After receiving a professorship at the University of Alberta, an unnamed professor goes to England to visit an old friend named Nick and thank him for alerting him to the job opening. As the two men catch up, Nick asks the professor if he can visit Nick’s father, who also lives in Alberta. Nick explains that they have not spoken in years because of differences in their opinions of science, and Nick’s father now believes that his son has “gone to the devil.” The professor agrees to tell Nick’s father that Nick is doing great work in the field of geophysics. He then leaves England and arrives in Montreal in a week.  Upon arriving, the professor writes a letter to Nick’s father and waits two weeks for a response but does not receive one. Even so, he decides to pay the other man a visit. He stops by a general store on the way to ask for directions, and the shopkeeper mentions that he knows Nick and his father, as well as the differences that have separated them. The shopkeeper then shows the professor the way to the farm.  The professor walks up to the house and Nick’s father asks if he is the one who wrote to him. Nick’s father is curt and serious but welcomes the professor in and asks if Nick is still “tampering with the Earth.” When the professor replies that Nick is doing research, Nick’s father asserts that no man should touch what God has made. As Nick’s father prepares coffee, the professor examines a cardboard globe displayed in the house. Nick’s father explains that he is about to toss the globe, which Nick made as a child, out because he does not believe that the Earth is round or moves. He shares that he was furious at the lies Nick learned in school and beat him for believing in them. When he asks the professor what he thinks, the professor tentatively replies that it is not accepted that the earth is round and moves. Nick’s father responds that Satan has taken over the world, and they drink coffee in silence. Finally, the professor decides to leave, and as the two men stand outside, Nick’s father gestures to the horizon and comments again that the earth is flat. The professor finds something oddly admirable about Nick’s father, and Nick’s father tells him to send his greetings to his son.