,,transcriber',s ,,notes3 ,in the plain text version text in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics71 and small capitals are represented in upper case as in ,,small ,,caps4 ,the book cover was modified by the transcriber and has been added to the public domain4 ,a number of words in this book have both hyphenated and non-hyphenated variants4 ,for the words with both variants present the one more used has been kept4 ,obvious punctuation and other printing errors have been corrected4 99 99 99 99 99 ,studying the ,short-,story ,,sixteen ,,short-,,story ,,classics ,,with ,,introductions1 ,,notes ,,and ,a ,,new ,,laboratory ,,study ,,method ,,for ,,individual ,,reading ,,and ,,use ,,in ,,colleges ,,and ,,schools ,,by ,j4 ,,berg ,,esenwein1 ,a4,m41 ,,lit4,d4 ,,editor ,,of ,,the ,,writer',s ,,monthly ,,revised ,,edition ,,the ,,writer',s ,,library ,,edited ,,by ,j4 ,,berg ,,esenwein ,,hinds1 ,,hayden ,,eldredge1 ,,inc4 ,,new ,,york ,,philadelphia ,,chicago ,copyright #aiab ,,by ,j4 ,,berg ,,esenwein ,copyright #aiah ,,by ,j4 ,,berg ,,esenwein ,,to ,,mother ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,,page ,,to ,,teachers ,,and ,,students vii ,,publishers' ,,note xi ,,an ,,introduction ,,to ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,short-,,story xiii ,i4 ,,stories ,,of ,,action ,,and ,,adventure #a ,m,,rim,e ,,and ,,his ,,writings #d 8,mateo ,falcone10 ,prosper ,mrime #h ,,stevenson ,,and ,,his ,,writings #bi 8,a ,lodging for the ,night10 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson #cd ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #fg ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,action ,,and ,,adventure #fh ,,ii4 ,,stories ,,of ,,mystery ,,and ,,fantasy #fi ,,poe ,,and ,,his ,,writings #gb 8,the ,purloined ,letter10 ,edgar ,allan ,poe #gf ,,jacobs ,,and ,,his ,,writings #ajh 8,the ,monkey's ,paw10 ,w4 ,w4 ,jacobs #aaa ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #abi ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,mystery ,,and ,,fantasy #acj ,,iii4 ,,stories ,,of ,,emotion #aca ,,daudet ,,and ,,his ,,writings #ace 8,the ,last ,class10 ,alphonse ,daudet #aci ,,kipling ,,and ,,his ,,writings #adg 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy10 ,rudyard ,kipling #aea ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #ahi ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,emotion ,,or ,,sentiment #aij ,,iv4 ,,humorous ,,stories #aia ,,henry ,,and ,,his ,,writings #aid 8,the ,ransom of ,red ,chief10 ,o4 ,henry #aih ,,barrie ,,and ,,his ,,writings #bae 8,the ,courting of ,t',nowhead's ,bell10 ,james ,m4 ,barrie #bai ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #bdi ,,ten ,,representative ,,humorous ,,stories #bej ,v4 ,,stories ,,of ,,setting #bea ,,harte ,,and ,,his ,,writings #bee 8,the ,outcasts of ,poker ,flat10 ,bret ,harte #bei ,,maupassant ,,and ,,his ,,writings #bgg 8,moonlight10 ,guy de ,maupassant #bha ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #bij ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,setting #bij ,,vi4 ,,impressionistic ,,stories #bia ,,hawthorne ,,and ,,his ,,writings #big 8,the ,white ,old ,maid10 ,nathaniel ,hawthorne #cjb 8,the ,fall of the ,house of ,usher10 ,edgar ,allan ,poe #cbj ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #cea ,,ten ,,representative ,,impressionistic ,,stories #ceb ,,vii4 ,,character ,,studies #cec 8,the ,piece of ,string10 ,guy de ,maupassant #cef ,,copp,e ,,and ,,his ,,writings #cfh 8,the ,substitute10 ,franois ,coppe #cga ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #chh ,,ten ,,representative ,,character ,,studies #chi ,,viii4 ,,psychological ,,studies #cij 8,markheim10 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson #cid ,,morrison ,,and ,,his ,,writings #dbb 8,on the ,stairs10 ,arthur ,morrison #dbe ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #dca ,,ten ,,representative ,,psychological ,,studies #dcb ,,bibliographical ,,note #dcc ,,index #dcg ,,to ,,teachers ,,and ,,students ,growing out of my former volume1 ,writing the ,short-,story1 appeared the use for a new book that should contain a large number of short-stories arranged and annotated in form suitable for school or private study4 ,accordingly1 the unique marginal arrangement for notes1 which was first used in the study of ,maupassant's 8,the ,necklace10 in the earlier work1 was also adopted in this1 with the addition of exhaustive critical introductions and comments4 ,further study1 whether by classes or by individuals1 has been facilitated by the reading references upon the authors represented1 and--arranged under each of the eight type-groups--the explicit lists of ten representative short-stories available for reading and analysis4 ,five points were had in mind as a basis for the selection of the stories included in this collection3 ,first1 the real merit of the story1 as illustrating the short-story structurally perfect1 or as nearly perfect as could be found in combination with the other points desired2 second1 the typical qualities of the story1 as standing for the class it was to represent2 third1 its intrinsic literary interest for the general reader2 fourth1 its representative quality as illustrating the author's tone and style2 fifth1 its suitability for class and private study and analysis4 ,other stories are equally brilliant and equally representative1 but some are too long to fit into such a selection2 others are not available because of publishers' rules2 still others are morally unsuitable for the uses of mixed classes of young people2 while many capital stories are the work of authors who have not produced consistently good work4 ,the tone of many of the stories included is sad1 and their endings tragic2 this is accidental and has not at all governed the selection from my belief that stories of tragic quality are necessarily the greatest2 though the tragic phases of life1 being the most intense1 are the most likely to offer attractive themes to authors who prefer to deal with strong and subtle situations4 ,the same is true of stories dealing with sex problems1 but these have been excluded for obvious reasons4 ,livelier and more cheerful stories either were not as representative of the types ,i desired to exhibit1 or were rejected from other motives4 ,those who study these selections with a view to writing the short-story will do well to bear in mind that fiction of gloomy tone must be very well written and on themes of unusual power to atone for their depressing qualities4 ,for the use of teachers and their pupils1 a series of general questions has been prepared 7p4 xxxi71 besides questions at the end of each section4 ,of course these will be regarded as suggestive rather than exhaustive4 ,the margins left blank in the stories marked 8,for ,analysis0 may be used for pencil notes1 at the option of the teacher4 ,for further study1 strips of writing paper may be attached to the margins of stories cut from the magazines and full notes added by the pupil4 ,writing the ,short-,story will be found an especially practical adjunct in making the marginal analyses and notes1 as that work gives much space to the general structure of the short-story and an analysis of its parts4 ,the nomenclature of ,writing the ,short-,story has been observed in this volume1 as well as the typographical arrangement1 where practicable--especially the practise of indicating short-stories by quotation marks1 while printing book-titles in italics4 ,i venture to hope that the present work may prove helpful in disclosing to lovers of the short-story1 as well as to those who wish merely to study its technique1 the means by which authors of international distinction have secured their effects4 ,j4 ,,berg ,,esenwein ,philadelphia1 ,june #h1 #aiab4 ,,note ,,to ,,revised ,,edition ,the only changes made in the original text are such typographical corrections as were needed and a considerable addition to the bibliography4 ,j4 ,b4 ,e4 ,springfield1 ,mass41 ,may #a1 #aiah4 ,,publishers' ,,note ,the wide usefulness of ,writing the ,short-,story1 by the author of this volume1 as evidenced by its adoption for class use in the foremost ,american universities1 colleges1 and schools1 and by the many thousands of well-known writers and younger aspirants who have found it so helpful in their craft1 has encouraged the author to undertake the present work4 ,mere collections of short-stories are not lacking1 but no other volume presents an authoritative international selection1 with comprehensive classifications under leading short-story types1 critical and biographical introductions1 illuminating marginal notes1 and opportunities for original study afforded by margins for the student's notes1 together with questions and lists of stories for examination and study4 ,whether used singly or as a companion volume with ,writing the ,short-,story1 it is confidently believed that the present work will prove a notable contribution to the literature of this most popular and significant literary form4 ,,the ,,publishers ,,an ,,introduction ,,to ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,short-,,story ,fiction as an art has made more progress during the last hundred years than any other literary type4 ,the first half of the nineteenth century especially developed a consciousness of subject matter and form in both the novel and the short-story which has created an epoch as notable in the history of fiction as was the age of ,shakespeare in the progress of the drama4 ,in ,great ,britain1 ,france1 ,russia1 ,germany1 and ,america arose fictional artists of distinguished ability1 while in other nations writers of scarcely less merit soon followed4 ,the novel demands a special study1 so even for its relation to our theme--the short-story--the reader must be referred to such works as specialize on the longer form4#a ,a comprehensive treatment of the short-story would include an inquiry into the origins of all short fictional forms1 for every story that is short is popularly known as a short story4 ,the fullest and best guide for such a study is ,henry ,seidel ,canby's historical and critical treatise1 ,the ,short ,story in ,english4 ,naturally1 an inquiry into origins would prove to be measurably profitless and certainly dry for the general student were it not supplemented by the reading of a great many stories--preferably in the original--which illustrate the steps in short-story development from earliest times4#b ,a further field for a comprehensive survey would be a critical comparison of the modern form with its several ancestral and contributory forms1 from original sources4 ,a third examen would be devoted to the characteristics and tendencies of the present-day short-story as presented in volume form and1 particularly1 in the modern magazine4 ,a fourth1 would undertake to study the rhetoric of the form4#c ,none of these sorts of study can be exhaustively presented in this volume1 yet all are touched upon so suggestively and with such full references that the reader may himself pursue the themes with what fullness he elects4 ,the special field herein covered will be1 ,i believe1 sufficiently apparent as the reader proceeds4 ,let it be understood from the outstart that throughout this volume the term short-story is used rather loosely to cover a wide variety of short fiction2 yet presently it will be necessary to show precisely how the modern form differs from its fictive ancestors1 and that distinction will assume some importance to those who care about recognizing the several short fictional forms and who enjoy calling things by their exact names4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first story-teller was that primitive man who in his wanderings afield met some strange adventure and returned to his fellows to narrate it4 ,his narration was a true story4 ,the first fictionist--perhaps it was the same hairy savage--was he who1 having chosen to tell his adventure1 also resolved to add to it some details wrought of his own fancy4 ,that was fiction1 because while the story was compounded of truth it was worked out by the aid of imagination1 and so was close kin to the story born entirely of fancy which merely uses true-seeming things1 or veritable contributory facts1 to make the story 8real40 ,egyptian tales1 recorded on papyrus sheets1 date back six thousand years4 ,adventure was their theme1 while gods and heroes1 beasts and wonders1 furnished their incidents4 ,when love was introduced1 obscenities often followed1 so that the ancient tales of pure adventure are best suited to present-day reading4 ,what is true of ,egypt #djjj ,b4 ,c4 is equally true of ,greece many centuries later4 ,the ,homeric stories will serve as specimens of adventure narrative2 and the ,milesian tales furnish the erotic type4 ,as for the literary art of these early fictions1 we need only refer to ancient poetry to see how perfect was its development two thousand and more years ago2 therefore--for the poets were story-tellers--we need not marvel at the majestic diction1 poetic ideas1 and dramatic simplicity of such short-stories as the ,egyptian 8,tales of the ,magicians10#d fully six thousand years old2 the ,homeric legends1 told possibly twenty-five hundred years ago2#e 8,the ,book of ,esther10#f written more than twenty-one hundred years ago2 and the stories by ,lucius ,apuleius1 in ,the ,golden ,ass1#g quite two thousand years old4 ,in form these ancient stories were of three types3 the anecdote 7often expanded beyond the normal limits of anecdote72 the scenario1 or outline of what might well have been told as a longer story2 and the tale1 or straightforward chain of incidents with no real complicating plot4 ,story-telling maintained much the same pace until the early middle ages1 when the sway of religious ideas was felt in every department of life4 ,superstition had always vested the forces of nature with more than natural attributes1 so that the wonder tale was normally the companion of the war or adventure story4 ,but now the power of the ,christian religion was laying hold upon all minds1 and the ,french conte dvot1 or miracle story1 recited the wonderful doings of the saints in human behalf1 or told how some pious mystic had encountered heavenly forces1 triumphed over demons and monsters of evil1 and performed prodigies of piety4 ,these tales were loosely hung together1 and exhibited none of the compression and sense of orderly climax characteristic of the short-story to-day4 ,in style the early medieval stories fell far below classic models1 naturally enough1 for language was feeling the corrupting influences of that inrush of barbarian peoples which at length brought ,rome to the dust1 while culture was conserved only in out-of-the-way places4 ,in form these narratives were chiefly the tale1 the anecdote1 and the episode1 by which ,i mean a fragmentary part of a longer tale with which it had little or no organic connection4 ,the conte dvot in ,england was even more crude1 for ,old ,english was less polished than the speech of ,france and its people more heroic than literary4 ,when we come to the middle of the fourteenth century we find in two great writers a marked advancement3 ,chaucer's ,canterbury ,tales and ,boccaccio's ,decameron--the former superior to the latter in story-telling art--opened up rich mines of legend1 adventure1 humor1 and human interest4 ,all subsequent narrators modeled their tales after these patterns4 ,chaucer's 8,the ,pardoner's ,tale0 has many points in common with the modern short-story1 and so has ,boccaccio's novella1 8,rinaldo10 but these approaches to what we now recognize as the short-story type were not so much by conscious intention as by a groping after an ideal which was only dimly existent in their minds--so dimly1 indeed1 that even when once attained it seems not to have been pursued4 ,for the most part the fabliaux#h of ,chaucer and the novelle#i of ,boccaccio were rambling1 loosely knit1 anecdotal1 lacking in the firmly fleshed contours of the modern short-story4 ,even the ,gesta ,romanorum1 or ,deeds of the ,romans--#aha short legends and stories first printed about #adgc--show the same ear marks4 ,about the middle of the sixteenth century appeared ,the ,arabian ,nights1 that magic carpet which has carried us all to the regions of breathless delight4 ,the story of 8,ali ,baba and ,the ,forty ,thieves10 for one1 is as near an approach to our present-day short-story as was ,irving's 8,rip ,van ,winkle10 and quite unsurpassed in all the literature of wonder-tales4 ,thus for two thousand years--yes1 for six thousand years--the essentials of short story narration were unchanged4 ,what progress had been made was toward truth-seeming1 clearer characterization1 and a finer human interest1 yet so surpassing in these very respects are some of the ancient stories that they remain models to-day4 ,chiefly1 then1 the short fiction of the eighteenth century showed progress over that of earlier centuries in that it was much more consistently produced by a much greater number of writers--so far as our records show4 ,separately interesting studies of the eighteenth-century essay-stories of ,addison1 ,steele1 ,johnson and others in the ,english periodicals1 the ,spectator1 ,tatler1 ,rambler1 ,idler1 and ,guardian might well be made1 for these forms lead us directly to ,hawthorne and ,irving in ,america4 ,of almost equal value would be a study of ,defoe's ghost stories 7#agbg7 and ,voltaire's development of the protean ,french detective-story1 in his 8,zadig10 twenty years later4 ,with the opening of the nineteenth century the marks of progress are more decided4 ,the first thirty years brought out a score of the most brilliant story-tellers imaginable1 who differ from ,poe and his followers only in this particular--they were still perfecting the tale1 the sketch1 the expanded anecdote1 the episode1 and the scenario1 for they had neither for themselves nor for their literary posterity set up a new standard1 as ,poe was to do so very soon4 ,of this fecund era were born the ,german weird tales of ,ernst ,amadeus ,hoffmann and ,j4 ,l4 ,tieck2 the ,moral ,tales of ,maria ,edgeworth1 and the fictional episodes of ,sir ,walter ,scott in ,scotland2 the anecdotal tales and the novelettes of ,prosper ,mrime and ,charles ,nodier in ,france2 the tales of ,pushkin1 the father of ,russian literature2 and the tale-short-stories of ,washington ,irving and ,nathaniel ,hawthorne in ,america4 ,here too lies a fascinating field of study1 over which to trace the approach towards that final form1 so to call it1 which was both demonstrated and expounded by ,poe4 ,it must suffice here to observe that ,irving preferred the easy-flowing essay-sketch1 and the delightful1 leisurely tale 7with certain well-marked tendencies toward a compact plot71 rather than the closely organized plot which we nowadays recognize as the special possession of the short-story4 ,in ,france1 from #ahcj to #ahcb1 ,honor de ,balzac produced a series of notable short-stories which1 while marvels of narration1 tend to be condensed novels in plot1 novelettes in length1 or expanded anecdotes4 ,however1 together with the stories of ,prosper ,mrime1 they furnish evidence for a tolerably strong claim that the modern short-story was developed as a fixed form in ,france before it was discovered in ,america--a claim1 however1 which lacks the elements of entire solidity1 as a more critical study would show4 ,from #ahcj on1 it would require a catalogue to name1 and volumes to discuss1 the array of ,european and ,american writers who have produced fictional narratives which have more or less closely approached the short-story form4 ,until #ahce1 when ,edgar ,allan ,poe wrote 8,berenice0 and 8,the ,assignation10 the approaches to the present form were sporadic and unsustained and even unconscious1 so far as we may argue from the absence of any critical standard4 ,after that year both ,poe and others seemed to strive more definitely for the close plot1 the repression of detail1 the measurable unity of action1 and the singleness of effect which ,poe clearly defined and expounded in #ahdb4 ,since ,poe's notable pronouncement1 the place of the short-story as a distinctive literary form has been attested by the rise and growth of a body of criticism1 in the form of newspaper and magazine articles1 volumes given broadly to the consideration of fiction1 and books devoted entirely to the short-story4 ,many of these contributions to the literature of criticism are particularly important because their authors were the first to announce conclusions regarding the form which have since been accepted as standard2 others have traced with a nice sense of comparison the origin and development of those earlier forms of story-telling which marked the more or less definite stages of progress toward the short-story type as at present recognized2 while still others are valuable as characterizing effectively the stories of well-known writers and comparing the progress which each showed as the short-story moved on toward its present high place4 ,some detailed mention of these writings1 among other critical and historical productions1 may be of value here1 without at all attempting a bibliography1 but merely naming chronologically the work of those critics who have developed one or more phases of the subject with particular effectiveness4#aj ,interesting and informing as all such historical and comparative research work certainly is1 it must prove to be of greater value to the student than to the fiction writer4 ,true1 the latter may profit by a profound knowledge of critical distinctions1 but he is more likely1 for a time at least1 to find his freedom embarrassed by attempting to adhere too closely to form1 whereas in fiction a chief virtue is that spontaneity which expresses itself4 ,but there would seem to be some safe middle-ground between a flouting of all canons of art1 arising from an utter ignorance and contempt of the history of any artistic form1 and a timid and tied-up unwillingness to do anything in fiction without first inquiring1 8,am ,i obeying the laws as set forth by the critics80 ,the short-story writer should be no less unhampered because he has learned the origin and traced the growth of the ancient fiction-forms and learned to say of his own work1 or that of others1 8,here is a fictional sketch1 here a tale1 and here a short-story0--if1 indeed1 he does not recognize in it a delightful hybrid4 ,by far the most important contribution to the subject of short-story criticism was made by ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 when in ,may1 #ahdb1 he published in ,graham's ,magazine a review of ,hawthorne's ,tales1 in which he announced his theory of the short-story--a theory which is regarded to-day as the soundest of any yet laid down4 ,in #ahgf1 ,friedrich ,spielhagen pointed out in his ,novelle oder ,roman the essential distinction between the novel and the short-story4#aa ,in #ahhd1 ,professor ,brander ,matthews published in the ,saturday ,review1 ,london1 and in #ahhe published in ,lippincott's ,magazine1 8,the ,philosophy of the ,short-story10 in which1 independently of ,spielhagen1 he announced the essential distinction between the novel and the short-story1 and pointed out its peculiarly individual characteristics4 ,in a later book-edition1 he added greatly to the original essay by a series of quotations from other critics and essayists1 and many original comparisons between the writings of master short-story tellers4 ,in ,march #aa1 #ahib1 ,t4 ,w4 ,higginson contributed to ,the ,independent an article on 8,the ,local ,short-,story10 which was the first known discussion of that important type4 ,in #ahie1 ,sherwin ,cody published anonymously in ,london the first technical treatise on the rhetoric of the short-story1 8,the ,art of ,story ,writing40 ,in #ahif1 ,professor ,e4 ,h4 ,lewis instituted in ,chicago ,university the first course of instruction in the art of story-writing4 ,in #ahih1 ,charles ,raymond ,barrett published the first large work on ,short ,story ,writing1 with a complete analysis of ,hawthorne's 8,the ,ambitious ,guest10 and many important suggestions for writers4 ,in the same year ,charity ,dye first applied pedagogical principles to the study of the short story1 in ,the ,story-,teller's ,art4 ,in #aijb1 ,professor ,lewis ,w4 ,smith published a brochure1 ,the ,writing of the ,short ,story1 in which psychological principles were for the first time applied to the study and the writing of the short-story4 ,in #aijb1 ,professor ,h4 ,s4 ,canby issued ,the ,short ,story1 in which the theory of impressionism was for the first time developed4 ,in #aijc1 this essay was included in ,the ,book of the ,short ,story1 ,alexander ,jessup collaborating1 together with specimens of stories from the earliest times and lists of tales and short-stories arranged by periods4 ,in #aijd1 ,professor ,charles ,s4 ,baldwin developed a criticism of ,american ,short ,stories which has been largely followed by later writers4 ,in #aiji1 ,professor ,h4 ,s4 ,canby produced ,the ,short ,story in ,english1 the first voluminous historical and critical study of the origins1 forms1 and content of the short-story4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have dwelt upon the history of the short-story thus in outline because we often meet the inquiry--sometimes put ignorantly1 sometimes skeptically--,what is a short-story8 ,is it anything more than a story that is short8 ,the passion for naming and classifying all classes of literature may easily run to extreme1 and yet there are some very great values to be secured by both the reader and the writer in arriving at some understanding of what literary terms mean4 ,to establish distinctions among short fictive forms is by no means to assert that types which differ from the technical short-story are therefore of a lower order of merit4 ,many specimens of cognate forms possess an interest which surpasses that of short-stories typically perfect4 ,ever since ,poe differentiated the short-story from the mere short narrative we have come to a clearer apprehension of what this form really means4 ,i suppose that no one would insist upon the standards of the short-story as being the criterion of merit for short fiction--certainly ,i should commit no such folly in attempting to establish an understanding1 not to say a definition1 of the form4 ,more than that3 some short-stories which in one or more points come short of technical perfection doubtless possess a human interest and a charm quite lacking in others which are technically perfect--just as may be the case with pictures4 ,some things1 however1 the little fiction must contain to come technically within the class of perfect short-stories4 ,it must be centralized about one predominating incident--which may be supported by various minor incidents4 ,this incident must intimately concern one central character--and other supporting characters1 it may be4 ,the story must move with a certain degree of directness--that is1 there must be a thorough exclusion of such detail as is needless4 ,this central situation or episode or incident constitutes1 in its working out1 the plot2 for the plot must not only have a crisis growing out of a tie-up or crossroads or complication1 but the very essence of the plot will consist in the resolution or untying or denouement of the complication4 ,naturally1 the word plot will suggest to many a high degree of complexity2 but this is by no means necessary in order to establish the claims of a fictitious narrative to being a short-story4 ,indeed1 some of the best short-stories are based upon a very slender complication2 in other words1 their plots are not complex4 ,elsewhere#ab ,i have defined the short-story1 and this statement may serve to crystallize the foregoing4 8,a short-story is a brief1 imaginative narrative1 unfolding a single predominating incident and a single chief character2 it contains a plot1 the details of which are so compressed1 and the whole treatment so organized1 as to produce a single impression40 ,but some of these points need to be amplified4 ,a short-story is brief not merely from the fact that it contains comparatively few words1 but in that it is so compressed as to omit non-essential elements4 ,it must be the narration of a single incident1 supported1 it may be1 by other incidents1 but none of these minor incidents must rival the central incident in the interest of the reader4 ,a single character must be preminent1 but a pair of characters cordinate in importance may enjoy this single preminence in the story1 yet no minor characters must come to overshadow the central figure4 ,the story will be imaginative1 not in the sense that it must be imaginary1 or that the facts in the story may not be real facts1 but they must be handled and organized in an imaginative way1 else it would be plain fact and not fiction4 ,the story must contain a plot2 that is to say1 it must exhibit a character or several characters in crisis--for in plot the important word is crisis--and the denouement is the resolution of this crisis4 ,finally1 the whole must be so organized as to leave a unified impression upon the mind of the reader--it must concentrate and not diffuse attention and interest4 ,all of the same qualities that inhere in the short-story may also be found in the novelette1 except that the novelette lacks the compression1 unity and simplicity of the short-story and is therefore really a short novel4 ,both the novel and the novelette admit of sub-plots1 a large number of minor incidents1 and even of digressions1 whereas these are denied to the short-story1 which throws a white light on a single crucial instance of life1 some character in its hour of crisis1 some soul at the crossroads of destiny4 ,there is a tendency nowadays to give a mere outline of a story--so to condense it1 so to make it swift1 that the narration amounts to merely an outline without the flesh and blood of the true short-story4 ,in other words1 there is a tendency to call a scenario of a much longer story--for instance the outline of a novelette--a short-story4 ,this extreme is as remote from the well-rounded short-story form as the leisurely novelette1 padded out with infinite attention to detail4 ,the tale differs from the short-story in that it is merely a succession of incidents without any real sense of climax other1 for example1 than might be given by the close of a man's life1 the ending of a journey1 or the closing of the day4 ,the tale is a chain2 the short-story is a tree4 ,the links of the chain may be extended indefinitely1 but there comes a time when the tree can grow no longer and still remain a perfect tree4 ,the tale is practically without organization and without plot--there is little crisis1 and the result of the crisis1 if any there be1 would be of no vital importance to the characters1 for no special change in their relations to each other grows out of the crisis in the tale4 ,a sketch is a lighter1 shorter1 and more simple form of fiction than the short-story4 ,it exhibits character in a certain stationary situation1 but has no plot1 nor does it disclose anything like a crisis from which a resolution or denouement is demanded4 ,it might almost be called a picture in still life were it not that the characters are likely to live and to move4 ,in these introductory pages ,i have emphasized and remphasized these distinctions in various ways1 because to me they seem to be important4 ,but after all they are merely historical and technical4 ,a man may be a charming fellow and altogether admirable even if his complexion quarrels with his hair and his hands do not match his feet in relative size4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the present tendency of the ,british and ,american short-story is a matter of moment because no other literary form commands the interest of so many writers and readers4 ,all literature is feeling the hand of commerce1 but the short-story is chiefly threatened4 ,the magazine is its forum1 and the magazine must make money or suspend4 ,hence the chief inquiry of the editor is1 ,what stories will make my magazine sell8 ,and this is his attitude because his publisher will no longer pay a salary to an editor whose magazine must be endowed1 having no visible means of support4 ,these conditions force new standards to be set up4 ,the story must have literary merit1 it must be true to life1 it must deal sincerely with great principles--up to the limit of popularity4 ,beyond that it must not be literary1 truthful1 or sincere4 ,popularity first1 then the rest--if possible4 ,all this is a serious indictment of the average magazine1 but it is true4 ,only a few magazines regard their fiction as literature and not as merely so much merchandise1 to be cut to suit the length of pages1 furnish situations for pictures1 and create subscriptions by readers4 ,yet somehow this very commercialized standard is working much good in spite of itself4 ,it is demanding the best workmanship1 and is paying bright men and women to abandon other pursuits in order to master a good story-telling method4 ,it is directing the attention of our ablest literators to a teeming life all about them when otherwise they might lose themselves in abstractions 8up in the air40 ,it is1 for business reasons1 insisting upon that very compression to which ,maupassant attained in the pursuit of art4 ,it is building up a standard of precise ,english which has already advanced beyond the best work of seventy years ago--though it has lost much of its elegance and dignity4 ,in a word1 the commercialized short-story is a mirror of the times--it compasses movement1 often at the expense of fineness1 crowds incidents so rapidly that the skeleton has no space in which to wear its flesh1 and prints stories mediocre and worse because better ones will not be received with sufficient applause4 ,but while the journalized short-story adopts the hasty standards of the newspaper because the public is too busy to be critical1 in some other respects it mirrors the times more happily4 ,the lessons of seriousness it utters with the lips of fun4 ,its favorite implement is a rake1 but it does uncover evils that ought not to remain hidden4 ,finally1 it concerns itself with human things1 and tosses speculations aside2 it carefully records our myriad-form local life as the novel cannot2 and it has wonderfully developed in all classes the sense of what is a good story1 and that is a question more fundamental to all literature than some critics might admit4 99 99 99 99 99 ,here then is a new-old form abundantly worth study1 for its understanding1 its appreciation1 and its practise4 ,if there is on one side a danger that form may become too prominent and spirit too little1 there are balancing forces to hold things to a level4 ,the problems1 projects and sports of the day are1 after all1 the life of the day1 and as such they furnish rightful themes4 ,really1 signs are not wanting that point to the truth of this optimistic assertion3 ,the mass of the people will eventually do the right1 and they will at length bring out of the commercialized short-story a vital literary form too human to be dull and too artistic to be bad4 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,and ,,exercises ,,for ,,class ,,or ,,individual ,,study ,,of ,a ,,short-,,story #a4 ,estimating from an average page1 how many words has this story8 #b4 ,what type of story is it chiefly8 #c4 ,does it subordinately illustrate any other types also8 ,if so1 which8 #d4 ,is the title adequate8 #e4 ,what is its theme8 #f4 ,write out a brief scenario of the plot4 #g4 ,are the incidents arranged in effective order8 #h4 ,how many characters 7a7 speak1 7b7 are present but do not speak1 7c7 are referred to but are not present8 #i4 ,are the characters idealized1 or are they quite true to life8 #aj4 ,are the characters individualized8 ,point out how the author accomplishes this result4 #aa4 ,what is the author's attitude toward his characters8 #ab4 ,what is the proportion of dialogue to description and comment8 #ac4 ,what do you think of the dialogue8 #ad4 ,do you regard this story as being realistic1 romantic1 idealistic1 or composite8 #ae4 ,is the author's purpose apparent8 ,if so1 what is it8 #af4 ,are there any weak points in the plot8 #ag4 ,is the introduction interesting and clear8 #ah4 ,does the story end satisfactorily8 #ai4 ,is the conclusion either too long or too short8 #bj4 ,would any parts of the story be improved either by shortening or by expanding8 ,be specific4 #ba4 ,does the story arouse in you any particular feeling1 or mood8 #bb4 ,what are the especially strong points of the story8 #bc4 ,write a general appreciation1 using about two hundred words4 #bd4 ,what is the final impression the story makes upon you8 ,,note ,nine distinct methods for the study of a novel are outlined in the appendix to ,the ,study of a ,novel1 by ,selden ,l4 ,whitcomb4 ,some of these may be applied to the short-story4 ,some excellent study methods and questions are given in ,the ,writing of the ,short ,story1 by ,lewis ,worthington ,smith4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,excellent and comprehensive works1 dealing more especially with the ,english novel1 are3 ,the ,english ,novel1 ,sidney ,lanier 7,scribners1 #ahhc1 #ahig72 ,the ,development of the ,english ,novel1 ,wilbur ,l4 ,cross 7,macmillan1 #ahii72 ,the ,evolution of the ,english ,novel1 ,francis ,hovey ,stoddard 7,macmillan1 #aijj72 ,a ,study of ,prose ,fiction1 ,bliss ,perry 7,houghton-,mifflin1 #aijb72 ,the ,study of ,a ,novel1 ,selden ,l4 ,whitcomb 7,heath1 #aije72 ,the ,technique of the ,novel1 ,charles ,f4 ,horne 7,harpers1 #aijh72 ,materials and ,methods of ,fiction1 ,clayton ,hamilton 7,baker-,taylor1 #aijh74 #b ,good collections arranged historically are1 ,the ,book of the ,short ,story1 ,alexander ,jessup and ,henry ,seidel ,canby2 and ,the ,short-story1 ,brander ,matthews4 ,the former contains lists of stories short and long grouped by periods4 #c ,a full study of this character has been attempted in the present author's ,writing ,the ,short-,story1 ,hinds1 ,hayden and ,eldredge4 ,new ,york1 #aiji4 #d ,egyptian ,tales1 ,w4 ,m4 ,flinders ,petrie4 #e ,stories from ,homer1 ,church4 #f ,the ,bible as ,english ,literature1 ,j4 ,h4 ,gardiner4 #g ,a ,history of ,latin ,literature1 ,george ,a4 ,simcox4 #h ,the fabliau1 a ,french form adopted by the ,english1 is an amusing story told in verse1 generally of eight-syllable line4 ,another poetic form of the period is the lai1 a short metrical romance4 #i ,the ,italian novella was popular in ,england down to the late ,elizabethan period4 ,it is a diverting little story of human interest but told with no moral purpose1 even when it is reflective4 ,in purpose it is the direct opposite of the exemplum1 which is a moral tale told to teach a lesson1 and may be compared to the 8illustration0 which the exhorter repeats in the pulpit to-day4 #aj ,for a fuller examination of the bibliography of the subject refer to the bibliographical notes in the books by ,matthews1 ,baldwin1 ,perry1 ,jessup and ,canby1 ,canby1 ,dye1 ,c4 ,a4 ,smith1 and the editor of this volume--all referred to in detail elsewhere herein4 ,a supplementary bibliographical note will also be found on p4 #dcc4 #aa ,for this important record of the discriminations of a critic little known in ,america1 we are indebted to ,professor ,c4 ,alphonso ,smith's work on ,the ,american ,short ,story4 #ab ,writing the ,short-,story1 p4 #cj4 ,i ,,stories ,,of ,,action ,,and ,,adventure ,mateo ,falcone4--,,prosper ,m,,rim,e4 ,a ,lodging for the ,night4--,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson4 ,but the great majority of novels and plays represent human life in nothing more faithfully than in their insistence upon deeds4 ,it is through action--tangible1 visible action upon the stage1 or1 in the novel1 action suggested by the medium of words--that the characters of the play and the novel are ordinarily revealed4 ,in proportion as high art is attained in either medium of expression this action is marked by adequacy of motive1 by conformity to the character1 by progression and unity4--,,bliss ,,perry1 ,a ,study of ,prose ,fiction4 ,studying ,the ,short-,story ,,stories ,,of ,,action ,,and ,,adventure ,few words are needed to set forth the meaning of this caption1 for the designation is sufficiently explicit4 ,one point1 however1 it will be well to emphasize3 ,in fiction all action worthy of the name is the outward manifestation of an inward condition4 ,there is a sense1 therefore1 in which all stories that are not mere pictures of internal states are stories of action2 just as it may be said that all stories are stories of thought1 feeling1 and resolve4 ,the point of distinction lies here3 in which direction does the story tend8 ,in one class1 outward action is seen to work profoundly upon the inward life1 and the story shows us the workings of this influence in its final effect upon the inward man and his character4 ,in another1 an inward state is the basis1 the premise1 the initial force1 in the story1 and from that beginning the story goes on to show by a series of outward movements just how this great inward force operates in and upon conduct4 ,in a third class1 outward and inward action balance4 ,now when the outward or visible action1 prominently displaying physical movement1 becomes paramount1 whether shown as cause or as effect1 we have the action-story1 and sometimes the adventure-story4 ,and in proportion as the interest of the reader centers in what the characters do instead of in what they are1 the story departs from the subtler forms1 such as the character-study and the psychological-study1 and action or adventure becomes the type4 ,reverse these conditions1 and another sort is the result4 ,naturally1 many variations are possible with these two chief ingredients ready for use4 ,one story may begin with soul action1 then proceed to show us bodily action with great vividness1 and end by taking us back into the man's inner life4 ,another may progress on contrary lines2 and so on1 in wide variety4 ,the final test as to what is the predominating type lies in the appeal to the interest of the reader3 is it based chiefly on what the characters are or on what they do8 ,is it the why1 or the how1 the motive or the happening1 that is most absorbing8 ,the best stories1 even the best action and adventure yarns1 are likely to show a fair proportion of both4 ,m,,rim,e ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,prosper ,mrime was born in ,paris1 ,september #bh1 #ahjc4 ,his father1 a ,norman1 was a professor in the cole des ,beaux-,arts1 and his mother1 ,anne ,moreau1 who had ,english blood in her veins1 was also an artist4 ,prosper attended the ,collge ,henri ,,iv1 and in the home of his parents met the literati of the day4 ,he undertook the study of law1 but soon abandoned it1 and spent some years in observing life while journeying abroad4 ,he made much of ancient and modern languages1 becoming especially proficient in ,spanish4 ,upon his return to ,paris he served in public office1 and held the post of ,inspector ,general of ,public ,monuments until declining health compelled him to retire4 ,he was elected to several learned societies and became a commander of the ,legion of ,honor1 and1 in #ahdd1 a member of the ,french ,academy4 ,nine years later he was made a ,senator of ,france1 an honor he owed to the friendship of the ,empress ,eugnie4 ,he died at ,cannes on the #bcrd of ,september1 #ahgj1 at the age of sixty-seven4 ,prosper ,mrime was a successful poet1 translator1 novelist1 and short-story writer4 ,his translations of the ,russian novelists have been pronounced excellent4 8,colomba0 is a romantic novelette of singular power and charm4 ,his most famous short-stories are 8,the ,taking of the ,redoubt10 8,tamango10 8,federigo10 8,the ,etruscan ,vase10 8,the ,vision of ,charles ,,xi10 8,the ,venus of ,ille10 8,the ,pearl of ,toledo10 8,carmen0 7on which ,bizet's opera is founded71 8,arsne ,guillot10 and 8,mateo ,falcone02 which follows1 in a translation by the editor of this volume4 ,it was first published in the ,revue de ,paris1 ,may1 #ahbi4 99 99 99 99 99 ,among ,french masters of the short-story1 ,mrime easily holds place in the first rank4 ,both personality and genius are his1 and both well repay careful study4 ,he was an alert student of history1 to whom its anecdotal side made strongest appeal4 ,the detached1 impersonal1 unprejudiced attitude of the historian is seen in his short-stories1 for he tells his narrative impartially1 with a sort of take-it-or-leave-it air1 allowing the story to make its own appeal without any special pleading on his part4 ,his story-telling manner is1 therefore1 one of ironical coldness4 ,he delighted to tell his tales in the matter-of-fact manner of the casual traveller who has picked up a good yarn and passes it on just as it was told him4 ,and this literary attitude was a reflex of his personality4 ,to him1 to love deeply was to endure pain1 to follow impulse was to court trouble1 to cherish enthusiasms was to delude the mind1 so he schooled himself to appear impassive4 ,yet now and then in his lucid and clear-cut stories1 as in his urbane life1 a certain sweetness is revealed which speaks alluringly of the tender spirit within4 ,all my life ,i have sought to free myself from prejudices1 to be a citizen of the world before being a ,frenchman1 but now all these garments of philosophy are nothing to me4 ,to-day ,i bleed for the wounds of the foolish ,french1 ,i mourn for their humiliations1 and1 however ungrateful and absurd they may be1 ,i love them still4--,,prosper ,m,,rim,e1 letter to ,madame de ,beaulaincourt 7,marquise de ,castellane71 written1 ten days before his death1 on hearing from his friend ,thiers that the disaster of ,sedan was irreparable and that the ,empire was a thing of the past4 ,a gallant man and a gentleman1 he has had the reward he would have wished4 ,he has been discreetly and intimately enjoyed by delicate tastes4444 ,it was his rare talent to give us those limpid1 rapid1 full tales1 that one reads in an hour1 re-reads in a day1 which fill the memory and occupy the thoughts forever4--,,mile ,,faguet1 quoted by ,,grace ,,king1 in ,c4 ,d4 ,,warner',s ,library of the ,world's ,best ,literature4 ,colomba1 ,mateo ,falcone1 ,la ,double ,mprise1 ,la ,vnus d',ille1 ,l',enlvement de la ,redoute1 ,lokis1 have equals1 but no superiors1 either in ,french prose fiction or in ,french prose4 ,grasp of human character1 reserved but masterly description of scenery1 delicate analysis of motive1 ability to represent the supernatural1 pathos1 grandeur1 simple narrative excellence1 appear turn by turn in these wonderful pieces1 as they appear hardly anywhere else4--,,george ,,saintsbury1 ,a ,short ,history of ,french ,literature4 ,while inferior to ,stendhal as a psychologist1 notwithstanding the keenness of his analysis1 he excels him in opening out and developing action1 and in composing a work whose parts hang well together4 ,in addition he possesses a 8literary0 style1--not the style of an algebraist1 but that of an exact1 self-sustained writer4 ,he attains the perfection of form in his particular line4 ,nearly all his stories are masterpieces of that rather dry and hard1 though forceful1 nervous1 and pressing style1 which constitutes him one of the most original and most characteristic novelists of the century4--,,georges ,,pellissier1 ,the ,literary ,movement in ,france4 ,i do not scruple to apply the word great to ,mrime1 a word which is not to be used lightly1 but of which he is thoroughly deserving4 ,his style is the purest and clearest of our century2 no better model could possibly be found for our present generation4 ,his prose1 to my mind1 together with that of ,musset1 ,fromentin1 and ,renan1 is the most beautiful modern prose which has ever been written in the ,french language4 ,like the great classics of the #agth century1 he never wrote a passage merely to please the eye or the ear2 his sole aim was to express thought1 and the colour of his language1 which is so pre-eminently true to nature1 is of a rare sobriety2 he never studies effect1 and1 nevertheless1 invariably attains it4--,,edouard ,,grenier1 ,literary ,reminiscences4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,m,,rim,e ,miscellaneous ,studies1 ,walter ,pater 7#ahie72 ,modern ,french ,literature1 ,benjamin ,w4 ,wells 7#ahif72 ,contes et ,nouvelles1 by ,prosper ,mrime1 edited by ,j4 ,e4 ,michell 7#aijg72 ,a ,century of ,french ,fiction1 ,benjamin ,w4 ,wells 7#ahih72 ,prosper ,mrime1 ,arthur ,symonds1 in ,a ,century of ,french ,romance1 edited by ,edmund ,w4 ,gosse 7#aija72 ,six ,masters in ,disillusion1 ,algar ,therold 7#aiji74 ,,mateo ,,falcone ,,by ,,prosper ,m,,rim,e ,translation by ,the ,editor ,,note3 ,the technical terms used in the marginal notes explanatory of the short-stories throughout this work follow the terminology used and treated fully in the present author's ,writing the ,short-,story4 ,sidenote3 ,a story of local-color because the ,corsican customs determine the destinies of the characters4 ,it is equally a character-study and a psychological study4 ,note how characters harmonize with setting1 throughout4 ,sidenote3 ,setting is minutely given1 yet not diffusely4 ,as one comes out of ,porto-,vecchio1 and turns northwest toward the center of the island1 the ground is seen to rise quite rapidly1 and after three hours' walk by tortuous paths1 blocked by large masses of rocks1 and sometimes cut by ravines1 the traveler finds himself on the edge of a very extensive maquis4 ,this bush is the home of the ,corsican shepherds1 and of whomsoever has come into conflict with the law4 ,it is well known that the ,corsican laborer1 to spare himself the trouble of fertilizing his lands1 sets fire to a certain stretch of forest2 so much the worse if the flames spread further than is needed2 whatever happens1 he is sure to have a good harvest by sowing upon this ground1 enriched by the ashes of the very trees which it grows4 ,when the corn is plucked1 he leaves the straw1 because it is too much trouble to gather it4 ,the roots1 which have remained in the ground without being harmed1 sprout in the following spring into very thick shoots1 which in a few years attain a height of seven or eight feet4 ,this sort of underwood it is that they call maquis4 ,it is composed of different kinds of trees and shrubs1 all mixed and tangled1 just as they were planted by ,god4 ,only with the hatchet in hand can a man open a passage1 and there are maquis so dense and so tufted that even the wild sheep can not penetrate them4 ,sidenote3 ,one of ,mrime's deft personal touches1 as though he were telling the story to ,corsicans4 ,sidenote3 ,why 8brown08 ,sidenote3 ,the vendetta4 ,see ,mrime's novelette ,colomba4 #b4 ,if you have killed a man1 go into the maquis of ,porto-,vecchio1 and with a good gun and powder and ball1 you will live there in safety4 ,do not forget a brown cloak with a hood1 which serves as a coverlet and a mattress4 ,the shepherds will give you milk1 cheese1 and chestnuts1 and you will have nothing to fear from justice1 nor from the relatives of the dead man1 unless it be when you have to go down into the town to renew your munitions4 ,sidenote3 ,sense of reality4 ,setting becomes specific4 ,begins with social characterization4 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8nobly40 ,sidenote3 ,proceeds to physical characterization4 ,sidenote3 ,hint of climax4 ,sidenote3 ,illustrative anecdotes4 #c4 ,the house of ,mateo ,falcone1 when ,i was in ,corsica in #ah--1 was half a league from this maquis4 ,he was a comparatively rich man for that country1 living nobly1 that is to say1 without doing anything1 on the products of his herds1 which the shepherds1 a species of nomads1 led to pasture here and there on the mountains4 ,when ,i saw him1 two years after the event which ,i am about to relate1 he seemed to me about fifty years of age at the most4 ,picture a small1 but robust man1 with curly hair black as jet1 and aquiline nose1 lips thin1 large and animated eyes1 and a deeply tanned complexion4 ,his skill in shooting was considered extraordinary1 even in his country1 where there were so many good shots4 ,for example1 ,mateo would never fire on a sheep with buckshot1 but at a hundred and twenty paces he would bring it down with a bullet in its head1 or in the shoulder1 as he chose4 ,at night he could use his gun as easily as by day1 and they told me the following example of his skill1 which will perhaps seem incredible to those who have not traveled in ,corsica4 ,at eighty paces1 a lighted candle was placed behind a transparent piece of paper as large as a plate4 ,he took aim1 then the candle was extinguished1 and after a moment in the most complete darkness1 he shot and pierced the transparency three times out of four4 ,sidenote3 ,advances to moral characterization4 ,sidenote3 ,further anecdote4 #d4 ,with a talent so surpassing1 ,mateo ,falcone had gained a great reputation4 ,he was said to be as loyal a friend as he was dangerous an enemy4 ,otherwise obliging and charitable1 he lived at peace with everyone in the district of ,porto-,vecchio4 ,but they tell of him that when at ,corte1 where he had gotten a wife1 he had very vigorously freed himself of a rival who was reputed to be as redoubtable in war as in love2 at all events1 people attributed to ,mateo a certain gunshot which surprised this rival as he was shaving before a small mirror hung in his window4 ,sidenote3 ,primitive ideals4 ,sidenote3 ,central character introduced unobtrusively4 ,sidenote3 ,vendetta and clan spirit4 ,sidenote3 ,introduction ends4 #e4 ,the affair having been hushed up1 ,mateo married4 ,his wife ,giuseppa had first presented him with three daughters 7which enraged him71 but finally a son came1 whom he named ,fortunato3 he was the hope of the family1 the inheritor of the name4 ,the girls were well married2 their father could reckon1 in case of need1 upon the poniards and rifles of his sons-in-law4 ,the son was only ten years old1 but he was already showing signs of a promising disposition4 ,sidenote3 ,,action ,,begins4 ,foundation for crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,plot ,,incident4 7,a plot incident is essential to a plot2 to change it would be to alter the plot materially47 ,sidenote3 ,an old-style literary device4 #f4 ,on a certain day in autumn1 ,mateo and his wife set out early to visit one of their flocks in a clearing of maquis4 ,little ,fortunato wished to accompany them1 but the clearing was too far away2 besides1 someone must stay to guard the house2 so the father refused3 we shall soon see if he had no occasion to repent4 ,sidenote3 ,setting in contrast with crisis about to appear4 ,sidenote3 ,all the footnotes are by ,mrime4 ,sidenote3 ,action now supersedes setting4 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8irregular40 ,sidenote3 ,dramatic introduction of a leading character1 and preparation for first crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,,second ,,plot ,,incident4 #g4 ,he had been gone for some hours1 and little ,fortunato was tranquilly stretched out in the sunshine1 looking at the blue mountains1 and thinking that on the next ,sunday he would be going to town to dine with his uncle the corporal1#ac when he was suddenly interrupted in his meditations by the firing of a gun4 ,he got up and turned toward that side of the plain from which the sound had come4 ,other gunshots followed1 fired at irregular intervals1 and each time they came nearer and nearer4 ,at last on the path which led from the plain to ,mateo's house1 appeared a man wearing a cap pointed like those worn by the mountaineers4 ,he was bearded and covered with rags1 and dragged himself along with difficulty by leaning on his gun4 ,he had just received a gunshot wound in the thigh4 #h4 ,this man was a bandit1#ad who having set out at night to get some powder from the town1 had fallen on the way into an ambush of ,corsican soldiers4#ae ,after a vigorous defense he had succeeded in making his retreat1 hotly pursued and skirmishing from rock to rock4 ,but he had gained only a little on the soldiers1 and his wound made it hopeless for him to reach the maquis before being overtaken4 #i4 ,he approached ,fortunato and said to him3 ,sidenote3 ,crisp dialogue gives feeling of intensity4 #aj4 8,you are the son of ,mateo ,falcone80 #aa4 8,yes40 #ab4 8,i am ,gianetto ,sanpiero4 ,i am pursued by the yellow collars4#af ,hide me1 for ,i can go no further40 #ac4 8,and what will my father say if ,i hide you without his permission80 #ad4 8,he will say that you have done right40 #ae4 8,how do you know80 #af4 8,hide me quickly2 they are coming40 #ag4 8,wait till my father comes40 #ah4 8,how can ,i wait6 ,a curse upon it6 ,they will be here in five minutes4 ,come1 hide me1 or ,i will kill you40 ,sidenote3 ,note the lad's constant coolness1 and sly calculation4 #ai4 ,fortunato answered him with the utmost coolness3 #bj4 8,your gun is empty1 and there are no more cartridges in your carchera40#ag #ba4 8,i have my stiletto40 #bb4 8,but could you run as fast as ,i can80 #bc4 ,he gave a leap1 and put himself out of reach4 #bd4 8,you are no son of ,mateo ,falcone6 ,will you then allow me to be taken in front of your home80 ,sidenote3 ,the right of asylum to kin is sacred to primitive peoples4 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8seemed40 #be4 ,the child seemed to be touched4 #bf4 8,what will you give me if ,i hide you80 he asked him1 drawing nearer4 ,sidenote3 ,crisis particularized4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident ,,particularized4 ,sidenote3 ,shows value of the reward4 #bg4 ,the fugitive felt in the leather pouch that hung at his belt1 and took out a five-franc piece1 which he had reserved1 no doubt1 for powder4 ,fortunato smiled at sight of the piece of money1 and seizing hold of it1 he said to ,gianetto3 ,sidenote3 ,revelation of character4 #bh4 8,fear nothing60 ,sidenote3 ,,resolution ,,of ,,first ,,crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,author's real estimate of the boy4 #bi4 ,he quickly made a large hole in a haystack which stood near by the house1 ,gianetto crouched down in it1 and the child covered him up in such a way as to leave a little space for breathing1 without making it possible for any one to suspect that the hay concealed a man4 ,he acted1 still further1 with the cunning of a tricky savage4 ,he went and brought a cat and her kittens1 and set them on top of the haystack to make believe that it had not been recently touched4 ,then noticing the blood-stains on the path near the house1 he carefully covered them with dust4 ,this done1 he lay down again in the sun with the utmost calmness4 ,sidenote3 ,,third ,,plot ,,incident4 ,see #ab4 ,sidenote3 ,a deputy in command4 ,sidenote3 ,note complication by this relationship4 #cj4 ,some minutes later six men in brown uniforms with yellow collars1 commanded by an adjutant1 stood before ,mateo's door4 ,this adjutant was a distant relative of ,falcone--for in ,corsica more remote degrees of relationship are recognized than elsewhere4 ,his name was ,tidora ,gamba2 he was an energetic man1 greatly feared by the banditti1 many of whom he had already hunted down4 ,sidenote3 ,crisis recurs4 #ca4 8,good day1 little cousin10 he said1 coming up to ,fortunato4 8,how you have grown6 ,have you seen a man passing just now80 ,sidenote3 ,cunning in character further revealed4 #cb4 8,oh1 ,i am not so tall as you1 ,cousin10 the child replied with a foolish look4 #cc4 8,that time's coming4 ,but have you not seen a man pass by8--,tell me40 #cd4 8,if ,i have seen a man pass by80 #ce4 8,yes1 a man with a pointed cap and a waistcoat embroidered in red and yellow80 #cf4 8,a man with a pointed cap and a waistcoat embroidered in red and yellow80 #cg4 8,yes2 answer quickly1 and don't repeat my questions40 #ch4 8,this morning ,monsieur le ,cur passed our door on his horse ,piero4 ,he asked me how papa was1 and ,i told him--0 ,sidenote3 ,suspense4 #ci4 8,ah1 you little rascal1 you are making game of me6 ,tell me at once which way ,gianetto went1 for it is he that we are after1 and ,i am certain he took this path40 #dj4 8,how do you know that80 #da4 8,how do ,i know that8 ,i know you have seen him40 ,sidenote3 ,child's crafty nature increasingly disclosed4 #db4 8,does one see passers-by when one is asleep80 #dc4 8,you were not asleep1 you little demon2 the gunshots would have waked you40 #dd4 8,you think1 then1 ,cousin1 that your guns make a great noise8 ,my father's rifle makes much more40 #de4 8,may the devil confound you1 you young scamp6 ,i am sure enough that you have seen ,gianetto4 ,perhaps you have even hidden him4 ,here1 comrades1 go into this house1 and see if our man is not there4 ,he could walk only on one foot1 and he has too much good sense1 the rascal1 to have tried to reach the maquis limping4 ,besides1 the marks of blood stop here40 ,sidenote3 ,sly appeal to the fear inspired by ,mateo's reputation4 #df4 8,whatever will papa say60 asked ,fortunato1 with a chuckle2 8what will he say when he finds out that his house has been entered while he was away60 ,sidenote3 ,note use of suspense throughout4 ,the story is one long crisis4 #dg4 8,good-for-nothing60 cried the adjutant ,gamba1 taking him by the ear1 8do you know that ,i am able to make you change your tune8 ,perhaps when ,i have given you a score or more thwacks with the flat of a sword1 you will speak at last60 #dh4 ,but ,fortunato still laughed derisively4 #di4 8,my father is ,mateo ,falcone60 he said with energy4 #ej4 8,do you know1 you little rogue1 that ,i can carry you off to ,corte1 or to ,bastia8 ,i'll make you sleep in a dungeon1 on a pallet of straw1 your feet in irons1 and ,i'll have you guillotined1 if you don't tell me where ,gianetto ,sanpiero is40 #ea4 ,the child burst out laughing at this foolish threat4 ,he only repeated3 #eb4 8,my father is ,mateo ,falcone60 ,sidenote3 ,compare with #d and #di4 #ec4 8,adjutant10 whispered one of the voltigeurs1 8we'd better not embroil ourselves with ,mateo40 ,sidenote3 ,setting is thus interwoven with the story1 though slightly4 ,sidenote3 ,character revelation4 #ed4 ,gamba seemed evidently embarrassed4 ,he talked in a low voice with his soldiers1 who had already been through the house4 ,it was not a lengthy operation1 for the cabin of a ,corsican consists of only a single square room4 ,the furniture comprises a table1 some benches1 a few boxes1 and utensils for hunting and housekeeping4 ,meanwhile1 little ,fortunato caressed his cat1 and seemed maliciously to enjoy the embarrassment of the voltigeurs and his cousin4 ,sidenote3 ,suspense augmented4 #ee4 ,one soldier came up to the haystack4 ,he looked at the cat and carelessly gave a dig at the hay with his bayonet1 shrugging his shoulders as if he thought the precaution were ridiculous4 ,nothing stirred1 and the face of the child did not betray the least emotion4 ,sidenote3 ,more crafty coolness4 ,sidenote3 ,the turn in the plot4 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,for ,,main ,,crisis4 #ef4 ,the adjutant and his troop were in despair2 they were looking seriously toward the edge of the plain1 as though disposed to return the way they had come2 when their chief--convinced that threats would produce no effect upon the son of ,falcone--thought he would make one last effort by trying the power of cajoleries and presents4 #eg4 8,little ,cousin10 he said1 8you seem to be a wide-awake young fellow enough4 ,you will get on6 ,but you play a mean trick with me2 and1 if ,i did not fear to give pain to my cousin ,mateo1 devil take me1 ,i'd carry you off with me60 #eh4 8,bah60 #ei4 8,but1 when my cousin returns ,i shall relate to him the whole affair1 and for your having gone to the trouble to tell me a lie1 he will give you the whip till he draws blood40 #fj4 8,do you know that80 #fa4 8,you'll find out6 ,but1 see here--be a good lad1 and ,i'll give you something40 #fb4 8,i1 my ,cousin1 will give you some advice--it is1 that if you delay any more ,gianetto will reach the maquis1 then it will take a cleverer fellow to go and hunt for him40 ,sidenote3 ,main crisis augmented4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident ,,particularized4 #fc4 ,the adjutant drew from his pocket a silver watch worth quite ten crowns2 and seeing how the little ,fortunato's eyes sparkled when he looked at it1 he said1 as he held the watch suspended at the end of its steel chain3 ,sidenote3 ,character appeal4 #fd4 8,you rogue6 you would like very well to have such a watch as this hung round your neck1 and to go and promenade the streets of ,porto-,vecchio1 proud as a peacock2 people would ask you1 #8,what time is it8' and you would reply1 #8,look at my watch6'0 #fe4 8,when ,i am grown up1 my uncle the corporal will give me a watch40 #ff4 8,yes2 but your uncle's son has one already--not such a fine one as this1 it is true--of course1 he is younger than you40 #fg4 ,the child sighed4 #fh4 8,well1 would you like this watch1 little ,cousin80 ,sidenote3 ,suspense4 ,sidenote3 ,illustration4 #fi4 ,fortunato1 ogling the watch out of the corner of his eyes1 looked just as a cat does when they suddenly offer it a chicken4 ,because it is afraid a joke is being played on it1 it dares not pounce upon its prey1 and from time to time it turns away its eyes so as not to succumb to the temptation2 but it constantly licks its chops1 as if to say to its master1 8,but your joke is a cruel one60 #gj4 ,however1 the adjutant ,gamba seemed to be offering the watch in good faith4 ,fortunato did not hold out his hand1 but he said to him with a bitter smile3 #ga4 8,why do you jest with me80 #gb4 8,by ,heaven1 ,i am not joking6 ,only tell me where ,gianetto is and this watch is yours40 ,sidenote3 ,compare with #fg4 #gc4 ,fortunato allowed an incredulous sigh to escape him2 and1 fixing his black eyes on those of the adjutant1 he sought to find in them the faith he wished to have in his words4 ,sidenote3 ,a typical ,latin protest4 #gd4 8,may ,i lose my epaulets10 cried the adjutant1 8if ,i do not give you the watch on these terms6 ,my comrades are witnesses1 and ,i cannot go back on my word60 ,sidenote3 ,a key to the plot4 ,sidenote3 ,,main ,,crisis4 #ge4 ,so speaking1 he held the watch nearer and nearer until it almost touched the pale cheeks of the child1 whose face showed plainly the combat going on in his heart between covetousness and his respect for the laws of hospitality4 ,his bare breast heaved violently1 and he seemed to be almost stifling4 ,all the time the watch dangled and turned1 and sometimes grazed the tip of his nose4 ,at length1 little by little1 his right hand lifted toward the watch1 the ends of his fingers touched it1 and it rested wholly on his palm1 except that the adjutant still loosely held the end of the chain4 ,the face was blue1 the case was newly polished--in the sunshine it seemed to be all afire4 ,the temptation was too strong4 ,sidenote3 ,,crisis ,,resolved ,,and ,,downward ,,action ,,begins4 ,,henceforward ,,we ,,see ,,the ,,results ,,of ,,crisis1 ,,leading ,,to ,,the ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,still sly4 #gf4 ,so ,fortunato raised his left hand and with his thumb pointed over his shoulder to the haystack against which he was standing4 ,the adjutant understood him immediately4 ,he let go the end of the chain2 ,fortunato felt himself sole possessor of the watch4 ,he jumped up with the agility of a deer1 and moved ten paces away from the stack1 which the voltigeurs at once began to overturn4 #gg4 ,it was not long before they saw the hay move1 and a bleeding man1 poniard in hand1 came forth4 ,but when he tried to rise to his feet1 his stiffening wound would not permit him to stand4 ,he fell down4 ,the adjutant threw himself upon him and snatched away his stiletto4 ,speedily1 he was securely bound1 in spite of his resistance4 #gh4 ,gianetto1 laid on the ground and tied like a bundle of fagots1 turned his head toward ,fortunato1 who had drawn nearer4 #gi4 8,son of--10 he said to him with more contempt than anger4 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,contributory ,,incident4 7,a contributory incident might be changed or even omitted without vitally changing the plot47 ,sidenote3 ,tardy attempt to appear sincere4 ,sidenote3 ,his contempt is all for ,fortunato4 #hj4 ,the boy threw to him the silver-piece that he had received from him1 feeling conscious that he no longer merited it2 but the outlaw seemed not to notice this action4 ,he said to the adjutant in a perfectly cool voice3 ,sidenote3 ,,second ,,contributory ,,incident4 #ha4 8,my dear ,gamba1 ,i am not able to walk2 you will be obliged to carry me to the town40 #hb4 8,you could run as fast as a kid just now10 retorted his cruel captor4 8,but be easy1 ,i am so glad to have caught you that ,i could carry you for a league on my own back without being tired4 ,all the same1 my friend1 we are going to make a litter for you out of some branches and your cloak1 and at the farm at ,crespoli we shall find some horses40 ,sidenote3 ,character revelation4 ,sidenote3 ,let-down in tension4 #hc4 8,good60 said the prisoner4 8,you had better also put a little straw on your litter that ,i may travel more easily40 ,sidenote3 ,,new ,,and ,,resultant ,,crisis4 ,,fourth ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast to tragic spirit of the story4 ,sidenote3 ,local color4 #hd4 ,while the voltigeurs were occupied1 some making a sort of stretcher out of chestnut boughs1 and others dressing ,gianetto's wound1 ,mateo ,falcone and his wife suddenly appeared in a bend of the path which led from the maquis4 ,the wife advanced1 bending laboriously under an enormous bag of chestnuts1 while her husband came up jauntily1 carrying in his hand only a gun1 while another was slung over his shoulder1 for it is unworthy of a man to carry any other burden than his weapons4 ,sidenote3 8,bagatelle0 discloses the ,corsican attitude4 #he4 ,at sight of the soldiers1 ,mateo's first thought was that they had come to arrest him4 ,but why that idea8 ,had he any quarrel with the law8 ,no4 ,he bore a good reputation4 ,he was1 as they say1 particularly well thought of2 but he was a ,corsican1 a mountaineer1 and there are but few ,corsican mountaineers who1 if they scrutinize their memories well1 cannot find some pecadillo--some gunshot1 some dagger thrust1 or some similar bagatelle4 ,mateo1 more than most1 had a clear conscience1 for it was fully ten years since he had pointed his gun against a man2 but all the same he was prudent1 and he put himself in position to make a good defense1 if need be4 ,sidenote3 ,to reload his weapons1 as appears in #hg4 #hf4 8,wife10 said he to ,giuseppa1 8put down your sack and keep yourself in readiness40 ,sidenote3 ,suspense4 ,sidenote3 ,local color4 #hg4 ,she obeyed on the instant4 ,he gave her the gun that was slung over his shoulder1 and which would likely cause him inconvenience4 ,he cocked the one he had in his hand and advanced slowly toward the house1 skirting the trees which bordered the path1 and ready at the least hostile demonstration to throw himself behind the largest trunk1 whence he could fire from cover4 ,his wife walked close behind him1 holding his spare gun and his cartridge box4 ,the duty of a good housewife1 in case of conflict1 is to reload her husband's weapons4 ,sidenote3 ,development of fourth incident4 #hh4 ,on the other side1 the adjutant was very uneasy at sight of ,mateo advancing thus upon them with measured steps1 his gun forward and his finger on the trigger4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 ,sidenote3 ,a fight would ensue4 #hi4 8,if it should chance10 thought he1 8that ,gianetto is related to ,mateo1 or that he is his friend1 and he intends to protect him1 the bullets of his two guns will come to two of us as sure as a letter to the post1 and if he should aim at me1 good-bye to our kinship60 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8alone40 #ij4 ,in this perplexity1 he put on a courageous front and went forward alone toward ,mateo to tell him of the matter1 while greeting him like an old acquaintance2 but the brief space that separated him from ,mateo seemed to him terribly long4 ,sidenote3 ,note constraint4 #ia4 8,hello6 ,ah6 my old comrade10 he called out4 8,how are you1 old fellow8 ,it's ,i1 ,gamba1 your cousin40 ,sidenote3 ,resolution of suspense4 #ib4 ,mateo1 without replying a word1 stopped1 and while the other was speaking he imperceptibly raised the muzzle of his rifle in such a manner that it was pointing heavenward by the time the adjutant came up to him4 #ic4 8,good day1 brother10#ah said the adjutant1 holding out his hand4 8,it's a very long time since ,i've seen you40 #id4 8,good day1 brother40 ,sidenote3 ,diminutive for ,giuseppa4 ,sidenote3 ,there is something manlike in most of ,mrime's female characters4 #ie4 8,i just came in1 while passing1 to say #8good day' to you and my cousin ,pepa4 ,we have had a long journey to-day2 but we must not complain of fatigue1 for we have taken a famous prize4 ,we have just got hold of ,gianetto ,sanpiero40 #if4 8,god be praised60 exclaimed ,giuseppa4 8,he stole one of our milch goats last week40 ,sidenote3 ,character contrast4 #ig4 ,these words rejoiced ,gamba4 #ih4 8,poor devil60 said ,mateo4 8,he was hungry40 ,sidenote3 ,new crisis4 ,,preparation ,,for ,,climax4 #ii4 8,the fellow defended himself like a lion10 pursued the adjutant1 slightly mortified4 8,he killed one of the men1 and1 not content with that1 he broke ,corporal ,chardon's arm2 but that is not such a great disaster1 for he is nothing but a ,frenchman4444 ,then he hid himself so cleverly that the devil would not have been able to find him4 ,without my little cousin ,fortunato1 ,i should never have discovered him40 #ajj4 8,fortunato60 cried ,mateo4 #aja4 8,fortunato60 repeated ,giuseppa4 #ajb4 8,yes1 ,gianetto was hidden way down in your haystack2 but my little cousin showed me his trick4 ,so ,i will speak of him to his uncle the corporal1 that he may send him a fine present for his trouble4 ,and his name and yours will be in the report which ,i shall send to ,monsieur l'avocat gnral40 #ajc4 8,malediction60 said ,mateo under his breath4 ,sidenote3 ,misunderstanding adds to complication4 #ajd4 ,they had now rejoined the detachment4 ,gianetto was already laid on the litter and they were ready to leave4 ,when he saw ,mateo in the company of ,gamba1 he smiled a strange smile2 then1 turning himself toward the door of the house1 he spat on the threshold as he cried out3 ,sidenote3 ,key to plot4 ,,fifth ,,plot ,,incident4 #aje4 8,house of a traitor60 #ajf4 ,no one but a man who had made up his mind to die would have dared to utter the word 8traitor0 as applying to ,falcone4 ,one good stroke of the dagger1 which would not need to be repeated1 would have immediately repaid the insult4 ,but ,mateo made no other gesture than that of putting his hand to his head like a dazed man4 ,sidenote3 ,,third ,,contributory ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,is this repentance1 fear1 hypocrisy1 or an attempt to placate his father8 #ajg4 ,fortunato had gone into the house upon seeing his father come up4 ,he reappeared shortly with a jug of milk1 which he offered with downcast eyes to ,gianetto4 8,keep away from me60 cried the outlaw in a voice of thunder4 #ajh4 ,then turning to one of the voltigeurs1 #aji4 8,comrade1 give me a drink of water10 he said4 ,sidenote3 ,delineation of mood by suggestion4 #aaj4 ,the soldier placed the gourd in his hands1 and the bandit drank the water given him by a man with whom he had just exchanged gunshots4 ,he then asked that they would tie his hands across his breast instead of having them behind his back4 #aaa4 8,i prefer10 he said1 8to lie down at my ease40 ,sidenote3 ,,fourth ,,contributory ,,incident4 #aab4 ,when they had adjusted them to his satisfaction1 the adjutant gave the signal to start1 said adieu to ,mateo--who answered never a word--and went down at a quick pace toward the plain4 ,sidenote3 ,suspense4 #aac4 ,some ten minutes passed before ,mateo opened his mouth4 ,the child looked with an uneasy eye first at his mother1 then at his father1 who1 leaning on his gun1 was gazing at him with a gaze of concentrated wrath4 ,sidenote3 ,,preparation ,,for ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,,sixth ,,and ,,final ,,plot ,,incident4 #aad4 8,you begin well10 said ,mateo at last1 in a voice calm but terrifying to those who knew the man4 #aae4 8,father60 exclaimed the child with tears in his eyes1 drawing near as if to fall upon his knees4 #aaf4 ,but ,mateo only cried out3 #aag4 8,away from me60 #aah4 ,the child stopped and began to sob1 standing motionless a few steps from his father4 #aai4 ,giuseppa came near4 ,she had just perceived the chain of the watch dangling about from ,fortunato's blouse4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast with #aad4 #abj4 8,who gave you that watch80 she asked him severely4 ,sidenote3 ,note the sly use of 8cousin40 #aba4 8,my cousin the adjutant40 ,sidenote3 ,,fifth ,,contributory ,,incident4 #abb4 ,falcone seized the watch1 and1 throwing it violently against a stone1 broke it into a thousand pieces4 #abc4 8,woman10 he said1 8this child--is he mine80 #abd4 ,giuseppa's brown cheeks flamed brick-red4 #abe4 8,what are you saying1 ,mateo8 ,do you know to whom you are speaking80 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #abf4 8,well1 this child is the first of his race who has committed a treason40 ,sidenote3 ,decision1 and foundation for final crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,,full ,,resultant ,,crisis4 #abg4 ,fortunato's sobs and hiccoughs redoubled1 and ,falcone kept his lynx-eyes always fixed upon him4 ,at length he struck the ground with the butt of his gun2 then he flung it across his shoulder and1 calling to ,fortunato to follow him1 retook the way to the maquis4 ,the child obeyed4 #abh4 ,giuseppa ran after ,mateo1 and seized him by the arm4 #abi4 8,he is your son10 she said to him in a trembling voice1 fixing her black eyes on those of her husband1 as though to read what was passing through his mind4 ,sidenote3 ,note the double meaning4 #acj4 8,let me go10 replied ,mateo3 8,i am his father40 #aca4 ,giuseppa embraced her son1 and went back crying into the hut4 ,she threw herself on her knees before an image of the ,virgin1 and prayed with fervor4 ,sidenote3 ,forecast4 #acb4 ,meanwhile1 ,falcone had walked about two-hundred yards along the path1 and stopped at a little ravine1 which he descended4 ,he sounded the earth with the butt of his gun and found it soft and easy to dig4 ,the spot seemed suitable for his design4 ,sidenote3 ,suspense4 #acc4 8,fortunato1 go near to that large rock40 #acd4 ,the boy did as he was commanded1 then he knelt down4 #ace4 8,say your prayers40 #acf4 8,father1 ,father1 do not kill me60 #acg4 8,say your prayers60 repeated ,mateo in a terrible voice4 ,sidenote3 8,our ,father1 etc410 8,i believe in ,god1 etc40 #ach4 ,the child1 all stammering and sobbing1 repeated the ,pater and the ,credo4 ,the father1 in a firm voice responded ,amen at the close of each prayer4 #aci4 8,are those all the prayers that you know80 ,sidenote3 8,hail ,mary1 etc40 ,a liturgical prayer4 #adj4 8,i also know the ,ave ,maria1 and the ,litany that my aunt taught me1 ,father40 #ada4 8,it is rather long1 but it doesn't matter40 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8achieved40 #adb4 ,the child achieved the ,litany in a faint voice4 #adc4 8,have you finished80 ,sidenote3 ,contrast with his former vicious 8coolness40 #add4 8,oh1 ,father1 ,father1 mercy6 ,pardon me6 ,i will never do it again6 ,i will beg my cousin the corporal with all my might for mercy for ,gianetto60 #ade4 ,he went on speaking2 ,mateo loaded his rifle and took aim as he said3 #adf4 8,may ,god forgive you60 ,sidenote3 ,,full ,,climax ,,and ,,denouement4 #adg4 ,the boy made a desperate effort to get up and clasp his father's knees1 but he had not time4 ,mateo fired1 and ,fortunato fell dead4 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8throwing40 #adh4 ,without throwing a single glance at the body1 ,mateo returned to his house to fetch a spade with which to bury his son4 ,he had taken but a few steps when he met ,giuseppa1 who had run out1 alarmed by the sound of the firing4 #adi4 8,what have you done80 #aej4 8,justice60 #aea4 8,where is he80 ,sidenote3 ,,sixth ,,contributory ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,swift conclusion4 ,sidenote3 ,character revelation4 #aeb4 8,in the ravine2 ,i am going to bury him4 ,he died a ,christian2 ,i shall have a mass sung for him4 ,let some one tell my son-in-law ,tiodoro ,bianchi to come and live with us40 ,,stevenson ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,robert ,lewis ,balfour ,stevenson1 as he was baptized1 was born ,november #ac1 #ahej1 at ,edinburgh1 ,scotland1 of ,scotch parents4 ,he entered ,edinburgh ,university when he was seventeen1 intending to learn his father's profession1 civil engineering--though he had always longed to be a writer1 having dictated books at the precocious ages of six1 seven1 and nine4 ,at twenty-one he decided to study law1 and four years later passed the bar examination in his native city4 ,in #ahhj he married ,mrs4 ,osbourne1 with whose son1 ,lloyd1 he collaborated in the writing of several stories4 ,stevenson's health1 which was never robust1 sent him on many journeys in search of strength--to the ,european continent1 several times to the ,united ,states1 and once on a two years' voyage to the ,south ,seas4 ,in #ahij he finally settled in ,samoa1 where he died at his home1 ,vailima1 ,december #c1 #ahid4 ,he was buried on the nearby summit of ,mount ,vaea4 ,stevenson was a brilliant novelist1 essayist1 poet1 and short-story writer4 ,treasure ,island1 ,kidnapped1 ,the ,master of ,ballantrae1 and ,weir of ,hermiston--the last of which he left unfinished--are his best novels4 ,his journeys were chronicled by such delightful travel-sketches as ,an ,inland ,voyage1 ,travels ,with a ,donkey1 and ,the ,silverado ,squatters4 ,a ,child's ,garden of ,verse contains his best poems4 ,his most noteworthy essays are found in ,memories and ,portraits1 and ,familiar ,studies of ,men and ,books4 ,most famous among his short-stories are 8,the ,strange ,case of ,dr4 ,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde0 7a novelette in length71 8,the ,pavilion on the ,links10 8,thrawn ,janet10 8,will o' the ,mill10 8,the ,sire de ,maltroit's ,door10 8,the ,merry ,men10 8,markheim10 published first in ,unwin's ,annual1 ,london1 #ahhe1 and given in this volume in full1 and 8,a ,lodging for the ,night10 which follows entire4 ,it was first published in ,the ,temple ,bar magazine1 ,october1 #ahgg4 99 99 99 99 99 ,stevenson was a supreme craftsman4 ,no writer of the short-story in ,english1 except ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 was so conscious of his art and so gifted to create up to the measure of his orderly knowledge4 ,in criticism of the story-teller's art1 ,poe was the greater originator1 ,stevenson the more brilliant generalizer2 ,poe was the deeper1 ,stevenson the broader2 ,poe's opinions as to form grew largely out of his own consciousness1 and shaped his practices--they were arrived at deductively3 ,stevenson's standards grew as his creations shaped themselves1 and were measurably molded by his own writings--they were examples of inductive reasoning4 ,thus ,stevenson was doubly equipped to produce incomparably the greatest group of short-stories ever written by a ,briton before the days of ,kipling1 and some sound critics will dispute even this reservation4 ,in charm1 in dash of style1 in a sense of form1 in pure romantic spirit1 and in penetrating human interest1 ,stevenson ranks among the ten greatest short-story-tellers of his era4 ,i wonder if any one had ever more energy upon so little strength8--,r4 ,l4 ,,stevenson1 ,vailima ,letters4 ,in the highest achievements of the art of words1 the dramatic and the pictorial1 the moral and romantic interest1 rise and fall together by a common and organic law4 ,situation is animated with passion1 passion clothed upon with situation4 ,neither exists for itself1 but each inheres indissolubly with the other4 ,this is high art2 and not only the highest art possible in words1 but the highest art of all1 since it combines the greatest mass and diversity of the elements of truth and pleasure4 ,such are epics1 and the few prose tales that have the epic weight4--,r4 ,l4 ,,stevenson1 ,a ,gossip on ,romance4 ,the stories of ,stevenson exhibit a double union1 as admirable as it is rare4 ,they exhibit the union of splendid material with the most delicate skill in language2 and they exhibit the union of thrilling events with a remarkable power of psychological analysis4--,,william ,,lyon ,,phelps1 ,essays on ,modern ,novelists4 ,mr4 ,stevenson enjoys the reputation of being the modern representative of the romantic school of fiction4 ,there are others of high repute1 for romanticism is now the vogue1 but there is hardly any other whose name we would care to link with that of ,walter ,scott4--,,william ,h4 ,,sheran1 ,handbook of ,literary ,criticism4 ,perhaps the first quality in ,mr4 ,stevenson's works1 now so many and so various1 which strikes a reader1 is the buoyancy1 the survival of the child in him4 ,he has told the world often1 in prose and verse1 how vivid are his memories of his own infancy4444 ,the peculiarity of ,mr4 ,stevenson is not only to have been a fantastic child1 and to retain1 in maturity1 that fantasy ripened into imagination3 he has also kept up the habit of dramatising everything1 of playing1 half consciously1 many parts1 of making the world 8an unsubstantial fairy place44440 ,it is the eternal child that drives him to seek adventures and to sojourn among beach-combers and savages4--,,andrew ,,lang1 ,essays in ,little4 ,it has been stated that the finer qualities of ,stevenson are called out by the psychological romance on native soil4 ,he did some brilliant and engaging work of foreign setting and motive4444 ,judged as art1 8,the ,bottle ,imp0 and 8,the ,beach of ,falesa0 are among the triumphs of ethnic interpretation1 let alone their more external charms of story4 ,and another masterpiece of foreign setting1 8,a ,lodging for the ,night10 is further proof of ,stevenson's ability to use other than ,scotch motives for the materials of his art4444 ,few novelists of any race have beaten this wandering ,scot in the power of representing character and envisaging it1 and there can hardly be successful characterization without this allied power of creating atmosphere4--,,richard ,,burton1 ,masters of the ,english ,novel4 ,not until #ahgg1 and ,robert ,louis ,stevenson's first published narrative1 does any ,englishman of real caliber show both desire and ability to do something new with the short story4 ,this narrative was 8,a ,lodging for the ,night10 published in ,temple ,bar for ,october4444 8,a ,lodging for the ,night0 is as clearly and consciously an impressionistic short story as ,george ,meredith's contemporary novelettes are not of that category2 the two stories which followed 78,will o' the ,mill0 and 8,the ,sire de ,maltroit's ,door07 would assure the most timid critic of our generation that here was a master in this department of fiction4444 ,there is 8,the ,strange ,case of ,dr4 ,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde10 that short story thrown over into the form of a detective romance4444 ,or there is 8,markheim10 a story less powerful in execution1 but more excellent in workmanship1 and an almost ideal example of the impressionistic short story4 ,flaubert might have written the description of the curiosity shop as the murderer saw it1 with its accusing clock-voices1 its wavering shadows1 from the inner door 8a long slit of daylight like a pointing finger40 ,and ,flaubert would have praised the skilful gradation of incident and description1 whereby conscience gains and gains in the struggle for ,markheim's mind4 ,but ,hawthorne would have been prouder still of the plot--a weak man with a remnant of high ideals suddenly realizing that his curve is plotted and can lead him only downwards4444 ,how like to ,hawthorne's usual way is ,stevenson's determination to make1 at all costs1 a moral issue the outcome of his story6444 8,will o' the ,mill0 is like a twice-told tale not only in theme2 its whole effect is ,hawthornesque4 8,a ,lodging for the ,night0 has for its kernel a question of ethics4--,h4 ,s4 ,,canby1 ,the ,short ,story in ,english4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,stevenson ,mr4 ,stevenson's ,methods in ,fiction1 ,a4 ,conan ,doyle 7#ahij72 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 ,an ,elegy1 ,richard ,le ,gallienne 7#ahie72 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 ,walter ,raleigh 7#ahie72 ,vailima ,letters1 to ,sidney ,colvin 7#ahie72 ,adventures in ,criticism1 ,a4 ,t4 ,quiller-,couch 7#ahif72 ,critical ,kit-,kats1 ,edmund ,w4 ,gosse 7#ahif72 ,studies in ,two ,literatures1 ,arthur ,symons 7#ahig72 ,life of ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 ,graham ,balfour 7#aija72 ,stevenson's ,attitude to ,life1 ,j4 ,f4 ,genung 7#aija72 ,memories of ,vailima1 ,isobel ,strong and ,lloyd ,osbourne 7#aijc72 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 ,w4 ,r4 ,nicoll and ,g4 ,k4 ,chesterton4 ,,for ,,analysis ,a ,,lodging ,,for ,,the ,,night ,,by ,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson ,it was late in ,november1 #adef4 ,the snow fell over ,paris with rigorous1 relentless persistence2 sometimes the wind made a sally and scattered it in flying vortices2 sometimes there was a lull1 and flake after flake descended out of the black night air1 silent1 circuitous1 interminable4 ,to poor people1 looking up under moist eyebrows1 it seemed a wonder where it all came from4 ,master ,francis ,villon had propounded an alternative that afternoon1 at a tavern window2 was it only ,pagan ,jupiter plucking geese upon ,olympus8 or were the holy angels moulting8 ,he was only a poor master of arts1 he went on2 and as the question somewhat touched upon divinity1 he durst not venture to conclude4 ,a silly old priest from ,montargis1 who was among the company1 treated the young rascal to a bottle of wine in honor of the jest and grimaces with which it was accompanied1 and swore on his own white beard that he had been just such another irreverent dog when he was ,villon's age4 #b4 ,the air was raw and pointed1 but not far below freezing2 and the flakes were large1 damp1 and adhesive4 ,the whole city was sheeted up4 ,an army might have marched from end to end and not a footfall given the alarm4 ,if there were any belated birds in heaven1 they saw the island like a large white patch1 and the bridges like slim white spars1 on the black ground of the river4 ,high up overhead the snow settled among the tracery of the cathedral towers4 ,many a niche was drifted full2 many a statue wore a long white bonnet on its grotesque or sainted head4 ,the gargoyles had been transformed into great false noses1 drooping toward the point4 ,the crockets were like upright pillows swollen on one side4 ,in the intervals of the wind1 there was a dull sound of dripping about the precincts of the church4 #c4 ,the cemetery of ,st4 ,john had taken its own share of the snow4 ,all the graves were decently covered2 tall white housetops stood around in grave array2 worthy burghers were long ago in bed1 be-nightcapped like their domiciles2 there was no light in all the neighborhood but a little peep from a lamp that hung swinging in the church choir1 and tossed the shadows to and fro in time to its oscillations4 ,the clock was hard on ten when the patrol went by with halberds and a lantern1 beating their hands2 and they saw nothing suspicious about the cemetery of ,st4 ,john4 #d4 ,yet there was a small house1 backed up against the cemetery wall1 which was still awake1 and awake to evil purpose1 in that snoring district4 ,there was not much to betray it from without2 only a stream of warm vapor from the chimney-top1 a patch where the snow melted on the roof1 and a few half-obliterated footprints at the door4 ,but within1 behind the shuttered windows1 ,master ,francis ,villon1 the poet1 and some of the thievish crew with whom he consorted1 were keeping the night alive and passing round the bottle4 #e4 ,a great pile of living embers diffused a strong and ruddy glow from the arched chimney4 ,before this straddled ,dom ,nicolas1 the ,picardy monk1 with his skirts picked up and his fat legs bared to the comfortable warmth4 ,his dilated shadow cut the room in half2 and the firelight only escaped on either side of his broad person1 and in a little pool between his outspread feet4 ,his face had the beery1 bruised appearance of the continual drinker's2 it was covered with a network of congested veins1 purple in ordinary circumstances1 but now pale violet1 for even with his back to the fire the cold pinched him on the other side4 ,his cowl had half fallen back1 and made a strange excrescence on either side of his bull neck4 ,so he straddled1 grumbling1 and cut the room in half with the shadow of his portly frame4 #f4 ,on the right1 ,villon and ,guy ,tabary were huddled together over a scrap of parchment2 ,villon making a ballad which he was to call the 8,ballad of ,roast ,fish10 and ,tabary spluttering admiration at his shoulder4 ,the poet was a rag of a man1 dark1 little1 and lean1 with hollow cheeks and thin black locks4 ,he carried his four-and-twenty years with feverish animation4 ,greed had made folds about his eyes1 evil smiles had puckered his mouth4 ,the wolf and pig struggled together in his face4 ,it was an eloquent1 sharp1 ugly1 earthly countenance4 ,his hands were small and prehensile1 with fingers knotted like a cord2 and they were continually flickering in front of him in violent and expressive pantomime4 ,as for ,tabary1 a broad1 complacent1 admiring imbecility breathed from his squash nose and slobbering lips3 he had become a thief1 just as he might have become the most decent of burgesses1 by the imperious chance that rules the lives of human geese and human donkeys4 #g4 ,at the monk's other hand1 ,montigny and ,thevenin ,pensete played a game of chance4 ,about the first there clung some flavor of good birth and training1 as about a fallen angel2 something long1 lithe1 and courtly in the person2 something aquiline and darkling in the face4 ,thevenin1 poor soul1 was in great feather3 he had done a good stroke of knavery that afternoon in the ,faubourg ,st4 ,jacques1 and all night he had been gaining from ,montigny4 ,a flat smile illuminated his face2 his bald head shone rosily in a garland of red curls2 his little protuberant stomach shook with silent chucklings as he swept in his gains4 #h4 8,doubles or quits80 said ,thevenin4 #i4 ,montigny nodded grimly4 #aj4 8,some may prefer to dine in state10 wrote ,villon1 8,on bread and cheese on silver plate4 ,or1 or--help me out1 ,guido60 #aa4 ,tabary giggled4 #ab4 8,or parsley on a golden dish10 scribbled the poet4 #ac4 ,the wind was freshening without2 it drove the snow before it1 and sometimes raised its voice in a victorious whoop1 and made sepulchral grumblings in the chimney4 ,the cold was growing sharper as the night went on4 ,villon1 protruding his lips1 imitated the gust with something between a whistle and a groan4 ,it was an eerie1 uncomfortable talent of the poet's1 much detested by the ,picardy monk4 #ad4 8,can't you hear it rattle in the gibbet80 said ,villon4 8,they are all dancing the devil's jig on nothing1 up there4 ,you may dance1 my gallants1 you'll be none the warmer6 ,whew6 what a gust6 ,down went somebody just now6 ,a medlar the fewer on the three-legged medlar-tree6--,i say1 ,dom ,nicolas1 it'll be cold to-night on the ,st4 ,denis ,road80 he asked4 #ae4 ,dom ,nicolas winked both his big eyes1 and seemed to choke upon his ,adam's apple4 ,montfaucon1 the great grisly ,paris gibbet1 stood hard by the ,st4 ,denis ,road1 and the pleasantry touched him on the raw4 ,as for ,tabary1 he laughed immoderately over the medlars2 he had never heard anything more light-hearted2 and he held his sides and crowed4 ,villon fetched him a fillip on the nose1 which turned his mirth into an attack of coughing4 #af4 8,oh1 stop that row10 said ,villon1 8and think of rhymes to #8fish4'0 #ag4 8,doubles or quits10 said ,montigny1 doggedly4 #ah4 8,with all my heart10 quoth ,thevenin4 #ai4 8,is there any more in that bottle80 asked the monk4 #bj4 8,open another10 said ,villon4 8,how do you ever hope to fill that big hogshead1 your body1 with little things like bottles8 ,and how do you expect to get to heaven8 ,how many angels1 do you fancy1 can be spared to carry up a single monk from ,picardy8 ,or do you think yourself another ,elias--and they'll send the coach for you80 #ba4 8,hominibus impossible10 replied the monk1 as he filled his glass4 #bb4 ,tabary was in ecstasies4 #bc4 ,villon filliped his nose again4 #bd4 8,laugh at my jokes1 if you like10 he said4 #be4 8,it was very good10 objected ,tabary4 #bf4 ,villon made a face at him4 8,think of rhymes to #8fish1'0 he said4 8,what have you to do with ,latin8 ,you'll wish you knew none of it at the great assizes1 when the devil calls for ,guido ,tabary1 clericus--the devil with the humpback and red-hot finger-nails4 ,talking of the devil10 he added1 in a whisper1 8look at ,montigny60 #bg4 ,all three peered covertly at the gamester4 ,he did not seem to be enjoying his luck4 ,his mouth was a little to a side2 one nostril nearly shut1 and the other much inflated4 ,the black dog was on his back1 as people say in terrifying nursery metaphor2 and he breathed hard under the grewsome burden4 #bh4 8,he looks as if he could knife him10 whispered ,tabary1 with round eyes4 #bi4 ,the monk shuddered1 and turned his face and spread his open hands to the red embers4 ,it was the cold that thus affected ,dom ,nicolas1 and not any excess of moral sensibility4 #cj4 8,come1 now10 said ,villon--8about this ballad4 ,how does it run so far80 ,and beating time with his hand he read it aloud to ,tabary4 #ca4 ,they were interrupted at the fourth rhyme by a brief and fatal movement among the gamesters4 ,the round was completed1 and ,thevenin was just opening his mouth to claim another victory1 when ,montigny leaped up1 swift as an adder1 and stabbed him to the heart4 ,the blow took effect before he had time to move4 ,a tremor or two convulsed his frame2 his hands opened and shut1 his heels rattled on the floor2 then his head rolled backward over one shoulder with the eyes wide open2 and ,thevenin ,pensete's spirit had returned to ,him who gave it4 #cb4 ,everyone sprung to his feet2 but the business was over in two twos4 ,the four living fellows looked at each other in rather a ghastly fashion2 the dead man contemplating a corner of the roof with a singular and ugly leer4 #cc4 8,my ,god60 said ,tabary2 and he began to pray in ,latin4 #cd4 ,villon broke out into hysterical laughter4 ,he came a step forward and ducked a ridiculous bow at ,thevenin1 and laughed still louder4 ,then he sat down suddenly1 all of a heap1 upon a stool1 and continued laughing bitterly as though he would shake himself to pieces4 #ce4 ,montigny recovered his composure first4 #cf4 8,let's see what he has about him10 he remarked2 and he picked the dead man's pockets with a practiced hand1 and divided the money into four equal portions on the table4 8,there's for you10 he said4 #cg4 ,the monk received his share with a deep sigh1 and a single stealthy glance at the dead ,thevenin1 who was beginning to sink himself and topple sideways off the chair4 #ch4 8,we're all in for it10 cried ,villon1 swallowing his mirth4 8,it's a hanging job for every man jack of us that's here--not to speak of those who aren't40 ,he made a shocking gesture in the air with his raised right hand1 and put out his tongue and threw his head on one side1 so as to counterfeit the appearance of one who has been hanged4 ,then he pocketed his share of the spoil1 and executed a shuffle with his feet as if to restore the circulation4 #ci4 ,tabary was the last to help himself2 he made a dash at the money1 and retired to the other end of the apartment4 #dj4 ,montigny stuck ,thevenin upright in the chair1 and drew out a dagger1 which was followed by a jet of blood4 #da4 8,you fellows had better be moving10 he said1 as he wiped the blade on his victim's doublet4 #db4 8,i think we had10 returned ,villon1 with a great gulp4 8,damn his fat head60 he broke out4 8,it sticks in my throat like phlegm4 ,what right has a man to have red hair when he is dead80 ,and he fell all of a heap again upon the stool1 and fairly covered his face with his hands4 #dc4 ,montigny and ,dom ,nicolas laughed aloud1 even ,tabary feebly chiming in4 #dd4 8,cry baby10 said the monk4 #de4 8,i always said he was a woman10 added ,montigny1 with a sneer4 8,sit up1 can't you80 he went on1 giving another shake to the murdered body4 8,tread out that fire1 ,nick60 #df4 ,but ,nick was better employed2 he was quietly taking ,villon's purse1 as the poet sat1 limp and trembling1 on the stool where he had been making a ballad not three minutes before4 ,montigny and ,tabary dumbly demanded a share of the booty1 which the monk silently promised as he passed the little bag into the bosom of his gown4 ,in many ways an artistic nature unfits a man for practical existence4 #dg4 ,no sooner had the theft been accomplished than ,villon shook himself1 jumped to his feet1 and began helping to scatter and extinguish the embers4 ,meanwhile ,montigny opened the door and cautiously peered into the street4 ,the coast was clear2 there was no meddlesome patrol in sight4 ,still it was judged wiser to slip out severally2 and as ,villon was himself in a hurry to escape from the neighborhood of the dead ,thevenin1 and the rest were in a still greater hurry to get rid of him before he should discover the loss of his money1 he was the first by general consent to issue forth into the street4 #dh4 ,the wind had triumphed and swept all the clouds from heaven4 ,only a few vapors1 as thin as moonlight1 fleeted rapidly across the stars4 ,it was bitter cold2 and by a common optical effect1 things seemed almost more definite than in the broadest daylight4 ,the sleeping city was absolutely still2 a company of white hoods1 a field full of little alps1 below the twinkling stars4 ,villon cursed his fortune4 ,would it were still snowing6 ,now1 wherever he went1 he left an indelible trail behind him on the glittering streets2 wherever he went he was still tethered to the house by the cemetery of ,st4 ,john2 wherever he went he must weave1 with his own plodding feet1 the rope that bound him to the crime and would bind him to the gallows4 ,the leer of the dead man came back to him with a new significance4 ,he snapped his fingers as if to pluck up his own spirits1 and choosing a street at random1 stepped boldly forward in the snow4 #di4 ,two things preoccupied him as he went2 the aspect of the gallows at ,montfaucon in this bright1 windy phase of the night's existence1 for one2 and for another1 the look of the dead man with his bald head and garland of red curls4 ,both struck cold upon his heart1 and he kept quickening his pace as if he could escape from unpleasant thoughts by mere fleetness of foot4 ,sometimes he looked back over his shoulder with a sudden nervous jerk2 but he was the only moving thing in the white streets1 except when the wind swooped round a corner and threw up the snow1 which was beginning to freeze1 in spouts of glittering dust4 #ej4 ,suddenly he saw1 a long way before him1 a black clump and a couple of lanterns4 ,the clump was in motion1 and the lanterns swung as though carried by men walking4 ,it was a patrol4 ,and though it was merely crossing his line of march1 he judged it wiser to get out of eyeshot as speedily as he could4 ,he was not in the humor to be challenged1 and he was conscious of making a very conspicuous mark upon the snow4 ,just on his left hand there stood a great hotel1 with some turrets and a large porch before the door2 it was half-ruinous1 he remembered1 and had long stood empty2 and so he made three steps of it1 and jumped into the shelter of the porch4 ,it was pretty dark inside1 after the glimmer of the snowy streets1 and he was groping forward with outspread hands1 when he stumbled over some substance which offered an indescribable mixture of resistances1 hard and soft1 firm and loose4 ,his heart gave a leap1 and he sprung two steps back and stared dreadfully at the obstacle4 ,then he gave a little laugh of relief4 ,it was only a woman1 and she dead4 ,he knelt beside her to make sure upon this latter point4 ,she was freezing cold1 and rigid like a stick4 ,a little ragged finery fluttered in the wind about her hair1 and her cheeks had been heavily rouged that same afternoon4 ,her pockets were quite empty2 but in her stocking1 underneath the garter1 ,villon found two of the small coins that went by the name of whites4 ,it was little enough1 but it was always something1 and the poet was moved with a deep sense of pathos that she should have died before she had spent her money4 ,that seemed to him a dark and pitiful mystery2 and he looked from the coins in his hand to the dead woman1 and back again to the coins1 shaking his head over the riddle of man's life4 #ea4 ,henry ,v4 of ,england1 dying at ,vincennes just after he had conquered ,france1 and this poor jade cut off by a cold draught in a great man's doorway1 before she had time to spend her couple of whites--it seemed a cruel way to carry on the world4 ,two whites would have taken such a little while to squander2 and yet it would have been one more good taste in the mouth1 one more smack of the lips1 before the devil got the soul1 and the body was left to birds and vermin4 ,he would like to use all his tallow before the light was blown out and the lantern broken4 #eb4 ,while these thoughts were passing through his mind1 he was feeling1 half mechanically1 for his purse4 ,suddenly his heart stopped beating2 a feeling of cold scales passed up the back of his legs1 and a cold blow seemed to fall upon his scalp4 ,he stood petrified for a moment2 then he felt again with one feverish movement2 and then his loss burst upon him1 and he was covered at once with perspiration4 ,to spend-thrifts money is so living and actual--it is such a thin veil between them and their pleasures6 ,there is only one limit to their fortune--that of time2 and a spendthrift with only a few crowns is the ,emperor of ,rome until they are spent4 ,for such a person to lose his money is to suffer the most shocking reverse1 and fall from heaven to hell1 from all to nothing1 in a breath4 ,and all the more if he has put his head in the halter for it2 if he may be hanged to-morrow for that same purse1 so dearly earned1 so foolishly departed6 ,villon stood and cursed2 he threw the two whites into the street2 he shook his fist at heaven2 he stamped1 and was not horrified to find himself trampling the poor corpse4 ,then he began rapidly to retrace his steps toward the house beside the cemetery4 ,he had forgotten all fear of the patrol1 which was long gone by at any rate1 and had no idea but that of his lost purse4 ,it was in vain that he looked right and left upon the snow2 nothing was to be seen4 ,he had not dropped it in the streets4 ,had it fallen in the house8 ,he would have liked dearly to go in and see2 but the idea of the grisly occupant unmanned him4 ,and he saw besides1 as he drew near1 that their efforts to put out the fire had been unsuccessful2 on the contrary1 it had broken into a blaze1 and a changeful light played in the chinks of door and window1 and revived his terror for the authorities and ,paris gibbet4 #ec4 ,he returned to the hotel with the porch1 and groped about upon the snow for the money he had thrown away in his childish passion4 ,but he could only find one white2 the other had probably struck sideways and sunk deeply in4 ,with a single white in his pocket1 all his projects for a rousing night in some wild tavern vanished utterly away4 ,and it was not only pleasure that fled laughing from his grasp2 positive discomfort1 positive pain1 attacked him as he stood ruefully before the porch4 ,his perspiration had dried upon him1 and although the wind had now fallen1 a binding frost was setting in stronger with every hour1 and he felt benumbed and sick at heart4 ,what was to be done8 ,late as was the hour1 improbable as was success1 he would try the house of his adopted father1 the chaplain of ,st4 ,benoit4 #ed4 ,he ran there all the way1 and knocked timidly4 ,there was no answer4 ,he knocked again and again1 taking heart with every stroke2 and at last steps were heard approaching from within4 ,a barred wicket fell open in the iron-studded door1 and emitted a gush of yellow light4 #ee4 8,hold up your face to the wicket10 said the chaplain1 from within4 #ef4 8,it's only me10 whimpered ,villon4 #eg4 8,oh1 it's only you1 is it80 returned the chaplain2 and he cursed him with foul unpriestly oaths for disturbing him at such an hour1 and bade him be off to hell1 where he came from4 #eh4 8,my hands are blue to the wrist10 pleaded ,villon2 8my feet are dead and full of twinges2 my nose aches with the sharp air2 the cold lies at my heart4 ,i may be dead before morning4 ,only this once1 father1 and before ,god1 ,i will never ask again60 #ei4 8,you should have come earlier10 said the ecclesiastic coolly4 8,young men require a lesson now and then40 ,he shut the wicket and retired deliberately into the interior of the house4 #fj4 ,villon was beside himself2 he beat upon the door with his hands and feet1 and shouted hoarsely after the chaplain4 #fa4 8,wormy old fox60 he cried4 8,if ,i had my hand under your twist1 ,i would send you flying headlong into the bottomless pit40 #fb4 ,a door shut in the interior1 faintly audible to the poet down long passages4 ,he passed his hand over his mouth with an oath4 ,and then the humor of the situation struck him1 and he laughed and looked lightly up to heaven1 where the stars seemed to be winking over his discomfiture4 #fc4 ,what was to be done8 ,it looked very like a night in the frosty streets4 ,the idea of the dead woman popped into his imagination1 and gave him a hearty fright2 what had happened to her in the early night might very well happen to him before morning4 ,and he so young6 and with such immense possibilities of disorderly amusement before him6 ,he felt quite pathetic over the notion of his own fate1 as if it had been some one else's1 and made a little imaginative vignette of the scene in the morning when they should find his body4 #fd4 ,he passed all his chances under review1 turning the white between his thumb and forefinger4 ,unfortunately he was on bad terms with some old friends who would once have taken pity on him in such a plight4 ,he had lampooned them in verses2 he had beaten and cheated them2 and yet now1 when he was in so close a pinch1 he thought there was at least one who might perhaps relent4 ,it was a chance4 ,it was worth trying at least1 and he would go and see4 #fe4 ,on the way two little accidents happened to him which colored his musings in a very different manner4 ,for1 first he fell in with the track of a patrol1 and walked in it for some hundred yards1 although it lay out of his direction4 ,and this spirited him up2 at least he had confused his trail2 for he was still possessed with the idea of people tracking him all about ,paris over the snow1 and collaring him next morning before he was awake4 ,the other matter affected him quite differently4 ,he passed a street corner1 where1 not so long before1 a woman and her child had been devoured by wolves4 ,this was just the kind of weather1 he reflected1 when wolves might take it into their heads to enter ,paris again2 and a lone man in these deserted streets would run the chance of something worse than a mere scare4 ,he stopped and looked upon the place with an unpleasant interest--it was a center where several lanes intersected each other2 and he looked down them all1 one after another1 and held his breath to listen1 lest he should detect some galloping black things on the snow or hear the sound of howling between him and the river4 ,he remembered his mother telling him the story and pointing out the spot1 while he was yet a child4 ,his mother6 ,if he only knew where she lived1 he might make sure at least of shelter4 ,he determined he would inquire upon the morrow2 nay1 he would go and see her too1 poor old girl6 ,so thinking1 he arrived at his destination--his last hope for the night4 #ff4 ,the house was quite dark1 like its neighbors2 and yet after a few taps1 he heard a movement overhead1 a door opening1 and a cautious voice asking who was there4 ,the poet named himself in a loud whisper1 and waited1 not without some trepidation1 the result4 ,nor had he to wait long4 ,a window was suddenly opened1 and a pailful of slops splashed down upon the doorstep4 ,villon had not been unprepared for something of the sort1 and had put himself as much in shelter as the nature of the porch admitted2 but for all that1 he was deplorably drenched below the waist4 ,his hose began to freeze almost at once4 ,death from cold and exposure stared him in the face2 he remembered he was of phthisical tendency1 and began coughing tentatively4 ,but the gravity of the danger steadied his nerves4 ,he stopped a few hundred yards from the door where he had been so rudely used1 and reflected with his nose4 ,he could only see one way of getting a lodging1 and that was to take it4 ,he had noticed a house not far away1 which looked as if it might be easily broken into1 and thither he betook himself promptly1 entertaining himself on the way with the idea of a room still hot1 with a table still loaded with the remains of supper1 where he might pass the rest of the black hours and whence he should issue1 on the morrow1 with an armful of valuable plate4 ,he even considered on what viands and what wines he should prefer2 and as he was calling the roll of his favorite dainties1 roast fish presented itself to his mind with an odd mixture of amusement and horror4 #fg4 8,i shall never finish that ballad10 he thought to himself2 and then1 with another shudder at the recollection1 8,oh1 damn his fat head60 he repeated fervently1 and spat upon the snow4 #fh4 ,the house in question looked dark at first sight2 but as ,villon made a preliminary inspection in search of the handiest point of attack1 a little twinkle of light caught his eye from behind a curtained window4 #fi4 8,the devil60 he thought4 8,people awake6 ,some student or some saint1 confound the crew6 ,can't they get drunk and lie in bed snoring like their neighbors6 ,what's the good of curfew1 and poor devils of bellringers jumping at a rope's end in bell-towers8 ,what's the use of day1 if people sit up all night6 ,the gripes to them60 ,he grinned as he saw where his logic was leading him4 8,every man to his business1 after all10 added he1 8and if they're awake1 by the ,lord1 ,i may come by a supper honestly for once1 and cheat the devil40 #gj4 ,he went boldly to the door and knocked with an assured hand4 ,on both previous occasions1 he had knocked timidly and with some dread of attracting notice2 but now1 when he had just discarded the thought of a burglarious entry1 knocking at a door seemed a mighty simple and innocent proceeding4 ,the sound of his blows echoed through the house with thin1 phantasmal reverberations1 as though the house were empty2 but these had scarcely died away before a measured tread drew near1 a couple of bolts were withdrawn1 and one wing was opened broadly1 as though no guile or fear of guile were known to those within4 ,a tall figure of a man1 muscular and spare1 but a little bent1 confronted ,villon4 ,the head was massive in bulk1 but finely sculptured2 the nose blunt at the bottom1 but refining upward to where it joined a pair of strong and honest eyebrows2 the mouth and eyes surrounded with delicate markings1 and the whole face based upon a thick white beard1 boldly and squarely trimmed4 ,seen as it was by the light of a flickering hand-lamp1 it looked1 perhaps1 nobler than it had a right to do2 but it was a fine face1 honorable rather than intelligent1 strong1 simple1 and righteous4 #ga4 8,you knock late1 sir10 said the old man1 in resonant1 courteous tones4 #gb4 ,villon cringed1 and brought up many servile words of apology2 at a crisis of this sort1 the beggar was uppermost in him1 and the man of genius hid his head with confusion4 #gc4 8,you are cold10 repeated the old man1 8and hungry8 ,well1 step in40 ,and he ordered him into the house with a noble enough gesture4 #gd4 8,some great seigneur10 thought ,villon1 as his host1 setting down the lamp on the flagged pavement of the entry1 shot the bolts once more into their places4 #ge4 8,you will pardon me if ,i go in front10 he said1 when this was done2 and he preceded the poet up-stairs into a large apartment1 warmed with a pan of charcoal and lit by a great lamp hanging from the roof4 ,it was very bare of furniture2 only some gold plate on a sideboard2 some folios2 and a stand of armor between the windows4 ,some smart tapestry hung upon the walls1 representing the crucifixion of our ,lord