Frail, battered and orphaned, Yevsey Klimkov creeps through the undergrowth of life; his intelligence remains observant, but his will is cowed, and his is easily coerced into spying for the military in support of the Tsar.
He makes some friends who are capable of defying oppression, and his heart responds to them - but it is this association which is going to bring him to the terrible crisis of his life...
