She also grieves the fact that such small towns construct ugly buildings and misuse the bounties of nature like the mountains and the lakes by allowing the Railways to shut off the view or by using them as a dumping ground. All such small towns are built to resemble one another so that the people will feel at home wherever they go. And the worst part according to Carol is that the towns meant to help the farmers had turned into parasites

Vida comments that Carol really must hate the town to make such statements. Carol retorts that because she loved it she was aware of its faults. Vida informs Carol of the reforms taking place in Gopher Prairie without Carol's initiative. She asserts that whatever they do is immediate and not something vague and fantastic as Carol had in mind. Carol replies that she would demand fantastic and nebulous things-like the plays of Strindberg staged at Gopher Prairie and a cynical French man who would laugh at their proprieties, who will not be ashamed to kiss her hand. Vida snorts that people like her wanted only some stranger kissing their hands. Carol feels hurt and Vida apologizes but she goes on to point out her faults. According to Vida the people Carol sneers at are the ones who are achieving results. Sam Clark is working for better ventilation in the school and Ella Stowbody had convinced the Railway authorities to share the expenses for developing a parking space in the vacant lot at the station. She points out that Carol gave up too easily. She also informs her that they had succeeded in convincing the authorities to construct a new school building without any help from her. Carol sarcastically asks her if the teachers in the new school would go on instructing the students that Persia was a yellow spot on the map and that Caesar is the title of a book of grammatical puzzles.

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