Thoughtful and quietly religious, Byron is superior to Brown in every way but his shyness prevents him from revealing his feelings to Lena. The novel then switches to the second plot strand, the story of Lucas Burch/Joe Brown's partner Joe Christmas. The surly, psychopathic Christmas has been on the run for years, ever since presumably killing _his_ strict Methodist adopted father. <sep>, Pronoun: his <sep>, A: Joe Brown <sep>, B: Joe Christmas