in one piece1 and in another a scene of shepherds and shepherdesses by a running stream4 ,over the chimney was a shield of arms4 #gf4 8,will you seat yourself10 said the old man1 8and forgive me if ,i leave you8 ,i am alone in my house to-night1 and if you are to eat ,i must forage for you myself40 #gg4 ,no sooner was his host gone than ,villon leaped from the chair on which he had just seated himself1 and began examining the room1 with the stealth and passion of a cat4 ,he weighed the gold flagons in his hand1 opened all the folios1 and investigated the arms upon the shield1 and the stuff with which the seats were lined4 ,he raised the window curtains1 and saw that the windows were set with rich stained glass in figures1 so far as he could see1 of martial import4 ,then he stood in the middle of the room1 drew a long breath1 and1 retaining it with puffed cheeks1 looked round and round him1 turning on his heels1 as if to impress every feature of the apartment on his memory4 #gh4 8,seven pieces of plate10 he said4 8,if there had been ten1 ,i would have risked it4 ,a fine house1 and a fine old master1 so help me all the saints60 #gi4 ,and just then1 hearing the old man's tread returning along the corridor1 he stole back to his chair1 and began humbly toasting his wet legs before the charcoal pan4 #hj4 ,his entertainer had a plate of meat in one hand and a jug of wine in the other4 ,he sat down the plate upon the table1 motioning ,villon to draw in his chair1 and1 going to the sideboard1 brought back two goblets1 which he filled4 #ha4 8,i drink your better fortune10 he said1 gravely touching ,villon's cup with his own4 #hb4 8,to our better acquaintance10 said the poet1 growing bold4 ,a mere man of the people would have been awed by the courtesy of the old seigneur1 but ,villon was hardened in that matter2 he had made mirth for great lords before now1 and found them as black rascals as himself4 ,and so he devoted himself to the viands with a ravenous gusto1 while the old man1 leaning backward1 watched him with steady1 curious eyes4 #hc4 8,you have blood on your shoulder1 my man10 he said4 #hd4 ,montigny must have laid his wet right hand upon him as he left the house4 ,he cursed ,montigny in his heart4 #he4 8,it was none of my shedding10 he stammered4 #hf4 8,i had not supposed so10 returned his host1 quietly4 8,a brawl80 #hg4 8,well1 something of that sort10 ,villon admitted with a quaver4 #hh4 8,perhaps a fellow murdered80 #hi4 8,oh1 no1 not murdered10 said the poet1 more and more confused4 8,it was all fair play--murdered by accident4 ,i had no hand in it1 ,god strike me dead60 he added1 fervently4 #ij4 8,one rogue the fewer1 ,i dare say10 observed the master of the house4 #ia4 8,you may dare to say that10 agreed ,villon1 infinitely relieved4 8,as big a rogue as there is between here and ,jerusalem4 ,he turned up his toes like a lamb4 ,but it was a nasty thing to look at4 ,i dare say you've seen dead men in your time1 my lord80 he added1 glancing at the armor4 #ib4 8,many10 said the old man4 8,i have followed the wars1 as you imagine40 #ic4 ,villon laid down his knife and fork1 which he had just taken up again4 #id4 8,were any of them bald80 he asked4 #ie4 8,oh1 yes1 and with hair as white as mine40 #if4 8,i don't think ,i should mind the white so much10 said ,villon4 8,his was red40 ,and he had a return of his shuddering and tendency to laughter1 which he drowned with a great draught of wine4 8,i'm a little put out when ,i think of it10 he went on4 8,i knew him--damn him6 ,and then the cold gives a man fancies--or the fancies give a man cold1 ,i don't know which40 #ig4 8,have you any money80 asked the old man4 #ih4 8,i have one white10 returned the poet1 laughing4 8,i got it out of a dead jade's stocking in a porch4 ,she was as dead as ,csar1 poor wench1 and as cold as a church1 with bits of ribbon sticking in her hair4 ,this is a hard world in winter for wolves and wenches and poor rogues like me40 #ii4 8,i10 said the old man1 8am ,enguerrand de la ,feuillee1 seigneur de ,brisetout1 bailly du ,patatrac4 ,who and what may you be80 #ajj4 ,villon rose and made a suitable reverence4 8,i am called ,francis ,villon10 he said1 8a poor master of arts in this university4 ,i know some ,latin1 and a deal of vice4 ,i can make chansons1 ballads1 lais1 virelais1 and roundels and ,i am very fond of wine4 ,i was born in a garret and ,i shall not improbably die upon the gallows4 ,i may add1 my lord1 that from this night forward ,i am your lordship's very obsequious servant to command40 #aja4 8,no servant of mine10 said the knight2 8my guest for this evening1 and no more40 #ajb4 8,a very grateful guest10 said ,villon1 politely1 and he drank in dumb show to his entertainer4 #ajc4 8,you are shrewd10 began the old man1 tapping his forehead1 8very shrewd2 you have learning2 you are a clerk2 and yet you take a small piece of money off a dead woman in the street4 ,is it not a kind of theft80 #ajd4 8,it is a kind of theft much practiced in the wars1 my lord40 #aje4 8,the wars are the field of honor10 returned the old man1 proudly4 8,there a man plays his life upon the cast2 he fights in the name of his lord the king1 his ,lord ,god1 and all their lordships the holy saints and angels40 #ajf4 8,put it10 said ,villon1 8that ,i were really a thief1 should ,i not play my life also1 and against heavier odds80 #ajg4 8,for gain1 but not for honor40 #ajh4 8,gain80 repeated ,villon1 with a shrug4 8,gain6 ,the poor fellow wants supper1 and takes it4 ,so does the soldier in a campaign4 ,why1 what are all these requisitions we hear so much about8 ,if they are not gain to those who take them1 they are loss enough to the others4 ,the men-at-arms drink by a good fire1 while the burgher bites his nails to buy them wine and wood4 ,i have seen a good many plowmen swinging on trees about the country2 ay1 ,i have seen thirty on one elm1 and a very poor figure they made2 and when ,i asked some one how all these came to be hanged1 ,i was told it was because they could not scrape together enough crowns to satisfy the men-at-arms40 #aji4 8,these things are a necessity of war1 which the low-born must endure with constancy4 ,it is true that some captains drive overhard2 there are spirits in every rank not easily moved by pity2 and indeed many follow arms who are no better than brigands40 #aaj4 8,you see10 said the poet1 8you cannot separate the soldier from the brigand2 and what is a thief but an isolated brigand with circumspect manners8 ,i steal a couple of mutton chops1 without so much as disturbing people's sleep2 the farmer grumbles a bit1 but sups none the less wholesomely on what remains4 ,you come up blowing gloriously on a trumpet1 take away the whole sheep1 and beat the farmer pitifully into the bargain4 ,i have no trumpet2 ,i am only ,tom1 ,dick1 or ,harry2 ,i am a rogue and a dog1 and hanging's too good for me--with all my heart2 but just ask the farmer which of us he prefers1 just find out which of us he lies awake to curse on cold nights40 #aaa4 8,look at us two10 said his lordship4 8,i am old1 strong1 and honored4 ,if ,i were turned from my house to-morrow1 hundreds would be proud to shelter me4 ,poor people would go out and pass the night in the streets with their children1 if ,i merely hinted that ,i wished to be alone4 ,and ,i find you up1 wandering homeless1 and picking farthings off dead women by the wayside6 ,i fear no man and nothing2 ,i have seen you tremble and lose countenance at a word4 ,i wait ,god's summons contentedly in my own house1 or1 if it please the king to call me out again1 upon the field of battle4 ,you look for the gallows2 a rough1 swift death1 without hope or honor4 ,is there no difference between these two80 #aab4 8,as far as to the moon10 ,villon acquiesced4 8,but if ,i had been born ,lord of ,brisetout1 and you had been the poor scholar ,francis1 would the difference have been any the less8 ,should ,i not have been warming my knees at this charcoal pan1 and would not you have been groping for farthings in the snow8 ,should not ,i have been the soldier and you the thief80 #aac4 8,a thief80 cried the old man4 8,i a thief6 ,if you understood your words you would repent them40 #aad4 ,villon turned out his hands with a gesture of inimitable impudence4 8,if your lordship had done me the honor to follow my argument60 he said4 #aae4 8,i do you too much honor in submitting to your presence10 said the knight4 8,learn to curb your tongue when you speak with old and honorable men1 or some one hastier than ,i may reprove you in a sharper fashion40 ,and he rose and paced the lower end of the apartment1 struggling with anger and antipathy4 ,villon surreptitiously refilled his cup1 and settled himself more comfortably in the chair1 crossing his knees and leaning his head upon one hand and the elbow against the back of the chair4 ,he was now replete and warm1 and he was in nowise frightened for his host1 having gauged him as justly as was possible between two such different characters4 ,the night was far spent1 and in a very comfortable fashion after all2 and he felt morally certain of a safe departure on the morrow4 #aaf4 8,tell me one thing10 said the old man1 pausing in his walk4 8,are you really a thief80 #aag4 8,i claim the sacred rights of hospitality10 returned the poet4 8,my lord1 ,i am40 #aah4 8,you are very young10 the knight continued4 #aai4 8,i should never have been so old10 replied ,villon1 showing his fingers1 8if ,i had not helped myself with these ten talents4 ,they have been my nursing mothers and my nursing fathers40 #abj4 8,you may still repent and change40 #aba4 8,i repent daily10 said the poet4 8,there are few people more given to repentance than poor ,francis4 ,as for change1 let somebody change my circumstances4 ,a man must continue to eat1 if it were only that he may continue to repent40 #abb4 8,the change must begin in the heart10 returned the old man solemnly4 #abc4 8,my dear lord10 answered ,villon1 8do you really fancy that ,i steal for pleasure8 ,i hate stealing1 like any other piece of work or of danger4 ,my teeth chatter when ,i see a gallows4 ,but ,i must eat1 ,i must drink1 ,i must mix in society of some sort4 ,what the devil6 ,man is not a solitary animal--,cui ,deus fminam tradit4 ,make me king's pantler--make me abbot of ,st4 ,denis2 make me bailly of the ,patatrac2 and then ,i shall be changed indeed4 ,but as long as you leave me the poor scholar ,francis ,villon1 without a farthing1 why1 of course1 ,i remain the same40 #abd4 8,the grace of ,god is all-powerful40 #abe4 8,i should be a heretic to question it10 said ,francis4 8,it has made you lord of ,brisetout and bailly of the ,patatrac2 it has given me nothing but the quick wits under my hat and these ten toes upon my hands4 ,may ,i help myself to wine8 ,i thank you respectfully4 ,by ,god's grace1 you have a very superior vintage40 #abf4 ,the lord of ,brisetout walked to and fro with his hands behind his back4 ,perhaps he was not yet quite settled in his mind about the parallel between thieves and soldiers2 perhaps ,villon had interested him by some cross-thread of sympathy2 perhaps his wits were simply muddled by so much unfamiliar reasoning2 but whatever the cause1 he somehow yearned to convert the young man to a better way of thinking1 and could not make up his mind to drive him forth again into the street4 #abg4 8,there is something more than ,i can understand in this10 he said at length4 8,your mouth is full of subtleties1 and the devil has led you very far astray2 but the devil is only a very weak spirit before ,god's truth1 and all his subtleties vanish at a word of true honor1 like darkness at morning4 ,listen to me once more4 ,i learned long ago that a gentleman should live chivalrously and lovingly to ,god1 and the king1 and his lady2 and though ,i have seen many strange things done1 ,i have still striven to command my ways upon that rule4 ,it is not only written in all noble histories1 but in every man's heart1 if he will take care to read4 ,you speak of food and wine1 and ,i know very well that hunger is a difficult trial to endure2 but you do not speak of other wants2 you say nothing of honor1 of faith to ,god and other men1 of courtesy1 of love without reproach4 ,it may be that ,i am not very wise--and yet ,i am--but you seem to me like one who has lost his way and made a great error in life4 ,you are attending to the little wants1 and you have totally forgotten the great and only real ones1 like a man who should be doctoring toothache on the ,judgment ,day4 ,for such things as honor and love and faith are not only nobler than food and drink1 but indeed ,i think we desire them more1 and suffer more sharply for their absence4 ,i speak to you as ,i think you will most easily understand me4 ,are you not while careful to fill your belly1 disregarding another appetite in your heart1 which spoils the pleasure of your life and keeps you continually wretched80 #abh4 ,villon was sensibly nettled under all this sermonizing4 8,you think ,i have no sense of honor60 he cried4 8,i'm poor enough1 ,god knows6 ,it's hard to see rich people with their gloves1 and you blowing in your hands4 ,an empty belly is a bitter thing1 although you speak so lightly of it4 ,if you had had as many as ,i1 perhaps you would change your tune4 ,any way1 ,i'm a thief--make the most of that--but ,i'm not a devil from hell1 ,god strike me dead4 ,i would have you to know ,i've an honor of my own1 as good as yours1 though ,i don't prate about it all day long1 as if it was a ,god's miracle to have any4 ,it seems quite natural to me2 ,i keep it in its box till it's wanted4 ,why1 now1 look you here1 how long have ,i been in this room with you8 ,did you not tell me you were alone in the house8 ,look at your gold plate6 ,you're strong1 if you like1 but you're old and unarmed1 and ,i have my knife4 ,what did ,i want but a jerk of the elbow and here would have been you with the cold steel in your bowels1 and there would have been me1 linking in the streets1 with an armful of golden cups6 ,did you suppose ,i hadn't wit enough to see that8 ,and ,i scorned the action4 ,there are your damned goblets as safe as in a church1 there are you with your heart ticking as good as new1 and here am ,i1 ready to go out again as poor as ,i came in1 with my one white that you threw in my teeth6 ,and you think ,i have no sense of honor--,god strike me dead60 #abi4 ,the old man stretched out his right arm4 8,i will tell you what you are10 he said4 8,you are a rogue1 my man1 an impudent and black-hearted rogue and vagabond4 ,i have passed an hour with you4 ,oh6 believe me1 ,i feel myself disgraced6 ,and you have eaten and drunk at my table4 ,but now ,i am sick at your presence2 the day has come1 and the night-bird should be off to his roost4 ,will you go before1 or after80 #acj4 8,which you please10 returned the poet1 rising4 8,i believe you to be strictly honorable40 ,he thoughtfully emptied his cup4 8,i wish ,i could add you were intelligent10 he went on1 knocking on his head with his knuckles4 8,age6 age6 the brains stiff and rheumatic40 #aca4 ,the old man preceded him from a point of self-respect2 ,villon followed1 whistling1 with his thumbs in his girdle4 #acb4 8,god pity you60 said the lord of ,brisetout at the door4 #acc4 8,good-bye1 papa10 returned ,villon1 with a yawn4 8,many thanks for the cold mutton40 #acd4 ,the door closed behind him4 ,the dawn was breaking over the white roofs4 ,a chill1 uncomfortable morning ushered in the day4 ,villon stood and heartily stretched himself in the middle of the road4 #ace4 8,a very dull old gentleman10 he thought4 8,i wonder what his goblets may be worth40 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,briefly write out the plot of the story4 #b4 ,which incidents are essential to the story 7plot incidents78 #c4 ,which incidents could be altered without vitally changing the story 7developing incidents78 ,for a discussion of these types of incidents see the present author's ,writing the ,short-,story1 pp4 #agd-aha4 #d4 ,show how one such change could be made4 #e4 ,does the external 7visible or bodily7 action stand out as clearly as the internal 7invisible or soul7 action8 #f4 7a7 ,is the story probable8 7b7 ,usual8 7c7 ,convincing8--,that is1 does it seem real8 #g4 ,what are its strongest points1 to you8 #h4 ,criticise its weak points1 if any4 #i4 ,can you suggest any improvements8 #aj4 7a7 ,do you know any stories similar in theme8 7b7 ,if so1 which is the better story1 to you1 and why8 #aa4 ,briefly write out the plots of three stories of action or adventure1 taken from any book or magazine4 #ab4 ,compare one of them with one of these two stories4 ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,action ,,and ,,adventure 8,after ,he was ,dead10 ,melville ,davisson ,post4 ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,april1 #aiaa4 8,the ,attack on the ,mill10 mile ,zola4 ,translated in ,great ,short ,stories4 8,the ,taking of the ,redoubt10 ,prosper ,mrime4 ,translated in ,short-,story ,masterpieces4 8,the ,man ,who ,would be ,king10 ,rudyard ,kipling4 ,in ,the ,phantom ,rickshaw 7and other stories74 8,the ,sire de ,maltroit's ,door10 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson4 ,in ,new ,arabian ,nights4 8,the ,diamond ,lens10 ,fitz-,james ,o',brien4 ,in ,short ,story ,classics1 ,american4 8,the ,young ,man in a ,hurry10 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers4 ,harper's ,magazine1 ,aug41 #aijc4 8,a ,fight for the ,tsarina10 ,maurus ,jkai4 ,translated in ,masterpieces of ,fiction4 8,the ,window that ,monsieur ,forgot10 ,mary ,imlay ,taylor4 ,the ,booklovers ,magazine1 ,jan41 #aijd4 8,blood o' ,innocence10 ,george ,w4 ,knapp4 ,lippincott's ,magazine1 ,nov41 #aijg4 ,,footnotes3 #ac ,,author',s ,,note4--,corporals were formerly the chief officers of the ,corsican communes after they had rebelled against their feudal lords4 ,to-day they still occasionally give the name to a man who--because of his property1 his relationships1 and his business--commands a certain influence1 and a sort of effective magistracy over a parish or a canton4 ,the ,corsicans divide themselves1 after ancient custom1 into five castes3 gentlemen 7of whom some1 magnifiques1 are of higher estate1 and some of lower1 signori71 corporals1 citizens1 plebeians1 and foreigners4 #ad ,,author',s ,,note4--,this word is synonymous with outlaw4 #ae ,,author',s ,,note4--,voltigeurs1 that is1 a body raised by the government of late years which acts in conjunction with the police to maintain order4 #af ,,author',s ,,note4--,the uniform of the voltigeurs was at that period brown1 with a yellow collar4 #ag ,,author',s ,,note4--,a leather belt which served the joint purpose of a cartridge box and pocket for dispatches and orders4 #ah ,,author',s ,,note4--,buon giorno1 fratello--the ordinary salutation of the ,corsicans4 ,,ii ,,stories ,,of ,,mystery ,,and ,,fantasy ,the ,purloined ,letter4--,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe ,the ,monkey's ,paw4--,w4 ,w4 ,,jacobs ,the fact is 444 that1 in the riddle story1 the detective was an after-thought1 or1 more accurately1 a deus ex machina to make the story go4 ,the riddle had to be unriddled2 and who could do it so naturally and readily as a detective8 ,the detective1 as ,poe saw him1 was a means to this end2 and it was only afterwards that writers perceived his availability as a character4 ,lecoq accordingly becomes a figure in fiction1 and ,sherlock1 while he was as yet a novelty1 was nearly as attractive as the complications in which he involved himself4--,,julian ,,hawthorne1 ,introduction to ,the ,lock and ,key ,library4 ,the literature of ghosts is very ancient4 ,in visions of the night1 and in the lurid vapors of mystic incantations1 figures rise and smile1 or frown and disappear4 ,the ,witch of ,endor murmurs her spell1 and 8an old man cometh up1 and he is covered with a mantle40 ,macbeth takes a bond of fate1 and from ,hecate's caldron1 after the apparition of an armed head and that of a bloody child1 8an apparition of a child crowned1 with a tree in his hand1 rises40 ,the wizard recounts to ,lochiel his warning vision1 and ,lochiel departs to his doom4 ,there are stories of the ,castle of ,otranto and of ,the ,three ,spaniards1 and the infinite detail of 8singular experiences10 which make our conscious daily life the frontier and border-land of an impinging world of mystery4--,,george ,,william ,,curtis1 ,introduction to ,modern ,ghosts4 ,,stories ,,of ,,mystery ,,and ,,fantasy ,even more deeply seated and elemental than our love for the mysterious is our passion for undertaking its solution4 ,it is this1 doubtless1 that challenges us to match our wits with the clever rogues of fiction1 and to pit our resources of detection against the forces seen and unseen which play in tales of the weird1 the mysterious1 and the unexplained4 ,such stories readily fall into two classes1 with as many sub-sorts as the invention of man may compass--those which are soluble and those which are not4 ,of the former1 the detective story is the more common1 followed at no very great distance by the tale which seems to involve the supernatural1 but whose mystery transpires quite plainly in the end4 ,of the latter are all those inexplicable wonder-fictions dealing with shapes that haunt the dream-dusk1 the whole shadow-land of wraiths and spirits and presences and immaterialities which cross the borders of experience at the call of fantasy4 ,they are all the inheritance of the credulous age in which romance was born1 and few of us are so engirded with the armor of stoicism that we cannot enjoy their gathering goose-flesh and creeping spinal chill4 ,hawthorne and ,poe and ,irving were masters here4 ,the processes of inductive reasoning by which ,voltaire's ,zadig reconstructed actual occurrences from trivial clues have developed into modern detective stories of uncounted variety1 in which the criminal is hunted down by a professional sleuth4 ,then1 too1 the 8clever amateur0 often takes a hand in the game1 and even accident plays at times1 until there is no end to the possible combinations growing out of pure reasoning employed to unravel the tangle4 ,much the same processes are employed to discover the pseudo-supernatural mystery1 like ,fitz-,james ,o',brien's solved ghost-story1 8,what ,was ,it8 ,a ,mystery40 ,but when we enter the domain of the unexplained1 the story tends to become a study of fear and of pure mystery1 like ,marion ,crawford's 8,the ,upper ,berth10 and 8,the ,damned ,thing10 by ,ambrose ,bierce4 ,poe was the great ,american originator of the detective story1 and to-day his 8,purloined ,letter10 reproduced here in full1 8,the ,mystery of ,marie ,rogt10 and 8,the ,murders in the ,rue ,morgue10 are unsurpassed4 ,,poe ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,edgar ,allan ,poe was born in ,boston1 ,january #ai1 #ahji4 ,his father1 of a good ,maryland family1 was an actor1 and his mother an actress of ,english extraction4 ,both parents dying before ,edgar was three1 he1 with his brother ,william and sister ,rosalie1 was left homeless in ,richmond1 where each found a protector4 ,mrs4 ,allan adopted ,edgar1 giving him his middle name1 and bestowing at the same time every opportunity that wealth could offer4 ,he was sent to school at ,stoke ,newington1 ,england1 attended a private school in ,richmond1 and entered the ,university of ,virginia1 but remained there less than a year1 for his reckless and erratic temperament champed under the restraints of routine4 ,he was placed in ,mr4 ,allan's counting-room1 but ran away to enlist in the ,united ,states ,army as 8,edgar ,allan ,perry40 ,after the death of ,mrs4 ,allan1 her husband secured ,poe's discharge from the army and his appointment to ,west ,point as a cadet1 ,july #a1 #ahcj2 but after six months ,poe contrived to be dismissed4 ,he had already published his poems successfully1 so he went to ,new ,york1 in the early part of #ahca1 to begin his professional literary life4 ,for four years--#ahcc to #ahcg--;he wrote brilliantly for ,the ,southern ,literary ,messenger1 in ,baltimore4 ,then he went successively to ,new ,york and ,philadelphia1 where he worked on various literary enterprises for six years4 ,in #ahdd he returned to ,new ,york1 and became assistant to ,n4 ,p4 ,willis1 in whose journal1 ,the ,mirror1 8,the ,raven0 appeared in #ahde4 ,poe's literary reputation was now established both in ,america and abroad1 most of his masterpieces having been created during the turbulent years of his wanderings4 ,in #ahce he had been married to ,virginia ,clemm1 his cousin1 and her early death in #ahdg broke his spirit4 ,his health had already succumbed to his morbid temperament--which magnified every sorrow of his chaotic career--and to the excesses of drugs and drink4 ,he died most unhappily1 ,october #g1 #ahdi1 at the age of forty--a master spirit pitifully wrecked before his prime4 ,poe was a remarkable poet1 essayist1 critic1 and short-story writer4 8,the ,raven10 8,lenore10 8,ulalume10 8,the ,bells10 8,annabel ,lee10 8,israfel10 and 8,to ,one in ,paradise0 are among his best poems4 ,probably the greatest of his stories are1 8,,ms4 ,found in ,a ,bottle10 8,the ,assignation10 8,ligeia10 8,the ,murders in ,the ,rue ,morgue10 8,the ,mystery of ,marie ,rogt10 8,a ,descent into ,the ,maelstrom10 8,the ,masque of ,the ,red ,death10 8,the ,pit and the ,pendulum10 8,the ,gold ,bug10 8,the ,black ,cat10 8,the ,cask of ,amontillado10 8,the ,fall of the ,house of ,usher10 first published in ,burton's ,gentleman's ,magazine1 ,september1 #ahci--;and 8,the ,purloined ,letter10 first published in ,the ,gift1 an 8annual10 in #ahde4 ,poe was the greatest conscious artist that ,american literature has ever known4 ,he not only looked backward upon his own work and1 as did ,stevenson1 clearly traced the operations of his mind in its production1 but he built up a structure of literary theory which has been powerfully attacked1 indeed1 but whose walls remain substantially whole to-day4 ,to his constructive criticism of the short-story is directly due its present advanced form1 for while current practice has widely departed from ,poe's morbid1 gloomy1 extravagant themes and formal1 abundant diction1 his stories are still unsurpassed for vigor1 atmosphere1 invention1 and thrill1 and his laws of composition are read everywhere with the respect due authority4 ,ah1 dream too bright to last6 ,ah1 starry ,hope1 that didst arise ,but to be overcast6 ,a voice from out the ,future cries1 8,onward60--but o'er the ,past 7,dim gulf67 my spirit hovering lies1 ,mute--motionless--aghast6 ,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe1 ,the ,assignation4 ,had you lived a generation later1 honor1 wealth1 applause1 success in ,europe and at home1 would all have been yours4--,,andrew ,,lang1 ,letters to ,dead ,authors4 ,there are literary evolutionists who1 in their whim of seeing in every original writer a copy of some predecessor1 have declared that ,hawthorne is derived from ,tieck1 and ,poe from ,hoffmann4444 ,if the adjective ,american has any meaning at all1 it qualifies ,poe and ,hawthorne4 ,they were ,american to the core4 ,they both revealed the curious sympathy with ,oriental moods of thought which is often an ,american characteristic4 ,poe1 with his cold logic and his mathematical analysis1 and ,hawthorne1 with his introspective conscience and his love of the subtle and the invisible1 are representative of phases of ,american character not to be mistaken by any one who has given thought to the influence of nationality4444 ,nothing better of its kind has ever been done than the 8,pit and the ,pendulum10 or than the 8,fall of the ,house of ,usher0 7which has been compared aptly with ,browning's 8,childe ,roland to the ,dark ,tower ,came0 for its power of suggesting intellectual desolation74 ,nothing better of its kind has ever been done than the 8,gold ,bug10 or than the 8,purloined ,letter10 or than the 8,murders in the ,rue ,morgue40--,,brander ,,matthews1 ,the ,philosophy of the ,short-story4 ,the conception of gloomy terror which impregnates 8,the ,house of ,usher0 is as complete as the idea of medieval chivalry underlying ,ivanhoe4444 ,to be sure1 the terror in his stories1 so he said in his preface to the ,tales of the ,grotesque and the ,arabesque1 was 8not of ,germany1 but of the soul44440 ,yet one can readily believe that his ,roderick in 8,the ,house of ,usher10 who pored over books which had the 8character of phantasm10 ,morella1 who was interested in the transcendentalism of ,schelling and ,fichte1 gus1 whom 8the realities of the world affected--as visions10 are all identical with the ,young ,poe when he freed his mind and later his fancy in the fields where ,novalis sought the blue flower and all the ,german romanticists wandered4444 ,to say that ,poe was a creature of ,german influence would be absurd4 ,to say that ,german thought and fancy were sympathetic to his genius1 would be putting it too mildly4 ,between these extremes the truth must lie4--,h4 ,s4 ,,canby1 ,the ,short ,story in ,english4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,poe ,prose ,writers of ,america1 ,rufus ,w4 ,griswold 7#ahgj72 ,short ,studies of ,american ,authors1 ,thomas ,w4 ,higginson 7#ahhj72 ,letters to ,dead ,authors1 ,andrew ,lang 7#ahhf72 ,criticisms on ,contemporary ,thought1 ,richard ,h4 ,hutton 7#ahid72 ,american ,lands and ,letters1 ,donald ,g4 ,mitchell 7#ahig-ii72 ,life of ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 ,r4 ,h4 ,stoddard 7#ahii72 ,poe and ,some of ,his ,critics1 ,c4 ,w4 ,hubner 7#aijf72 ,life of ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 ,personal and ,literary1 ,george ,e4 ,woodberry 7#aiji72 ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 ,a ,critical ,study1 ,arthur ,ransome 7#aiaj74 ,,the ,,purloined ,,letter ,nil sapientiae odiosius acumina nimio4--,seneca4 7,nothing is more odious to wisdom than too great acumen47 ,,by ,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe ,sidenote3 ,,formal ,,introduction4 ,sidenote3 ,dupin appears as the detective in ,poe's other mystery stories1 8,the ,murders in the ,rue ,morgue10 and 8,the ,mystery of ,marie ,rogt40 ,sidenote3 ,au troisime--third flight1 or fourth floor4 ,sidenote3 ,compare this story with ,sardou's 8,a ,scrap of ,paper40 ,sidenote3 ,g---- also appears in 8,the ,mystery of ,marie ,rogt40 ,at ,paris1 just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of #ah--1 ,i was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and a meerschaum1 in company with my friend ,c4 ,auguste ,dupin1 in his little back library1 or book closet1 au troisime1 ,no4 #cc ,rue ,dunt1 ,faubourg ,st4 ,germain4 ,for one hour at least we had maintained a profound silence2 while each1 to any casual observer1 might have seemed intently and exclusively occupied with the curling eddies of smoke that oppressed the atmosphere of the chamber4 ,for myself1 however1 ,i was mentally discussing certain topics which had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier period of the evening2 ,i mean the affair of the ,rue ,morgue1 and the mystery attending the murder of ,marie ,rogt4 ,i looked upon it1 therefore1 as something of a coincidence1 when the door of our apartment was thrown open and admitted our old acquaintance1 ,monsieur ,g----1 the ,prefect of the ,parisian police4 ,sidenote3 ,careless ,english4 #b4 ,we gave him a hearty welcome2 for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man1 and we had not seen him for several years4 ,we had been sitting in the dark1 and ,dupin now arose for the purpose of lighting a lamp1 but sat down again1 without doing so1 upon ,g----'s saying that he had called to consult us1 or rather to ask the opinion of my friend1 about some official business which had occasioned a great deal of trouble4 #c4 8,if it is any point requiring reflection10 observed ,dupin1 as he forbore to enkindle the wick1 8we shall examine it to better purpose in the dark40 ,sidenote3 ,later writers of detective stories follow ,poe's lead in showing contempt for police officials4 #d4 8,that is another of your odd notions10 said the ,prefect1 who had a fashion of calling everything 8odd0 that was beyond his comprehension1 and thus lived amid an absolute legion of 8oddities40 #e4 8,very true10 said ,dupin1 as he supplied his visitor with a pipe1 and rolled towards him a comfortable chair4 #f4 8,and what is the difficulty now80 ,i asked4 8,nothing more in the assassination way1 ,i hope80 #g4 8,oh1 no2 nothing of that nature4 ,the fact is1 the business is very simple1 indeed1 and ,i make no doubt that we can manage it sufficiently well ourselves2 but then ,i thought ,dupin would like to hear the details of it1 because it is so excessively odd40 #h4 8,simple and odd10 said ,dupin4 ,sidenote3 ,poe makes ,g---- to serve as a foil for ,dupin1 while the narrator plays ,watson to ,dupin's ,sherlock--but ,poe came first6 #i4 8,why1 yes2 and not exactly that1 either4 ,the fact is1 we have all been a good deal puzzled because the affair is so simple1 and yet baffles us altogether40 ,sidenote3 ,forecast of denouement4 ,note how this point is emphasized4 #aj4 8,perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at fault10 said my friend4 #aa4 8,what nonsense you do talk60 replied the ,prefect1 laughing heartily4 #ab4 8,perhaps the mystery is a little too plain10 said ,dupin4 #ac4 8,oh1 good ,heavens6 who ever heard of such an idea80 #ad4 8,a little too self-evident40 ,sidenote3 ,later imitators freely use this scheme of the superior pose of the police4 #ae4 8,ha6 ha6 ha6 ha6 ha6 ha6 ho6 ho6 ho60 roared our visitor1 profoundly amused4 8,oh1 ,dupin1 you will be the death of me yet60 #af4 8,and what1 after all1 is the matter on hand80 ,i asked4 ,sidenote3 ,this device has since been much overworked4 #ag4 8,why1 ,i will tell you10 replied the ,prefect1 as he gave a long1 steady1 and contemplative puff1 and settled himself in his chair4 8,i will tell you in a few words2 but1 before ,i begin1 let me caution you that this is an affair demanding the greatest secrecy1 and that ,i should most probably lose the position ,i now hold were it known that ,i confided it to any one40 ,sidenote3 ,,lengthy ,,introduction ,,ends4 ,note that this is one unified story1 with much philosophising1 but no minor episodes4 #ah4 8,proceed10 said ,i4 #ai4 8,or not10 said ,dupin4 ,sidenote3 ,the foundation laid2 ,,summary ,,of ,,problem4 #bj4 8,well1 then2 ,i have received personal information from a very high quarter that a certain document of the last importance has been purloined from the royal apartments4 ,the individual who purloined it is known2 this beyond a doubt2 he was seen to take it4 ,it is known1 also1 that it still remains in his possession40 #ba4 8,how is this known80 asked ,dupin4 ,sidenote3 ,development of problem4 #bb4 8,it is clearly inferred10 replied the ,prefect1 8from the nature of the document1 and from the non-appearance of certain results which would at once arise from its passing out of the robber's possession2 that is to say1 from his employing it as he must design in the end to employ it40 #bc4 8,be a little more explicit10 ,i said4 #bd4 8,well1 ,i may venture so far as to say that the paper gives its holder a certain power in a certain quarter where such power is immensely valuable40 ,the ,prefect was fond of the cant of diplomacy4 #be4 8,still ,i do not quite understand10 said ,dupin4 ,sidenote3 ,importance of problem4 #bf4 8,no8 well2 the disclosure of the document to a third person1 who shall be nameless1 would bring in question the honor of a personage of most exalted station2 and this fact gives the holder of the document an ascendency over the illustrious personage whose honor and peace are so jeopardized40 ,sidenote3 ,philosophy of problem4 #bg4 8,but this ascendency10 ,i interposed1 8would depend upon the robber's knowledge of the loser's knowledge of the robber4 ,who would dare--0 ,sidenote3 ,unique situation3 the thief is known4 ,sidenote3 ,method and circumstances of the theft related4 ,sidenote3 ,see note on #aae1 p4 #ajd4 ,sidenote3 ,note 8the04 #bh4 8,the thief10 said ,g----1 8is the ,minister ,d----1 who dares all things1 those unbecoming as well as those becoming a man4 ,the method of the theft was not less ingenious than bold4 ,the document in question--a letter1 to be frank--had been received by the personage robbed while alone in the royal boudoir4 ,during its perusal she was suddenly interrupted by the entrance of the other exalted personage1 from whom especially it was her wish to conceal it4 ,after a hurried and vain endeavor to thrust it in a drawer1 she was forced to place it1 open as it was1 upon a table4 ,the address1 however1 was uppermost1 and1 the contents thus unexposed1 the letter escaped notice4 ,at this juncture enters the ,minister ,d----4 ,his lynx eye immediately perceives the paper1 recognizes the handwriting of the address1 observes the confusion of the personage addressed1 and fathoms her secret4 ,after some business transactions1 hurried through in his ordinary manner1 he produces a letter somewhat similar to the one in question1 opens it1 pretends to read it1 and then places it in close juxtaposition to the other4 ,again he converses for some fifteen minutes upon the public affairs4 ,at length in taking leave he takes also from the table the letter to which he had no claim4 ,its rightful owner saw1 but of course dared not call attention to the act1 in the presence of the third personage1 who stood at her elbow4 ,the minister decamped1 leaving his own letter--one of no importance--upon the table40 #bi4 8,here1 then10 said ,dupin to me1 8you have precisely what you demand to make the ascendency complete--the robber's knowledge of the loser's knowledge of the robber40 ,sidenote3 ,results of theft4 ,sidenote3 ,end of statement of case as a problem4 #cj4 8,yes10 replied the ,prefect2 8and the power thus attained has1 for some months past1 been wielded1 for political purposes1 to a very dangerous extent4 ,the personage robbed is more thoroughly convinced1 every day1 of the necessity of reclaiming her letter4 ,but this1 of course1 cannot be done openly4 ,in fine1 driven to despair1 she has committed the matter to me40 ,sidenote3 ,character development4 ,sidenote3 ,satire supports his attitude toward the police4 #ca4 8,than whom10 said ,dupin1 amid a perfect whirlwind of smoke1 8no more sagacious agent could1 ,i suppose1 be desired1 or even imagined40 ,sidenote3 ,character delineation4 #cb4 8,you flatter me10 replied the ,prefect2 8but it is possible that some such opinion may have been entertained40 #cc4 8,it is clear10 said ,i1 8as you observe1 that the letter is still in possession of the minister2 since it is this possession1 and not any employment of the letter1 which bestows the power4 ,with the employment the power departs40 ,sidenote3 ,,attempts ,,at ,,recovery ,,of ,,the ,,purloined ,,letter4 ,,second ,,stage ,,of ,,the ,,plot4 #cd4 8,true10 said ,g----1 8and upon this conviction ,i proceeded4 ,my first care was to make thorough search of the minister's hotel2 and here my chief embarrassment lay in the necessity of searching without his knowledge4 ,beyond