The train takes the brothers through the countryside and to various Hindu temples, though tension builds as Jack and Peter become infuriated with Francis' manipulative behavior. Francis eventually reveals that they will be meeting with their mother, who has become a nun living at a Christian convent in the Himalayas. Peter and Jack are angry, knowing they wouldn't have come if they had been told this earlier. The atmosphere finally comes to a head, and the three have a physical altercation on the train, distressing the other passengers. The Chief Steward, whom the brothers have repeatedly wronged, has them thrown off with all their luggage. Brendan subsequently quits and returns to the train after giving the boys a letter from their mother; its contents imply that she doesn't want to see them. The brothers thus decide to leave India, go their separate ways, and never return.