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This collection of short stories presents a series of moral and emotional crises in which ordinary people confront doubt, temptation, courage, honor, and sacrifice. Narratives range from intimate psychological portraits to brisk incidents that test social expectations and personal conscience. Many pieces examine religious feeling and ethical conflict, while others turn on rivalry, fear, or the aftermath of decisive actions. The prose is reflective and observant, favoring character revelation over plot contrivance, and endings tend toward moral ambiguity or quiet resolution.
Of the stories in this volume, “Witherle’s Freedom” and “Serene’s Religious Experience” were first published in The Century Magazine; “A Consuming Fire,” “Hardesty’s Cowardice” and “The Honor of a Gentleman” in Harper’s Weekly; “At the End of the World” in The Independent. Thanks are due the publishers of these periodicals for permission to reprint the stories here.