Project Gutenberg 2007-11-19 Public domain in the USA. 80 Craddock, Charles Egbert 1850 1922 Dembry, R. Emmett Murfree, Mary Noailles The Crucial Moment 1911 Produced by David Widger "The Crucial Moment" by Charles Egbert Craddock is a dramatic novella written in the early 20th century. The story unfolds in the context of a rural Southern community threatened by rising waters from the Mississippi River, exploring themes of conflict, vengeance, and the weight of a single fateful moment. The narrative follows the character Walter Hoxer, a levee contractor whose life spirals into chaos after an explosive confrontation with a wealthy landowner, Major Jeffrey. The plot centers on Hoxer, who seeks to defend his reputation and integrity after Major Jeffrey publicly accuses him of cutting corners in his levee construction. Tensions escalate into a violent encounter where Hoxer, feeling cornered, is compelled to shoot Jeffrey in self-defense. Following this fateful moment, Hoxer becomes a fugitive, evading the law while grappling with the moral implications of his actions. The story culminates in a desperate escape that ultimately leads to Hoxer's tragic demise in the river, leaving behind his loyal dog, whose devotion symbolically highlights Hoxer's lost humanity in the face of irrevocable choices. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Short stories Mississippi River -- Fiction PS Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 64556 64565 2024-09-10T08:09:40.831045 2023-09-10T11:18:28.513965 text/html text/html 61549 2021-02-24T22:35:43 text/html; charset=utf-8 23341 2021-02-24T22:35:45 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 75356 2024-09-10T08:09:43.940020 application/epub+zip 74379 2024-09-10T08:09:42.022016 application/epub+zip 74379 2024-09-10T08:09:41.275026 application/epub+zip 166393 2024-09-10T08:09:45.440008 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 159401 2024-09-10T08:09:43.416008 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 158514 2022-09-11T06:01:30.858167 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 54271 2024-09-10T08:09:40.643021 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 54579 2018-03-08T12:07:48 text/plain; charset=utf-8 21936 2018-03-18T14:31:50 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 54338 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 21862 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 54327 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 21845 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 21433 2024-09-10T08:09:45.571990 application/rdf+xml 13295 2024-09-10T08:09:41.610038 image/jpeg 3402 2024-09-10T08:09:41.439032 image/jpeg 75544 2024-09-10T08:09:40.838024 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia