The Untold Lie Summary

This is Ray Pearson's story. Ray Pearson and Hal Wills are farmhands together. Ray has worked extremely hard for many years and is fifty years of age. His shoulders are bowed from too much work. He lives in a dilapidated little house on one corner of the farm with his wife and around six thin-legged children.

Hal is very unlike Ray. Hal's father was Windpeter Wills, an old reprobate whose death was far from run of the mill. He got drunk and drove along the railroad tracks. The butcher tried to stop him, but Windpeter lashed his whip at the butcher and continued his journey. Windpeter stood up on the seat of his wagon and yelled happily as his horses rushed to their death toward an oncoming train.

Hal is constantly getting into trouble. He once stole wood from...