While defending a woman, who is wrongly accused of soliciting him in a park, Matthew Dennent pushes the policeman who bangs his head on an iron railing and dies. Matthew Dennent is a gentleman and was was a captain during the war and now finds himself sentenced to five years in Dartmoor prison for the manslaughter of the police officer. Unable to suffer the prison no more he escapes across the moor in a dense fog. He takes refuge on a balcony and the woman whose bedroom he enters is kind to him and recognizes him as a friend of her brother's. Barbara helps him to escape further by giving him an old coat of her husband's. She comes in to contact with him a few more times and each time aids in his escape from the relentless pursuit of the guards and their dogs. he also meets some other people along the way who teach him that there is a little mercy in the world.

Introduced by: Roger Pryor

Written by: John Galsworthy (1867–1933)