The two walk to lunch, where they discuss the war and the flu. Adam surprises Miranda by waiting outside her door. Adam, a young soldier, moved into Miranda’s building the week before and the two have seen each other nonstop over the past 10 days. The narrative shifts back to the present, where Miranda wraps up her bath and daydreams about Adam Barclay, her love interest. She remembers what occurred yesterday after the committeemen left: Mary Townsend (Towney) and Miranda anguished over what could be done to them for not buying bonds, and Miranda left work to visit the wounded soldiers in the hospital-a task she dreads and finds phony and forced. She has a horrible headache and thinks back at what might have caused it. The narrative jumps forward as Miranda is back home, exhausted and relaxing in the bath. Miranda refuses to buy one and is tempted to reject the war entirely. The men confront Miranda and harass her for not purchasing a Liberty Bond to support the war effort. At the office, there are two Lusk Committeemen (temporary government employees who ensure loyalty during wartime) waiting for her at her desk. Miranda goes to work at the newspaper office where she is employed as a drama critic. Miranda wakes from her troubling dream to a reality equally as troubling: the world is in the midst of World War I and the influenza pandemic. She’s tired of making meaningless gestures that accomplish nothing.Miranda dreams of a familiar bed, a familiar house, and a familiar “stranger.” On a gray horse, she embarks on a journey to escape Death and the Devil and the stranger rides beside her on his own gray horse. Both women have been trying to help the war effort, though Miranda’s visits to the barracks where the injured soldiers recuperate have been chastening. Like Miranda, Towney has been targeted by the Liberty Bonds salesmen and worries that she won’t be able to afford a bond. Their new roles are more traditionally reserved for women. They once declined to report on a salacious story about an elopement when the young girl involved asked them not to ruin her reputation after another newspaper published the story anyway, the two female reporters were demoted to less prestigious roles. Her colleagues include Towney, a young woman who writes the local gossip column, and Chuck, the sports reporter, who can’t be drafted for the war due to his medical history. Still thinking about her dream, Miranda goes to her office at the newspaper, where she works hard as the theater critic and, as a result, feels continually exhausted.
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