Moon-Face, and Other Stories

In Short

This short story collection explores the collision between human willpower and destructive, invisible forces across turn-of-the-century America. Moving from the obsessive hatred of a neighbor and circus arena rivalries to dark scientific experiments in invisibility, revolutionary extortion rings, and gold-panning in wilderness canyons, the narratives examine greed, pride, and obsession. Characters pursue fortune, truth, or revenge, only to discover that their own choices—or spectral, relentless external powers—inevitably claim them. The volume endures because of its sharp psychological tension, vivid physical action, and unsparing look at human vulnerability.

The Story

The narrative journey begins in quiet rural spaces where an unnamed speaker develops an unreasoning, poisonous hatred for his endlessly optimistic neighbor, John Claverhouse, driven to near madness simply by the man's booming laughter and round face. This dark impulse of personal malice shifts to the performative world of the circus, where a performer named De Ville silently orchestrates the gruesome death of lion tamer King Wallace, who is crushed in the jaws of an old lion named Augustus after De Ville subtly marks him before a crowded audience.

As the scene moves to bustling urban centers, ambitious individuals attempt to conquer the city through grit and intellect. A well-spoken tramp named Leith pitches a realistic sketch to a stern newspaper editor, only to be jailed for sixty days after his aggressive pursuit of raw local color lands him in trouble with the law. Meanwhile, an aspiring young female journalist, Edna, sneaks into a rowdy theater's amateur night after being turned away by an editor, crossing paths with stage tramp Charley Welsh in her quest to prove her professional capability.

Yet urban society harbors far deadlier threats than editorial rejection. Money baron Eben Hale receives a terrifying letter from "The Minions of Midas," an intellectual syndicate demanding twenty million dollars in cash. When Hale refuses to capitulate, the group smothers his loved one before driving Hale himself to suicide by asphyxiation, warning his heirs that their ideological vengeance passes down through wealth itself. Science offers no escape from obsession: two fierce rivals, Lloyd Inwood and Paul Tichlorne, dedicate their lives to mastering invisibility—one creating an absolute black pigment that absorbs all light, the other achieving brilliant, iridescent invisibility. Their relentless scientific rivalry culminates in a terrifying, unseen duel on a sunny tennis court.

Out in the wild, an untiring prospector named Bill pans a secluded stream, methodically tracking a rich gold streak he calls "Mr. Pocket." Through tireless labor, he unearths massive lumps of gold from crumbling quartz. Finally, in the California hills, a troubled lover named Chris Dunbar harbors a mysterious secret that prevents him from marrying Lute. Despite their deep love, an ominous spiritual entity warning through a Planchette board vows to destroy Chris. Unseen forces begin taking his horses: Washoe Ban deliberately hurls himself down a bank, and eventually, while riding along a canyon precipice, Chris's horse Comanche is dragged over the four-hundred-foot cliff by a spectral grip, carrying Chris to his death and leaving Lute collapsed alone in the dusty road.

How It Unfolds

A neighbor's unbearable joy An irrational narrator develops a consuming hatred for John Claverhouse, whose cheerful laugh and round face haunt his waking hours. He resorts to small midnight sabotages like loosening cattle into Claverhouse's fields, yet the man's relentless optimism remains unbroken.

Revenge inside the circus ring A lingering grudge between circus performers turns fatal when De Ville quietly rubs a handkerchief over King Wallace's back before a show. Moments later, during a performance before a crowded tent, the old lion Augustus snaps his jaws down upon Wallace's head.

Pounding the city pavements Uncompromising editors push aspiring writers to the margins of urban life. A philosophizing tramp named Leith accepts a writing assignment for local color only to land in jail, while young Edna ventures into backstage amateur night to earn her journalistic credentials.

Extortion by unseen intellectuals A ruthless syndicate calling themselves The Minions of Midas demands twenty million dollars from capitalist Eben Hale under threat of terror. After murdering his loved one and driving Hale to asphyxiation, they declare that their threat will forever haunt his fortune and heirs.

