In the 1940s, when Hemingway's stories were beginning to be anthologized, "Indian Camp" and "The Killers" were the two stories most often published in textbooks and literary anthologies.
Pervading this short story is an overwhelming mood of bleakness. The setting is a lunch counter diner, located in a small town, ironically called Summit, some miles from Chicago, Illinois. After Andreson's usual eating time has passed, the killers leave, and George tells Nick that he should warn Andreson. In Ole's rented room, Ole seems undisturbed by the news; in fact, he seems as though he almost expected to hear about the plan to kill him. He tells Nick that he can't run any longer and that nothing can be done about his situation. He sends Nick away.
Interestingly, Ole is lying in his bed turned toward the wall in his room as he waits for his death; in "Indian Camp," the young American Indian husband slits his throat while he is turned toward the wall lying in his bunk.
Returning back to the diner, Nick begins telling George and the cook (who goes into the kitchen so he won't have to hear anything more about the murder that's being planned) what happened in Ole's apartment. Nick says that he's going to leave town because being in a town where a man passively awaits being gunned down is too terrible.
