Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation (Sometimes rendered 'Leadbetter') is a short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 written by H. G. Wells

H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...

 in 1894. The story deals with the internal human conflict between rationality

Rationality

In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action...

 and the irrational fear of the unknown.

Publication

"Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation" was published in The Strand Magazine Vol. XVI: July - December 1898 (London: George Newnes Limited, 1898). That volume also contained an article on "The Boyhood of Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

," recently deceased'; short stories

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; "The Larrakin of Diamond Creek" by A. J. Raffles

A. J. Raffles

Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes — he is a "gentleman thief," living in the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing...

-author E. W. Hornung

Ernest William Hornung

Ernest William Hornung , known as Willie, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late Victorian London....

 and stories/articles by W. W. Jacobs

W. W. Jacobs

William Wymark Jacobs , was an English author of short stories and novels.-Writings:Jacobs is now remembered for his macabre tale "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Toll House"...

, L. T. Meade and others.

Plot summary

"Mr. Leadbetter is in holy orders, and for more years than he cares to remember has led a virtuous, worthwhile and very dull life. After drinking a little more than is good for him whilst on holiday, he rashly decides to commit a crime. It has consequences he could never have imagined - he ends up on the other side of the world."

Adaptations

Mr. Leadbetter's Vacation was adapted into a 30-minute BBC radio drama in the mid-1950s by Lance Sieveking

Lance Sieveking

Lance Sieveking was an English writer and pioneer BBC radio and television producer. He was married three times, and was father to archaeologist Gale Sieveking and Fortean-writer Paul Sieveking .-Biography:...

. It was subsequently broadcast by NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

as part of their "Showcase" series, on the 16th of October 1954.