This story is the sequel, or follow up, to "The End of Something." Bill, who emerged only briefly in the earlier story, plays a major role here. The setting is a cabin in the north Michigan woods that belongs to Bill's father and sits high above the lake with a good view of the woods. The time is fall, just before the first big autumn storm blows in.
As Nick hikes upward, approaching the cabin, Hemingway precisely places him in the narrative, and his sharp attention to details is characteristic of Hemingway's early prose as well as his later, long narratives. Nick picks up a "Wagner apple." He puts it in the pocket of his "Mackinaw coat."
Almost immediately, Bill offers Nick a drink — and from this point onward, we watch and listen as the two young men get increasingly drunk. Bill is clearly in charge. Because of the cold, rainy autumn weather, he chides Nick for not wearing any socks and goes upstairs to get him some. He also cautions Nick about denting the fireplace screen with his feet (biographers have often noted Hemingway's big feet. Knowing his fondness for inserting autobiographical material, this small, telling detail very likely happened).
