Joseph Calloway, a rich Englishman indicted on investment fraud charges in his own country, has led authorities on a chase through several Latin American countries. He is now taking refuge in Mexico, hoping that its disordered government will make it easier for him to dodge officials. The narrator, an aimless drifter who is passing through a small border town where Calloway is hiding, sympathizes with the tedious boredom that Calloway feels, with nothing to do but sit in the dismal town’s square all day.

Each day, Calloway strolls to the bridge that joins the Mexican town with a U.S. town and wistfully looks across the river. On one occasion, he expresses the idea that life begins on the other side; however, the narrator mocks Calloway’s view that the other town has more life and excitement than the Mexican town. He knows that it is the same thing over again. The American town even has the same layout; it differs only in having paved streets and taller hotels and in being a little cleaner and much more expensive. On his way back from his walks to the bridge, Calloway routinely kicks the dog that has accompanied him from England as if he is venting some private frustration. Everyone in the town sees everything that Calloway does and knows his entire story, but he is unaware of this.

When two foreign detectives come to the town searching for Calloway, everyone but Calloway knows who they are. People anxiously gather at the town square, watching in amazement as the detectives—who carry only an outdated photograph of their suspect—chat amiably with Calloway over drinks. They all get along well and speak familiarly of their mutual homeland. After the detectives learn that Calloway is the man whom they are chasing, he and they go to Mexico City. The detectives seek an extradition order so that they can arrest Calloway, who wants government protection. Although Calloway is a criminal, the narrator suspects that Mexico has admitted him to the country because his millions have made him a celebrity in this part of the world.

Calloway returns to the northern village on a train; as he rides in a first-class car, the detectives ride in second class. The detectives have not obtained the extradition order that they want, so they try to lure Calloway out of Mexico. They kidnap his dog and take it to the American town, expecting Calloway to come looking for it. The narrator follows the detectives across the bridge to the American town, where he sees Calloway strolling around. It is not clear whether Calloway is looking for his dog or is merely fulfilling his desire to see what lies across the bridge. Unaware of Calloway’s proximity, the two detectives chat with the narrator in a nearby store, where he learns that one of them is a dog-lover.

When the dog sees Calloway heading toward the bridge, he bounds after him. The detectives get into their car and chase the dog, which ends up in the middle of the road, dangerously close to the speeding car. The driver—the detective who loves dogs—swerves to avoid the animal and hits Calloway. The mortally injured man throws his arm toward the dog then dies of shock and a weak heart. The detectives believe that Calloway’s gesture was a caress, but the narrator thinks it was meant to be a blow.