Basic Information

Abbreviation: STOC (J. F. Christ, 1947)
Word length: 6,832 (C. E. Lauterbach, 1960)
First published: Strand Magazine, March 1893; Harper's Weekly, March 11, 1893

Discussion Questions

• What made Mr. Pycroft the target of Beddington’s master plan? Why?
• What did Beddington mean when he said “Rome was not built in a day”? How did this further his agenda with Mr. Pycroft?
• Why did Beddington pretend to be his own brother?
• How did Beddington’s disguise backfire? What role did this play in his scheme of getting exposed?
• Why was Beddington’s first instinct to hang himself upon potentially being discovered?
• What was the end goal in this scheme carried out by Beddington? Why did he go to such extreme lengths to accomplish it?