eleven, Emil wanders up to Marie’s tent and asks to have his fortune read. He gazes at her intently, and she begins talking quickly, asking him why he put his turquoise shirt stud up for auction—she had wanted it desperately, but Frank would never bid for it. Emil laughs shortly and pulls out a handful of uncut turquoises to drop into her lap, telling her not to let anyone see them. Marie is enraptured by the stones and asks if everything in Mexico is as beautiful as those stones.

Amédée turns out the lights, and Marie starts up into Emil’s arms, where she doesn’t have time to think before they kiss. When the lights come back on, Marie is pale, and Emil is already at the other end of the hall. Frank is watching jealously, but he sees nothing. Alexandra notices that Marie seems tired and offers to help her with the card booth. Marie stiffens at Alexandra’s touch, which hurts Alexandra’s feelings—but it’s Alexandra’s calm that seems fatal to Marie, whose heart feels at the mercy of storms.