The narrative follows a young, red-bearded newcomer to a Midwestern river town whose peculiar appearance and awkwardness make him an object of curiosity. With little money or influence, he endures clientless months, cultivates study and dry humor, and becomes both a local joke and an emergent public figure. The story traces his efforts to navigate small-town gossip, social ambitions, romantic entanglements and professional tests, examining how circumstance, appearance, and public opinion shape opportunity and character while offering a satirical look at provincial society's appetite for scandal and novelty.