Oscar was a farmer by trade but a thespian at heart. Every evening Oscar would fill his lantern with oil and pace about his cabin rehearsing lines for the upcoming community play. Good roles did not come often for Oscar so he was determined to rehearse to perfection. His most important lines came at the end of the play where the villain, Black Bart, was led out of the courtroom in shackles while Oscar would shout in plain discourse:

Nevermore will you cheat the people of this town!
Nevermore will we fear your evil ways!
Nevermore will you bother my daughter Nell!

Oscar’s only companion was a stately, ebony feathered bird that followed his every move with fierce and fiery eyes. On the day of the play, Oscar saddled his horse and rode to town under a gray and bleak December sky but he forgot to latch the door. A cold wind blew and the bird escaped with many a flirt and flutter and Oscar saw his raven—nevermore.