Project Gutenberg 2007-11-19 Public domain in the USA. 288 Craddock, Charles Egbert 1850 1922 Dembry, R. Emmett Murfree, Mary Noailles The Crucial Moment 1911 Produced by David Widger "The Crucial Moment" by Charles Egbert Craddock is a dramatic novella written in the early 20th century. The story unfolds in the context of a rural Southern community threatened by rising waters from the Mississippi River, exploring themes of conflict, vengeance, and the weight of a single fateful moment. The narrative follows the character Walter Hoxer, a levee contractor whose life spirals into chaos after an explosive confrontation with a wealthy landowner, Major Jeffrey. The plot centers on Hoxer, who seeks to defend his reputation and integrity after Major Jeffrey publicly accuses him of cutting corners in his levee construction. Tensions escalate into a violent encounter where Hoxer, feeling cornered, is compelled to shoot Jeffrey in self-defense. Following this fateful moment, Hoxer becomes a fugitive, evading the law while grappling with the moral implications of his actions. The story culminates in a desperate escape that ultimately leads to Hoxer's tragic demise in the river, leaving behind his loyal dog, whose devotion symbolically highlights Hoxer's lost humanity in the face of irrevocable choices. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 63.0 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Short stories Mississippi River -- Fiction PS Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction Category: Novels Category: American Literature 64667 2025-06-10T04:07:57.474550 text/html 61549 2021-02-24T22:35:43 text/html; charset=utf-8 23341 2021-02-24T22:35:45 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 97767 2025-06-10T04:08:02.380506 application/epub+zip 96558 2025-06-10T04:08:00.129512 application/epub+zip 90759 2025-06-10T04:07:59.005574 application/epub+zip 188824 2025-06-10T04:08:04.113551 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 181822 2025-06-10T04:08:01.718503 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 158514 2022-09-11T06:01:30.858167 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 54509 2025-06-10T04:07:57.223535 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 54579 2018-03-08T12:07:48 text/plain; charset=utf-8 21936 2018-03-18T14:31:50 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 54338 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 21862 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 54327 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 21845 2007-11-19T16:15:42 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 22231 2025-06-10T04:08:04.244530 application/rdf+xml 13291 2025-06-10T04:07:59.532539 image/jpeg 3371 2025-06-10T04:07:59.269518 image/jpeg 95577 2025-06-10T04:07:57.481531 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia