- Mrs. Renling proposes to adopt Augie.
- Mr. Renling is also willing to adopt him, seeing it as a chance to rescue a boy raised by poor women.
- Mrs. Renling tempts him by noting the advantages they could give him would help him win the heart of a girl like Thea Fenchel.
- Augie doesn't feel right about being adopted.
- Mr. Renling tells him to think it over, but Mrs. Renling is offended and calls Augie a fool.
- She disagrees with her husband's patient approach, telling him that Augie doesn't know how to think right.
- Wanting an outside opinion, Augie consults with Einhorn about the proposal.
- A crippled woman named Mildred Stark (no relation to Tony or to the Winterfell family) is now working for Einhorn. She's in love with him and will accept no salary for her labor.
- She's now his personal secretary, servant, and confidante.
- Tillie Einhorn, his wife, accepts this and makes allowances for it.
- When Augie tells him about the proposed adoption, Einhorn only half listens, replying that Augie was born lucky.
- Augie heads downtown to hang out.
- While eating a liver sandwich, he runs into a college buddy named Clarence Ruber.
- They chat. Ruber is working with an inventor who's made a waterproof paint for use in bathrooms. They need someone to run the shop while Ruber is out selling the product.
- Because Augie has experience with rich customers, he offers the job to Augie.
- Augie accepts, knowing he won't be able to stay with the Renlings once he refuses their offer.
- Mrs. Renling reacts with anger, Mr. Renling with cool well-wishing.
- Augie visits Grandma Lausch. She's lost her dominating presence and much of her memory.
- She's nearing the end of her life with maybe a few months remaining.
- Augie is a flop at his new job. Ruber's cousin's widow doesn't trust him and keeps him away from customers, and when Augie switches to sales outside the shop, he fails to sell much of the paint.
- Simon is displeased with Augie's recent choices since they mean he has to cover their mother's expenses.
- Out one day, Augie runs into the robber, Joe Gorman, who teases him for being a sucker.
- Gorman offers Augie a chance to make a quick buck, running immigrants over the border from Canada into New York.
- Augie is skeptical, knowing this would be a federal crime if they were caught, but he's desperate, so he agrees.
- He gives his remaining paint to Tillie Einhorn and meets Gorman at the pick-up point.
- Gorman arrives in a black Buick.
- Augie is supposed to help with the driving, but Gorman doesn't like Augie's hesitation when he's behind the wheel, so Gorman ends up doing most of the driving.
- They stop for gas after passing through Lackawanna, New York.
- Augie goes to the hamburger joint next door to get them dinner.
- From the window, he sees a state trooper examining their Buick. Gorman isn't by the pump.
- Augie sneaks through the kitchen and out the back.
- He sees Gorman running for the trees. He follows.
- Gorman has a pistol in his hand and tells Augie to keep his hands off of it or he'll clobber him.
- Augie asks Gorman why he's so concerned about the trooper.
- The car is stolen, Gorman tells him.
- Gorman tells Augie they should split up since they've been seen together, but that they're close to Buffalo and that he'll pick Augie up at the main post office there tomorrow morning at 9:00.
- They plan to catch separate buses to Buffalo.
- Augie, however, not looking to be an accessory to a hothead crime, decides to run cross-country back to Lackawanna.
- Nearing the town, he come upon a gathering of unemployed marchers, somewhat blocking traffic. He decides to mingle and hide in the crowd.
- The crowd of marchers, however, is headed for Buffalo.
- Augie figures he's safer with them then on his own, wandering in the open for a state trooper to find.
- A squad car forces and opening in the traffic. Augie sees Gorman in the back seat between two troopers, his lip split and bleeding.
- Augie spends the night at a seedy, overpriced hotel. After breakfast, he telegraphs Simon to wire him some money. He doesn't have enough cash for a bus ride to Chicago.
- While waiting, Augie takes an excursion at Niagara Falls.
- No response comes. He tells the "telegraph girl" to forget about the wire. He's leaving town.
- He takes a Greyhound bus to Erie and spends another night at a cheap hotel.
- In the morning, he joins other potential hitchhikers on the road.
- His muddy appearance makes it hard for him to get lifts, so he does a lot of walking.
- Seeing a train headed for Cleveland, he tries to grab a hold of the ladder of one of the cars.
- Someone behind him gives him a push and he's able to climb onto the train, joining other non-paying passengers.
- At Cleveland, he hears word of a nonstop or hotshot train to Toledo, OH. He waits with others.
- When the train comes, he gets on board with other free riders.
- The train stops. Cops rid the train of riders.
- A kid named Stoney attaches himself to Augie and they go into town.
- They find a place to bunk for the night—retired box cars.
- More men arrive in the night. One of them tries to molest Augie. He moves elsewhere.
- It takes him five days to get back to Chicago.
- He mistakenly boards a train to Detroit. Close to the city, he and Stoney are forced off.
- A truck takes them, plus another individual with them named Wolfy, into a town.
- Cops apprehend them and take them to the station.
- There they wait quietly while the police tend to a dispute with another group who apparently had a brawl.
- Augie is worried they've been picked up in connection with Joe Gorman's arrest, but the cops are instead looking for thieves who stole automobile parks from wrecking yards.
- After grilling Augie, Stoney, and Wolfy, the sergeant calls for Jimmy, an old officer with a perfect memory.
- Jimmy recognizes Wolfy from an arrest three years before.
- The police have the three of them empty their pockets.
- Then they're taken to a crowded cell. All night an enormous light shines on them.
- In the morning, Augie and Stoney are released. Wolfy is kept on suspicion.
- They're warned not to return lest they get charged with vagrancy.
- The two of them ride trolley to the city limits.
- Thinking Stoney is still with him, Augie hops off at the stop, but sees that his friend is still asleep.
- Augie waits for him and feels despondent for losing him.
- A salesman for a film company going to Chicago gives Augie a ride home.