Summary
Roger Carr, the prodigal scion of a Manhattan dynasty, becomes an unwitting martyr when he shoulders the culpability for the homicide of the affluent but unscrupulous Norman Evans. In his mind, the fatal shot was discharged by his sister, Ethel, who lay dazed after Evans assaulted her, yet the truth is far more labyrinthine. Ethel, convinced that Roger bears the blame, confesses to a crime she did not commit, propelling her brother into the bleak confines of a penitentiary while she retreats to a remote Californian mission. Upon his parole, the patriarch repudiates him, severing all ties, and Roger, bereft of inheritance, migrates to the arid expanses of Arizona. There, he purchases a copper mine and ascends as the charismatic champion of a coalition of independent operators resisting the monolithic mining trust. His populist reforms—shorter workdays, equitable wages—ignite the trust’s ire, prompting them to weaponize his sordid past. Concurrently, Jarvis, the Carr family butler turned mission gardener, succumbs to injuries from a ferocious tornado, yet not before delivering a confession to Ethel that unravels the true murderer’s identity. Armed with this revelation, Ethel exonerates Roger, who, aided by his diligent stenographer Mary Tompkins, unmasks a strike leader as a puppet of the trust. The saga culminates with Roger’s election to Congress and his marriage to Mary, sealing a narrative that intertwines familial sacrifice, frontier justice, and political redemption.
Synopsis
An impertinent son of a wealthy New Yorker, Roger Carr takes the blame for the murder of Norman Evans, whom Roger believes his sister Ethel shot when Evans assaulted her. Although Ethel, who was unconscious, confesses to protect Roger, whom she thinks is guilty, Roger is sent to prison, and Ethel goes to a California mission. Upon his release, Roger is disowned by his father. He goes to Arizona, and after buying a copper mine, becomes the leader of the independent owners opposing the trust. After Roger instigates reforms favoring the workers, the trust reveals Roger's past. Meanwhile, Jarvis, the Carr butler, who became a gardener at the mission, gives Ethel a confession of murdering Evans, before he dies from injuries suffered in a tornado. After Ethel clears Roger's name with the confession, Roger, with the help of his stenographer, Mary Tompkins, reveals a strike leader as a tool of the trust. Roger is elected to Congress and takes Mary as his wife.
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