Angelo Caprice

Angelo Caprice is Lily Devereaux’s father, a retired Philadelphia police officer whose forceful habits persist long after his career has ended. He enters the closing stretch of the story not as a distant family name but as a newly arrived houseguest: Lily has bailed him out of jail, and William Henry Devereaux Jr. is bringing him with them to Allegheny Wells. His account of the confrontation that put him there turns a stubborn policy about giving money to strangers into a test of judgment, pride, and whether he can live by the rules he once enforced.

Background and Return to Family Life

Angelo has been retired from the Philadelphia force for almost a decade, but he still knows many of the city’s police officers. He is seventy-three the following year and describes himself as no longer useful in the way he once felt useful: he recalls his younger working years, when he would go out armed and hope to return, and contrasts them with days when he does not even bother to shave if he expects to stay home. His account suggests that retirement has narrowed his daily life and sense of purpose.

His return to family life begins with a practical consequence of the encounter he recounts: Lily has used the family’s money to get him out of jail. William Henry Devereaux Jr. suspects that Angelo could have paid his own bail but chose not to spend money that way. He also suspects Angelo’s stay in the courthouse gave him company; Angelo knew many of the officers, so detention may have felt like a reunion with old acquaintances. These are the narrator’s interpretations, not explanations Angelo offers himself.

The move from Philadelphia to the household in Allegheny Wells will require adjustment. Lily has warned her father that few people will come knocking in their rural neighborhood, and that there should be no need to shoot anyone who does. The warning acknowledges the seriousness of Angelo’s conduct while also establishing the family’s immediate task: bringing him into a home whose quieter surroundings cannot simply be treated like the city encounters he knows.

The Money Dispute and the Standoff

Angelo’s story begins with a visit from three unfamiliar men. One claims to be the brother of Raschid, the paperboy who has delivered Angelo’s newspaper and is said to be ill. Angelo acknowledges that he is behind on payment because Raschid has come by when he was away, but he distrusts the visitors and refuses to hand money to strangers. He says he likes the boy and will pay him when he returns, yet the possibility that the men genuinely represent Raschid does not immediately overcome his suspicion.

That uncertainty matters. Angelo’s first interpretation is that the visitors may be impostors, and he treats their request as a threat to his established rule rather than an occasion to check whether their story is true. He goes inside and returns with the shotgun he keeps in a hall closet for unforeseen circumstances. The two other men retreat to the sidewalk, but the one Angelo calls LeBrother remains standing. Angelo repeats his refusal and counts to three, expecting that the young man will back down. Instead, the standoff leaves Angelo facing the possibility that the visitor really is related to Raschid: the resemblance becomes harder for him to dismiss even as he remains unsure.

Angelo remembers a principle from his police work: a person should not draw a gun without intending to use it. By bringing out the shotgun, he has made his own situation more dangerous and reduced the time available to reconsider. Yet when the moment arrives, he says he does not want to shoot the young man. He weighs the visitor’s life against his own, reflecting on their difference in age and on his diminished sense of usefulness. The account does not make his earlier threat harmless; it shows the difficult choice created by his decision to arm himself.

Resolution and Consequences

Angelo’s solution is neither to shoot the visitor nor simply to lower the weapon and end the confrontation. He fires into the porch roof, bringing the decrepit structure down on himself and LeBrother. Their neighbors have to dig both men out of the rubble. The episode leaves Angelo alive, but its resolution is costly and exposes the recklessness contained in his attempt to escape an impossible choice without firing directly at the young man.

The standoff also explains why Angelo is in jail and why Lily has had to bail him out. By the time he tells the story, the three are traveling home, and the explanation unfolds at length while the actual drive continues. His account’s elaborate build-up contrasts with the speed of the physical consequence: he takes time to repeat his suspicions, defend his policy, and count down, while the porch’s collapse abruptly turns the threat into a shared predicament.

Relationships and Narrative Role

Angelo’s relationship with Lily is marked here by both strain and obligation. She has heard the story before and would rather it were over, yet she has secured his release and is taking him home. William Henry Devereaux Jr. squeezes her hand as Angelo speaks, recognizing that her father’s presence is a burden while also thinking that time spent with Angelo may improve his own standing with his wife. The narrator’s self-interested calculation gives the family scene a comic edge without erasing the care involved in bringing Angelo into their home.

As a storyteller, Angelo commands attention through delay. William Henry Devereaux Jr. compares the long account to a suspenseful narrative whose outcome has been anticipated but not yet disclosed; Angelo has kept the listeners waiting to learn whether he will pull the trigger. His tale thus makes his character visible in two ways at once: through the inflexible policy that precipitates the danger, and through the hesitation that finally prevents him from shooting LeBrother. The episode leaves him neither simply a danger nor simply a comic eccentric. He is a man still governed by the forceful rules of his former life, confronting—too late to avoid the consequences—the limits of those rules.