Chapter 24: Johnny is a Democrat, so the family attends a celebration staged by the Mattie Mahoney Association, a Democratic organization, which includes a boat ride and picnic. The boat ride and picnic are designed to entice women, who will soon get the vote, and children, who will eventually be old enough to vote, into becoming Democrats. Sergeant McShane notices Katie and admires her beauty. Katie also notices him and asks about him.
Chapter 25: Johnny has begun to drink even more, but on those occasions when he is sober, he tries to be a better father to his children. On one of the days that he is sober, he takes Francie and Neeley to Bushwick Avenue to show them what they can achieve from living in a Democracy. Anything is possible in the United States.
Chapter 26: At Thanksgiving, all the children dress in costumes and go into the neighborhood stores to beg for treats. Because certain stores depend on the children to buy candy the rest of the year, several of the shopkeepers provide treats on this day. This Thanksgiving begging is a long-standing tradition that is over by noon.
At school, one of the girls brings a small five-cent piece from home. Francie's teacher asks the children if someone wants to take home a small donated pumpkin pie. Francie says she will take it and give it to a poor family. Francie eats the pie, as she had intended to do all along. The next day when the teacher asks about the pie, Francie makes up an elaborate story about the poor family to whom she gave the pie, which does not fool the teacher.
