In which youthful Elmer Gantry, caught betwixt the earnest zeal of collegiate evangelists and the affectionate yet insistent expectations of his devout mother, finds himself surrounded by a fervent, sometimes overwhelming tide of piety that both intrigues and unsettles him. The chapter unfolds with a blend of religious earnestness, human foibles, and the quaint rituals of prairie church life, painting a picture of a young man’s familiar but fraught dance with faith and doubt.