by Harold Bell Wright · 1907
A mysterious stranger calling himself Daniel Howitt settles among the Ozark backwoods folk, tutoring the wild, spirited Sammy Lane and befriending the giant-strong Young Matt while nursing a private grief that ties him to the mountain's darkest legend. As Sammy is torn between Matt's rough devotion and a smooth-talking suitor from the city, old secrets about a dead outlaw and a broken family surface, forcing the shepherd to confront the very tragedy that drove him into hiding.