Jimmie Higgins is a devoted Socialist, a weary husband, and a working-class propagandist whose faith in a better future is tested by poverty, family life, and the brutal realities of labor. Torn between his wife Lizzie's wish to go to the movies and the urgent demands of a major anti-war meeting, he heads to the Opera-house, where red banners, union emblems, and the shock of Europe's gathering war fill the air with excitement and dread. There he becomes the indispensable unseen worker of the movement, hauling supplies, running errands, and helping bring the crowd to hear the Candidate speak. When Jimmie finally meets the famed Socialist leader, the novel shifts into a moving encounter between exhausted idealism and humble devotion. The Candidate, struck by Jimmie's loyalty, hears the story of his hard life, while Jimmie's own hopes are shattered by news of Germany's invasion of Belgium and the execution of German Socialists. Catastrophe follows catastrophe: a home destroyed, family lost, and despair deepened. Yet in the world of hobos, mines, and forest camps, Jimmie finds a rough brotherhood of militants—wobblies, saboteurs, and embattled workers—who turn suffering into resistance. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.