摘要:At the beginning of this short story, the old horse-dealer, pillar of finance and spirit of the whole family, died and left nothing but debt and threatening to his four children. The three brothers were all frightened at the collapse of their lives, and the sense of disaster in which they were involved left them no inner freedom. They were worrying about finding a way out for themselves and none of them would like to bother his head about the future of their only sister, Mabel. Later, the depressed girl committed suicide in a pond but was saved by Dr. Ferguson, which drew the two youth into a roniance--like association with each other, and impulsed some changes in either of their own selves.