Amos Huntingdon

The book deals with the various moral issues that beset a rather well off family. The old father makes his two sons an allowance, which one of them, Amos, manages well, while the other does not. Stability in the family is provided by an old maiden aunt, Kate, the sister of the old man. There was also a daughter, Julia, who had married a ne'er do well, and who had been shown the door on that account by the old father, but who was still of great concern to the two young men, particularly to Amos, as she had small children, who were so destitute that Amos was spending all his allowance in looking after his sister and her children, thus making it impossible for him to lend his brother any money.