A battle of light and dark Two lifelong rivals pursue opposite scientific paths toward total invisibility, one mastering absolute light absorption and the other brilliant refraction. Their hidden obsession erupts into violent, invisible combat upon a sunny tennis court.

Unearthing the golden pocket A solitary prospector named Bill works up an isolated mountain stream, carefully panning the water to trace gold specks to their origin. He successfully strikes a rich pocket of rotten quartz filled with heavy golden nuggets.

The plunge into the canyon Chris Dunbar suffers under an unseen curse that prevents his marriage to Lute, heralded by ghostly warnings written through a Planchette board. While riding along a cliffside path, his horse is violently pulled off the edge by a spectral hand, sending horse and rider to their deaths in the ravine below.

The People

John Claverhouse wants only to enjoy his simple rural life and farm, untroubled by minor mishaps, but his sunny disposition makes him the sole target of an irrational neighbor’s obsessive hatred.

Eben Hale wants to preserve his immense financial empire, yet he is helpless against the invisible "Minions of Midas," ending his life in quiet despair through asphyxiation when he cannot protect his loved ones.

Lloyd Inwood and Paul Tichlorne want to conquer the physical laws of light and achieve absolute invisibility, but their lifelong personal rivalry stands between them, driving both into a dangerous, invisible confrontation.

Bill wants to track down "Mr. Pocket," the elusive source of gold up a mountain stream, overcoming day after day of tedious panning until he uncovers massive lumps of gold in the disintegrating rock.

Chris Dunbar wants to love Lute deeply without revealing the dark secret that prevents their marriage, but spectral warnings from Lute’s dead father target his life, ultimately forcing his horse over a steep canyon wall to his destruction.

Lute wants to remain devoted to Chris despite her family's growing hostility and eerie spiritual messages, but she ends up crushed by grief, calling out hopelessly into an empty canyon after watching her lover perish.

In Its Own Voice

When describing his unreasoning grudge against his neighbor, the narrator captures the bizarre intensity of his hatred:

"Waking or sleeping it was always with me, whirring and jarring across my heart-strings like an enormous rasp."

As the shadowy extortionists outline their relentless ideological challenge to the capitalist class, they issue a terrifying warning:

"We are the inevitable. We are the culmination of industrial and social wrong."

In the secluded mountains, the determined prospector exults as his careful dirt-washing finally brings him to the golden source:

"I’ve got the almighty cinch on you, Mr. Pocket, an’ you can’t lose me," he said many times as he sank the hole deeper and deeper.

What It's Really About

At its core, the collection examines the terrifying fragility of human control when matched against forces beyond reason, capital, or science. Whether driven by irrational personal malice, the cold logic of economic retribution, or unseen spiritual forces reaching out from beyond the grave, the characters are repeatedly humbled by powers they cannot master. The stories ask whether individual willpower and ambition can ever truly overcome the systemic debts of society, the relentless laws of nature, or the dark obsessions of the human psyche. Pride and intelligence offer no ultimate immunity; instead, those who attempt to master their environment often find themselves consumed by the very obsessions, rivalries, or unseen curses they seek to conquer.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate taut, atmospheric fiction focused on human desperation, moral ambiguity, and sudden twists will find much to admire here. Reading the book feels like stepping into a tense late-nineteenth-century landscape where urban progress and natural wilderness both conceal sudden dangers. The narrative pace moves briskly from quiet psychological malice to dramatic physical catastrophes, leaving a lasting impression of man’s vulnerability before unpredictable forces.

However, modern readers should be prepared for certain period difficulties. The dialogue occasionally relies on heavy regional dialect and theatrical slang, as seen in the tramp and stage performer sequences, which can briefly slow the reading flow. Furthermore, the prose reflects dated social assumptions and harsh period attitudes regarding class, tramp culture, and racial descriptions that require historical context. Despite these features, the collection remains compelling for its sharp suspense, imaginative variety, and unflinching look at obsession. It offers a fascinating, unfiltered glimpse into the anxieties of an era caught between industrial power and mysterious, lingering shadows.