Bartley Hubbard, a newspaperman who ranges from Equity, a small town in New England, to Whited Sepulchre, Arizona. His moral weakness manifests itself in his affairs with women, his shoddy business ethics, his indifferent attitude toward money, and his love of liquor. He spends most of his time running from debts and family obligations. He dies, shot down by an irate citizen, while he is editor of a small western newspaper.