ttitude that he admired.... " Ellen explains that Lincoln has to make a choice when there seems only two wrong choices to make.
             Nancy, Jethro's brother John's wife, and Jenny prepare dinner, and the family all sits down to eat. The whole family including Bill and Tom, Jethro's brothers, and Eb, Jethro's cousin, are there. Jenny and Bill are Jethro's favorites, even though Bill sometimes seems strange and quiet, preferring a book to anyone's company. At the table they talk about Jenny's affection for Shadrach, which Matt Creighton promptly discourages, saying she is too young.
             Jethro and his mother return to the field. As they stop to rest, they see a team of horses coming up the road. It is Wilse Graham, Ellen's sister's son, visiting from Kentucky. They anxiously await what news he brings.
             Wilse brings Ellen up to date on her Kentucky family. Matt asks Wilse if Kentucky wants to secede, and Wilse says maybe and, in return, asks how southern Illinois would feel about it. Matt says it will be hard for the river states, and Wilse argues that southern Illinois is part of the South. Matt argues that "separate, we're jest two weakened, puny pieces, each needin' the other." Wilse argues that only half of the country enjoys those benefits. Wilse says that the South should be able to do what it wants with no interference and adds that since the beginning of time slavery has existed. Wilse says that the real issue is greed, not slavery. Jethro listens to this conversation and realizes that any excitement he felt about the prospect of war was immature.
             Ellen calls for the arguing to stop, and Wilse apologizes. Jethro naps on the porch and wakes up when Shadrach returns. Shadrach reports that there has been firing at Fort Sumter and that after thirty hours, the Union general surrendered. Jenny asks if this means war, and Shadrach explains that since Congress is not in session and cannot declare war, it technically is not war yet. Howev...