The Champion

"The Champion" by Charles Egbert Craddock follows Edward "Ned" Macdonald, a printer's devil at a city newspaper, who harbors the ambition of one day becoming a champion compositor like the foreman Bob Platt. Ned is a hardworking, conscientious boy who supports his widowed mother and sickly younger sister on his modest wages. The story begins when Ned allows himself to be persuaded by his sly acquaintance Peter Bateman to sneak into Gorham's Theatre through a back window without paying. Pete proves unable to climb in himself and, out of spite and jealousy, threatens to fetch the police. Ned dismisses the threat and hides among the backstage scenery, where he witnesses the performance of Hamlet. While concealed, he overhears theatre owner Gorham remark to a friend that his fire insurance policy in the Rising Phoenix company has just expired and he has refused to renew it. Later backstage, Ned inadvertently witnesses a far more serious scene. A drunken subordinate actor, publicly humiliated and beaten by Gorham and ejected through a back window, returns in the night with a bandy-legged accomplice to burn the theatre in revenge. Ned also discovers a separate gang of thieves simultaneously cracking the theatre safe and stealing the star's diamonds and costumes. Ned, who has fallen asleep in a chair on the darkened stage after the performance ends and the theatre empties, wakes to find these crimes in progress. He escapes through a broken window and flees into the street, where the theatre is already beginning to burn. He witnesses the conflagration but, fearing he will be accused as an accomplice given his illegal presence in the building and the theft of half a dollar's worth of admission, resolves to say nothing. Meanwhile Pete, having drunk himself into a stupor at a saloon after failing to report Ned to the police, is arrested for disorderly conduct and, in his muddled state, tells officers that Ned broke into the theatre to steal diamonds from the star's dressing room. He repeats this testimony before a magistrate the next morning, embellishing it with deliberate falsehoods. Ned is arrested and charged with housebreaking, larceny, and arson. At the examining trial he refuses to give a full account of what he witnessed, fearing that his confession of sneaking into the theatre without paying will destroy his credibility and that the real criminals, being older men, will be believed over him. He is committed to jail to await his trial. A detective, shadowing Ned in hope of discovering his supposed criminal associates, observes him inquire about train fares to Kentucky, where his father's old patrons live, and later notices Ned's excitement at a newsboy's mention of the theatre's insurance. The detective concludes, erroneously, that theatre owner Gorham himself burned the building to collect the insurance, and that Ned is his young accomplice seeking to extort money. When Ned posts a letter, the detective intercepts it and discovers it is addressed to Gorham and contains only fifty cents and the words "Conscience Money," a repayment for the stolen admission. Gorham, moved by the gesture and convinced of Ned's innocence, secretly arranges for two wealthy brothers, the Vanbighs, to post bail for the boy as a personal favor. Released from jail but still under suspicion and awaiting trial, Ned discovers that the newspaper where he works, drawing its own conclusions from the suspicious circumstances of the bail, is about to publish an editorial strongly implying Gorham burned his own theatre to defraud the insurance companies. In a desperate act to protect the innocent man who freed him, Ned destroys the editorial copy, distributes the set type, and fills the space with a garbled prospectus for the paper. The resulting typographic chaos gets foreman Bob Platt dismissed, as he was drunk that evening and circumstantial evidence points to him. Faced with the sight of the good-natured foreman losing his livelihood and leaving behind a dying wife and four young daughters, Ned finally confesses everything. His full account of the night's events is believed, the real criminals are identified from his descriptions and arrested, the star's diamonds are recovered, and Ned is acquitted at his trial. Peter Bateman's perjury is exposed; he escapes prison on account of his youth and remorse but is sent to a reform school. The insurance companies, relieved that the fraud theory is disproven, promptly pay the claims. Ned, chastened by the chain of disasters his concealment of the truth set in motion, learns the hard lesson that cowardly silence can be as ruinous as any open wrongdoing, and that his own first small dishonesty in sneaking into the theatre set everything else in motion.

By Mary Noailles Murfree · First published 1891 · Genre: Regional Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age · 10 chapters · 51,126 words

First lines

The devil was looking out of the window. Yet the traffic in the streets was unchecked. The cable-cars whizzed past with a clanging clamor. Great rumbling vans laden with freight alternated with carriages rolling noiselessly on rubber-tired wheels. The sidewalks were crowded with pedestrians. Men and boys, ladies and little children, boldly came and went over the neighboring crossing, although they could plainly see the devil's head poking out of a high window in the newspaper building and hear the shrill tones of the devil's voice as he discoursed to his friend within.

What this Textopian page supports

The Champion is listed on Textopian as a novella by Mary Noailles Murfree, dated 1891 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Novella
• Author: Mary Noailles Murfree
• Date: 1891 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Regional Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Historical Fiction, Social Realism
• Length: 51,126 words
• Structure: 10 chapters, 776 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Champion by Mary Noailles Murfree
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Discussion starters

• What should a reader notice first when entering The Champion?
• How does this novella by Mary Noailles Murfree fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
• Where does Regional Fiction first become important in the reading?

Genres

• Regional Fiction — Craddock's work is deeply rooted in the Tennessee Cumberland Mountains, with vivid depictions of Appalachian life, dialect, and local customs that are central to the narrative.
• Literary Fiction — The novel demonstrates sophisticated prose, character development, and thematic depth characteristic of serious literary work rather than popular genre fiction.
• Coming-of-Age — The protagonist experiences personal growth, maturation, and self-discovery throughout the narrative, confronting challenges that shape his development into manhood.
• Historical Fiction — The novel is set in a specific historical period of Appalachian America and reflects the social, economic, and cultural conditions of that era.

Tags

American literature · Southern fiction · Appalachian fiction · Tennessee setting · regionalism · local color · rural life · mountain communities · historical fiction · romance · adventure · social customs

Contents

• CHAPTER I
• CHAPTER II
• CHAPTER III
• CHAPTER IV
• CHAPTER V
• CHAPTER VI
• CHAPTER VII
• CHAPTER VIII
• CHAPTER IX
• CHAPTER X

More by Mary Noailles Murfree

• The Raid Of The Guerilla (1911)
• Wolf´s Head (1911)
• Una Of The Hill Country (1911)
• Who Crosses Storm Mountain? (1911)
• The Phantom Of Bogue Holauba (1911)
• The Christmas Miracle (1911)
• A Chilhowee Lily (1911)
• The Lost Guidon (1911)
• All works by Mary Noailles Murfree