Ethelred Preston is a story for boys written by Fr. Finn, SJ. The hero, Ethelred, while on his way to college, meets Packy Jarloe, a peddler, who induces him to change places with himself, so that Packy goes to Henrytown College, announcing himself as Ethelred Preston, while Ethelred takes Packy's peddler's pack and sets out on the road to make his fortune There is a mixture of the ludicrous and serious in what follows, but the fraud is finally discovered and Ethelred after much suffering finds himself installed as a regular student and universal favorite at Henrytown College.