Chapters 25–26 (The Window) — Colonel Freeleigh, the same "Time Machine" the boys listened to in Chapter 17, has been confined to a hospital for his weakening health. His sole comfort is a phone in his room that he can use to dial the number of Jorge, an old friend in Mexico City who lays his phone on an open window to allow him to hear the bustling noises outside. When the nurse learns of his phone calls, she tells him that she will give orders to take the phone away to prevent him from overworking his heart further. A desperate Freeleigh, feeling his chest pains worsen, dials Jorge's number once more. Although Jorge was already called by the nurse asking him to hang up, he agrees to honor Colonel Freeleigh begging for one last listening to the sounds of the city people. As his friend does so, Freeleigh immerses himself in the activity of Mexico City, thinking of how grateful he is for this reminder that the world is still alive and moving. When Douglas and the other children stop by for a visit, they find Freeleigh dead, still holding the phone. Douglas listens to the phone in time to hear "two thousand miles away, the closing of a window," a metaphor for Freeleigh's death.