The Confidence-Man Chapter 23 Summary

In Which the Powerful Effect of Natural Scenery is Evinced in the Case of The Missourian, Who, in View of the Region Round-About Cairo, Has a Return of His Chilly Fit

  • Taking in the scenery of Cairo, Illinois, Pitch considers it a hotbed of disease and corruption.
  • PIO had mentioned this was his stop. This makes Pitch associate disease and corruption with PIO.
  • The association makes Pitch suspect that he was swindled.
  • Pitch muses over how this occurred and thinks about PIO's threadbare outfit, jovial but slippery words, and sly facial expressions.
  • In the throes of these unhappy thoughts, a stranger comes up to Pitch and offers the metaphorical penny to know what his thoughts are.