What message did the chapter thesummer …

The moral of William Saroyan's "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" is that compassion in the face of conflict yields both room for growth and fair compromise. John Byro knows that Mourad and Aram have stolen his missing white horse--a fact which is confirmed when he comes across the two boys as they are stabling the creature after their morning ride. Rather than acting out of vengeance and seeking punishment for the thieves, Byro asserts, "A suspicious man would believe his eyes instead of his heart."
In other words, there is something important about believing in the goodness of the human spirit and seeing the best in others. Byro seems to implicitly understand that the boys must have a good reason--even a spiritual reason--for taking his property away from him; surely one would not steal unless out of genuine need. This gentle approach to catching the boys "in the act" results in his horse being returned the very next morning. Much to his delight, he discovers that his horse has been trained quite well and has grown stronger and more even-tempered in the time that it was missing. Due to his generous and forgiving spirit, Byro has actually gained something positive out of being the victim of a crime. This is truly a "win-win" approach to life.