A Fisher of Men

A favor for Abigail

At camp, Abigail calls Arthur over and asks him for a favor. He answers: "Probably not..." She asks him to do something with Jack: the boy seems down, and "all this upheaval can't have been easy on the poor kid." Arthur: "Why? Because I'm your preferred nursemaid?" In one of her two possible answers, Abigail says: "Because he likes you and, well... you know his father's useless." Arthur agrees.

Jack

Arthur finds Jack playing in the grass. "Whatchu up to?" "Playing." Arthur asks him whether he wants to come fishing, since it is about time he started to earn his keep. Jack has a fishing pole: "Uncle Hosea made me one." Arthur sends him to fetch it, lifts him onto his horse and tells him they are going down to the river nearby: they should not go too far from camp.

The ride to the river

On the way, Arthur asks Jack whether he feels better, since he was a little sick. Jack says he is fine. Arthur calls him a brave kid; Jack: "So just like you." Arthur answers that he does not know about brave, and that he "ain't much of a kid no more... Though your momma might disagree. Her and a few other women, I guess..." When Jack asks what he means, Arthur says he is talking silly: "it's been a tough few weeks up in that snow." Jack liked the snow. Arthur: "Yes, but not like that."

Jack asks when they are going back to the other camp, the one near Blackwater. Arthur tells him they are not: "This is our spot... for now, anyway." Jack explains that he forgot a story book there because they left so quickly. Arthur says someone can surely get him another one; asked when, he answers that they will see, there are fish to catch first.

The fishing lesson

At the river, Arthur walks Jack down to the shore. He baits his hook with cheese: "Smellier the better." He shows Jack how to cast: swing the rod back over the shoulder and bring it forward in a smooth motion, "Use your wrist, not your elbow." A twitch at the tip of the rod means a fish is nibbling; a hard tug means it is going for the bait, and that is when to yank hard to hook it.

This is the game's fishing tutorial: the player selects the rod in the item wheel, the cheese in the bait wheel, casts, hooks the fish when it bites, steers it while it struggles and reels it in once it is tired. Arthur explains that a fighting fish must be worn out first or the line will break. He names the fish he lands, says it is almost as small as Jack and that smaller ones should be thrown back to give them a chance to grow.

Jack takes a break to pick some red flowers and make something. He comes back and sits down: "Fishing sure is boring, Uncle Arthur." Arthur agrees it is boring as hell, until something happens and there is food for days; until then, you sit, wait and try not to worry, and it is good for you. Jack then holds up what he has made: a necklace of flowers, for his mother.

Milton and Ross

Two men ride up and dismount. The first speaks: "What a fine young man... and in such complex circumstances." He names Arthur Morgan, "Van der Linde's most trusted associate", and sums up his file: an "orphaned street kid seduced by that maniac's silver tongue... and matures into a degenerate murderer." He introduces himself as Agent Milton and his companion as Agent Ross, of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, "seconded to the United States Government". He tells Arthur that he is a wanted man: "There's five thousand dollars for your head alone." Arthur: "Can I turn myself in?"

Milton wants Van der Linde. Arthur says he has not seen Dutch for months. Milton answers that a man fitting his description robbed a train belonging to Leviticus Cornwall near Granite Pass, in Who the Hell is Leviticus Cornwall?. Arthur: "Oh, ain't that a little... old fashioned nowadays?" Milton: "Apparently not." He makes his offer: "bring in Van der Linde... and you have my word, you won't swing."

Arthur answers that he is not going to swing anyway, having done nothing wrong "aside from not play the games to your rules." Milton cuts him short: "Spare me the philosophy lesson... I've already heard it... from Mac Callander." Mac, a member of the gang, was left behind in Blackwater. Milton goes on: "He was pretty shot up by the time I got to him... so really it was more of a mercy killing. Slow... but merciful."

Arthur throws his fishing rod to the ground. Ross raises his rifle at him, and Jack hides behind Arthur. Arthur: "You enjoy being a rich man's toy do you?" Milton answers that he enjoys society, flaws and all, and that the gang, which venerates savagery, will die savagely, all of them. Arthur: "Oh, we're all gonna die, Agent." Milton wishes him good day and walks back to his horse. Ross, who has not spoken until then, tells Jack: "Enjoy your fishing, kid... while you still can." He then leaves in turn. Arthur reaches for his pistol, looks at Jack and lets it go.