all things1 ,i have been warned of the danger which would result from giving him reason to suspect our design40 ,sidenote3 ,au fait--to the point2 therefore1 at home4 #ce4 8,but10 said ,i1 8you are quite au fait in these investigations4 ,the ,parisian police have done this thing often before40 #cf4 8,oh1 yes2 and for this reason ,i did not despair4 ,the habits of the minister gave me1 too1 a great advantage4 ,he is frequently absent from home all night4 ,his servants are by no means numerous4 ,they sleep at a distance from their master's apartment1 and being chiefly ,neapolitans1 are readily made drunk4 ,i have keys1 as you know1 with which ,i can open any chamber or cabinet in ,paris4 ,for three months1 a night has not passed during the greater part of which ,i have not been engaged1 personally1 in ransacking the ,d---- ,hotel4 ,my honor is interested1 and1 to mention a great secret1 the reward is enormous4 ,so ,i did not abandon the search until ,i had become fully satisfied that the thief is a more astute man than myself4 ,i fancy that ,i have investigated every nook and corner of the premises in which it is possible that the paper can be concealed40 #cg4 8,but is it not possible10 ,i suggested1 8that although the letter may be in possession of the minister1 as it unquestionably is1 he may have concealed it elsewhere than upon his own premises80 ,sidenote3 ,inferential reasoning4 #ch4 8,this is barely possible10 said ,dupin4 8,the present peculiar condition of affairs at court1 and especially of those intrigues in which ,d---- is known to be involved1 would render the instant availability of the document--its susceptibility of being produced at a moment's notice--a point of nearly equal importance with its possession40 #ci4 8,its susceptibility of being produced80 said ,i4 ,sidenote3 ,note the distinction4 #dj4 8,that is to say1 of being destroyed10 said ,dupin4 ,sidenote3 ,a just inference4 #da4 8,true10 ,i observed2 8the paper is clearly then upon the premises4 ,as for its being upon the person of the minister1 we may consider that as out of the question40 #db4 8,entirely10 said the ,prefect4 8,he has been twice waylaid1 as if by footpads1 and his person rigorously searched under my own inspection40 #dc4 8,you might have spared yourself this trouble10 said ,dupin4 8,d----1 ,i presume1 is not altogether a fool1 and1 if not1 must have anticipated these waylayings as a matter of course40 #dd4 8,not altogether a fool10 said ,g----2 8but then he's a poet1 which ,i take to be only one remove from a fool40 #de4 8,true10 said ,dupin1 after a long and thoughtful whiff from his meerschaum1 8although ,i have been guilty of certain doggerel myself40 #df4 8,suppose you detail10 said ,i1 8the particulars of your search40 ,sidenote3 ,the thoroughness of the search tends to interest the reader in the problem as a difficult one4 ,sidenote3 ,on ,poe's 8police methods0 most modern detective writers have drawn for material4 #dg4 8,why1 the fact is1 we took our time1 and we searched everywhere4 ,i have had long experience in these affairs4 ,i took the entire building1 room by room1 devoting the nights of a whole week to each4 ,we examined1 first1 the furniture of each apartment4 ,we opened every possible drawer2 and ,i presume you know that1 to a properly trained police agent1 such a thing as a secret drawer is impossible4 ,any man is a dolt who permits a #8secret' drawer to escape him in a search of this kind4 ,the thing is so plain4 ,there is a certain amount of bulk--of space--to be accounted for in every cabinet4 ,then we have accurate rules4 ,the fiftieth part of a line could not escape us4 ,after the cabinets we took the chairs4 ,the cushions we probed with the fine long needles you have seen me employ4 ,from the tables we removed the tops40 #dh4 8,why so80 ,sidenote3 ,doubtless the narrator speaks4 #di4 8,sometimes the top of a table1 or other similarly arranged piece of furniture1 is removed by the person wishing to conceal an article2 then the leg is excavated1 the article deposited within the cavity1 and the top replaced4 ,the bottoms and tops of bed-posts are employed in the same way40 #ej4 8,but could not the cavity be detected by sounding80 ,i asked4 ,sidenote3 ,note improper shifting of tenses in question and answer4 #ea4 8,by no means1 if1 when the article is deposited1 a sufficient wadding of cotton be placed around it4 ,besides1 in our case we were obliged to proceed without noise40 #eb4 8,but you could not have removed--you could not have taken to pieces all articles of furniture in which it would have been possible to make a deposit in the manner you mention4 ,a letter may be compressed into a thin spiral roll1 not differing much in shape or bulk from a large knitting-needle1 and in this form it might be inserted into the rung of a chair1 for example4 ,you did not take to pieces all the chairs80 ,sidenote3 ,note how ingeniously ,poe weaves his knowledge of detective methods into the actual search of the story4 #ec4 8,certainly not2 but we did better--we examined the rungs of every chair in the hotel1 and indeed1 the jointings of every description of furniture1 by the aid of a most powerful microscope4 ,had there been any traces of recent disturbance we should not have failed to detect it instantly4 ,a single grain of gimlet-dust1 for example1 would have been as obvious as an apple4 ,any disorder in the gluing--any unusual gaping in the joints--would have sufficed to insure detection40 #ed4 8,i presume you looked to the mirrors1 between the boards and the plates1 and you probed the beds and the bed-clothes1 as well as the curtains and carpets80 #ee4 8,that1 of course2 and when we had absolutely completed every particle of the furniture in this way1 then we examined the house itself4 ,we divided its entire surface into compartments1 which we numbered1 so that none might be missed2 then we scrutinized each individual square inch throughout the premises including the two houses immediately adjoining1 with the microscope1 as before40 ,sidenote3 ,this seems to be a break in the chain of probability1 as ,g---- has already carefully explained how he was able to go over ,d----'s house with impunity4 #ef4 8,the two houses adjoining60 ,i exclaimed2 8you must have had a great deal of trouble40 #eg4 8,we had2 but the reward offered is prodigious40 #eh4 8,you include the grounds about the houses80 #ei4 8,all the grounds are paved with brick4 ,they gave us comparatively little trouble4 ,we examined the moss between the bricks1 and found it undisturbed40 #fj4 8,you looked among ,d---- 's papers1 of course1 and into the books of the library80 ,sidenote3 ,note unusual word4 #fa4 8,certainly2 we opened every package and parcel2 we not only opened every book1 but we turned over every leaf in each volume1 not contenting ourselves with a mere shake1 according to the fashion of some of our police officers4 ,we also measured the thickness of every book-cover1 with the most accurate admeasurement1 and applied to each the most jealous scrutiny of the microscope4 ,had any of the bindings been recently meddled with1 it would have been utterly impossible that the fact should have escaped observation4 ,some five or six volumes1 just from the hands of the binder1 we carefully probed1 longitudinally1 with the needles40 #fb4 8,you explored the floors beneath the carpets80 #fc4 8,beyond doubt4 ,we removed every carpet1 and examined the boards with the microscope40 #fd4 8,and the paper on the walls80 #fe4 8,yes40 #ff4 8,you looked into the cellars80 #fg4 8,we did40 ,sidenote3 ,dupin would not have said this4 #fh4 8,then10 ,i said1 8you have been making a miscalculation1 and the letter is not on the premises1 as you suppose40 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,deduction ,,rejected4 #fi4 8,i fear you are right there10 said the ,prefect4 8,and now1 ,dupin1 what would you advise me to do80 ,sidenote3 ,,third ,,stage ,,of ,,plot4 #gj 8,to make a thorough research of the premises40 #ga4 8,that is absolutely needless10 replied ,g----4 8,i am not more sure that ,i breathe than ,i am that the letter is not at the ,hotel40 ,sidenote3 ,preparation for denouement4 #gb4 8,i have no better advice to give you10 said ,dupin4 8,you have1 of course1 an accurate description of the letter80 ,sidenote3 ,attempt to mislead reader4 ,sidenote3 ,note the patronizing 8good gentleman40 #gc4 8,oh1 yes40 ,and here the ,prefect1 producing a memorandum-book1 proceeded to read aloud a minute account of the internal1 and especially of the external1 appearance of the missing document4 ,soon after finishing the perusal of this description1 he took his departure1 more entirely depressed in spirits than ,i had ever known the good gentleman before4 #gd4 ,in about a month afterwards he paid us another visit1 and found us occupied very nearly as before4 ,he took a pipe and a chair1 and entered into some ordinary conversation4 ,at length ,i said3 #ge4 8,well1 but ,g----1 what of the purloined letter8 ,i presume you have at last made up your mind that there is no such thing as overreaching the minister80 #gf4 8,confound him1 say ,i--yes2 ,i made the rexamination1 however1 as ,dupin suggested--but it was all labor lost1 as ,i knew it would be40 #gg4 8,how much was the reward offered1 did you say80 asked ,dupin4 #gh4 8,why1 a very great deal--a very liberal reward--,i don't like to say how much precisely2 but one thing ,i will say1 that ,i wouldn't mind giving my individual check for fifty thousand francs to any one who would obtain me that letter4 ,the fact is1 it is becoming of more and more importance every day2 and the reward has been lately doubled4 ,if it were trebled1 however1 ,i could do no more than ,i have done40 #gi4 8,why1 yes10 said ,dupin drawlingly1 between the whiffs of his meerschaum1 8,i really--think1 ,g----1 you have not exerted yourself--to the utmost in this matter4 ,you might--do a little more1 ,i think1 eh80 #hj4 8,how8--in what way80 ,sidenote3 ,,fourth ,,stage ,,of ,,plot4 ,sidenote3 ,illustrative anecdote of ,dr4 ,john ,abernethy1 the ,english surgeon4 #ha4 8,why puff1 puff1 you might puff1 puff employ counsel in the matter1 eh8 puff1 puff1 puff ,do you remember the story they tell of ,abernethy80 #hb4 8,no2 hang ,abernethy60 #hc4 8,to be sure6 hang him and welcome4 ,but once upon a time1 a certain rich miser conceived the design of sponging upon this ,abernethy for a medical opinion4 ,getting up1 for this purpose1 an ordinary conversation in a private company1 he insinuated his case to the physician as that of an imaginary individual40 #hd4 8#8,we will suppose1' said the miser1 #8that his symptoms are such and such2 now1 doctor1 what would you have directed him to take8'0 #he4 8#8,take6' said ,abernethy1 #8why1 take advice1 to be sure4'0 #hf4 8,but10 said the ,prefect1 a little discomposed1 8,i am perfectly willing to take advice1 and to pay for it4 ,i would really give fifty thousand francs to any one who would aid me in the matter40 ,sidenote3 ,,minor ,,climax4 #hg4 8,in that case10 replied ,dupin1 opening a drawer1 and producing a check-book1 8you may as well fill me up a check for the amount mentioned4 ,when you have signed it1 ,i will hand you the letter40 ,sidenote3 ,character delineation4 ,sidenote3 ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,the plot seems to end here1 for long reasoning and explanation follow4 ,there is1 however1 a second climax as ,dupin's story reaches its denouement4 #hh4 ,i was astounded4 ,the ,prefect appeared absolutely thunderstricken4 ,for some minutes he remained speechless and motionless1 looking incredulously at my friend with open mouth1 and eyes that seemed starting from their sockets2 then1 apparently recovering himself in some measure1 he seized a pen1 and after several pauses and vacant stares1 finally filled up and signed a check for fifty thousand francs1 and handed it across the table to ,dupin4 ,the latter examined it carefully and deposited it in his pocket2 then1 unlocking an escritoire1 took thence a letter and gave it to the ,prefect4 ,this functionary grasped it in a perfect agony of joy1 opened it with a trembling hand1 cast a rapid glance at its contents1 and then1 scrambling and struggling to the door1 rushed at length unceremoniously from the room and from the house1 without having uttered a syllable since ,dupin had requested him to fill up the check4 #hi4 ,when he had gone1 my friend entered into some explanations4 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,stage ,,of ,,dupin',s ,,account4 ,this account places ,dupin's methods in artistic contrast with those of the ,prefect4 #ij4 8,the ,parisian police10 he said1 8are exceedingly able in their way4 ,they are persevering1 ingenious1 cunning1 and thoroughly versed in the knowledge which their duties seem chiefly to demand4 ,thus1 when ,g---- detailed to us his mode of searching the premises at the ,hotel ,d----1 ,i felt entire confidence in his having made a satisfactory investigation--so far as his labors extended40 #ia4 8,so far as his labors extended80 said ,i4 ,sidenote3 ,not a precise statement4 #ib4 8,yes10 said ,dupin4 8,the measures adopted were not only the best of their kind1 but carried out to absolute perfection4 ,had the letter been deposited within the range of their search1 these fellows would1 beyond a question1 have found it40 #ic4 ,i merely laughed1 but he seemed quite serious in all that he said4 ,sidenote3 ,illustrative anecdote4 ,sidenote3 ,joint inductive-deductive method of reasoning4 ,sidenote3 ,inductive reasoning4 #id4 8,the measures1 then10 he continued1 8were good in their kind1 and well executed2 their defect lay in their being inapplicable to the case1 and to the man4 ,a certain set of highly ingenious resources are1 with the ,prefect1 a sort of ,procrustean bed to which he forcibly adapts his designs4 ,but he perpetually errs by being too deep or too shallow for the matter in hand2 and many a schoolboy is a better reasoner than he4 ,i knew one about eight years of age1 whose success at guessing in the game of #8even and odd' attracted universal admiration4 ,this game is simple1 and is played with marbles4 ,one player holds in his hand a number of these toys1 and demands of another whether that number is even or odd4 ,if the guess is right1 the guesser wins one2 if wrong1 he loses one4 ,the boy to whom ,i allude won all the marbles of the school4 ,of course he had some principle of guessing2 and this lay in mere observation and admeasurement of the astuteness of his opponents4 ,for example an arrant simpleton is his opponent1 and1 holding up his closed hand asks1 #8,are they even or odd8' ,our schoolboy replies1 #8,odd1' and loses2 but upon the second trial he wins1 for he then says to himself1 #8,the simpleton had them even upon the first trial1 and his amount of cunning is just sufficient to make him have them odd upon the second2 ,i will therefore guess odd2' he guesses odd1 and wins4 ,now1 with a simpleton a degree above the first1 he would have reasoned thus3 #8,this fellow finds that in the first instance ,i guessed odd1 and in the second he will propose to himself1 upon the first impulse1 a simple variation from even to odd1 as did the first simpleton2 but then a second thought will suggest that this is too simple a variation1 and finally he will decide upon putting it even as before4 ,i will therefore guess even2' he guesses even1 and wins4 ,now this mode of reasoning in the schoolboy1 whom his fellows term #8lucky'--what1 in its last analysis1 is it80 ,sidenote3 ,reduced to untechnical language4 #ie4 8,it is merely10 ,i said1 8an identification of the reasoner's intellect with that of his opponent40 ,sidenote3 ,compare with ,barrie's statement on p4 #bag4 ,sidenote3 #a and #b1 ,french authors and moralists2 #c1 astute ,italian statesman2 #d1 ,italian thinker4 #if4 8,it is10 said ,dupin2 8and1 upon inquiring of the boy by what means he effected the thorough identification in which his success consisted1 ,i received answer as follows3 #8,when ,i wish to find out how wise1 or how stupid1 or how good1 or how wicked is any one1 or what are his thoughts at the moment1 ,i fashion the expression of my face1 as accurately as possible1 in accordance with the expression of his1 and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart1 as if to match or correspond with the expression4' ,this response of the schoolboy lies at the bottom of all the spurious profundity which has been attributed to ,rochefoucauld1 to ,la ,bruyre1 to ,machiavelli1 and to ,campanella40 #ig4 8,and the identification10 ,i said1 8of the reasoner's intellect with that of his opponent's1 depends1 if ,i understand you aright1 upon the accuracy with which the opponent's intellect is admeasured40 ,sidenote3 ,analysis4 ,sidenote3 ,observe how fond ,poe is of long paragraphs4 ,sidenote3 ,astute comment4 ,sidenote3 ,note the length of this paragraph4 ,sidenote3 ,a cumbersomely long sentence4 ,sidenote3 ,recherchs--carefully sought out4 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8hidden40 ,sidenote3 8,the undistributed middle0 is a form of logical fallacy4 #ih4 8,for its practical value it depends upon this10 replied ,dupin1 8and the ,prefect and his cohort fail so frequently1 first1 by default of this identification1 and secondly1 by ill-admeasurement1 or rather through non-admeasurement1 of the intellect with which they are engaged4 ,they consider only their own ideas of ingenuity2 and1 in searching for anything hidden1 advert only to the modes in which they would have hidden it4 ,they are right in this much--that their own ingenuity is a faithful representative of that of the mass2 but when the cunning of the individual felon is diverse in character from their own1 the felon foils them1 of course4 ,this always happens when it is above their own1 and very usually when it is below4 ,they have no variation of principle in their investigations2 at best1 when urged by some unusual emergency1 by some extraordinary reward1 they extend or exaggerate their old modes of practice1 without touching their principles4 ,what1 for example1 in this case of ,d----1 has been done to vary the principle of action8 ,what is all this boring1 and probing1 and sounding1 and scrutinizing with the microscope1 and dividing the surface of the building into registered square inches--what is it all but an exaggeration of the application of the one principle or set of principles of search1 which are based upon the one set of notions regarding human ingenuity1 to which the ,prefect1 in the long routine of his duty1 has been accustomed8 ,do you not see he has taken it for granted that all men proceed to conceal a letter--not exactly in a gimlet-hole bored in a chair leg--but1 at least1 in some out of the way hole or corner suggested by the same tenor of thought which would urge a man to secrete a letter in a gimlet-hole bored in a chair leg8 ,and do you not see1 also1 that such recherchs nooks for concealment are adapted only for ordinary occasions and would be adopted only by ordinary intellects2 for1 in all cases of concealment1 a disposal of the article concealed--a disposal of it in this recherch manner--is1 in the very first instance1 presumable and presumed2 and thus its discovery depends1 not at all upon the acumen1 but altogether upon the mere care1 patience1 and determination of the seekers2 and where the case is of importance--or1 what amounts to the same thing in policial eyes1 when the reward is of magnitude--the qualities in question have never been known to fail4 ,you will now understand what ,i meant in suggesting that1 had the purloined letter been hidden anywhere within the limits of the ,prefect's examination--in other words1 had the principle of its concealment been comprehended within the principles of the ,prefect1 its discovery would have been a matter altogether beyond question4 ,this functionary1 however1 has been thoroughly mystified2 and the remote source of his defeat lies in the supposition that the minister is a fool because he has acquired renown as a poet4 ,all fools are poets2 this the ,prefect feels2 and he is merely guilty of a non distributio medii in thence inferring that all poets are fools40 ,sidenote3 ,note the following series of unusual statements4 #ii4 8,but is this really the poet80 ,i asked4 8,there are two brothers1 ,i know2 and both have attained reputation in letters4 ,the minister1 ,i believe1 has written learnedly on the ,differential ,calculus4 ,he is a mathematician and no poet40 #ajj4 8,you are mistaken2 ,i know him well2 he is both4 ,as poet and mathematician he would reason well2 as mere mathematician he could not have reasoned at all1 and thus would have been at the mercy of the ,prefect40 #aja4 8,you surprise me10 ,i said1 8by these opinions1 which have been contradicted by the voice of the world4 ,you do not mean to set at naught the well-digested idea of centuries4 ,the mathematical reason has long been regarded as the reason par excellence40 ,sidenote3 8,it may be said that every public idea1 every received convention1 is a piece of stupidity1 for it has suited the greater number40--,,nicolas ,,chamfort4 ,sidenote3 ,this whole section of the story triumphs notwithstanding its undue length of learned discussion and its formal diction4 ,it must be admitted that in these respects the present-day short-story is in advance of ,poe4 ,a number of paragraphs here fail to advance the narration as fiction4 #ajb4 8#8,il y a parier1'0 replied ,dupin1 quoting from ,chamfort1 8#8que toute ide publique1 toute convention reue1 est une sottise1 car elle a convenu au plus grand nombre4' ,the mathematicians1 ,i grant you1 have done their best to promulgate the popular error to which you allude1 and which is none the less an error for its promulgation as truth4 ,with an art worthy a better cause1 for example1 they have insinuated the term #8analysis' into application to algebra4 ,the ,french are the originators of this practical deception2 but if a term is of any importance--if words derive any value from applicability--then #8analysis' conveys #8algebra1' about as much as1 in ,latin1 #8ambitus' implies #8ambition1' #8religio1' #8religion1' or #8homines honesti1' a set of honorable men40 #ajc4 8,you have a quarrel on hand1 ,i see10 said ,i1 8with some of the algebraists of ,paris2 but proceed40 ,sidenote3 ,unusual form4 ,throughout1 note ,poe's unusual choice of words4 ,sidenote3 ,as a piece of pure reasoning this long treatise is not without its defects1 but it does bring out--though too laboriously to please--the point at which ,dupin is driving4 ,sidenote3 ,jacob ,bryant4 ,sidenote3 ,he speaks figuratively4 ,sidenote3 ,a striking satire4 ,sidenote3 ,more satire4 #ajd4 8,i dispute the availability1 and thus the value of that reason which is cultivated in any especial form other than the abstractly logical4 ,i dispute1 in particular1 the reason educed by mathematical study4 ,the mathematics are the science of form and quantity2 mathematical reasoning is merely logic applied to observation upon form and quantity4 ,the great error lies in supposing that even the truths of what is called pure algebra are abstract or general truths4 ,and this error is so egregious that ,i am confounded at the universality with which it has been received4 ,mathematical axioms are not axioms of general truth4 ,what is true of relation--of form and quantity--is often grossly false in regard to morals1 for example4 ,in this latter science it is very usually untrue that the aggregated parts are equal to the whole4 ,in chemistry1 also1 the axiom fails4 ,in the consideration of motive it fails2 for two motives1 each of a given value1 have not1 necessarily1 a value when united equal to the sum of their values apart4 ,there are numerous other mathematical truths which are only truths within the limits of relation4 ,but the mathematician argues1 from his finite truths1 through habit1 as if they were of an absolutely general applicability--as the world indeed imagines them to be4 ,bryant1 in his very learned #8,mythology1' mentions an analogous source of error1 when he says that #8although the ,pagan fables are not believed1 yet we forget ourselves continually1 and make inferences from them as existing realities4' ,with the algebraists1 however1 who are ,pagans themselves1 the #8,pagan fables' are believed and the inferences are made1 not so much through lapse of memory as through an unaccountable addling of the brains4 ,in short1 ,i never yet encountered the mere mathematician who could be trusted out of equal roots1 or one who did not clandestinely hold it as a point of his faith that x#b px was absolutely and unconditionally equal to q4 ,say to one of these gentlemen1 by way of experiment1 if you please1 that you believe occasions may occur where x#b px is not altogether equal to q1 and1 having made him understand what you mean1 get out of his reach as speedily as convenient1 for beyond doubt he will endeavor to knock you down40 ,sidenote3 ,note the force of 8last40 ,sidenote3 ,a return from the special argument to the practical4 ,sidenote3 ,application of the foregoing principles4 ,sidenote3 ,a difficult point explained4 ,sidenote3 ,note the unusual use of 8to10 instead of 8at40 ,sidenote3 ,is this probable8 ,sidenote3 ,compare #ie4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 ,compare #aj4 #aje4 8,i mean to say10 continued ,dupin1 while ,i merely laughed at his last observations1 8that if the minister had been no more than a mathematician the ,prefect would have been under no necessity of giving me this check4 ,i knew him1 however1 as both mathematician and poet1 and my measures were adapted to his capacity with reference to the circumstances by which he was surrounded4 ,i knew him as courtier1 too1 and as a bold intriguant4 ,such a man1 ,i considered1 could not fail to be aware of the ordinary policial modes of action4 ,he could not have failed to anticipate--and events have proved that he did not fail to anticipate--the waylayings to which he was subjected4 ,he must have foreseen1 ,i reflected1 the secret investigations of his premises4 ,his frequent absences from home at night1 which were hailed by the ,prefect as certain aids to his success1 ,i regarded only as ruses1 to afford opportunity for thorough search to the police1 and thus the sooner to impress them with the conviction to which ,g----1 in fact1 did finally arrive--the conviction that the letter was not upon the premises4 ,i felt1 also1 that the whole train of thought1 which ,i was at some pains in detailing to you just now1 concerning the invariable principle of policial action in searches for articles concealed--,i felt that this whole train of thought would necessarily pass through the mind of the minister4 ,it would imperatively lead him to despise all the ordinary nooks of concealment4 ,he could not1 ,i reflected1 be so weak as not to see that the most intricate and remote recess of his hotel would be as open as his commonest closets to the eyes1 to the probes1 to the gimlets1 and to the microscopes of the ,prefect4 ,i saw1 in fine1 that he would be driven1 as a matter of course1 to simplicity1 if not deliberately induced to it as a matter of choice4 ,you will remember1 perhaps1 how desperately the ,prefect laughed when ,i suggested1 upon our first interview1 that it was just possible this mystery troubled him so much on account of its being so very self-evident40 #ajf4 8,yes10 said ,i1 8,i remember his merriment well4 ,i really thought he would have fallen into convulsions40 ,sidenote3 ,a return to philosophising4 ,sidenote3 ,force of inertia4 ,sidenote3 ,this inquiry is the heart of the inference4 #ajg4 8,the material world10 continued ,dupin1 8abounds with very strict analogies to the immaterial2 and thus some color of truth has been given to the rhetorical dogma1 that metaphor1 or simile1 may be made to strengthen an argument1 as well as to embellish a description4 ,the principle of the vis inerti1 for example1 seems to be identical in physics and metaphysics4 ,it is not more true in the former1 that a large body is with more difficulty set in motion than a smaller one1 and that its subsequent momentum is commensurate with this difficulty1 than it is1 in the latter1 that intellects of the vaster capacity1 while more forcible1 more constant1 and more eventful in their movements than those of inferior grade1 are yet the less readily moved1 and more embarrassed and full of hesitation in the first few steps of their progress4 ,again3 have you ever noticed which of the street signs over the shop doors are the most attractive of attention80 #ajh4 8,i have never given the matter a thought10 ,i said4 ,sidenote3 ,illustrative example4 ,sidenote3 ,note the diction4 ,sidenote3 ,compare #id and #ih4 ,sidenote3 ,summary of 0accusation0 against the ,prefect's sagacity4 #aji4 8,there is a game of puzzles10 he resumed1 8which is played upon a map4 ,one party playing requires another to find a given word--the name of town1 river1 state1 or empire--any word1 in short1 upon the motley and perplexed surface of the chart4 ,a novice in the game generally seeks to embarrass his opponents by giving them the most minutely lettered names2 but the adept selects such words as stretch in large characters from one end of the chart to the other4 ,these1 like the over-largely lettered signs and placards of the street1 escape observation by dint of being excessively obvious2 and here the physical oversight is precisely analogous with the moral inapprehension by which the intellect suffers to pass unnoticed those considerations which are too obtrusively and too palpably self-evident4 ,but this is a point1 it appears1 somewhat above or beneath the understanding of the ,prefect4 ,he never once thought it probable1 or possible1 that the minister had deposited the letter immediately beneath the nose of the whole world1 by way of best preventing any portion of that world from perceiving it4 ,sidenote3 ,note the alliteration4 ,sidenote3 ,climax of ,dupin's inferential reasoning4 ,sidenote3 ,,beginning ,,of ,,real ,,plot4 ,sidenote3 ,,incident ,,of ,,dupin',s ,,story4 ,sidenote3 ,from this point the narration is free from the formalities of expression which mar the central section of the story4 ,these1 however1 were a characteristic of ,poe and his era4 ,sidenote3 ,note the use of 8now40 #aaj4 8,but the more ,i reflected upon the daring1 dashing1 and discriminating ingenuity of ,d----2 upon the fact that the document must always have been at hand1 if he intended to use it to good purpose2 and upon the decisive evidence1 obtained by the ,prefect1 that it was not hidden within the limits of that dignitary's ordinary search--the more satisfied ,i became that1 to conceal this letter1 the minister had resorted to the comprehensive and sagacious expedient of not attempting to conceal it at all4 #aaa4 8,full of these ideas1 ,i prepared myself with a pair of green spectacles1 and called one fine morning1 quite by accident1 at the ministerial hotel4 ,i found ,d---- at home1 yawning1 lounging1 and dawdling1 as usual1 and pretending to be in the last extremity of ennui4 ,he is1 perhaps1 the most really energetic human being now alive--but that is only when nobody sees him4 #aab4 8,to be even with him1 ,i complained of my weak eyes1 and lamented the necessity of the spectacles1 under cover of which ,i cautiously and thoroughly surveyed the whole apartment1 while seemingly intent only upon the conversation of my host4 #aac4 8,i paid especial attention to a large writing-table near which he sat1 and upon which lay confusedly some miscellaneous letters and other papers1 with one or two musical instruments and a few books4 ,here1 however1 after a long and very deliberate scrutiny1 ,i saw nothing to excite particular suspicion4 ,sidenote3 ,dupin's reasoning sustained4 #aad4 8,at length my eyes1 in going the circuit of the room1 fell upon a trumpery filigree card-rack of paste-board1 that hung dangling1 by a dirty blue ribbon1 from a little brass knob just beneath the middle of the mantelpiece4 ,in this rack1 which had three or four compartments1 were five or six visiting cards and a solitary letter4 ,this last was much soiled and crumpled4 ,it was torn nearly in two1 across the middle--as if a design1 in the first instance1 to tear it entirely up as worthless had been altered1 or stayed1 in the second4 ,it had a large black seal1 bearing the ,d---- cipher very conspicuously1 and was addressed1 in a diminutive female hand1 to ,d----1 the minister himself4 ,it was thrust carelessly1 and even1 as it seemed1 contemptuously1 into one of the uppermost divisions of the rack4 ,sidenote3 ,throughout1 ,poe used punctuation more freely than is now the custom4 ,sidenote3 ,it was the custom in earlier times simply to fold a letter1 seal it with a wafer1 and address it on the back1 which was allowed to remain otherwise blank4 ,this accounts for there being no reference to an envelope1 and also for the refolding of the letter4 #aae4 8,no sooner had ,i glanced at this letter than ,i concluded it to be that of which ,i was in search4 ,to be sure1 it was1 to all appearance1 radically different from the one of which the ,prefect had read us so minute a description4 ,here the seal was large and black1 with the ,d---- cipher2 there it was small and red1 with the ducal arms of the ,s---- family4 ,here the address1 to the minister1 was diminutive and feminine2 there1 the superscription1 to a certain royal personage1 was markedly bold and decided2 the size alone formed a point of correspondence4 ,but1 then1 the radicalness of these differences1 which was excessive2 the dirt1 the soiled and torn condition of the paper1 so inconsistent with the true methodical habits of ,d----1 and so suggestive of a design to delude the beholder into an idea of the worthlessness of the document2 these things1 together with the hyper-obtrusive situation of this document1 full in the view of every visitor1 and thus exactly in accordance with the conclusions to which ,i had previously arrived2 these things1 ,i say1 were strongly corroborative of suspicion1 in one who came with the intention to suspect4 ,sidenote3 ,note use of 8fold0 and its derivatives4 ,sidenote3 ,a good device4 #aaf4 8,i protracted my visit as long as possible1 and while ,i maintained a most animated discussion with the minister1 upon a topic which ,i knew well had never failed to interest and excite him1 ,i kept my attention really riveted upon the letter4 ,in this examination1 ,i committed to memory its external appearance and arrangement in the rack2 and also fell1 at length1 upon a discovery which set at rest whatever trivial doubt ,i might have entertained4 ,in scrutinizing the edges of the paper1 ,i observed them to be more chafed than seemed necessary4 ,they presented the broken appearance which is manifested when a stiff paper1 having been once folded and pressed with a folder1 is refolded in a reversed direction1 in the same creases or edges which had formed the original fold4 ,this discovery was sufficient4 ,it was clear to me that the letter had been turned1 as a glove1 inside out1 re-directed1 and re-sealed4 ,i bade the minister good-morning1 and took my departure at once1 leaving a gold snuff-box upon the table4 ,sidenote3 ,,apparent ,,full ,,climax4 #aag4 8,the next morning ,i called for the snuff-box1 when we resumed1 quite eagerly1 the conversation of the preceding day4 ,while thus engaged1 however1 a loud report1 as if of a pistol1 was heard immediately beneath the windows of the hotel1 and was succeeded by a series of fearful screams1 and the shoutings of a mob4 ,d---- rushed to a casement1 threw it open1 and looked out4 ,in the meantime1 ,i stepped to the card-rack1 took the letter1 put it in my pocket1 and replaced it by a facsimile 7so far as regards externals7 which ,i had carefully prepared at my lodgings--imitating the ,d---- cipher very readily by means of a seal formed of bread4 ,sidenote3 ,concluding explanations4 ,sidenote3 ,note how the climax of ,dupin's story also serves as the climax of the ,prefect's earlier statement of the problem and his efforts to solve it4 #aah4 8,the disturbance in the street had been occasioned by the frantic behavior of a man with a musket4 ,he had fired it among a crowd of women and children4 ,it proved1 however1 to have been without ball1 and the fellow was suffered to go his way as a lunatic or a drunkard4 ,when he had gone1 ,d---- came from the window1 whither ,i had followed him immediately upon securing the object in view4 ,soon afterwards ,i bade him farewell4 ,the pretended lunatic was a man in my own pay40 #aai4 8,but what purpose had you10 ,i asked1 8in replacing the letter by a facsimile8 ,would it not have been better1 at the first visit1 to have seized it openly and departed80 ,sidenote3 ,in the interest in ,dupin's reasoning and its results we have lost sight of the real importance of the letter4 ,sidenote3 ,is 8was0 correct8 ,sidenote3 ,the descent to ,avernus 7the fabled entrance to the ,infernal ,regions7 is easy4 ,sidenote3 ,monster to be shuddered at4 #abj4 8,d----10 replied ,dupin1 8is a desperate man1 and a man of nerve4 ,his hotel1 too1 is not without attendants devoted to his interest4 ,had ,i made the wild attempt you suggest ,i might never have left the ministerial presence alive4 ,the good people of ,paris might have heard of me no more4 ,but ,i had an object apart from these considerations4 ,you know my political prepossessions4 ,in this matter ,i act as a partisan of the lady concerned4 ,for eighteen months the minister has had her in his power4 ,she has now him in hers--since1 being unaware that the letter is not in his possession1 he will proceed with his exactions as if it was4 ,thus will he inevitably commit himself at once to his political destruction4 ,his downfall1 too1 will not be more precipitate than awkward4 ,it is all very well to talk about the facilis descensus ,averni2 but in all kinds of climbing1 as ,catalani said of singing1 it is far more easy to get up than to come down4 ,in the present instance ,i have no sympathy--at least no pity--for him who descends4 ,he is that monstrum horrendum1 an unprincipled man of genius4 ,i confess1 however1 that ,i should like very well to know the precise character of his thoughts1 when1 being defied by her whom the ,prefect terms #8a certain personage1' he is reduced to opening the letter which ,i left for him in the card-rack40 #aba4 8,how8 ,did you put anything particular in it80 ,sidenote3 ,,real ,,climax4 #abb4 8,why1 it did not seem altogether right to leave the interior blank--that would have been insulting4 ,d----1 at ,vienna1 once did me an evil turn1 which ,i told him1 quite good-humoredly1 ,i should remember4 ,so1 as ,i knew he would feel some curiosity in regard to the identity of the person who had outwitted him1 ,i thought it a pity not to give him a clew4 ,he is well acquainted with my ,,ms41 and ,i just copied into the middle of the blank sheet the words3-- #8---- ,un dessein si funeste1 ,s'il n'est digne d',atre1 est digne de ,thyeste4' ,sidenote3 ,a design so baleful1 if not worthy of ,atreus1 is worthy of ,thyestes4 ,they are to be found in ,crbillon's #8,atre4'0 ,,jacobs ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,william ,wymark ,jacobs was born in ,london1 ,september #h1 #ahfc1 the son of ,william ,gage ,jacobs4 ,he was educated at private schools1 and entered the employ of the ,post ,office ,savings ,bank at sixteen4 ,four years later he secured a regular clerkship there4 ,he began his literary career at the age of twenty-one with a contribution to the ,blackfriars ,magazine1 a publication conducted by the clerks at the ,post ,office1 and from that he was led to contributing articles to various ,london papers1 though he retained his ,civil ,service position until #ahii4 ,his remarkable acquaintance with nautical subjects1 and characters of the coasting trade and seaport wharves1 was acquired during several years spent in ,wapping1 while his father was wharfinger there1 as during that period the younger ,jacobs was brought into contact with many seamen and wharf hands1 and came to know many of them very well4 ,in #aijj he married ,agnes ,eleanor ,williams4 ,some of ,jacobs' most popular collections of stories are ,many ,cargoes2 ,more ,cargoes2 ,short ,cruises2 ,odd ,craft2 ,captains ,all2 ,light ,freights2 and ,the ,lady of the ,barge4 ,his longer stories include ,a ,master of ,craft1 ,dialstone ,lane2 ,salthaven1 and ,at ,sunwich ,port4 ,mr4 ,jacobs is known mostly by his delightfully quaint and humorous character delineations of river1 shore1 and sea-faring folk4 ,the remarkable short-story given herewith1 however1 is of a very different sort and discloses a mastery of the weird1 of the supernatural1 which is not surpassed in the whole short-story field4 ,with a sureness of character-drawing which is nothing short of amazing in a humorist1 he outlines scene and actors1 and when the crises are reached--so completely is all visualized--we are able to infer the swift-moving climax with scarce the need of a word4 8,the ,monkey's ,paw0 is one of the most dramatically poignant stories of the supernatural ever written1 and invites us to a closer study of its gifted and versatile author4 ,it a sea-life is a man's life4 ,it teaches self-restraint and discipline and the art of governing men4 ,it is a fine1 healthy life that breeds men4 ,all that ,i mean to say is that distance lends enchantment to the view1 and that the essential romance and comedy of the life of those who go down to the sea in ships are intensified in the perspective of years4--,w4 ,w4 ,,jacobs1 ,london ,daily ,chronicle4 ,londoners1 in particular1 should hail him with applause1 for he has done more than make them laugh2 he has added character to their river4 ,henceforward no one who has read ,many ,cargoes will look at a passing barge with an apathetic gaze4 ,he will see before him not merely a vehicle of porterage1 but a hot-bed of liquorish and acceptable sarcasm4--,academy 7,london74 ,mr4 ,jacobs has two great gifts3 one is the power to place a simple-minded man in a corner1 excite our sympathies for him1 magnify his embarrassments1 and keep us engrossed all the time4444 ,but we do not consider that herein lies ,mr4 ,jacobs's special distinction4444 ,it is in his eye for character1 his knowledge of a certain kind of human nature1 his genius for the little touches1 as we prefer to call them1 that ,mr4 ,jacobs stands out so notably4 ,no one now writing can manage the little touches as ,mr4 ,jacobs can1 at once so naturally1 so truthfully1 so usefully1 and so joyously4444 ,none of them actually helps the plot1 but every one of them is so much added to the characters and conditions of the story4--,,ibid4 ,we cannot think of any other books with which to compare ,mr4 ,jacobs's1 because there are none just like them4 ,to-day a number of the best and brightest ,english and ,american writers seem to be getting their inspiration from the sea4444 ,each one of these has his own particular field1 and in presenting the humour of the sailor's life and environment no one approaches ,mr4 ,jacobs4--,,bookman 7,new ,york74 ,we are acquainted with one pronounced pessimist1 who maintains defiantly and aggressively that he never reads anything in the nature of modern fiction4 8,except1 of course10 he adds1 8the short stories of ,w4 ,w4 ,jacobs1 which certainly make me laugh44440 ,we are inclined to believe that there are a number of men who are of the same mind in regard to the work of ,mr4 ,jacobs4 ,yet we do not think that his most ardent admirer1 after having laid aside one of his books for three days1 would be able to give more than the vaguest description of the tales contained therein4 ,to this rule there are1 however1 several exceptions4 8,the ,monkey's ,paw10 as grewsome a story as has appeared for years1 was one4--,,ibid4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,jacobs ,sketch of ,w4 ,w4 ,jacobs1 ,current ,literature1 vol4 #bf1 #aag2 ,his ,work1 ,academy1 vol4 #eb1 #dif2 ,living ,age1 vol4 #bah1 #cff2 ,strand1 vol4 #af1 #fgf2 ,w4 ,w4 ,jacobs1 ,book ,news1 vol4 #ai2 ,the ,little ,touches 7,review of ,a ,master of ,craft71 ,academy1 vol4 #ei2 ,a ,new ,humorist1 ,spectator1 vol4 #gh2 ,more ,cargoes 7,review71 ,public ,opinion1 vol4 #be2 ,the ,skipper's ,wooing 7,review71 ,saturday ,review1 vol4 #hd4 ,,for ,,analysis ,,the ,,monkey',s ,,paw#ai ,,by ,w4 ,w4 ,,jacobs ,i ,without1 the night was cold and wet1 but in the small parlour of ,laburnam ,villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly4 ,father and son were at chess1 the former1 who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes1 putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire4 #b4 8,hark at the wind10 said ,mr4 ,white1 who having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late1 was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it4 #c4 8,i'm listening10 said the latter1 grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand4 8,check40 #d4 8,i should hardly think that he'd come to-night10 said his father1 with his hand poised over the board4 #e4 8,mate10 replied the son4 #f4 8,that's the worst of living so far out10 bawled ,mr4 ,white1 with sudden and unlooked-for violence2 8of all the beastly1 slushy1 out-of-the-way places to live in1 this is the worst4 ,pathway's a bog1 and the road's a torrent4 ,i don't know what people are thinking about4 ,i suppose because only two houses in the road are let1 they think it doesn't matter40 #g4 8,never mind1 dear10 said his wife1 soothingly2 8perhaps you'll win the next one40 #h4 ,mr4 ,white looked up sharply1 just in time to intercept a knowing glance between mother and son4 ,the words died away on his lips1 and he hid a guilty grin in his thin grey beard4 #i4 8,there he is10 said ,herbert ,white1 as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door4 #aj4 ,the old man rose with hospitable haste1 and opening the door1 was heard condoling with the new arrival4 ,the new arrival also condoled with himself1 so that ,mrs4 ,white said1 8,tut1 tut60 and coughed gently as her husband entered the room1 followed by a tall1 burly man1 beady of eye and rubicund of visage4 #aa4 8,sergeant-,major ,morris10 he said1 introducing him4 #ab4 ,the sergeant-major shook hands1 and taking the proffered seat by the fire1 watched contentedly while his host got out whiskey and tumblers and stood a small copper kettle on the fire4 #ac4 ,at the third glass his eyes got brighter1 and he began to talk1 the little family circle regarding with eager interest this visitor from distant parts1 as he squared his broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of wild scenes and doughty deeds2 of wars and plagues and strange peoples4 #ad4 8,twenty-one years of it10 said ,mr4 ,white1 nodding at his wife and son4 8,when he went away he was a slip of a youth in the warehouse4 ,now look at him40 #ae4 8,he don't look to have taken much harm10 said ,mrs4 ,white1 politely4 #af4 8,i'd like to go to ,india myself10 said the old man1 8just to look round a bit1 you know40 #ag4 8,better where you are10 said the sergeant-major1 shaking his head4 ,he put down the empty glass1 and sighing softly1 shook it again4 #ah4 8,i should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers10 said the old man4 8,what was that you started telling me the other day about a monkey's paw or something1 ,morris80 #ai4 8,nothing10 said the soldier1 hastily4 8,leastways nothing worth hearing40 #bj4 8,monkey's paw80 said ,mrs4 ,white1 curiously4 #ba4 8,well1 it's just a bit of what you might call magic1 perhaps10 said the sergeant-major1 offhandedly4 #bb4 ,his three listeners leaned forward eagerly4 ,the visitor absentmindedly put his empty glass to his lips and then set it down again4 ,his host filled it for him4 #bc4 8,to look at10 said the sergeant-major1 fumbling in his pocket1 8it's just an ordinary little paw1 dried to a mummy40 #bd4 ,he took something out of his pocket and proffered it4 ,mrs4 ,white drew back with a grimace1 but her son1 taking it1 examined it curiously4 #be4 8,and what is there special about it80 inquired ,mr4 ,white as he took it from his son1 and having examined it1 placed it upon the table4 #bf4 8,it had a spell put on it by an old fakir10 said the sergeant-major1 8a very holy man4 ,he wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives1 and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow4 ,he put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it40 #bg4 ,his manner was so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter jarred somewhat4 #bh4 8,well1 why don't you have three1 sir80 said ,herbert ,white1 cleverly4 #bi4 ,the soldier regarded him in the way that middle age is wont to regard presumptuous youth4 8,i have10 he said1 quietly1 and his blotchy face whitened4 #cj4 8,and did you really have the three wishes granted80 asked ,mrs4 ,white4 #ca4 8,i did10 said the sergeant-major1 and his glass tapped against his strong teeth4 #cb4 8,and has anybody else wished80 persisted the old lady4 #cc4 8,the first man had his three wishes4 ,yes10 was the reply2 8,i don't know what the first two were1 but the third was for death4 ,that's how ,i got the paw40 #cd4 ,his tones were so grave that a hush fell upon the group4 #ce4 8,if you've had your three wishes1 it's no good to you now1 then1 ,morris10 said the old man at last4 8,what do you keep it for80 #cf4 ,the soldier shook his head4 8,fancy1 ,i suppose10 he said1 slowly4 8,i did have some idea of selling it1 but ,i don't think ,i will4 ,it has caused enough mischief already4 ,besides1 people won't buy4 ,they think it's a fairy tale1 some of them2 and those who do think anything of it want to try it first and pay me afterward40 #cg4 8,if you could have another three wishes10 said the old man1 eyeing him keenly1 8would you have them80 #ch4 8,i don't know10 said the other4 8,i don't know40 #ci4 ,he took the paw1 and dangling it between his forefinger and thumb1 suddenly threw it upon the fire4 ,white1 with a slight cry1 stooped down and snatched it off4 #dj4 8,better let it burn10 said the soldier1 solemnly4 #da4 8,if you don't want it1 ,morris10 said the other1 8give it to me40 #db4 8,i won't10 said his friend doggedly4 8,i threw it on the fire4 ,if you keep it1 don't blame me for what happens4 ,pitch it on the fire again like a sensible man40 #dc4 ,the other shook his head and examined his new possession closely4 8,how do you do it80 he inquired4 #dd4 8,hold it up in your right hand and wish aloud10 said the sergeant-major1 8but ,i warn you of the consequences40 #de4 8,sounds like the ,arabian ,nights10 said ,mrs4 ,white1 as she rose and began to set the supper4 8,don't you think you might wish for four pairs of hands for me80 #df4 ,her husband drew the talisman from his pocket1 and then all three burst into laughter as the sergeant-major1 with a look of alarm on his face1 caught him by the arm4 #dg4 8,if you must wish10 he said1 gruffly1 8wish for something sensible40 #dh4 ,mr4 ,white dropped it back in his pocket1 and placing chairs1 motioned his friend to the table4 ,in the business of supper the talisman was partly forgotten1 and afterward the three sat listening in an enthralled fashion to a second installment of the soldier's adventures in ,india4 #di4 8,if the tale about the monkey's paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us10 said ,herbert1 as the door closed behind their guest1 just in time for him to catch the last train1 8we shan't make much out of it40 #ej4 8,did you give him anything for it1 father80 inquired ,mrs4 ,white1 regarding her husband closely4 #ea4 8,a trifle10 said he1 colouring slightly4 8,he didn't want it1 but ,i made him take it4 ,and he pressed me again to throw it away40 #eb4 8,likely10 said ,herbert1 with pretended horror4 8,why1 we're going to be rich1 and famous and happy4 ,wish to be an emperor1 father1 to begin with2 then you can't be hen-pecked40 #ec4 ,he darted round the table1 pursued by the maligned ,mrs4 ,white armed with an antimacassar4 #ed4 ,mr4 ,white took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously4 8,i don't know what to wish for1 and that's a fact10 he said1 slowly4 8,it seems to me ,i've got all ,i want40 #ee4 8,if you only cleared the house1 you'd be quite happy1 wouldn't you80 said ,herbert1 with his hand on his shoulder4 8,well1 wish for two hundred pounds1 then2 that'll just do it40 #ef4 ,his father1 smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity1 held up the talisman1 as his son1 with a solemn face1 somewhat marred by a wink at his mother1 sat down at the piano and struck a few impressive chords4 #eg4 8,i wish for two hundred pounds10 said the old man distinctly4 #eh4 ,a fine crash from the piano greeted the words1 interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man4 ,his wife and son ran toward him4 #ei4 8,it moved10 he cried1 with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor4 #fj4 8,as ,i wished1 it twisted in my hand like a snake40 #fa4 8,well1 ,i don't see the money10 said his son as he picked it up and placed it on the table1 8and ,i bet ,i never shall40 #fb4 8,it must have been your fancy1 father10 said his wife1 regarding him anxiously4 #fc4 ,he shook his head4 8,never mind1 though2 there's no harm1 but it gave me a shock all the same40 #fd4 ,they sat down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes4 ,outside1 the wind was higher than ever1 and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging up-stairs4 ,a silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three1 which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night4 #fe4 8,i expect you'll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your bed10 said ,herbert1 as he bade them good-night1 8and something horrible squatting up on top of the wardrobe watching you as you pocket your ill-gotten gains40 #ff4 ,he sat alone in the darkness1 gazing at the dying fire1 and seeing faces in it4 ,the last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement4 ,it got so vivid that1 with a little uneasy laugh1 he felt on the table for a glass containing a little water to throw over it4 ,his hand grasped the monkey's paw1 and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to bed4 ,,ii #fg4 ,in the brightness of the wintry sun next morning as it streamed over the breakfast table he laughed at his fears4 ,there was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about the room which it had lacked on the previous night1 and the dirty1 shrivelled little paw was pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no great belief in its virtues4 #fh4 8,i suppose all old soldiers are the same10 said ,mrs4 ,white4 8,the idea of our listening to such nonsense6 ,how could wishes be granted in these days8 ,and if they could1 how could two hundred pounds hurt you1 father80 #fi4 8,might drop on his head from the sky10 said the frivolous ,herbert4 #gj4 8,morris said the things happened so naturally10 said his father1 8that you might if you so wished attribute it to coincidence40 #ga4 8,well1 don't break into the money before ,i come back10 said ,herbert as he rose from the table4 8,i'm afraid it'll turn you into a mean1 avaricious man1 and we shall have to disown you40 #gb4 ,his mother laughed1 and following him to the door1 watched him down the road2 and returning to the breakfast table1 was very happy at the expense of her husband's credulity4 ,all of which did not prevent her from scurrying to the door at the postman's knock1 nor prevent her from referring somewhat shortly to retired sergeant-majors of bibulous habits when she found that the post brought a tailor's bill4 #gc4 8,herbert will have some more of his funny remarks1 ,i expect1 when he comes home10 she said1 as they sat at dinner4 #gd4 8,i dare say10 said ,mr4 ,white1 pouring himself out some beer2 8but for all that1 the thing moved in my hand2 that ,i'll swear to40 #ge4 8,you thought it did10 said the old lady soothingly4 #gf4 8,i say it did10 replied the other4 8,there was no thought about it2 ,i had just--,what's the matter80 #gg4 ,his wife made no reply4 ,she was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside1 who1 peering in an undecided fashion at the house1 appeared to be trying to make up his mind to enter4 ,in mental connection with the two hundred pounds1 she noticed that the stranger was well dressed1 and wore a silk hat of glossy newness4 ,three times he paused at the gate1 and then walked on again4 ,the fourth time he stood with his hand upon it1 and then with sudden resolution flung it open and walked up the path4 ,mrs4 ,white at the same moment placed her hands behind her1 and hurriedly unfastening the strings of her apron1 put that useful article of apparel beneath the cushion of her chair4 #gh4 ,she brought the stranger1 who seemed ill at ease1 into the room4 ,he gazed at her furtively1 and listened in a preoccupied fashion as the old lady apologized for the appearance of the room1 and her husband's coat1 a garment which he usually reserved for the garden4 ,she then waited as patiently as her sex would permit1 for him to broach his business1 but he was at first strangely silent4 #gi4 8,i--was asked to call10 he said at last1 and stooped and picked a piece of cotton from his trousers4 8,i come from ,maw and ,meggins40 #hj4 ,the old lady started4 8,is anything the matter80 she asked1 breathlessly4 8,has anything happened to ,herbert8 ,what is it8 ,what is it80 #ha4 ,her husband interposed4 8,there1 there1 mother10 he said1 hastily4 8,sit down1 and don't jump to conclusions4 ,you've not brought bad news1 ,i'm sure1 sir20 and he eyed the other wistfully4 #hb4 8,i'm sorry--0 began the visitor4 #hc4 8,is he hurt80 demanded the mother1 wildly4 #hd4 ,the visitor bowed in assent4 8,badly hurt10 he said1 quietly1 8but he is not in any pain40 #he4 8,oh1 thank ,god60 said the old woman1 clasping her hands4 8,thank ,god for that6 ,thank--0 #hf4 ,she broke off suddenly as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned upon her and she saw the awful confirmation of her fears in the other's averted face4 ,she caught her breath1 and turning to her slower-witted husband1 laid her trembling old hand upon his4 ,there was a long silence4 #hg4 8,he was caught in the machinery10 said the visitor at length in a low voice4 #hh4 8,caught in the machinery10 repeated ,mr4 ,white1 in a dazed fashion1 8yes40 #hi4 ,he sat staring blankly out at the window1 and taking his wife's hand between his own1 pressed it as he had been wont to do in their old courting-days nearly forty years before4 #ij4 8,he was the only one left to us10 he said1 turning gently to the visitor4 8,it is hard40 #ia4 ,the other coughed1 and rising1 walked slowly to the window4 8,the firm wished me to convey their sincere sympathy with you in your great loss10 he said1 without looking round4 8,i beg that you will understand ,i am only their servant and merely obeying orders40 #ib4 ,there was no reply2 the old woman's face was white1 her eyes staring1 and her breath inaudible2 on the husband's face was a look such as his friend the sergeant might have carried into his first action4 #ic4 8,i was to say that ,maw and ,meggins disclaim all responsibility10 continued the other4 8,they admit no liability at all1 but in consideration of your son's services1 they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation40 #id4 ,mr4 ,white dropped his wife's hand1 and rising to his feet1 gazed with a look of horror at his visitor4 ,his dry lips shaped the words4 8,how much80 #ie4 8,two hundred pounds10 was the answer4 #if4 ,unconscious of his wife's shriek1 the old man smiled faintly1 put out his hands like a sightless man1 and dropped1 a senseless heap1 to the floor4 ,,iii #ig4 ,in the huge new cemetery1 some two miles distant1 the old people buried their dead1 and came back to a house steeped in shadow and silence4 ,it was all over so quickly that at first they could hardly realize it1 and remained in a state of expectation as though of something else to happen--something else which was to lighten this load1 too heavy for old hearts to bear4 #ih4 ,but the days passed1 and expectation gave place to resignation--the hopeless resignation of the old1 sometimes miscalled1 apathy4 ,sometimes they hardly exchanged a word1 for now they had nothing to talk about1 and their days were long to weariness4 #ii4 ,it was about a week after that the old man1 waking suddenly in the night1 stretched out his hand and found himself alone4 ,the room was in darkness1 and the sound of subdued weeping came from the window4 ,he raised himself in bed and listened4 #ajj4 8,come back10 he said1 tenderly4 8,you will be cold40 #aja4 8,it is colder for my son10 said the old woman1 and wept afresh4 #ajb4 ,the sound of her sobs died away on his ears4 ,the bed was warm1 and his eyes heavy with sleep4 ,he dozed fitfully1 and then slept until a sudden wild cry from his wife awoke him with a start4 #ajc4 8,the paw60 she cried wildly4 8,the monkey's paw60 #ajd4 ,he started up in alarm4 8,where8 ,where is it8 ,what's the matter80 #aje4 ,she came stumbling across the room toward him4 8,i want it10 she said1 quietly4 8,you've not destroyed it80 #ajf4 8,it's in the parlour1 on the bracket10 he replied marvelling4 8,why80 #ajg4 ,she cried and laughed together1 and bending over1 kissed his cheek4 #ajh4 8,i only just thought of it10 she said1 hysterically4 8,why didn't ,i think of it before8 ,why didn't you think of it80 #aji4 8,think of what80 he questioned4 #aaj4 8,the other two wishes10 she replied1 rapidly4 8,we've only had one40 #aaa4 8,was not that enough80 he demanded1 fiercely4 #aab4 8,no10 she cried1 triumphantly2 8we'll have one more4 ,go down and get it quickly1 and wish our boy alive again40 #aac4 ,the man sat up in bed and flung the bed-clothes from his quaking limbs4 8,good ,god1 you are mad60 he cried1 aghast4 #aad4 8,get it10 she panted2 8get it quickly1 and wish--,oh1 my boy1 my boy60 #aae4 ,her husband struck a match and lit the candle4 8,get back to bed10 he said1 unsteadily4 8,you don't know what you are saying40 #aaf4 8,we had the first wish granted10 said the old woman1 feverishly2 8why not the second80 #aag4 8,a coincidence10 stammered the old man4 #aah4 8,go and get it and wish10 cried his wife1 quivering with excitement4 #aai4 ,the old man turned and regarded her1 and his voice shook4 8,he has been dead ten days1 and besides he--,i would not tell you else1 but--,i could only recognize him by his clothing4 ,if he was too terrible for you to see then1 how now80 #abj4 8,bring him back10 cried the old woman1 and dragged him toward the door4 8,do you think ,i fear the child ,i have nursed80 #aba4 ,he went down in the darkness1 and felt his way to the parlour1 and then to the mantelpiece4 ,the talisman was in its place1 and a horrible fear that the unspoken wish might bring his mutilated son before him ere he could escape from the room seized upon him1 and he caught his breath as he found that he had lost the direction of the door4 ,his brow cold with sweat1 he felt his way round the table1 and groped along the wall until he found himself in the small passage with the unwholesome thing in his hand4 #abb4 ,even his wife's face seemed changed as he entered the room4 ,it was white and expectant1 and to his fears seemed to have an unnatural look upon it4 ,he was afraid of her4 #abc4 8,wish60 she cried in a strong voice4 #abd4 8,it is foolish and wicked10 he faltered4 #abe4 8,wish60 repeated his wife4 #abf4 ,he raised his hand4 8,i wish my son alive again40 #abg4 ,the talisman fell to the floor1 and he regarded it fearfully4 ,then he sank trembling into a chair as the old woman1 with burning eyes1 walked to the window and raised the blind4 #abh4 ,he sat until he was chilled with the cold1 glancing occasionally at the figure of the old woman peering through the window4 ,the candle-end1 which had burned below the rim of the china candle-stick1 was throwing pulsating shadows on the ceilings and walls1 until1 with a flicker larger than the rest1 it expired4 ,the old man1 with an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure of the talisman1 crept back to his bed1 and a minute or two afterward the old woman came silently and apathetically beside him4 #abi4 ,neither spoke1 but lay silently listening to the ticking of the clock4 ,a stair creaked1 and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through the wall4 ,the darkness was oppressive1 and after lying for some time screwing up his courage1 he took the box of matches1 and striking one1 went downstairs for a candle4 #acj4 ,at the foot of the stairs the match went out1 and he paused to strike another2 and at the same moment a knock1 so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible1 sounded on the front door4 #aca4 ,the matches fell from his hand and spilled in the passage4 ,he stood motionless1 his breath suspended until the knock was repeated4 ,then he turned and fled swiftly back to his room1 and closed the door behind him4 ,a third knock sounded through the house4 #acb4 8,what's that80 cried the old woman1 starting up4 #acc4 8,a rat10 said the old man in shaking tones--8a rat4 ,it passed me on the stairs40 #acd4 ,his wife sat up in bed listening4 ,a loud knock resounded through the house4 #ace4 8,it's ,herbert60 she screamed1 8,it's ,herbert60 #acf4 ,she ran to the door1 but her husband was before her1 and catching her by the arm1 held her tightly4 #acg4 8,what are you going to do80 he whispered hoarsely4 #ach4 8,it's my boy2 it's ,herbert60 she cried1 struggling mechanically4 8,i forgot it was two miles away4 ,what are you holding me for8 ,let go4 ,i must open the door40 #aci4 8,for ,god's sake don't let it in10 cried the old man1 trembling4 #adj4 8,you're afraid of your own son10 she cried1 struggling4 8,let me go4 ,i'm coming1 ,herbert2 ,i'm coming40 #ada4 ,there was another knock1 and another4 ,the old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and ran from the room4 ,her husband followed to the landing1 and called after her appealingly as she hurried downstairs4 ,he heard the chain rattle back and the bottom bolt drawn slowly and stiffly from the socket4 ,then the old woman's voice1 strained and panting4 #adb4 8,the bolt10 she cried1 loudly4 8,come down4 ,i can't reach it40 #adc4 ,but her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw4 ,if he could only find it before the thing outside got in4 ,a perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house1 and he heard the scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the door4 ,he heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back1 and at the same moment he found the monkey's paw1 and frantically breathed his third and last wish4 #add4 ,the knocking ceased suddenly1 although the echoes of it were still in the house4 ,he heard the chair drawn back1 and the door opened4 ,a cold wind rushed up the staircase1 and a long loud wail of disappointment and misery from his wife gave him courage to run down to her side1 and then to the gate beyond4 ,the street lamp flickering opposite shone on a quiet and deserted road4 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,does it add to the interest of a story1 for you1 when you are baffled by its mystery up to the very end8 #b4 ,what author's detective stories do you consider the best8 ,why8 #c4 ,if possible1 secure a copy of ,voltaire's 8,zadig10 and write a short paper on ,zadig's reasoning4 #d4 ,does the introduction of an element of the supernatural increase or lessen the interest of a story1 for you8 #e4 ,write about two-hundred words comparing 7a7 the work of ,poe's ,dupin with ,doyle's ,sherlock ,holmes2 7b7 with that of any other fictional detective--,chesterton's ,father ,brown1 for example4 #f4 ,explain what is meant by inductive reasoning4 #g4 ,select from some magazine 7a7 a good detective story1 and 7b7 a good story of the unexplained1 or supernatural4 7c7 ,discuss the relative merits of each4 #h4 ,do you prefer ,jacobs as a writer of humorous stories of sea-faring folk or as a writer of the weird8 #i4 ,which of ,poe's stories do you like best1 and why8 ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,mystery ,,and ,,fantasy 8,the ,horla10 ,guy de ,maupassant1 translated in ,modern ,ghosts4 8,the ,lost ,duchess10 ,anonymous1 in ,the ,lock and ,key ,library4 8,the ,golden ,ingot10 ,fitz-,james ,o',brien1 in ,the ,lock and ,key ,library4 8,the ,gold ,bug10 ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 in ,tales4 8,the ,black ,spaniel10 ,robert ,hichens1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,upper ,berth10 ,f4 ,marion ,crawford1 in ,short-,story ,classics1 ,american4 8,the ,adventure of the ,dancing ,men10 ,a4 ,conan ,doyle1 in ,the ,return of ,sherlock ,holmes4 8,the ,venus of ,ille10 ,prosper ,mrime1 translated in ,little ,french ,masterpieces4 8,the ,pavilion on the ,links10 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 in ,new ,arabian ,nights4 8,the ,damned ,thing10 ,ambrose ,bierce1 in ,short-,story ,classics1 ,american4 ,,footnotes3 #ai ,copyright1 #aijb1 by ,dodd1 ,mead ,co41 in the collection of short-stories1 ,the ,lady of the ,barge4 ,used by permission4 ,,iii ,,stories ,,of ,,emotion ,the ,last ,class4--,,alphonse ,,daudet ,without ,benefit of ,clergy4--,,rudyard ,,kipling ,in painting we may represent any fine figure we please2 but we never can give it those enlivening touches which it may receive from words4 ,to represent an angel in a picture1 you can only draw a beautiful young man winged3 but what painting can furnish out any thing so grand as the addition of one word1 8the angel of the ,lord84440 ,now1 as there is a moving tone of voice1 an impassioned countenance1 an agitated gesture1 which affect independently of the things about which they are exerted1 so there are words1 and certain dispositions of words1 which being peculiarly devoted to passionate subjects1 and always used by those who are under the influence of any passion1 touch and move us more than those which far more clearly and distinctly express the subject-matter4 ,we yield to sympathy what we refuse to description4--,,edmund ,,burke1 ,on the ,sublime and ,beautiful4 ,,stories ,,of ,,emotion ,fictional plots deal with the inner man quite as often as with the outer4 ,indeed1 the action of the soul is more real1 intense and interesting than mere visible action could possibly be4 ,for this reason the master story-tellers nearly always interpret the inner life--whether of thought1 of emotion1 or of decision--by displaying the outer1 instead of by merely analyzing and discussing the thoughts1 feelings and decisions of their characters4 ,the more clearly this outer action pictures the inner man1 the more real does the character become to us and the more perfectly do we grasp the whole story4 ,as a universal human experience1 emotion#bj mingles with all manifestations of life4 ,in the short-story it finds various expression in the hilarious fun of 8,pigs is ,pigs10 by ,butler2 the character humor of ,barrie's 8,thrums0 stories2 the mingled humor and pathos of ,harte's 8,the ,luck of ,roaring ,camp02 the patriotic sentiment of ,daudet's 8,the ,siege of ,berlin02 the mystic sympathy of ,kipling's 8,they02 the idyllic love of the ,book of ,ruth2 the incomparable psychological insight of ,maupassant's 8,a ,coward02 the cold1 revengeful jealousy of ,balzac's 8,la ,grande ,bretche02 the choking1 supernatural terror of ,poe's 8,the ,pit and the ,pendulum02 the tragic passion of ,mrime's 8,mateo ,falcone10 and all the myriad shades and combinations of shades which lie between4 ,naturally1 each story in this entire collection illustrates one or another emotional phase1 as even a cursory reading will make clear4 ,what1 for example1 could be more intense than the emotions of those two parents1 as depicted in 8,the ,monkey's ,paw80 ,but for this group two stories have been selected as being typical examples of emotional expression1 because in them human feeling predominates over all other characteristics and really makes the story4 8,the ,last ,class10 which is here presented in a translation by the editor of this volume1 is rich in local color1 in impressionism1 and in character drawing1 but as an unaffected picture of patriotic feeling it is unsurpassed in the literature of the short-story4 ,there is not a single jarring emotional tone1 not the slightest exaggeration of true emotional values4 ,with singular repression1 ,daudet secures his effects by suggesting rather than fully expressing the profound feelings of the school-master1 his pupils1 and the visitors2 and when the majestically simple climax is reached1 we have accepted the reality of it all and have received a single effective and lasting impression4 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy10 the second specimen1 is left for the reader to analyze and discuss4 ,surely this most sadly touching of all love-stories presents the poignant pity1 the inevitable disaster1 the final heart-break of unsanctified love1 as never before or since in the pages of fiction4 ,,daudet ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,alphonse ,daudet was born at ,nmes1 ,france1 ,may #ac1 #ahdj4 ,here and at ,lyons he received his education4 ,at the age of seventeen he and his brother ,ernest went to ,paris1 where ,alphonse published his first long poem two years later4 ,this began his literary success4 ,from #ahfj to #ahfe he served as secretary in the ,cabinet of the ,duke de ,morny1 and at the early age of twenty-five was decorated with the ,cross of the ,legion of ,honor4 ,he was profoundly impressed by the memories of his early life and frequently revisited his native ,provence4 ,the ,south-of-,france tone is distinguishable in much of his work1 just as the powerful feelings called forth by the ,franco-,prussian war find expression in other of his writings4 ,he died in ,paris1 ,december #af1 #ahig4 ,alphonse ,daudet was a dramatist1 poet1 novelist1 and short-story writer4 ,the ,nabob1 ,sappho1 ,jack1 ,kings in ,exile1 ,numa ,roumestan1 ,fromont and ,risler1 ,the ,evangelist1 and the 8,tartarin0 books are his best known novels4 ,among his best short-stories are 8,the ,pope's ,mule10 8,the ,death of the ,dauphin10 8,the ,three ,low ,masses10 8,the ,elixir of the ,reverend ,father ,gaucher10 8,old ,folks10 and 8,master ,cornille's ,secret0--all from the collection1 ,letters from ,my ,mill4 ,the following little masterpieces are from his ,monday ,tales3 8,the ,game of ,billiards10 8,the ,child ,spy10 8,the ,little ,pies10 8,mothers10 8,the ,siege of ,berlin10 and 8,the ,last ,class40 ,at the close of the ,franco-,prussian war1 in #ahga1 ,france was forced to cede to ,germany almost all of ,alsace1 about nine thousand square miles of territory1 in addition to an indemnity of one billion dollars4 8,the ,last ,class0 was held1 therefore1 about #ahgb1 and the story was first published in #ahgc4 99 99 99 99 99 ,daudet's literary genius sounded every note1 from farce1 delicate humor1 and satire1 to poetic pathos1 dramatic action1 character analysis1 and social criticism4 ,he resembled ,dickens in his humor1 but displayed more emotional tenderness1 and1 in his later work1 more satire1 than did the ,english writer4 ,though he may be called the literary descendant of ,balzac1 whose novels systematically depicted ,french society in all its phases1 ,daudet was less a social philosopher and more a man expressing his own personality through his work4 ,comparing him with ,maupassant1 we find his stories less perfect in form1 but far richer in human feeling4 ,though at times he dealt with subjects which ,english readers consider broad1 his sympathy unmistakably appears to be with his nobler characters4 ,when only ten years of age1 ,i was already haunted at times by the desire to lose my own personality1 and incarnate myself in other beings2 the mania was already laying hold of me for observing and analyzing1 and my chief amusement during my walks was to pick out some passerby1 and to follow him all over ,lyons1 through all his idle strollings or busy occupations1 striving to identify myself with his life1 and to enter into his innermost thoughts4--,,alphonse ,,daudet1 ,thirty ,years of ,paris4 ,daudet expresses many things2 but he most frequently expresses himself--his own temper in the presence of life1 his own feeling on a thousand occasions4--,,henry ,,james1 ,partial ,portraits4 ,life1 as he knows it1 is sad1 full of disappointment1 bitterness1 and suffering2 and yet the conclusion he draws from experience is that this life1 with all its sadness1 is well worth living4--,,ren ,,doumic1 ,contemporary ,french ,novelists4 ,the short stories are ,daudet at his best1 a style tense1 virile1 full of suppressed energy4444 ,there is a nobler strain in these stories than speaks from the pages of ,le ,petit ,chose 8,little ,what's-,his-,name01--the ring of passionate patriotism1 no longer the voice of ,provence1 or of ,paris1 but the voice of ,france4444 ,the touching story1 ,la ,dernire ,classe1 might have come from the lips of an ,alsatian1 so true is it to the spirit of ,alsace during those sorrowful days that followed the ,franco-,prussian ,war4--,,marion ,,mcintyre1 ,introduction to ,works4 ,daudet's two main series of stories 7,letters from ,my ,mill and ,monday ,tales7 contain between sixty and seventy pieces4444 ,they represent ,daudet the poet1 with his exquisite fancy1 his winning charm1 his subtle1 indescribable style1 his susceptibility to all that is lovely and joyous in nature and in human life2 in short1 in his sunny1 mercurial ,provenal temperament4444 ,but there was another ,daudet more or less superimposed upon this sunny1 poetic ,daudet1 true child of ,provence4 ,upon few ,frenchmen of a generation ago did the terrible years of the ,franco-,prussian ,war and the ,commune produce a more sobering impression4 ,the romanticist and poet deepened into a realistic observer of human life in all its phases4--,w4 ,p4 ,,trent1 ,introduction to the volume on ,daudet1 in ,little ,french ,masterpieces4 ,the charm reflected in his works lay in the man himself1 and earned for him a host of friends and an unclouded domestic life--it lay in his open1 sunny1 inconsequent1 southern nature1 with his quick sympathies1 his irony at once forcible and delicate1 his ready