story of three strangers,the first stranger joins them to seek shelter for the rough weather. A second stranger comes in, and sings a song that reveals he's a hangman. A third strangers enters briefly, but then flees.

They are interrupted by a gunshot, a signal that means a prisoner has escaped. The people leave the cottage to seek the third stranger and arrest him. They bring him to Casterbridge jail, but he turns out to be the wrong man. The first stranger was the actual convict, Timothy Summers, a man who stole sheep out of poverty. The third stranger was his brother.... ( )