The Scapegoat
Richard Maples
Read The Scapegoat by Richard Maples in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/36719-the-scapegoat.txt.
Description
The Scapegoat, a short tale by Richard Maples with drawings by Weiss, opens on a street beating. A young, husky man of six feet is pounding an old man who can only shield his head and moan. The narrator, a newspaper man who prides himself on calm judgment, cannot stand by and watch.
One punch back of the ear drops the youth, whose glassy eyes show in the street light. The narrator notes his own compact build, his care for health, and his skill in a clinch. The youth, seen now as a college boy in a red sweater and white pants, gropes for words, says nothing, and reels away. Pity shifts as the tale asks who the true victim is.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Richard Maples |
|---|---|
| COLLECTION | BOOKS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 50 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | Public Domain |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | Project Gutenberg |