The Gombeen Man is an evil moneylender who several peasants owe money to. When the peasants find themselves unable to repay the wicked man on time, he is quick with his desire to take their land from them, refusing to take the payment from them in the future if they should be able to come up with it. The poor peasants are then forced to come up with a plan to keep their land from the evil Gombeen Man. This short story is actually a chapter from Stoker's novel 'The Snake's Pass,' about a romance between an English tourist and an Irish peasant. Bram Stoker (1847-1912) was an Irish writer of novels and short stories, most famous for his gothic horror novel Dracula. Although he wrote throughout his life while working as a personal assistant and theatre manager, he did not achieve much literary fame until after his death.