After reading · Part II · Chapter 14

Part II · Chapter 14Jerry’s Other Trade

Summary

Jerry joins the funeral of Roger Cly, denounced by the crowd as a spy. The procession becomes a disorderly anti-spy demonstration, and Jerry carefully learns the burial place. That night he again abuses his wife for praying, then leaves with tools while young Jerry secretly follows.

At the cemetery, Jerry and two companions dig up Cly’s coffin. Horrified, the boy runs home imagining a coffin pursuing him. The next day he asks what a “Resurrection-Man” is; his father describes someone who supplies doctors with bodies and suggests the boy might enter that trade. Jerry is furious, however, because the expedition somehow failed.

Who’s who

• Jerry Cruncher — Bank messenger and covert grave robber.
• Young Jerry — His son, who follows and discovers the hidden work.
• Roger Cly — The supposed dead spy whose funeral draws the mob.
• Mrs. Cruncher — Blamed by Jerry for the night’s failure.