Jurgis begins earning more money once summer returns, but wages remain somewhat depressed due to an influx of new workers. At the same time, the labor itself only grows more taxing:

In piecework [the bosses] would reduce the time, requiring the same work in a shorter time, and paying the same wages; and then, after the workers had accustomed themselves to this new speed, they would reduce the rate of payment to correspond with the reduction in time! (123).

Now that Marija is earning money again, she decides to open a bank account. However, when she notices a frantic crowd outside the bank one morning, she spends two days anxiously waiting to withdraw her money. It turns out that this run on the bank was the result of a misunderstanding, but when Marija tries to redeposit her savings, the bank turns her away.

By this point, another winter approaches and with it the threat of both cold and reduced income. Ona is too sickly to walk to work in the snow. As a result, when a blizzard temporarily shuts down public transport, Jurgis has to carry her to and from work.

One day, Jurgis twists his ankle while jumping out of the way of an escaped steer.