Fenton, a forty-four year old man living in the"hills" leaves his Melungeon wife one night to go play cards with some of the towns men at Catfish's smokehouse. During the card game, tensions rise as some men win money, and others lose money. One man, Port, becomes enraged after he fold a winning hand to Fenton. Duke, who is known to have a smart mouth, antagonizes Port after the loss, causing Port to tell Fenton that he plans to shoot Duke in revenge. Fenton is more familiar with Port than with Duke, so he wonders whether or not he should brake his allegiance to Port by telling Duke about the threat on his life. He leaves the card game saying a simple warning of "watch your chimney" to Duke, in reference to a another man who was shot after a similar card-game altercation. While walking home in the snow, Fenton hears a gun shot come from behind him. He wonders if Port has killed Duke or someone else after all, and wished that he would have been more forthcoming when telling Duke of Ports threat. Fenton returns home as miserable as the night when he lost card game.