The Power and the Glory: Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The whisky priest knows that he must cross the mountains to the north before the rainy season arrives if he has any chance of escaping the region. Desperate and in need of resources, he decides to return to Captain Fellows's home, hopeful that Coral will be there to help him out again. Upon arriving at the plantation, he finds the house looking deserted, with no food in sight. The only thing he finds of note are medicine bottles, which he presumes belong to Mrs. Fellows. He also finds a dog chewing on a bone with some meat left on it. The whisky priest fights the dog for the bone and eventually wrangles it from him. Although the priest wants to share some of the meat with the dog, he finds his own hunger is too intense to do so.

As a storm looms, the whisky priest seeks refuge in an abandoned hut, where he experiences a profound sense of isolation. In a sudden flash of lightning, he catches sight of a Native American woman observing him from outside the hut. Despite her initial retreat, she cautiously approaches again. The priest begins searching the hut, suspecting the woman is looking for something valuable that is inside.

In the hut, the whisky priest reaches around blindly in the darkness. Soon, his hand feels the face of a young Native American boy, who he quickly realizes is bleeding out from gunshot wounds. The priest does what he can to help the boy, giving him water and putting pressure on his wounds. He also attempts to speak to the Native American woman to find out what happened, though there is a language barrier. Eventually, he figures out that an American criminal who is on the run shot the boy. Additionally, the Native American woman communicates that she wants her son buried in a church. The whisky priest agrees to travel with the Native American woman to the mountains where they can perform a service for the boy.

After reaching a plateau adorned with Christian crosses, the Native American woman lays her son at on the ground. With more rain on the horizon, the whisky priest reluctantly leaves the woman behind to seek shelter, but upon his return, he finds her gone, having left behind her child and a lump of sugar. Feeling a sense of duty towards the deceased boy, the priest takes the sugar before continuing his journey. The more he travels, the wearier the priest becomes. He is beset by illness and as hungry as he has ever been in his life. Just as he teeters on the brink of collapse, a stranger wielding a gun appears.

In a rare moment of vulnerability, the whisky priest divulges his real name to the gun-wielding stranger (though not to the reader), expressing his desire to avoid trouble for himself and others. Following the stranger's guidance, the priest discovers a seemingly deserted building, which the stranger reveals to be their church. Exhausted, the priest rests against the church's wall and falls asleep.