"The Gilded Six-Bits"

What is "surprise" and how do we make it happen? (Part I)

I love this story so much and am surprised anew every time I read it. With the intention of exploring this word “surprise,” I’d like us to approach it in a different way than usual (and in a way that, I think, may slightly contradicts the instructions I gave last Sunday).

So, begging your indulgence, here’s what I’d like to challenge you to do.  First, hold back on your overall take on the story.  Instead, reread the portion of the story I’ll patch in below and, to the best of your ability, use this second read to try to recall where you were when you hit the end of that section on your first read. 

That is: 1) summarize what, precisely, your expectations were at that point, re  what was going to happen in its remaining pages and, 2) if you can, tell us why you think you held those expectations.  That is, what, in the text below had caused those expectations to be raised?

O.K., here’s the section I’d like you to reread.