The ride home

Jack asks who they were. Arthur: "No one to worry about... no one at all." He tells Jack it is getting late and his mother will be worried. On the way, Jack asks: "Why did you lie about where Uncle Dutch is?" Arthur answers that those are disagreeable men and he does not want them to hurt Dutch. Jack asks whether Mac is in jail. Arthur does not think so: "I hope he's just fine where he is." He tells Jack not to worry: "World is full of disagreeable men... that's why you got all of us."

Arthur checks that Jack still has the necklace and asks whether he liked fishing. Jack: "It's a lot of waiting around." Arthur: "It is." At camp, Abigail greets them. Jack tells her they caught a fish and gives her the necklace. Abigail: "Ain't that pretty? Ain't I the luckiest..." She asks Jack whether he thanked Uncle Arthur. Arthur: "No need... we had a good time."

Abigail asks Arthur what is wrong. Arthur: "Nothing... just met some folk. I'd better go speak with Dutch." He then heads straight for Dutch's tent.

Dutch's answer

Arthur: "We got a problem." He tells Dutch about the two men he met by the river, Milton and Ross: employees of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, who know about the train and know the gang is in the area. Dutch asks whether he was followed. Arthur says no: the agents know the gang is near, they want Dutch, and they offered Arthur his freedom in exchange. Dutch: "Why didn't you take it?" Arthur: "Huh, very funny... Well what do we do now?"

Dutch decides to do nothing for the moment: "They're just trying to scare us... into doing something stupid. We have turned a corner... we survived them mountains. We just need to stay calm." Afterwards, Hosea comes over to ask Arthur about the Pinkertons.

Mission failure

The mission fails if the player:

• alerts the law;
• does not take Jack to the fishing spot;
• tries to ride off a cliff with Jack (the mission fails before the horse leaves the ground; the message reads "Jack was frightened");
• crosses the deeper part of the Dakota River with Jack on horseback (the horse is reported dead).

Deaths

Nobody dies during the mission. Milton reports the death of Mac Callander, which happened off screen after Blackwater.

Variants

• If the mission is started at night, Arthur tells Abigail he will take Jack fishing in the morning and goes to bed; the mission resumes when he wakes up.
• Asked why she chose him, Abigail gives one of two answers at random, one of them being that Jack likes him. Honor has no effect on it.
• If Arthur lingers near Abigail instead of going to Jack, she talks about the boy needing some distraction and tells him where Jack is.
• If the player rides slowly, Arthur points out the wildlife to Jack; if the horse tramples an animal, Jack comments on it.
• With Jack in the saddle, the horse cannot crash into trees or other objects, and the player cannot see Jack hurt.
• If Arthur has already paid for new clothes for Jack, Jack thanks him for the new pants while they fish.
• While fishing, Arthur can mention that he taught another boy to fish a long time ago. Jack asks whether it was Lenny; Arthur says no, it was long before he met Lenny and before Jack was born.

Because of the time limit, stop fishing and walk over to Jack as soon as he sits down with the flower necklace.

• Where should we stand, Uncle Arthur?

  Jack, on arriving at the river

• How do I know when I've got a bite?

  Jack, during the fishing lesson

• Hey... you did real fine, kid.

  Arthur, to Jack, back at camp

• The title echoes the Gospel phrase "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"; also Mark 1:17).
• This is the first meeting between Arthur and the two agents. Milton and Ross come back at Clemens Point in The Battle of Shady Belle.
• With low honor, Arthur hears Milton's words about the gang dying savagely again after his tuberculosis diagnosis.
• Ross and Jack meet again on a riverbank in 1914, in Red Dead Redemption's "Remember My Family". Ross holds a rifle in 1899 and a shotgun in 1914.
• While Arthur and Jack are fishing, Milton's and Ross's horses are already behind them but invisible. Their saddlebags can still be searched, and one of them can kick Arthur.