After Woodifield leaves, the boss sits down at his table and informs his clerk that he does not want to be disturbed. He is extremely perturbed at the sudden reference to his dead son, and expects to weep but is surprised to find that he can't. He looks at his son's photo, and thinks it bears little resemblance to his son, as he looks stern in the photo, whereas the boss remembers him to be bright and friendly. The boss then notices a fly struggling to get out of the inkpot on his desk. The boss helps it out of the inkpot and observes how it dries itself. When the fly is dry and safe, the boss has an idea and starts playing with the fly by dropping ink on it. He admires the fly's courage and continues dropping ink on it, watching it dry itself continuously. By this time, the fly is weak and dies. The boss throws the dead fly, along with the blotting paper, into the wastepaper basket, and asks his clerk for fresh blotting paper. He suddenly feels a wretchedness that frightens him and finds himself bereft. He tries to remember what it was he had been thinking about before, but has no recollection of what he was thinking about before the fly.