The Interlopers (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Saki
- First Published: 1919
- Type of Plot: Suspense
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: The Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe
- Principal Characters: Ulrich von Gradwitz, Georg Znaeym
- Genres: Short fiction, Suspense
- Subjects: Nature, Friendship, Accidents, Revenge, Inheritance or succession, Disabilities or physically challenged persons
- Locales: Europe
The Story
This fablelike story of vendetta and reconciliation begins with a short history of conflict between two families in the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe. Ulrich von Gradwitz, the local nobleman, is patrolling a narrow stretch of scrubby woodland that borders his much larger and more valuable holdings of forestland. The land that he patrols, however, acquires its value in his eyes because it was the subject of a lawsuit between his grandfather and the grandfather of a neighbor, Georg Znaeym, now his archenemy. At the origin of the conflict, each family held that...
[The entire page is 1504 words long]