tears4 ,it lay in the spontaneousness of his talent1 in his ,provenal gift of improvisation4444 ,and it lay1 too1 in what was an essential characteristic of his nature1 his rapid alternation of mood4 ,take even the slightest of his ,contes stories4444 ,within a few pages he is in turn sad1 gay1 sentimental1 ironical1 pathetic1 and one mood glides into the next without jar or friction4--,v4 ,m4 ,,crawford1 ,studies in ,foreign ,literature4 ,his stories first of all amuse1 excite1 distress himself4444 ,he never could1 indeed1 look on them disinterestedly1 either while they were making or when they were made4 ,he made them with actual tears and laughter2 and they are read with actual tears and laughter by the crowd4444 ,but he had no philosophy behind his fantastic and yet only too probable creations4 ,caring1 as he thought1 supremely for life1 he cared really for that surprising1 bewildering pantomime which life seems to be to those who watch its coloured movement1 its flickering lights1 its changing costumes1 its powdered faces1 without looking through the eyes into the hearts of the dancers4 ,he wrote from the very midst of the human comedy2 and it is from this that he seems at times to have caught the bodily warmth and the taste of the tears and the very ring of the laughter of men and women4444--,,arthur ,,symons1 ,studies in ,prose and ,verse4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,daudet ,chats about ,books1 ,mayo ,w4 ,hazeltine 7#ahhc72 ,french ,fiction of ,to-day1 ,m4 ,s4 ,van de ,velde 7#ahia72 ,alphonse ,daudet2 a ,biographical and ,critical ,study1 ,r4 ,h4 ,sherard 7#ahid72 ,the ,literary ,movement in ,france1 ,georges ,pellissier 7#ahig72 ,literary ,likings1 ,richard ,burton 7#ahih72 ,the ,historical ,novel1 ,brander ,matthews 7#aija72 ,french ,profiles1 ,edmund ,w4 ,gosse 7#aije72 ,short-,story ,masterpieces1 ,j4 ,berg ,esenwein 7#aiab74 ,,the ,,last ,,class 7,la ,dernire ,classe7 ,,the ,,story ,,of ,a ,,little ,,alsatian ,,by ,,alphonse ,,daudet ,translation by ,the ,editor ,sidenote3 ,,introduction plunges us at once into the action4 ,there is one main incident throughout4 ,the narrator is immediately seen to be a child1 and surmised to be a boy4 ,that morning ,i was very late for school1 so ,i was terribly afraid of a scolding--particularly since ,master ,hamel had said that he would examine us on participles1 and ,i knew not the first word about them6 ,for a little while ,i thought of playing truant and wandering the fields4 #b4 ,the day was so warm1 so clear6 ,sidenote3 ,setting4 ,note how the rural community is suggested4 #c4 ,i could hear the blackbirds whistling on the border of the wood2 and back of the sawmill1 in the ,rippert field1 the ,prussian soldiers were drilling4 ,all of this was much more tempting to me than participial rules--but ,i was strong enough to resist and away to school ,i ran1 as fast as ,i could4 ,sidenote3 ,small municipalities have mayors1 in ,france4 ,sidenote3 ,the tone is struck here4 ,forecast of crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,franco-,prussian ,war4 #d4 ,as ,i passed by the mayor's office1 ,i observed that a number of people were assembled before the little board on which notices were generally posted4 ,for two years every piece of bad news had come from that board--defeats in battle1 conscriptions1 orders from headquarters--and1 without stopping1 ,i wondered3 ,sidenote3 ,forecasts a crisis4 #e4 8,what can it be this time60 ,sidenote3 ,note the ,prussian name4 ,alsace was a border province4 #f4 ,just then1 as ,i was running across the square1 ,wachter the blacksmith1 who with his apprentice stood reading the placard1 called after me3 ,sidenote3 ,hint of crisis to come4 ,,contributory ,,incident4 #g4 8,you needn't hurry so fast1 my lad1 you'll get to school soon enough60 ,sidenote3 ,the school was held in the master's house4 #h4 ,i thought he was making game of me1 and ,i kept right on1 reaching ,master ,hamel's little yard quite out of breath4 ,sidenote3 ,unusual air depicted by contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,the story proper begins4 ,sidenote3 ,an old custom4 #i4 ,ordinarily1 as school was opening1 the uproar was so great that it could be heard clear out on the street--desk-lids opening and shutting1 lessons droned aloud in unison1 pupils holding their ears shut to learn their lessons easier1 while the master's great ferrule beat upon the desks3 #aj4 8,a little quietness60 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 #aa4 ,i had counted on all this noise to enable me to reach my seat unnoticed2 but on that particular day everything was as quiet as a ,sabbath morning4 ,through the open window ,i saw my schoolmates already ranged in their places1 and ,master ,hamel pacing to and fro1 his formidable iron ferrule under his arm4 ,in the midst of that complete silence ,i had to open the door and go in6 ,you can well imagine whether ,i blushed and was afraid6 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 #ab4 ,but1 quite to the contrary1 ,master ,hamel looked at me with no sign of anger1 and then very gently said3 ,sidenote3 ,evidently a small school4 #ac4 8,go directly to your seat1 my little ,frantz--we were about to begin without you40 ,sidenote3 ,at which others were also seated4 ,sidenote3 ,all the contrasts prepare us for the crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,prussian name4 ,sidenote3 ,dazed4 #ad4 ,immediately ,i stepped over the bench and sat down at my desk4 ,only then1 when ,i had partly gotten over my fright1 did ,i observe that our master was wearing his handsome blue riding-coat1 his plaited ruff1 and his black silk embroidered breeches--worn only on inspection days or when prizes were awarded4 ,furthermore1 there was something extraordinary1 something solemn1 about the whole school4 ,but what astounded me more than anything else was to see a number of people from the village sitting1 as silent as we1 on the usually empty benches at the back of the room3 old ,father ,hauser with his three-cornered hat1 the ex-mayor1 the former postman1 besides a number of others4 ,all seemed cast down1 and ,father ,hauser had brought with him an old primer1 with chewed up leaves1 which he held wide-open up-side-down on his knees1 and lying on it his huge spectacles4 #ae4 ,while ,i was marvelling at all this1 ,master ,hamel had mounted his platform1 and in the same gentle and serious voice with which he had greeted me1 he said to us3 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,of ,,climax4 ,summary of the theme4 ,compare with ,longfellow's ,evangeline4 ,sidenote3 ,this law went into effect ,july #a1 #ahgj4 #af4 8,my children1 this is the last day that ,i shall keep school4 ,the order has come from ,berlin that nothing but ,german shall be taught in the schools of ,alsace and ,lorraine4 ,the new school-master will arrive to-morrow4 ,this is the last class in ,french--,i beg of you to be very attentive60 #ag4 ,his simple words overwhelmed me4 ,this1 then1 was the notice they had posted at the mayor's office4 ,oh1 the scoundrels6 ,sidenote3 ,the crisis becomes personal4 #ah4 ,my last lesson in ,french6 ,sidenote3 ,scarcely a paragraph but appeals to emotion in some form4 ,sidenote3 ,the ,saar flows northward into the ,moselle4 #ai4 ,and ,i was scarcely able to write6 ,then ,i was never to learn6 ,i must stop short just where ,i was6 ,how angry with myself it made me to remember the time ,i had frittered away1 and the lessons ,i had missed while hunting birds' nests or sliding on the ,saar6 ,my books now seemed to me like old comrades from whom it broke my heart to part1 and only a moment since ,i had found them--my grammar1 my sacred history--so dull1 and so heavy to carry6 ,it was just the same when ,i thought of ,master ,hamel4 ,he was going away4 ,i should never see him again--the thought made me forget all his punishments and strokes with the ferrule4 ,sidenote3 ,shift to interest in the ,master4 ,sidenote3 ,now to the villagers4 ,sidenote3 ,age indicated1 thus adding to the pathos4 ,sidenote3 ,,these ,,are ,,the ,,key ,,words4 #bj4 ,poor old man6 ,so it was in honor of that last lesson in ,french that he had donned his ,sunday best--and now ,i understood why those old folks from the village were seated at the back of the room4 ,it seemed to say they regretted that they had not visited the school oftener4 ,besides1 it was a sort of way of thanking our teacher for his forty years of devoted service1 and of showing their love for the fatherland which was passing away4 ,sidenote3 ,note how ,daudet arouses our sympathies by avoiding generalities and centering our interest upon persons4 #ba4 ,just at this point in my reflections ,i heard my name called--it was my turn to recite4 ,oh1 ,i would have given anything to be able to recite without a slip1 in a strong1 clear voice1 that celebrated rule about participles2 but at the very first words ,i grew confused and ,i only stood there at my bench swaying back and forward1 my heart swelling1 not daring to lift my head4 ,at length ,i heard ,master ,hamel saying to me3 ,sidenote3 ,ordinary rebuke is swallowed up in the great common sorrow4 ,sidenote3 ,daudet here teaches all ,france a lesson--and all nations as well4 #bb4 8,my little ,frantz1 ,i shall not scold you2 you are punished enough1 ,i think4 ,it is so with all of us2 every day we reassure ourselves3 #8,bah6 ,i have plenty of time4 ,to-morrow ,i shall learn4' ,then you see what happens4 ,alas6 it has ever been the great misfortune of our ,alsace to defer its lessons until the morrow4 ,and now these people are justified in saying to us1 #8,what1 you pretend to be ,french1 and you are able neither to speak nor to write your language6' ,but in all this you are not the most guilty one1 my poor ,frantz--we are all worthy of a full measure of self-reproach4 ,sidenote3 ,note ,m4 ,hamel's simple sincerity4 #bc4 8,your parents have not taken enough care to see that you got an education4 ,they preferred to save a few more sous by putting you to work in the fields or in the factories4 ,and ,i--have ,i nothing for which to blame myself8 ,have ,i not frequently sent you to water my garden instead of keeping you at your books8 ,or have ,i ever hesitated to dismiss school when ,i wanted to go trout-fishing80 #bd4 ,so ,master ,hamel1 passing from one theme to another1 began to speak to us about our ,french language4 ,he said that it was the most beautiful language in the whole world--the most clear1 the most substantial2 that we must ever cherish it among ourselves1 and never forget it1 for when a nation falls into bondage1 just so long as it clings to its language1 it holds the key of its prison4#ba ,sidenote3 ,the attention follows the lead of the emotions4 ,sidenote3 ,so does the teacher's skill4 #be4 ,then he took a grammar and read us our lesson4 ,i was astonished to see how readily ,i understood6 ,everything he said seemed to me so easy--so very easy4 ,i believe that never before had ,i listened so attentively1 and that he1 in turn1 had never explained things with such infinite patience4 ,it almost seemed as though the poor fellow wished to impart all his knowledge to us before he left us--to drive it all into our heads with one blow4 ,sidenote3 ,a proof of unusual absorption4 ,sidenote3 ,note the pathos of the appeal4 #bf4 ,the lesson ended1 we went on to the exercises in penmanship4 ,for that day ,master ,hamel had gotten ready some entirely new copies on which he had written in a neat1 round hand3 8,france1 ,alsace1 ,france1 ,alsace40 ,the slips of paper looked like tiny flags1 waving all about the room and hanging from the rods of our desks4 ,you should have seen how diligently everyone worked1 and how quiet it was6 ,only the scratching of the pens over the paper could be heard4 ,once some beetles flew in1 but nobody paid any attention to them--not even the very smallest chaps1 who were struggling to draw their oblique lines with a will and an application as sincere as though even the lines themselves were ,french4444 ,pigeons cooed in low tones on the roof of the schoolhouse1 and as ,i listened to them ,i thought to myself3 #bg4 8,i wonder if they are going to make them coo in ,german too60 ,sidenote3 ,a picture4 ,all of these contributory pictures stand in lieu of contributory incidents4 ,the whole is highly unified4 ,sidenote3 ,the lad reasons as a lad--to him the pathos is not for himself but for the old man4 #bh4 ,now and then1 as ,i lifted my eyes from my task1 ,i saw ,master ,hamel seated motionless in his chair1 and staring at things about him as though in that look he would carry away with him the whole of his little schoolhouse4 ,think of it6 ,for forty years he had occupied that same place1 his yard in front of him1 and his school always unchanged4 ,only the benches and desks were rubbed by use until they were polished2 the walnuts in the yard had grown large1 and the hop-vine he himself had planted now hung in festoons from the windows clear to the roof4 ,how heartbreaking it must have been for that poor man to leave all this--to hear his sister moving to and fro in the room overhead as she packed their trunks6 ,next day they were going away--to leave the fatherland forever4 #bi4 ,all the same1 he had the courage to keep the school to the very closing minute4 ,the writing over1 we had our lesson in history4 ,then the little ones sang in unison their ba1 be1 bi1 bo1 bu4 ,yonder1 at the back of the room1 old ,father ,hauser was holding his spelling-book with both hands1 and with the aid of his great spectacles he spelled out the letters--one could see that even he too was applying himself4 ,emotion shook his voice1 and to hear him was so droll that we all wanted to laugh--and to cry4 ,ah6 ,i shall always remember that last class4 ,sidenote3 ,,preparation ,,for ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,,formal ,,crisis--the end approaches4 ,sidenote3 ,note the force of this4 ,sidenote3 ,moral qualities affect the physical4 #cj4 ,suddenly the church clock sounded twelve4 ,then the ,angelus4 ,at the same instant were heard under our very windows the trumpets of the ,prussians returning from drill4 ,pale as death1 ,master ,hamel rose from his chair4 ,never had he seemed so large4 #ca4 8,my friends10 he began2 8my friends1 ,i--,i--0 #cb4 ,but something choked him4 ,he could not end the sentence4 ,sidenote3 ,note the intensity4 #cc4 ,then he turned to the blackboard1 seized a piece of chalk1 and1 bearing with all his strength1 he wrote in the largest letters he could make3 ,sidenote3 ,,full ,,climax4 #cd4 8,,vive ,,la ,,france60 #ce4 ,then he stood there1 his head leaning against the wall1 and without a word he signed to us with his hand3 #cf4 8,it is the end 444 go60 ,,kipling ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,joseph ,rudyard ,kipling was born in ,bombay1 ,india1 ,december #cj1 #ahfe1 of ,english parents1 his father1 ,j4 ,lockwood ,kipling1 an artist of ability1 having been in the colonial ,civil ,service4 ,he was educated at the ,united ,services ,college1 ,devon1 but returned to ,india in #ahhb and became an editorial writer and correspondent4 ,in #ahhi he began extensive travels4 ,for several years he resided in ,brattleboro1 ,vermont1 but returned to ,england and settled in ,rottingdean1 ,sussex4 ,rudyard ,kipling has attained celebrity as poet1 novelist1 and short-story writer4 ,his best-known poems are found in the collections entitled ,departmental ,ditties1 ,barrack-,room ,ballads1 ,the ,seven ,seas1 and ,the ,five ,nations4 ,kim is his ablest novel4 ,the two 8,jungle ,books0 constitute a remarkable collection of connected tales of the jungle folk4 ,his best short-stories are found in the following volumes3 ,soldiers ,three 7the 8,mulvaney0 stories1 8,the ,man ,who ,was10 etc471 ,the ,phantom ,rickshaw 78,the ,man ,who ,would be ,king10 8,the ,strange ,ride of ,morrowbie ,jukes10 etc471 ,wee ,willie ,winkie and ,other ,stories 78,the ,drums of the ,fore and ,aft10 8,under the ,deodars10 etc471 ,the ,day's ,work 78,the ,bridge ,builders10 8,the ,brushwood ,boy10 etc471 and ,traffic and ,discoveries 78,they10 etc474 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy0 first appeared in ,macmillan's ,magazine 7,london7 in ,june1 #ahij1 and in the ,june #gth and #adth1 #ahij1 numbers of ,harper's ,weekly 7,new ,york74 ,in the same year it was published in the volume1 ,the ,courting of ,dinah ,shadd1 and ,other ,stories1 but in #ahia it was included in the volume ,life's ,handicap3 being ,stories of ,mine ,own ,people4 99 99 99 99 99 ,rudyard ,kipling is without doubt the greatest of living short-story writers1 though in interest his later fiction does not equal his productions of the early nineties4 ,his journalistic work drilled him in compression2 his precocious intuitions and personal experience of life in ,india opened up a fresh and fascinating field2 his genius taught him how to tell his stories with unfailing variety1 a robust humor1 and an understanding of the human heart quite uncanny in one so young4 ,in style1 he is a master of the unexpected2 in narration1 he is by turns deliberate and swift2 in atmospheric painting1 he transports us to real places1 wherein real folk do real things4 ,tell them first of those things that thou hast seen and they have seen together4 ,thus their knowledge will piece out thy imperfections4 ,tell them of what thou alone hast seen1 then what thou hast heard1 and since they be children tell them of battles and kings1 horses1 devils1 elephants1 and angels1 but omit not to tell them of love and such like4 ,all the earth is full of tales to him who listens and does not drive away the poor from his door4 ,the poor are the best of tale-tellers2 for they must lay their ear to the ground every night4--,,rudyard ,,kipling1 ,preface to ,life's ,handicap4 ,the tremulous passion of ,ameera1 her hopes1 her fears1 and her agonies of disappointment1 combine to form by far the most tender page which ,mr4 ,kipling has written4--,,edmund ,,gosse1 ,questions at ,issue4 444 ,the truly appreciative reader should surely have no quarrel with the primitive element in ,mr4 ,kipling's subject-matter1 or with what1 for want of a better name1 ,i may call his love of low life4 ,what is that but essentially a part of his freshness8 ,and for what part of his freshness are we exactly more thankful than for just this smart jostle that he gives the old stupid superstition that the amiability of a story-teller is the amiability of the people he represents--that their vulgarity1 or depravity1 or gentility1 or fatuity are tantamount to the same qualities in the painter himself8--,,henry ,,james1 ,introduction to ,works4 ,it was not until 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy0 that he came to his full strength in pathetic prose4 ,the history of ,ameera is one of the triumphs of the short story4 ,its characterization is vivid2 its progress direct and poignant4 ,i do not wish even for an instant to seem to cheapen one of the most touching and beautiful stories in the world when ,i call it journalism4 ,but the voice of the desolate mother breaking into the nursery rime of the wicked crow1 8,and the wild plums grow in the jungle1 only a penny a pound1 ,only a penny a pound1 baba--only--10 and every pathetic moment1 is chosen by an inspired sense for what would most feelingly grasp the interest of the reader4 ,this is high art1 with intense feeling behind it--otherwise it would not be so excellent4 ,but it is also good journalism4--,,henry ,,seidel ,,canby1 ,the ,short-,story in ,english4 ,for ,mr4 ,kipling to write a story without some firm human touch1 however slight1 would be impossible4444 ,in his effects ,mr4 ,kipling is usually photographic 78cinematographic0 is better71 but his methods are almost invariably1 for want of a better word1 8artistic40 ,i mean that whereas the principle of selection1 which is a vital principle of art1 can operate but little in photography1 it is seen to be remarkably active in all ,mr4 ,kipling's best work4 ,his stories1 so to speak1 represent the epigram of action1 the epigram of a given situation4444 ,it is from the lives of such ,englishmen 444 that ,mr4 ,kipling has gathered so many of his vivid anecdotes4 ,a great number of them 444 are the lesser lights and darks contributing to such more serious elements of the general picture as 8,at the ,end of the ,passage10 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy10 8,in ,flood ,time10 8,the ,man ,who ,was10 behind which looms vast in the background the image of that old ,sphinx of the ,plains complete in mystery as no other writer has ever been able to suggest her4444 ,also he had written at least one love-story 78,without ,benefit of ,clergy07 that broke one's heart4444 ,for all the humour and buoyancy of his writings1 ,mr4 ,kipling is at heart a pessimist1 and1 perhaps1 his sincerest expression of opinion in regard to the government of the universe is contained in the fierce ,omarian exclamation of ,holden in 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy10 addressed to no one in particular1 but evidently meant to reach far up into the skies3 8,o you brute6 ,you utter brute60 ,so ,omar bade ,allah 8man's forgiveness give and take40--,,richard ,,le ,,gallienne1 ,rudyard ,kipling3 ,a ,criticism4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,kipling ,essays in ,little1 ,andrew ,lang 7#ahid72 ,cervantes1 ,zola1 ,kipling ,co41 in ,aspects of ,modern ,fiction1 ,brander ,matthews 7#ahif72 ,my ,contemporaries in ,fiction1 ,j4 ,d4 ,c4 ,murray 7#ahig72 ,a ,ken of ,kipling1 ,will ,m4 ,clemens 7#ahii72 ,victorian ,novelists1 ,james ,oliphant 7#ahii72 ,a ,kipling ,primer1 ,f4 ,l4 ,knowles 7#ahii72 ,the ,religion of ,mr4 ,kipling1 ,w4 ,b4 ,parker 7#ahii72 ,rudyard ,kipling1 ,a ,biographical ,sketch1 ,c4 ,e4 ,norton 7#ahii74 ,,for ,,analysis ,,without ,,benefit ,,of ,,clergy ,,by ,,rudyard ,,kipling ,before my ,spring ,i garnered ,autumn's gain1 ,out of her time my field was white with grain1 ,the year gave up her secrets to my woe4 ,forced and deflowered each sick season lay1 ,in mystery of increase and decay2 ,i saw the sunset ere men saw the day1 ,who am too wise in that ,i should not know4 ,bitter ,waters4 ,i 8,but if it be a girl80 #b4 8,lord of my life1 it cannot be4 ,i have prayed for so many nights1 and sent gifts to ,sheikh ,badl's shrine so often1 that ,i know ,god will give us a son--a man-child that shall grow into a man4 ,think of this and be glad4 ,my mother shall be his mother till ,i can take him again1 and the mullah of the ,pattan mosque shall cast his nativity--,god send he be born in an auspicious hour6--and then1 thou wilt never weary of me1 thy slave40 #c4 8,since when hast thou been a slave1 my queen80 #d4 8,since the beginning--till this mercy came to me4 ,how could ,i be sure of thy love when ,i knew that ,i had been bought with silver80 #e4 8,nay1 that was the dowry4 ,i paid it to thy mother40 #f4 8,and she has buried it1 and sits upon it all day long like a hen4 ,what talk is yours of dower6 ,i was bought as though ,i had been a ,lucknow dancing-girl instead of a child40 #g4 8,art thou sorry for the sale80 #h4 8,i have sorrowed2 but to-day ,i am glad4 ,thou wilt never cease to love me now8--answer1 my king40 #i4 8,never--never4 ,no40 #aj4 8,not even though the mem-log--the white women of thy own blood--love thee8 ,and remember1 ,i have watched them driving in the evening2 they are very fair40 #aa4 8,i have seen fire-balloons by the hundred4 ,i have seen the moon1 and--then ,i saw no more fire-balloons40 #ab4 ,ameera clapped her hands and laughed4 8,very good talk10 she said4 ,then with an assumption of great stateliness3 8,it is enough4 ,thou hast my permission to depart--if thou wilt40 #ac4 ,the man did not move4 ,he was sitting on a low red-lacquered couch in a room furnished only with a blue and white floor-cloth1 some rugs1 and a very complete collection of native cushions4 ,at his feet sat a woman of sixteen1 and she was all but all the world in his eyes4 ,by every rule and law she should have been otherwise1 for he was an ,englishman1 and she a ,mussulman's daughter bought two years before from her mother1 who1 being left without money1 would have sold ,ameera shrieking to the ,prince of ,darkness if the price had been sufficient4 #ad4 ,it was a contract entered into with a light heart2 but even before the girl had reached her bloom she came to fill the greater portion of ,john ,holden's life4 ,for her1 and the withered hag1 her mother1 he had taken a little house overlooking the great red-walled city1 and found--when the marigolds had sprung up by the well in the courtyard and ,ameera had established herself according to her own ideas of comfort1 and her mother had ceased grumbling at the inadequacy of the cooking-places1 the distance from the daily market1 and at matters of housekeeping in general--that the house was to him his home4 ,any one could enter his bachelor's bungalow by day or night1 and the life that he led there was an unlovely one4 ,in the house in the city his feet only could pass beyond the outer courtyard to the women's rooms2 and when the big wooden gate was bolted behind him he was king in his own territory1 with ,ameera for queen4 ,and there was going to be added to this kingdom a third person whose arrival ,holden felt inclined to resent4 ,it interfered with his perfect happiness4 ,it disarranged the orderly peace of the house that was his own4 ,but ,ameera was wild with delight at the thought of it1 and her mother not less so4 ,the love of a man1 and particularly a white man1 was at the best an inconstant affair1 but it might1 both women argued1 be held fast by a baby's hands4 8,and then10 ,ameera would always say1 8then he will never care for the white mem-log4 ,i hate them all--,i hate them all40 #ae4 8,he will go back to his own people in time10 said the mother2 8but by the blessing of ,god that time is yet afar off40 #af4 ,holden sat silent on the couch thinking of the future1 and his thoughts were not pleasant4 ,the drawbacks of a double life are manifold4 ,the ,government1 with singular care1 had ordered him out of the station for a fortnight on special duty in the place of a man who was watching by the bedside of a sick wife4 ,the verbal notification of the transfer had been edged by a cheerful remark that ,holden ought to think himself lucky in being a bachelor and a free man4 ,he came to break the news to ,ameera4 #ag4 8,it is not good10 she said slowly1 8but it is not all bad4 ,there is my mother here1 and no harm will come to me--unless indeed ,i die of pure joy4 ,go thou to thy work and think no troublesome thoughts4 ,when the days are done ,i believe 444 nay1 ,i am sure4 ,and--and then ,i shall lay him in thy arms1 and thou wilt love me forever4 ,the train goes to-night1 at midnight is it not8 ,go now1 and do not let thy heart be heavy by cause of me4 ,but thou wilt not delay in returning8 ,thou wilt not stay on the road to talk to the bold white mem-log4 ,come back to me swiftly1 my life40 #ah4 ,as he left the courtyard to reach his horse that was tethered to the gate-post1 ,holden spoke to the white-haired old watchman who guarded the house1 and bade him under certain contingencies despatch the filled-up telegraph-form that ,holden gave him4 ,it was all that could be done1 and with the sensations of a man who has attended his own funeral ,holden went away by the night mail to his exile4 ,every hour of the day he dreaded the arrival of the telegram1 and every hour of the night he pictured to himself the death of ,ameera4 ,in consequence his work for the state was not of first-rate quality1 nor was his temper towards his colleagues of the most amiable4 ,the fortnight ended without a sign from his home1 and1 torn to pieces by his anxieties1 ,holden returned to be swallowed up for two precious hours by a dinner at the club1 wherein he heard1 as a man hears in a swoon1 voices telling him how execrably he had performed the other man's duties1 and how he had endeared himself to all his associates4 ,then he fled on horseback through the night with his heart in his mouth4 ,there was no answer at first to his blows on the gate1 and he had just wheeled his horse round to kick it in when ,pir ,khan appeared with a lantern and held his stirrup4 #ai4 8,has aught occurred80 said ,holden4 #bj4 8,the news does not come from my mouth1 ,protector of the ,poor1 but--0 ,he held out his shaking hand as befitted the bearer of good news who is entitled to a reward4 #ba4 ,holden hurried through the courtyard4 ,a light burned in the upper room4 ,his horse neighed in the gateway1 and he heard a shrill little wail that sent all the blood into the apple of his throat4 ,it was a new voice1 but it did not prove that ,ameera was alive4 #bb4 8,who is there80 he called up the narrow brick staircase4 #bc4 ,there was a cry of delight from ,ameera1 and then the voice of the mother1 tremulous with old age and pride--8,we be two women and--the man--thy--son40 #bd4 ,on the threshold of the room ,holden stepped on a naked dagger1 that was laid there to avert ill-luck1 and it broke at the hilt under his impatient heel4 #be4 8,god is great60 cooed ,ameera in the half-light4 8,thou hast taken his misfortunes on thy head40 #bf4 8,ay1 but how is it with thee1 life of my life8 ,old woman1 how is it with her80 #bg4 8,she has forgotten her sufferings for joy that the child is born4 ,there is no harm2 but speak softly10 said the mother4 #bh4 8,it only needed thy presence to make me all well10 said ,ameera4 8,my king1 thou hast been very long away4 ,what gifts hast thou for me8 ,ah1 ah6 ,it is ,i that bring gifts this time4 ,look1 my life1 look6 ,was there ever such a babe8 ,nay1 ,i am too weak even to clear my arm from him40 #bi4 8,rest then1 and do not talk4 ,i am here1 bachari little woman40 #cj4 8,well said1 for there is a bond and a heel-rope peecharee between us now that nothing can break4 ,look--canst thou see in this light8 ,he is without spot or blemish4 ,never was such a man-child4 ,ya illah6 he shall be a pundit--no1 a trooper of the ,queen4 ,and1 my life1 dost thou love me as well as ever1 though ,i am faint and sick and worn8 ,answer truly40 #ca4 8,yea4 ,i love as ,i have loved1 with all my soul4 ,lie still1 pearl1 and rest40 #cb4 8,then do not go4 ,sit by my side here--so4 ,mother1 the lord of this house needs a cushion4 ,bring it40 ,there was an almost imperceptible movement on the part of the new life that lay in the hollow of ,ameera's arm4 8,aho60 she said1 her voice breaking with love4 8,the babe is a champion from his birth4 ,he is kicking me in the side with mighty kicks4 ,was there ever such a babe6 ,and he is ours to us--thine and mine4 ,put thy hand on his head1 but carefully1 for he is very young1 and men are unskilled in such matters40 #cc4 ,very cautiously ,holden touched with the tips of his fingers the downy head4 #cd4 8,he is of the faith10 said ,ameera2 8for lying here in the night-watches ,i whispered the ,call to ,prayer and the ,profession of ,faith into his ears4 ,and it is most marvellous that he was born upon a ,friday1 as ,i was born4 ,be careful of him1 my life2 but he can almost grip with his hands40 #ce4 ,holden found one helpless little hand that closed feebly on his finger4 ,and the clutch ran through his body till it settled about his heart4 ,till then his sole thought had been for ,ameera4 ,he began to realise that there was some one else in the world1 but he could not feel that it was a veritable son with a soul4 ,he sat down to think1 and ,ameera dozed lightly4 #cf4 8,get hence1 sahib10 said her mother under her breath4 8,it is not good that she should find you here on waking4 ,she must be still40 #cg4 8,i go10 said ,holden submissively4 8,here be rupees4 ,see that my baba gets fat and finds all that he needs40 #ch4 ,the chink of the silver roused ,ameera4 8,i am his mother1 and no hireling10 she said weakly4 8,shall ,i look to him more or less for the sake of money8 ,mother1 give it back4 ,i have borne my lord a son40 #ci4 ,the deep sleep of weakness came upon her before the sentence was completed4 ,holden went down to the courtyard very softly1 with his heart at ease4 ,pir ,khan1 the old watchman1 was chuckling with delight4 8,this house is now complete10 he said1 and without further comment thrust into ,holden's hands the hilt of a sabre worn many years ago when he1 ,pir ,khan1 served the ,queen in the police4 ,the bleat of a tethered goat came from the well-curb4 #dj4 8,there be two10 said ,pir ,khan1 8two goats of the best4 ,i bought them1 and they cost much money2 and since there is no birth-party assembled their flesh will be all mine4 ,strike craftily1 sahib6 ',tis an ill-balanced sabre at the best4 ,wait till they raise their heads from cropping the marigolds40 #da4 8,and why80 said ,holden1 bewildered4 #db4 8,for the birth-sacrifice4 ,what else8 ,otherwise the child being unguarded from fate may die4 ,the ,protector of the ,poor knows the fitting words to be said40 #dc4 ,holden had learned them once with little thought that he would ever speak them in earnest4 ,the touch of the cold sabre-hilt in his palm turned suddenly to the clinging grip of the child up-stairs--the child that was his own son--and a dread of loss filled him4 #dd4 8,strike60 said ,pir ,khan4 8,never life came into the world but life was paid for it4 ,see1 the goats have raised their heads4 ,now6 ,with a drawing cut60 #de4 ,hardly knowing what he did1 ,holden cut twice as he muttered the ,mohammedan prayer that runs3 8,almighty6 ,in place of this my son ,i offer life for life1 blood for blood1 head for head1 bone for bone1 hair for hair1 skin for skin40 ,the waiting horse snorted and bounded in his pickets at the smell of the raw blood that spirted over ,holden's riding-boots4 #df4 8,well smitten60 said ,pir ,khan1 wiping the sabre4 8,a swordsman was lost in thee4 ,go with a light heart1 heaven-born4 ,i am thy servant1 and the servant of thy son4 ,may the ,presence live a thousand years and 444 the flesh of the goats is all mine80 ,pir ,khan drew back richer by a month's pay4 ,holden swung himself into the saddle and rode off through the low-hanging wood-smoke of the evening4 ,he was full of riotous exultation1 alternating with a vast vague tenderness directed towards no particular object1 that made him choke as he bent over the neck of his uneasy horse4 8,i never felt like this in my life10 he thought4 8,i'll go to the club and pull myself together40 #dg4 ,a game of pool was beginning1 and the room was full of men4 ,holden entered1 eager to get to the light and the company of his fellows1 singing at the top of his voice3 8#8,in ,baltimore a-walking1 a lady ,i did meet6'0 #dh4 8,did you80 said the club-secretary from his corner4 8,did she happen to tell you that your boots were wringing wet8 ,great goodness1 man1 it's blood60 #di4 8,bosh60 said ,holden1 picking his cue from the rack4 8,may ,i cut in8 ,it's dew4 ,i've been riding through high crops4 ,my faith1 my boots are in a mess1 though60 #ej4 8#8,and if it be a girl she shall wear a wedding-ring1 ,and if it be a boy he shall fight for his king1 ,with his dirk1 and his cap1 and his little jacket blue1 ,he shall walk the quarter-deck--'0 #ea4 8,yellow on blue--green next player10 said the marker monotonously4 #eb4 8,he shall walk the quarter-deck'--,am ,i green1 marker8--,he shall walk the quarter-deck'--eh6 that's a bad shot--#8,as his daddy used to do6'0 #ec4 8,i don't see that you have anything to crow about10 said a zealous junior civilian acidly4 8,the ,government is not exactly pleased with your work when you relieved ,sanders40 #ed4 8,does that mean a wigging from headquarters80 said ,holden with an abstracted smile4 8,i think ,i can stand it40 #ee4 ,the talk beat up round the ever-fresh subject of each man's work1 and steadied ,holden till it was time to go to his dark empty bungalow1 where his butler received him as one who knew all his affairs4 ,holden remained awake for the greater part of the night1 and his dreams were pleasant ones4 ,,ii #ef4 8,how old is he now80 #eg4 8,ya illah6 ,what a man's question6 ,he is all but six weeks old2 and on this night ,i go up to the housetop with thee1 my life1 to count the stars4 ,for that is auspicious4 ,and he was born on a ,friday under the sign of the ,sun1 and it has been told to me that he will outlive us both and get wealth4 ,can we wish for aught better1 beloved80 #eh4 8,there is nothing better4 ,let us go up to the roof1 and thou shalt count the stars--but a few only1 for the sky is heavy with cloud40 #ei4 8,the winter rains are late1 and maybe they come out of season4 ,come1 before all the stars are hid4 ,i have put on my richest jewels40 #fj4 8,thou hast forgotten the best of all40 #fa4 8,ai6 ,ours4 ,he comes also4 ,he has never yet seen the skies40 #fb4 ,ameera climbed the narrow staircase that led to the flat roof4 ,the child1 placid and unwinking1 lay in the hollow of her right arm1 gorgeous in silver-fringed muslin with a small skull-cap on his head4 ,ameera wore all that she valued most4 ,the diamond nose-stud that takes the place of the ,western patch in drawing attention to the curve of the nostril1 the gold ornament in the centre of the forehead studded with tallow-drop emeralds and flawed rubies1 the heavy circlet of beaten gold that was fastened round her neck by the softness of the pure metal1 and the chinking curb-patterned silver anklets hanging low over the rosy ankle-bone4 ,she was dressed in jade-green muslin as befitted a daughter of the ,faith1 and from shoulder to elbow and elbow to wrist ran bracelets of silver tied with floss silk1 frail glass bangles slipped over the wrist in proof of the slenderness of the hand1 and certain heavy gold bracelets that had no part in her country's ornaments but1 since they were ,holden's gift and fastened with a cunning ,european snap1 delighted her immensely4 #fc4 ,they sat down by the low white parapet of the roof1 overlooking the city and its lights4 #fd4 8,they are happy down there10 said ,ameera4 8,but ,i do not think that they are as happy as we4 ,nor do ,i think the white mem-log are as happy4 ,and thou80 #fe4 8,i know they are not40 #ff4 8,how dost thou know80 #fg4 8,they give their children over to the nurses40 8,i have never seen that10 said ,ameera with a sigh1 8nor do ,i wish to see4 ,ahi60--she dropped her head on ,holden's shoulder--8,i have counted forty stars1 and ,i am tired4 ,look at the child1 love of my life1 he is counting too40 #fh4 ,the baby was staring with round eyes at the dark of the heavens4 ,ameera placed him in ,holden's arms1 and he lay there without a cry4 #fi4 8,what shall we call him among ourselves80 she said4 8,look6 ,art thou ever tired of looking8 ,he carries thy very eyes4 ,but the mouth--0 #gj4 8,is thine1 most dear4 ,who should know better than ,i80 #ga4 8',tis such a feeble mouth4 ,oh1 so small6 ,and yet it holds my heart between its lips4 ,give him to me now4 ,he has been too long away40 #gb4 8,nay1 let him lie2 he has not yet begun to cry40 #gc4 8,when he cries thou wilt give him back--eh8 ,what a man of mankind thou art6 ,if he cried he were only the dearer to me4 ,but1 my life1 what little