The 19th century gives way to the 20th century. By 1900, rapid progress has made the US a different and dynamic place. Some people embrace this change, while others long for the old days.

The narrator reflects on the changing nature of culture on the creative mind. Siding with the individual versus the collective, the narrator worries that mass production will bleed into the human mind and erase the individual’s creative capacities.

Adam buys out his half of the family farm and then departs for the Salinas Valley with Cathy. He’s more in love with her than ever, although her behavior signals that she doesn’t really want to leave. When they get to California, Adam begins carefully searching for farmland. One day, he goes back to Cathy to find her nearly dead of blood loss. He calls for a doctor, who discovers that Cathy is pregnant and that her blood loss is due to her own botched abortion. She convinces the doctor that she tried to abort the baby because epilepsy runs in the family. The doctor agrees not to tell Adam about the failed abortion.

Adam zeroes in on the 900-acre Bordoni ranch a few miles south of King City.