The narrator returns to the station and finds that the station is empty. He asks the young man if he has said goodbye to his friends. The young man says that he has not, and the narrator feels bad. He tells him that he will never see his father again, and that he feels like he has changed back to being the one who cares nothing. The narrator asks the boy if he likes it, and he replies that he does, but he feels bad because he has missed so much. The boy tells him how much he misses his father, but the narrator knows that is wrong, and they begin to talk about the past. He notices that the boy has a letter in his hand, but it is not a letter from his father; instead, it is a letter to his mother. The two begin to argue about the meaning of the letter, and eventually they decide that they will meet at their usual place at 8 o'clock the next day.