This section opens by reemphasizing that no one knows if Flem owns the spotted horses or not. Ratliff points out that even Flem's cousin, Eck, does not know, which does not surprise Ratliff given that "Flem would skin Eck quick as he would ere a one of us."
By sun-up on the day of the auction, there is a crowd waiting for the sale to begin, and Flem is nowhere to be found. Although Ratliff doesn't draw special attention to this fact, twice in this section he notes that the auction's attendees have brought their "seed-money" with them, money intended to buy seeds for planting the crops that will support them for the next year. In this otherwise serene community, the auction appears to make people lose their sensibilities and gamble with their futures.
At first, no one will bid on a horse — perhaps because the horses act unnaturally wild and look untamable. The Texan, who is running the auction, appeals to Eck, but Eck is afraid to bid. To prove that the ponies are tame, the Texan jumps in among them, and he is lost — forever, it seems — among dust, clouds, and total confusion. When he finally gains control over one of the animals, the image of him amongst the horses involves animal imagery similar to the earlier images of the Snopeses: "His neck swole up like a spreading adder's . . ."
