Spunk Banks

The opening words of the story, "A giant of a brown-skinned man," refer to the title character, Spunk Banks, a saw-mill worker with flashy clothes, a guitar, and a way with women. His size is matched by his self-confidence. Not only is he unafraid of the most dangerous jobs at the saw-mill—jobs that have killed other men—he has no hesitation about carrying on with another man's wife right in front of the man and all his friends. The other men treat Spunk with a mixture of respect and fear, and talk admiringly and grudgingly of his courage and quick temper, and of the .45 pistol he carries. Even when he calmly kills Joe, they do not dare challenge him. When Spunk decides to marry Lena, whom he has made a widow, Spunk gets his first taste of fear when confronted with a black bobcat...