- Matt is feeling downright cheery as he waits for his rabbit stew to cook.
- A figure comes to the edge of the woods… Matt knows it's not his father and starts feeling a bit nervous, in case it's an Indian.
- It turns out the man is a fat dude with reddish whiskers; he says hello and then takes his time looking over Matt's property.
- Matt's not so sure he should trust this guy, especially when he looks into Matt's cabin and starts asking questions about his dad. We feel you, Matty boy.
- Matt lies and says his dad will be returning soon from getting supplies.
- Fat Dude invites himself to supper, and he's so cheerful that Matt begins to feel less worried.
- Fat Dude introduces himself as Ben and takes a peek around the house as Matt tries to be hospitable.
- Ben tells Matt about all the people coming to the area.
- He notices Matt's rifle and can't help but run his hand over it; he tells Matt it would be worth a bunch of beaver pelts (cha-ching).
- Matt says it's not for sale and finishes making bread to go with the stew.
- It's time to eat, and eat Ben does. Matt hardly eats anything, but Ben chows down and even asks for tobacco afterward—bummer for him, though, because Matt doesn't have any.
- After dinner, it's chat-it-up time. Ben tells Matt he got out of town because the people were out to get him, so he's decided to join some Indians for a while and trap beaver on his way north.
- He makes himself at home and sprawls on the floor with his back against the wall.
- Ben tells Matt he used to trap and hunt with the local Indians; he says the trapping is pretty bad now.
- He continues that most of the Indians are dead or have left the area. A few remain, but they get slim pickings when it comes to food—the most stubborn of the tribes are the Penobscots who, Ben says, still think they own the land.
- Matt asks if the Indians speak English.
- Enough, Ben answers—"'you got to know how to handle 'em'" (3.16) when it comes to making a deal, he explains. Ben claims that they should be moving back soon from the coast, where they gather clams and escape the bugs, and that they'll leave again in the fall for a big hunt.
- Ben says the Indians use guns now, but they used to be full-on bow-and-arrow people—he even claims to have become a regular Katniss Everdeen with them back in the day. Not anymore, though.
- Ben continues to ramble on about his glory days, which—by his telling at least—were pretty glorious. He purports to have escaped torture by the Iroquois, destroyed a Jesuit church during an expedition, and shot down about half the French army during the French and Indian War.
- Ben finally snores away on the floor, but Matt can't sleep. He's worried about how long Ben will stay and how much food he'll eat.
- Matt realizes that Ben could be a murderer for all he knows, and he sits up in bed and almost takes down the rifle for protection. He vows to stay awake all night.
- But he falls asleep by accident, and when he wakes up, Ben is gone. Matt wonders if he'll come back, and if he wasn't kind enough to him; he starts to make breakfast.
- Then he notices it… or rather, the lack of it. His rifle is gone.
- Matt boils with anger. He scolds himself for not keeping the rifle close to him, but he also realizes he has no idea if he would have had the courage to use it against another man.
- Fear starts a prickly walk through Matty boy's insides—without a rifle, he realizes he's defenseless. And he'll be even hungrier to boot.