Cowboy v. Cricketer

The Cricketer introduces himself. He and the Cowboy have a pleasant discussion on the topic of Keats.

While they discuss Keats, whom the Cowboy tells the Cricketer is the finest poet to read while riding alone on the prairie, a crooked old man drives a pickup to the road, walks across the northern field, where he meets with Pepple outside the caretaker's cabin. They talk for several minutes before the man leaves.

At some point the Cricketer and the Cowboy find themselves at an impasse: they can't decide which poem is better: Ode to a Nightingale or When I have fears that I may cease to be. A fistfight ensues.

They raise their guns, their guns go off.