Harold’s aunt and grandmother look after him and his siblings when his dad is gone and his mother works during World War II. They never go to church, but his grandmother has a picture about Jesus knocking on the door of the heart. His father buys a farm when he returns from the war and Harold, as the oldest, does much of the work. Being a daydreamer in school and having failed several grades, Harold quits school at age sixteen without being able to read. He wants to know God, though, and goes to a church service where he is saved. But he is unable to read the Gospel of John given him.