In December 1910, Henry Fenton, an 81-year-old former soldier, receives an order of fire extinguishers. Henry lives in Rapidan, Virginia with his wife, Fannie, and their unmarried daughter, Iris. In their own large house lives his son, Richard, with his pregnant Northerner wife, Nelle, and their newborn, John. As the fire grenades arrive, everyone crowds around to see Henry’s shipment. He reassures himself: now he and his family will be safe. Various members of the town later gather around the lake to view a swan. Iris is there, as well as a man named McCampbell, whom Henry wishes would take an interest in his daughter but does not notice her. Nelle comes against Richard’s wishes; he’d prefer that she guard herself against the elements, given her pregnancy. Henry starts thinking about his first wife, Mary Jane, who died while Henry was in the war. He looks at Fannie with admiration and kisses her in public, something he never does. As everyone admires the swan, Henry thinks back to his dreams. He’d ordered a fire extinguisher because he’d had a nightmare of Nelle’s house burning. He wonders if today is the day he is going to die. A woman whose not from town, Lucy, joins the crowd. Henry resents her instantly. Everyone else welcomes her with open arms. Henry sits while the others converse, just thinking.