The Lincoln Highway

Duchess explains that in vaudeville, “it was all about the setup” (481), relating a story about a magician, his assistant, and his cockatoo. Duchess and Woolly awoke early, carefully sneaking out of the house. Duchess is aware of the emotional toll that Dennis’s talk has taken on Woolly, who was “looking as low as I’d ever seen him” (483), and he is pleased when Woolly seems to perk up when they find another Howard Johnson’s and stop for breakfast.

When they reach Woolly’s family camp, Duchess is stunned by the enormity of the lodge, a palatial log cabin structure set deep in the woods beside a sizeable lake. Woolly confirms that the caretaker has not yet arrived to open the house for the summer. They bring their bags into the house, but Duchess leaves the Louisville Slugger he brought from Woolly’s room in the car. They enter through the mudroom, passing the glass rifle case and a green sign posted overhead. Escorting Duchess through the house, Woolly points out the various rooms in their path until they reach the study that belonged to Woolly’s great-grandfather. Duchess acknowledges that he had once had his doubts from Woolly’s description that the amount of money Woolly claimed was in the safe could have been stored in one house, but having seen the scope, scale, and luxury of the family camp Duchess has high hopes for the contents of the safe.