Paper Pills Summary

Doctor Reefy is a man with a white beard and big nose and hands. He does house calls on a white horse, riding from house to house. He marries a rich girl, who is quiet, tall, dark and beautiful. Everyone wonders why she marries him. She dies only a year after they marry. He is a tall man who has worn one suit for many years. The doctor puts scraps of paper in his pockets, which turn into hard paper balls, and he dumps them on the floor. These are the "paper pills."

The story of the doctor's courtship of the girl is delicious, like the twisted little apples that grow in the Winesburg orchards. In the fall, the ground is hard with frost, and the apples have all been picked, except for a few twisted apples that are left. These...