Summary
A marriage unravels in a frost-bitten moral tundra: Lois Folsom’s tongue, sharp as shattered icicles, carves her easy-going husband Roger from the hearth; he flees into the white maw of an Alaskan boomtown after his brother Tom—whose own courtship of shopkeeper’s ward Dorothy Halstead curdles under Lois’s meddling—whispers that Lois has already warmed herself in the arms of steadfast family friend Henry Carter. Believing himself betrayed, Roger joins a gold-crazed expedition to Arctic City, unaware that his wife now carries the fragile future of their bloodline. Left destitute, Lois surrenders to Carter’s quiet caretaking while the town itself combusts: Abe Guth’s general store is devoured by flame, Tom turns bread-thief to keep the Guths alive, and iron bars soon clang shut on his idealism. In the bleak hush after childbirth, Carter treks north to summon the prodigal spouse; Roger, torn between vengeance and vestigial love, returns to thaw both his marriage and his incarcerated brother. Tom’s final confession—an avalanche of guilt—restores Dorothy’s trust and leaves the Folsom union cracked yet still standing, glistening like glacier fissures in sudden sun.
Synopsis
When Lois Folsom's continual complaints about her husband Roger's sloppiness finally drive him out of the house, Lois seeks solace in the company of their friend, Henry Carter. Roger's brother Tom, angry at Lois because of her interference in his courtship of Dorothy Halstead, the ward of Jewish storekeeper Abe Guth, informs his brother that Lois has kissed Carter. This knowledge propels him to accept Jack Harkness' invitation to join in a gold mining expedition of Arctic City in Alaska. Unaware that his wife is pregnant, Roger leaves, and Lois, who is now desperate, accepts Carter's care. In the meantime, the Guth's store is destroyed by fire and Tom sustains the family by stealing food, but is jailed for his efforts. After Lois' baby is born, Carter ventures North to inform Roger. After an initial confrontation between the two men, Roger returns to his wife and frees Tom from jail. Tom, realizing the damage that his lies have caused, confesses his deceit and wins Dorothy's heart.
