What effects do Tom and Piney have on all the outcasts except Uncle Billy? Why?

Question

The question is from the short story called "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." Please answer the question with thought and detail.

Answer 1

The story revolves around four "immoral" characters: John Oakhurst, The Duchess, Mother Shipton, and Uncle Billy. The four characters are forced to leave town together as part of the townspeoples "cleansing" of bad elements. The party leaves Poker Flats in exile. On the way, they meet Piney Woods and Tom Simson, or Innocent, a old friend from gambling. By the request of the Duchess, the group sets up camp. Oakhurst awakens in the night to find a heavy snow storm raging around him. He also notices that Uncle Billy, the drunk, is gone with the mules that the party used for transportation. Harte ushers the rest of the party into a dilapidated cabin, where they remain, snowed in, with few provisions. After ten days in the cabin, Oakhurst and Innocent venture for help. The "law of Poker Flat" comes to the cabin and sees the Duchess and Piney in a peaceful state, and they are unable to recognize who committed the crime in Poker Flat. Mr. Oakhurst is killed and buried beneath a tree. This story is an example of local color and realism during the Gilded Generation.

The main character, John Oakhurst, a gambler, is run out of town because of the money that he has won from the town's folk.