A man named Frederick Kappel has a son the same day he helps to burn the confederate stronghold of Atlanta in 1864 alongside William Techumsah Sherman. Frederick Kappel Sr. thinks about this event frequently, and though he does not believe in God, he wonders if this shows that there may be a reason for it all. Frederick Kappel Jr. remains unconvinced. Frederick Kappel Jr. enlists in the army at the start of the Spanish-American war and spends his time in Florida. After the war, Frederick Kappel Jr. goes to Philadelphia and becomes a bookbinder. Over the course of his life he married four women who all died before he did. He had children with his first two wives and none with his latter two. A month before his 85th birthday he remembers a quote by Blaise Pascal relating to old age. This leads Frederick Kappel Jr. to think of the various aspects of his life including his wives, his children, and his career choice while relating them to the pieces of literature that he remembers from his bookbinding career. This reflection about his life leads Frederick Kappel Jr. to both delay the work he currently has and to deny any further projects. Frederick Kappel Jr. gets a cold, but he somehow survives. Frederick Kappel Jr. lives until the age of 106.