It takes Jim two years to finish his pre-law studies at Harvard. During a brief visit back to Black Hawk, he finds the town buzzing with gossip. Ántonia went to Denver with Larry Donovan, who jilted her, and she returned home unmarried and pregnant with his child. Now back on the farm, she has become Ambrosch's drudge.
Tiny Soderball went to Seattle and opened a hotel for sailors, which will be the ruin of her, the townspeople say; Jim gives us a glimpse into the future: Tiny will go to Alaska when gold is discovered and open a hotel; a dying Swedish prospector whom she cares for will deed her his claim, and she will become wealthy. Later, Tiny will persuade Lena to open a dressmaking shop in San Francisco.
When Jim stops in the photographer's shop to arrange sittings for his grandparents, he sees a photo of Ántonia's baby in a large gilt frame. He feels a compulsion to talk to his old friend. When he asks Mrs. Harling what happened to Ántonia, she suggests that he visit the Widow Steavens, who is closest to Ántonia and will know better than anyone else.
