It's time for the final scene of the novel, which opens on the roof of a diner. The diner's owner, Mr. Roberts, is about to drown a pigeon that he's caught on the restaurant's roof. He's worried that the bird's blood will come out and cause the diner to be eaten, so it's better to drown the bird than to let its blood spill out. He also worries that if the bird is eaten, the diner will lose all of its food value. Mr. Rivers, however, has a different idea. He thinks the bird should be killed, so that its blood doesn't spill out, and the restaurant will be able to make more delicious food out of it. The narrator, who's been watching the scene from a distance, is also worried about what's going to happen to the bird. He wonders why the bird stops showing up at the diner after dinner, and he wonders why they don't stop showing up later on the same