Adam Returns to the Farm

After five years of wandering as a tramp, a chain-gang prisoner, and an escaped fugitive, Adam Trask finally returns to the Connecticut farm he left behind. He arrives on foot from the village, dirty and worn, his stolen clothes wrinkled and soiled from having been slept in for a week. He stops between the house and the barn, listening for his brother, and hears him hammering in the new tobacco barn. When Adam calls out, the hammering stops, and there is a long silence before Charles emerges and hurries to shake his hand. Charles immediately notes Adam's thinness and lack of prosperity, asking where his valise is; Adam admits he has none, that he has been wandering like a hobo. The reunion is charged with an unspoken tension, for Charles is thinking of two things—the questions and something else—and Adam knows from memory that his brother is concealing a deeper concern.

The Revelation of Cyrus's Fortune and Lies

The central crisis of the reunion emerges when Charles finally reveals the contents of a letter from their father's attorneys. Cyrus Trask, who had seemed to live modestly on a G.A.R. salary of $135 a month, had left over $93,000 in the bank and $10,000 in securities—a fortune that shocks both brothers. Charles is tormented by the source of this money, having discovered among Cyrus's papers a discharge that proves their father was never at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Richmond, or Appomattox. Everything Cyrus had told them about his military service was a lie. Charles believes the money must have been stolen, and he is devastated by the thought that their father's entire life was a fraud. Adam, by contrast, feels a surge of joy and release. He refuses to believe the money is stolen, arguing that the proofs against God's existence are strong but not as strong as the feeling that He does. He declares, "I believe in my father," and insists that papers are no match for his faith. This fundamental disagreement—Charles's anguished need for truth versus Adam's willful faith—becomes the emotional crux of their reunion.

The Shift in Power and Adam's Liberation

A profound psychological shift occurs in Adam during this homecoming. He realizes with amazement that he is no longer afraid of his brother. The old terror that had governed their relationship is gone, replaced by a creative, free boldness that runs through his bones and brain. When Charles, weeping for the first time Adam can remember, confesses his love for their father and his jealousy over Cyrus's preference for Adam, Adam responds with a startling clarity. He admits he did not love their father—that he was sometimes scared, sometimes admired him, but most of the time hated him. He tells Charles that love makes you suspicious and doubting, and that perhaps Cyrus had faith in Charles precisely because he did not love him. Adam feels better than he has ever felt in his whole life, as though he has gotten rid of something. Charles, unable to understand this, can only repeat, "I don't understand." The old dynamic of fear and violence has been replaced by Adam's newfound emotional independence.

The Legacy of Violence and the Hatchet in the Night

The reunion also forces both brothers to revisit the violent past. Adam reminds Charles of the beating he gave him just before Adam went into the army, and of the night Charles came back with a hatchet to kill him. Charles claims not to remember well, saying he must have been crazy. But Adam now understands that Charles was fighting for his love—for their father's love. This recognition allows Adam to reframe the entire history of their relationship. He tells Charles that they will use the money well, perhaps stay, perhaps go to California, and that they must set up a monument to their father. Charles, however, cannot imagine leaving the farm. The conversation ends with Adam proposing that they feel their way forward, but the emotional distance between them has been measured and acknowledged. The hatchet, thrown into a field by Charles after his failed murder attempt, remains a symbol of the violence that can never be fully undone.

The Aftermath and Adam's Restlessness

In the months following the reunion, the brothers settle into a routine that is both familiar and strained. They travel together to Washington to look at Cyrus's grave, with its iron star and flag holder, but they do not mention their father. Charles remains haunted by the money, refusing to spend a penny because he might have to give it back. Adam, feeling the old restlessness rising, begins to talk about California—its mild winters, its fertile soil, its promise of a new life. Charles, who loves the farm and cannot imagine leaving, grows increasingly irritated. The pattern of their relationship repeats: they live together, work together, and then the tension builds until they fight and Adam leaves again. Charles predicts this cycle with bitter accuracy, and when Adam finally announces he is going, Charles shouts at him to get out. Adam leaves, but this time he does not wander aimlessly. He goes to California, buys the old Sanchez place in the Salinas Valley, and begins to build the garden that will become the setting for the rest of his life. The reunion with Charles, though painful, has given Adam the clarity and freedom he needed to break away from the past.