The Trail of the Hawk Part I The Adventure of Youth Chapter 5

In which youthful Carl and Ben conjure futures amid wintry frosts and tentative romances, while Carl wrestles with the allure of adventure and the pull of domestic expectation embodied by the comely and enigmatic Gertie Cowles. The scene shifts to a genteel Victorian drawing-room where Carl confronts stiff social formalities and guarded affections, caught between the earnest simplicity of rural life and the sophisticated airs of young urban society.