name shall we give him80 #gd4 ,the small body lay close to ,holden's heart4 ,it was utterly helpless and very soft4 ,he scarcely dared to breathe for fear of crushing it4 ,the caged green parrot that is regarded as a sort of guardian spirit in most native households moved on its perch and fluttered a drowsy wing4 #ge4 8,there is the answer10 said ,holden4 8,mian ,mittu has spoken4 ,he shall be the parrot4 ,when he is ready he will talk mightily and run about4 ,mian ,mittu is the parrot in thy--in the ,mussulman tongue1 is it not80 #gf4 8,why put me so far off80 said ,ameera fretfully4 8,let it be like unto some ,english name--but not wholly4 ,for he is mine40 #gg4 8,then call him ,tota1 for that is likest ,english40 #gh4 8,ay1 ,tota1 and that is still the parrot4 ,forgive me1 my lord1 for a minute ago1 but in truth he is too little to wear all the weight of ,mian ,mittu for name4 ,he shall be ,tota--our ,tota to us4 ,hearest thou1 ,o small one8 ,littlest1 thou art ,tota40 ,she touched the child's cheek1 and he waking1 wailed1 and it was necessary to return him to his mother1 who soothed him with the wonderful rhyme of 8,ar koko1 ,jar koko60 which says3 8,oh1 crow6 ,go crow6 ,baby's sleeping sound1 ,and the wild plums grow in the jungle1 only a penny a pound1 ,only a penny a pound1 baba1 only a penny a pound40 #gi4 ,reassured many times as to the price of those plums1 ,tota cuddled himself down to sleep4 ,the two sleek1 white well-bullocks in the courtyard were steadily chewing the cud of their evening meal2 old ,pir ,khan squatted at the head of ,holden's horse1 his police sabre across his knees1 pulling drowsily at a big water-pipe that croaked like a bull-frog in a pond4 ,ameera's mother sat spinning in the lower veranda1 and the wooden gate was shut and barred4 ,the music of a marriage-procession came to the roof above the gentle hum of the city1 and a string of flying-foxes crossed the face of the low moon4 #hj4 8,i have prayed10 said ,ameera1 after a long pause1 8,i have prayed for two things4 ,first that ,i may die in thy stead if thy death is demanded1 and in the second that ,i may die in the place of the child4 ,i have prayed to the ,prophet and to ,beebee ,miriam the ,virgin ,mary4 ,thinkest thou either will hear80 #ha4 8,from thy lips who would not hear the lightest word80 #hb4 8,i asked for straight talk1 and thou hast given me sweet talk4 ,will my prayers be heard80 #hc4 8,how can ,i say8 ,god is very good40 #hd4 8,of that ,i am not sure4 ,listen now4 ,when ,i die1 or the child dies1 what is thy fate8 ,living1 thou wilt return to the bold white mem-log1 for kind calls to kind40 #he4 8,not always40 #hf4 8,with a woman1 no2 with a man it is otherwise4 ,thou wilt in this life1 later on1 go back to thine own folk4 ,that ,i could almost endure for ,i should be dead4 ,but in thy very death thou wilt be taken away to a strange place and a paradise that ,i do not know40 #hg4 8,will it be paradise80 #hh4 8,surely1 for who would harm thee8 ,but we two--,i and the child--shall be elsewhere1 and we cannot come to thee1 nor canst thou come to us4 ,in the old days1 before the child was born1 ,i did not think of these things2 but now ,i think of them always4 ,it is very hard talk40 #hi4 8,it will fall as it will fall4 ,to-morrow we do not know1 but to-day and love we know well4 ,surely we are happy now40 #ij4 8,so happy that it were well to make our happiness assured4 ,and thy ,beebee ,miriam should listen to me2 for she is also a woman4 ,but then she would envy me6 ,it is not seemly for men to worship a woman40 #ia4 ,holden laughed aloud at ,ameera's little spasm of jealousy4 #ib4 8,is it not seemly8 ,why didst thou not turn me from worship of thee1 then80 #ic4 8,thou a worshipper6 ,and of me8 ,my king1 for all thy sweet words1 well ,i know that ,i am thy servant and thy slave1 and the dust under thy feet4 ,and ,i would not have it otherwise4 ,see60 #id4 ,before ,holden could prevent her she stooped and touched his feet2 recovering herself with a little laugh she hugged ,tota close to her bosom4 ,then1 almost savagely3 #ie4 8,is it true that the bold white mem-log live for three times the length of my life8 ,is it true that they make their marriages not before they are old women80 #if4 8,they marry as do others--when they are women40 #ig4 8,that ,i know1 but they wed when they are twenty-five4 ,is that true80 #ih4 8,that is true40 #ii4 8,ya illah6 ,at twenty-five6 ,who would of his own will take a wife even of eighteen8 ,she is a woman--aging every hour4 ,twenty-five6 ,i shall be an old woman at that age1 and--those mem-log remain young forever4 ,how ,i hate them60 #ajj4 8,what have they to do with us80 #aja4 8,i cannot tell4 ,i know only that there may now be alive on this earth a woman ten years older than ,i who may come to thee and take thy love ten years after ,i am an old woman1 gray-headed1 and the nurse of ,tota's son4 ,that is unjust and evil4 ,they should die too40 #ajb4 8,now1 for all thy years thou art a child1 and shalt be picked up and carried down the staircase40 #ajc4 8,tota6 ,have a care for ,tota1 my lord6 ,thou at least art as foolish as any babe60 ,ameera tucked ,tota out of harm's way in the hollow of her neck1 and was carried downstairs laughing in ,holden's arms1 while ,tota opened his eyes and smiled after the manner of the lesser angels4 #ajd4 ,he was a silent infant1 and almost before ,holden could realise that he was in the world1 developed into a small gold-coloured little god and unquestioned despot of the house overlooking the city4 ,those were months of absolute happiness to ,holden and ,ameera--happiness withdrawn from the world1 shut in behind the wooden gate that ,pir ,khan guarded4 ,by day ,holden did his work with an immense pity for such as were not so fortunate as himself1 and a sympathy for small children that amazed and amused many mothers at the little station gatherings4 ,at nightfall he returned to ,ameera--,ameera1 full of the wondrous doings of ,tota2 how he had been seen to clap his hands together and move his fingers with intention and purpose--which was manifestly a miracle2 how1 later1 he had of his own initiative crawled out of his low bedstead on to the floor and swayed on both feet for the space of three breaths4 #aje4 8,and they were long breaths1 for my heart stood still with delight10 said ,ameera4 #ajf4 ,then ,tota took the beasts into his councils--the well-bullocks1 the little gray squirrels1 the mongoose that lived in a hole near the well1 and especially ,mian ,mittu1 the parrot1 whose tail he grievously pulled1 and ,mian ,mittu screamed till ,ameera and ,holden arrived4 #ajg4 8,o villain6 ,child of strength6 ,this to thy brother on the housetop6 ,tobah1 tobah6 ,fie6 ,fie6 ,but ,i know a charm to make him wise as ,suleiman and ,aflatoun ,solomon and ,plato4 ,now look10 said ,ameera4 ,she drew from an embroidered bag a handful of almonds4 8,see6 we count seven4 ,in the name of ,god60 #ajh4 ,she placed ,mian ,mittu1 very angry and rumpled1 on the top of his cage1 and seating herself between the babe and the bird she cracked and peeled an almond less white than her teeth4 8,this is a true charm1 my life1 and do not laugh4 ,see6 ,i give the parrot one half and ,tota the other40 ,mian ,mittu with careful beak took his share from between ,ameera's lips1 and she kissed the other half into the mouth of the child1 who ate it slowly with wondering eyes4 8,this ,i will do each day of seven1 and without doubt he who is ours will be a bold speaker and wise4 ,eh1 ,tota1 what wilt thou be when thou art a man and ,i am gray-headed80 ,tota tucked his fat legs into adorable creases4 ,he could crawl1 but he was not going to waste the spring of his youth in idle speech4 ,he wanted ,mian ,mittu's tail to tweak4 #aji4 ,when he was advanced to the dignity of a silver belt--which1 with a magic square engraved on silver and hung round his neck1 made up the greater part of his clothing--he staggered on a perilous journey down the garden to ,pir ,khan and proffered him all his jewels in exchange for one little ride on ,holden's horse1 having seen his mother's mother chaffering with peddlers in the veranda4 ,pir ,khan wept and set the untried feet on his own gray head in sign of fealty1 and brought the bold adventurer to his mother's arms1 vowing that ,tota would be a leader of men ere his beard was grown4 #aaj4 ,one hot evening1 while he sat on the roof between his father and mother watching the never-ending warfare of the kites that the city boys flew1 he demanded a kite of his own with ,pir ,khan to fly it1 because he had a fear of dealing with anything larger than himself1 and when ,holden called him a 8spark0 he rose to his feet and answered slowly in defence of his new-found individuality3 8,hum 'park nahin hai4 ,hum admi hai ,i am no spark1 but a man40 #aaa4 ,the protest made ,holden choke and devote himself very seriously to a consideration of ,tota's future4 ,he need hardly have taken the trouble4 ,the delight of that life was too perfect to endure4 ,therefore it was taken away as many things are taken away in ,india--suddenly and without warning4 ,the little lord of the house1 as ,pir ,khan called him1 grew sorrowful and complained of pains who had never known the meaning of pain4 ,ameera1 wild with terror1 watched him through the night1 and in the dawning of the second day the life was shaken out of him by fever--the seasonal autumn fever4 ,it seemed altogether impossible that he could die1 and neither ,ameera nor ,holden at first believed the evidence of the little body on the bedstead4 ,then ,ameera beat her head against the wall and would have flung herself down the well in the garden had ,holden not restrained her by main force4 #aab4 ,one mercy only was granted to ,holden4 ,he rode to his office in broad daylight and found waiting him an unusually heavy mail that demanded concentrated attention and hard work4 ,he was not1 however1 alive to this kindness of the gods4 ,,iii #aac4 ,the first shock of a bullet is no more than a brisk pinch4 ,the wrecked body does not send in its protest to the soul till ten or fifteen seconds later4 ,holden realised his pain slowly1 exactly as he had realised his happiness1 and with the same imperious necessity for hiding all traces of it4 ,in the beginning he only felt that there had been a loss1 and that ,ameera needed comforting where she sat with her head on her knees shivering as ,mian ,mittu from the housetop called3 ,tota6 ,tota6 ,tota6 ,later1 all his world and the daily life of it rose up to hurt him4 ,it was an outrage that any one of the children at the band-stand in the evening should be alive and clamorous1 when his own child lay dead4 ,it was more than mere pain when one of them touched him1 and stories told by over-fond fathers of their children's latest performances cut him to the quick4 ,he could not declare his pain4 ,he had neither help1 comfort1 nor sympathy2 and ,ameera at the end of each weary day would lead him through the hell of self-questioning reproach which is reserved for those who have lost a child1 and believe that with a little--just a little--more care it might have been saved4 #aad4 8,perhaps10 ,ameera would say1 8,i did not take sufficient heed4 ,did ,i1 or did ,i not8 ,the sun on the roof that day when he played so long alone and ,i was--ahi6 braiding my hair--it may be that the sun then bred the fever4 ,if ,i had warned him from the sun he might have lived4 ,but oh1 my life1 say that ,i am guiltless6 ,thou knowest that ,i loved him as ,i love thee4 ,say that there is no blame on me1 or ,i shall die--,i shall die60 #aae4 8,there is no blame--before ,god1 none4 ,it was written1 and how could we do aught to save8 ,what has been1 has been4 ,let it go1 beloved40 #aaf4 8,he was all my heart to me4 ,how can ,i let the thought go when my arm tells me every night that he is not here8 ,ahi6 ,ahi6 ,o ,tota1 come back to me--come back again1 and let us be all together as it was before60 #aag4 8,peace1 peace6 ,for thine own sake1 and for mine also1 if thou lovest me--rest40 #aah4 8,by this ,i know thou dost not care2 and how shouldst thou8 ,the white men have hearts of stone and souls of iron4 ,oh1 that ,i had married a man of mine own people--though he beat me--and had never eaten the bread of an alien60 #aai4 8,am ,i an alien--mother of my son80 #abj4 8,what else--sahib8444 ,oh1 forgive me--forgive6 ,the death has driven me mad4 ,thou art the life of my heart1 and the light of my eyes1 and the breath of my life1 and--and ,i have put thee from me1 though it was but for a moment4 ,if thou goest away1 to whom shall ,i look for help8 ,do not be angry4 ,indeed1 it was the pain that spoke and not thy slave40 #aba4 8,i know1 ,i know4 ,we be two who were three4 ,the greater need therefore that we should be one40 #abb4 ,they were sitting on the roof as of custom4 ,the night was a warm one in early spring1 and sheet-lightning was dancing on the horizon to a broken tune played by far-off thunder4 ,ameera settled herself in ,holden's arms4 #abc4 8,the dry earth is lowing like a cow for the rain1 and ,i--,i am afraid4 ,it was not like this when we counted the stars4 ,but thou lovest me as much as before1 though a bond is taken away8 ,answer60 #abd4 8,i love more because a new bond has come out of the sorrow that we have eaten together1 and that thou knowest40 #abe4 8,yea1 ,i knew10 said ,ameera in a very small whisper4 8,but it is good to hear thee say so1 my life1 who art so strong to help4 ,i will be a child no more but a woman and an aid to thee4 ,listen6 ,give me my sitar and ,i will sing bravely40 #abf4 ,she took the light silver-studded sitar and began a song of the great hero ,rajah ,rasalu4 ,the hand failed on the strings1 the tune halted1 checked1 and at a low note turned off to the poor little nursery-rhyme about the wicked crow3 8#8,and the wild plums grow in the jungle1 only a penny a pound1 ,only a penny a pound1 baba--only4444'0 #abg4 ,then came the tears and the piteous rebellion against fate till she slept1 moaning a little in her sleep1 with the right arm thrown clear of the body as though it protected something that was not there4 ,it was after this night that life became a little easier for ,holden4 ,the ever-present pain of loss drove him into his work1 and the work repaid him by filling up his mind for nine or ten hours a day4 ,ameera sat alone in the house and brooded1 but grew happier when she understood that ,holden was more at ease1 according to the custom of women4 ,they touched happiness again1 but this time with caution4 #abh4 8,it was because we loved ,tota that he died4 ,the jealousy of ,god was upon us10 said ,ameera4 8,i have hung up a large black jar before our window to turn the evil eye from us1 and we must make no protestations of delight1 but go softly underneath the stars1 lest ,god find us out4 ,is that not good talk1 worthless one80 #abi4 ,she had shifted the accent on the word that means 8beloved10 in proof of the sincerity of her purpose4 ,but the kiss that followed the new christening was a thing that any deity might have envied4 ,they went about henceforward saying3 8,it is naught1 it is naught02 and hoping that all the ,powers heard4 #acj4 ,the ,powers were busy on other things4 ,they had allowed thirty million people four years of plenty wherein men fed well and the crops were certain1 and the birth-rate rose year by year2 the districts reported a purely agricultural population varying from nine hundred to two thousand to the square mile of the overburdened earth2 and the ,member for ,lower ,tooting1 wandering about ,india in pot-hat and frock-coat1 talked largely of the benefits of ,british rule and suggested as the one thing needful the establishment of a duly qualified electoral system and a general bestowal of the franchise4 ,his long-suffering hosts smiled and made him welcome1 and when he paused to admire1 with pretty picked words1 the blossom of the blood-red dhak-tree that had flowered untimely for a sign of what was coming1 they smiled more than ever4 #aca4 ,it was the ,deputy ,commissioner of ,kot-,kumharsen1 staying at the club for a day1 who lightly told a tale that made ,holden's blood run cold as he overheard the end4 #acb4 8,he won't bother any one any more4 ,never saw a man so astonished in my life4 ,by ,jove1 ,i thought he meant to ask a question in the ,house about it4 ,fellow passenger in his ship--dined next him--bowled over by cholera and died in eighteen hours4 ,you needn't laugh1 you fellows4 ,the ,member for ,lower ,tooting is awfully angry about it2 but he's more scared4 ,i think he's going to take his enlightened self out of ,india40 #acc4 8,i'd give a good deal if he were knocked over4 ,it might keep a few vestrymen of his kidney to their own parish4 ,but what's this about cholera8 ,it's full early for anything of that kind10 said the warden of an unprofitable salt-lick4 #acd4 8,don't know10 said the ,deputy ,commissioner reflectively4 8,we've got locusts with us4 ,there's sporadic cholera all along the north--at least we're calling it sporadic for decency's sake4 ,the spring crops are short in five districts1 and nobody seems to know where the rains are4 ,it's nearly ,march now4 ,i don't want to scare anybody1 but it seems to me that ,nature's going to audit her accounts with a big red pencil this summer40 #ace4 8,just when ,i wanted to take leave1 too60 said a voice across the room4 #acf4 8,there won't be much leave this year1 but there ought to be a great deal of promotion4 ,i've come in to persuade the ,government to put my pet canal on the list of famine-relief works4 ,it's an ill wind that blows no good4 ,i shall get that canal finished at last40 #acg4 8,is it the old programme then10 said ,holden2 8famine1 fever1 and cholera80 #ach4 8,oh1 no4 ,only local scarcity and an unusual prevalence of seasonal sickness4 ,you'll find it all in the reports if you live till next year4 ,you're a lucky chap4 ,you haven't got a wife to send out of harm's way4 ,the hill stations ought to be full of women this year40 #aci4 8,i think you're inclined to exaggerate the talk in the bazars10 said a young civilian in the secretariat4 8,now ,i have observed--0 #adj4 8,i daresay you have10 said the ,deputy ,commissioner1 8but you've a great deal more to observe1 my son4 ,in the meantime1 ,i wish to observe to you--0 and he drew him aside to discuss the construction of the canal that was so dear to his heart4 ,holden went to his bungalow and began to understand that he was not alone in the world1 and also that he was afraid for the sake of another--which is the most soul-satisfying fear known to man4 #ada4 ,two months later1 as the ,deputy had foretold1 ,nature began to audit her accounts with a red pencil4 ,on the heels of the spring reapings came a cry for bread1 and the ,government1 which had decreed that no man should die of want1 sent wheat4 ,then came the cholera from all four quarters of the compass4 ,it struck a pilgrim-gathering of half a million at a sacred shrine4 ,many died at the feet of their god2 the others broke and ran over the face of the land carrying the pestilence with them4 ,it smote a walled city and killed two hundred a day4 ,the people crowded the trains1 hanging on to the foot-boards and squatting on the roofs of the carriages1 and the cholera followed them1 for at each station they dragged out the dead and the dying4 ,they died by the roadside1 and the horses of the ,englishmen shied at the corpses in the grass4 ,the rains did not come1 and the earth turned to iron lest man should escape death by hiding in her4 ,the ,english sent their wives away to the hills and went about their work1 coming forward as they were bidden to fill the gaps in the fighting-line4 ,holden1 sick with fear of losing his chiefest treasure on earth1 had done his best to persuade ,ameera to go away with her mother to the ,himalayas4 #adb4 8,why should ,i go80 said she one evening on the roof4 #adc4 8,there is sickness1 and people are dying1 and all the white mem-log have gone40 #add4 8,all of them80 #ade4 8,all--unless perhaps there remain some old scald-head who vexes her husband's heart by running risk of death40 #adf4 8,nay2 who stays is my sister1 and thou must not abuse her1 for ,i will be a scald-head too4 ,i am glad all the bold mem-log are gone40 #adg4 8,do ,i speak to a woman1 or a babe8 ,go to the hills and ,i will see to it that thou goest like a queen's daughter4 ,think1 child4 ,in a red-lacquered bullock-cart1 veiled and curtained1 with brass peacocks upon the pole and red cloth hangings4 ,i will send two orderlies for guard1 and--0 #adh4 8,peace6 ,thou art the babe in speaking thus4 ,what use are those toys to me8 ,he would have patted the bullocks and played with the housings4 ,for his sake1 perhaps--thou hast made me very ,english--,i might have gone4 ,now1 ,i will not4 ,let the mem-log run40 #adi4 8,their husbands are sending them1 beloved40 #aej4 8,very good talk4 ,since when hast thou been my husband to tell me what to do8 ,i have but borne thee a son4 ,thou art only all the desire of my soul to me4 ,how shall ,i depart when ,i know that if evil befall thee by the breadth of so much as my littlest finger-nail--is that not small8--,i should be aware of it though ,i were in paradise4 ,and here1 this summer thou mayest die--ai1 janee1 die6 and in dying they might call to tend thee a white woman1 and she would rob me in the last of thy love60 #aea4 8,but love is not born in a moment or on a death-bed60 #aeb4 8,what dost thou know of love1 stone-heart8 ,she would take thy thanks at least and1 by ,god and the ,prophet and ,beebee ,miriam the mother of thy ,prophet1 that ,i will never endure4 ,my lord and my love1 let there be no more foolish talk of going away4 ,where thou art1 ,i am4 ,it is enough40 ,she put an arm round his neck and a hand on his mouth4 #aec4 ,there are not many happinesses so complete as those that are snatched under the shadow of the sword4 ,they sat together and laughed1 calling each other openly by every pet name that could move the wrath of the gods4 ,the city below them was locked up in its own torments4 ,sulphur fires blazed in the streets2 the conches in the ,hindu temples screamed and bellowed1 for the gods were inattentive in those days4 ,there was a service in the great ,mohammedan shrine1 and the call to prayer from the minarets was almost unceasing4 ,they heard the wailing in the houses of the dead1 and once the shriek of a mother who had lost a child and was calling for its return4 ,in the gray dawn they saw the dead borne out through the city gates1 each litter with its own little knot of mourners4 ,wherefore they kissed each other and shivered4 #aed4 ,it was a red and heavy audit1 for the land was very sick and needed a little breathing space ere the torrent of cheap life should flood it anew4 ,the children of immature fathers and undeveloped mothers made no resistance4 ,they were cowed and sat still1 waiting till the sword should be sheathed in ,november if it were so willed4 ,there were gaps among the ,english1 but the gaps were filled4 ,the work of superintending famine-relief1 cholera-sheds1 medicine-distribution1 and what little sanitation was possible1 went forward because it was so ordered4 #aee4 ,holden had been told to keep himself in readiness to move to replace the next man who should fall4 ,there were twelve hours in each day when he could not see ,ameera1 and she might die in three4 ,he was considering what his pain would be if he could not see her for three months1 or if she died out of his sight4 ,he was absolutely certain that her death would be demanded--so certain that when he looked up from the telegram and saw ,pir ,khan breathless in the doorway1 he laughed aloud4 8,and80 said he-- #aef4 8,when there is a cry in the night and the spirit flutters into the throat1 who has a charm that will restore8 ,come swiftly1 heaven-born6 ,it is the black cholera40 #aeg4 ,holden galloped to his home4 ,the sky was heavy with clouds1 for the long-deferred rains were near and the heat was stifling4 ,ameera's mother met him in the courtyard1 whimpering3 8,she is dying4 ,she is nursing herself into death4 ,she is all but dead4 ,what shall ,i do1 sahib80 #aeh4 ,ameera was lying in the room in which ,tota had been born4 ,she made no sign when ,holden entered1 because the human soul is a very lonely thing and1 when it is getting ready to go away1 hides itself in a misty border-land where the living may not follow4 ,the black cholera does its work quietly and without explanation4 ,ameera was being thrust out of life as though the ,angel of ,death had himself put his hand upon her4 ,the quick breathing seemed to show that she was either afraid or in pain1 but neither eyes nor mouth gave any answer to ,holden's kisses4 ,there was nothing to be said or done4 ,holden could only wait and suffer4 ,the first drops of the rain began to fall on the roof1 and he could hear shouts of joy in the parched city4 #aei4 ,the soul came back a little and the lips moved4 ,holden bent down to listen4 8,keep nothing of mine10 said ,ameera4 8,take no hair from my head4 ,she would make thee burn it later on4 ,that flame ,i should feel4 ,lower6 ,stoop lower6 ,remember only that ,i was thine and bore thee a son4 ,though thou wed a white woman to-morrow1 the pleasure of receiving in thy arms thy first son is taken from thee forever4 ,remember me when thy son is born--the one that shall carry thy name before all men4 ,his misfortunes be on my head4 ,i bear witness--,i bear witness0--the lips were forming the words on his ear--8that there is no ,god but--thee1 beloved60 #afj4 ,then she died4 ,holden sat still1 and all thought was taken from him--till he heard ,ameera's mother lift the curtain4 #afa4 8,is she dead1 sahib80 #afb4 8,she is dead40 #afc4 8,then ,i will mourn1 and afterwards take an inventory of the furniture in this house4 ,for that will be mine4 ,the sahib does not mean to resume it8 ,it is so little1 so very little1 sahib1 and ,i am an old woman4 ,i would like to lie softly40 #afd4 8,for the mercy of ,god be silent a while4 ,go out and mourn where ,i cannot hear40 #afe4 8,sahib1 she will be buried in four hours40 #aff4 8,i know the custom4 ,i shall go ere she is taken away4 ,that matter is in thy hands4 ,look to it1 that the bed on which--on which she lies--0 #afg4 8,aha6 ,that beautiful red-lacquered bed4 ,i have long desired--0 #afh4 8,that the bed is left here untouched for my disposal4 ,all else in the house is thine4 ,hire a cart1 take everything1 go hence1 and before sunrise let there be nothing in this house but that which ,i have ordered thee to respect40 #afi4 8,i am an old woman4 ,i would stay at least for the days of mourning and the rains have just broken4 ,whither shall ,i go80 #agj4 8,what is that to me8 ,my order is that there is a going4 ,the house-gear is worth a thousand rupees1 and my orderly shall bring thee a hundred rupees to-night40 #aga4 8,that is very little4 ,think of the cart-hire40 #agb4 8,it shall be nothing unless thou goest1 and with speed4 ,o woman1 get hence and leave me with my dead60 #agc4 ,the mother shuffled down the staircase1 and in her anxiety to take stock of the house-fittings forgot to mourn4 ,holden stayed by ,ameera's side and the rain roared on the roof4 ,he could not think connectedly by reason of the noise1 though he made many attempts to do so4 ,then four sheeted ghosts glided dripping into the room and stared at him through their veils4 ,they were the washers of the dead4 ,holden left the room and went out to his horse4 ,he had come in a dead1 stifling calm through ankle-deep dust4 ,he found the courtyard a rain-lashed pond alive with frogs2 a torrent of yellow water ran under the gate1 and a roaring wind drove the bolts of the rain like buckshot against the mud walls4 ,pir ,khan was shivering in his little hut by the gate1 and the horse was stamping uneasily in the water4 #agd4 8,i have been told the sahib's order10 said ,pir ,khan4 8,it is well4 ,this house is now desolate4 ,i go also1 or my monkey face would be a reminder of that which has been4 ,concerning the bed1 ,i will bring that to thy house yonder in the morning2 but remember1 sahib1 it will be to thee a knife turning in a green wound4 ,i go upon a pilgrimage1 and ,i will take no money4 ,i have grown fat in the protection of the ,presence whose sorrow is my sorrow4 ,for the last time ,i hold his stirrup40 #age4 ,he touched ,holden's foot with both hands1 and the horse sprang out into the road1 where the creaking bamboos were whipping the sky and all the frogs were chuckling4 ,holden could not see for the rain in his face4 ,he put his hands before his eyes and muttered3 #agf4 8,oh1 you brute6 ,you utter brute60 #agg4 ,the news of his trouble was already in his bungalow4 ,he read the knowledge in his butler's eyes when ,ahmed ,khan brought in food1 and for the first and last time in his life laid a hand upon his master's shoulder1 saying3 8,eat1 sahib1 eat4 ,meat is good against sorrow4 ,i also have known4 ,moreover the shadows come and go1 sahib2 the shadows come and go4 ,these be curried eggs40 #agh4 ,holden could neither eat nor sleep4 ,the heavens sent down eight inches of rain in that night and washed the earth clean4 ,the waters tore down walls1 broke roads1 and scoured open the shallow graves on the ,mohammedan burying-ground4 ,all next day it rained1 and ,holden sat still in his house considering his sorrow4 ,on the morning of the third day he received a telegram which said only3 8,ricketts1 ,myndonie4 ,dying4 ,holden relieve4 ,immediate40 ,then he thought that before he had departed he would look at the house wherein he had been master and lord4 ,there was a break in the weather1 and the rank earth steamed with vapour4 #agi4 ,he found that the rains had torn down the mud pillars of the gateway1 and the heavy wooden gate that had guarded his life hung lazily from one hinge4 ,there was grass three inches high in the courtyard2 ,pir ,khan's lodge was empty1 and the sodden thatch sagged between the beams4 ,a gray squirrel was in possession of the veranda1 as if the house had been untenanted for thirty years instead of three days4 ,ameera's mother had removed everything except some mildewed matting4 ,the tick-tick of the little scorpions as they hurried across the floor was the only sound in the house4 ,ameera's room and the other one where ,tota had lived were heavy with mildew2 and the narrow staircase leading to the roof was streaked and stained with rain-borne mud4 ,holden saw all these things1 and came out again to meet in the road ,durga ,dass1 his landlord--portly1 affable1 clothed in white muslin1 and driving a ,c-spring buggy4 ,he was overlooking his property to see how the roofs stood the stress of the first rains4 #ahj4 8,i have heard10 said he1 8you will not take this place any more1 sahib80 #aha4 8,what are you going to do with it80 #ahb4 8,perhaps ,i shall let it again40 #ahc4 8,then ,i will keep it on while ,i am away40 #ahd4 ,durga ,dass was silent for some time4 8,you shall not take it on1 sahib10 he said4 8,when ,i was a young man ,i also--,but to-day ,i am a member of the ,municipality4 ,ho6 ,ho6 ,no4 ,when the birds have gone1 what need to keep the nest8 ,i will have it pulled down--the timber will sell for something always4 ,it shall be pulled down1 and the ,municipality shall make a road across as they desire1 from the burning-ghaut to the city wall1 so that no man may say where this house stood40 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,using the term 8,emotion0#bb broadly1 make a list of all the emotions you can4 #b4 ,which of these are displayed in 8,the ,last ,class08 #c4 ,which in 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy08 #d4 ,cite different passages1 by referring to the numbered paragraphs1 in which certain specific emotions are displayed4 #e4 ,do you notice any emotional expressions which seem to you to be either extravagant1 or weak1 or in any way untrue to life8 #f4 ,point out how the author conveys the ideas of emotion1 such as by emotional words1 gestures1 attitudes1 etc4 #g4 ,write five short original paragraphs expressing five different emotions1 using varied means of conveying the impressions of strong feeling4 #h4 ,select from some magazine a story of the emotional type1 and point out in a few words why you consider it to be a typically emotional story4 ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,emotion ,,or ,,sentiment 8,a ,doctor of ,the ,old ,school10 ,ian ,maclaren1 in ,the ,days of ,auld ,lang ,syne4 8,a ,descent into the ,maelstrom10 ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 in ,tales4 8,the ,duchess at ,prayer10 ,edith ,wharton1 in ,crucial ,instances4 8,a ,lear of the ,steppes10 ,ivan ,turgeneff1 translated in ,the ,book of ,the ,short-,story4 ,jessup and ,canby4 8,the ,death of the ,dauphin10 ,alphonse ,daudet1 translated in ,little ,french ,masterpieces4 8,the ,birthmark10 ,nathaniel ,hawthorne1 in ,mosses ,from an ,old ,manse4 8,tennessee's ,partner10 ,bret ,harte1 in ,the ,luck of ,roaring ,camp and ,other ,stories4 8,the ,death of ,olivier ,becaille10 mile ,zola1 translated in ,masterpieces of ,fiction4 8,they10 ,rudyard ,kipling1 in ,traffic and ,discoveries4 8,juggler to #8,our ,lady1'0 ,anatole ,france1 in ,short-,story ,masterpieces4 ,,footnotes3 #bj ,emotion is a broad word loosely used to embrace all the tones of inner feeling1 from the palest sentiment depicted by a ,jane ,austen1 to the darkest passion of a ,werther4--,writing the ,short-,story1 p4 #aha1 which see for a fuller discussion of emotion in the short-story4 #ba 8,s'il tient sa langue1 il tient la cl qui de ses chanes le dlivre40--,,frederic ,,mistral1 a poet friend of ,daudet's4 #bb ,,note4--,any good psychology is likely to help you understand the nature of emotion in general4 ,,iv ,,humorous ,,stories ,the ,ransom of ,red ,chief4--,o4 ,,henry ,the ,courting of ,t',nowhead's ,bell4--,j4 ,m4 ,,barrie ,sydney ,smith uses this word humor to cover any thing that is ridiculous and laughable4 ,so the epithet comic is quite indiscriminately applied4 ,but we ought not to submit to this loose application2 for there are plenty of other words to make proper distinctions for us amid our pleasurable moods1 and permit us to reserve humor for something which is neither punning1 wit1 satire1 nor comedy4 ,humor may avail itself of all these mental exercises1 but only as a manager casts his stock company to set forth the prevailing spirit of a play4 ,comedy1 for instance1 represents sorrows1 passions1 and annoyances1 but shows them without the sombre purpose of tragedy to enforce a supreme will at any cost4 ,all our weaknesses threaten in comedy to result in serious embarrassments1 but there is such inexhaustible material for laughter in the whims and follies with which we baffle ourselves and others1 that the tragic threat is collared just in time and shaken into pleasure4 ,all kinds of details of our life are represented1 which tragedy could never tolerate in its main drift towards the pathos of defeated human wills and broken hearts4 ,tricks1 vices1 fatuities1 crotchets1 vanities1 play their game for a stake no higher than the mirth of outwitting each other2 and they all pay penalties of a light kind which ,god exacts smilingly for the sake of keeping our disorders at a minimum4 ,comedy also finds a great deal of its charm in the unconsciousness of an infirmity4 ,we exhibit ourselves unawares3 each one is perfectly understood by everybody but himself2 so we plot and vapor through an intrigue with placards on each back1 where all but the wearers can indulge their mirth at seeing us parading so innocently with advertisements of our price and quality4--,,john ,,weiss1 ,wit1 ,humor1 and ,shakespeare4 ,,humorous ,,stories ,there are as many kinds of humorous stories as there are kinds of humor1 ranging from gentle mirth1 comedy1 fun1 and farce1 to burlesque1 ridicule1 satire and irony4 ,some stories are typically humorous in their central situation1 as ,mark ,twain's 8,the ,celebrated ,jumping ,frog of ,calaveras ,county02 others abound in a whole series of funny situations1 as 8,the ,king of ,boyville10 by ,william ,allen ,white2 others1 again1 are rich in the humorous sayings by the writer1 rather than revealed in humorous plot1 as in ,artemus ,ward's sketch1 8,horace ,greeley's ,ride to ,placerville02 still others put the humor into the speech of the characters1 as in 8,the ,phonograph and the ,graft10 by ,o4 ,henry2 while yet others exhibit two or more of the foregoing kinds1 and are by turns gay1 or whimsical1 or satirical1 as the characters and happenings may permit1 mingling humor of plot with mirth of word and incident4 ,the two chief ingredients of humor--though for the most part it defies analysis--are surprise1 and a feeling of incongruity4 ,but these must be accompanied by no higher emotion4 ,it would surprise us to meet the incongruous sight of a half-clad child struggling in the snow1 but the vision would not be humorous--the higher emotion of pity would preclude that4 ,but to see an arrogant fop stripped of his finery and floundering and spluttering in a snow drift into which he had been tossed1 would be funny--to others4 ,merely for a story to possess humor would not warrant our classing it as a humorous story1 for humor is a sunny ray gleaming often through literature and life1 but when the typical spirit and prevailing treatment of the story are humorous1 it may properly be so entitled4 ,,henry ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,william ,sidney ,porter1 otherwise known as 8,o4 ,henry10 was born in #ahfg1 in ,greensboro1 ,n4 ,c4--the descendant of several governors of that state1 it may be remarked in passing4 ,while still very young he went to ,texas and received his education at an academy there4 ,because of poor health he was unable to attend college1 so he spent two and a half years of his early manhood on a cattle ranch4 ,following that period came his journalistic work on the ,houston ,post1 and a little ten-page weekly story-paper of his own1 ,the ,iconoclast--afterwards renamed ,the ,rolling ,stone--most of the stories for which he wrote himself4 ,after several years in ,houston1 he visited ,central ,america with a friend--a trip which1 later1 yielded rich material for his first book4 ,then followed a short period as a drug clerk in ,austin1 ,texas4 ,next we see him in ,new ,orleans1 again embarked upon literary work2 and there it was that he first showed real promise as a short-story writer1 and there also that he adopted his unique pseudonym--the surname of which was selected at random from a newspaper account of a social function1 and the initial letter because it was the 8easiest letter written40 ,about eight years before his death he came to ,new ,york1 in response to an offer from one of the magazine editors there1 and after that his name became well-known and his success assured4 ,he died in ,new ,york ,city1 ,june #e1 #aiaj1 at the age of forty-two4 ,his three earliest books are perhaps the ones by which he is best known2 ,cabbages and ,kings1 ,the ,four ,million1 and ,the ,trimmed ,lamp4 ,eleven volumes of short-stories comprise his literary output4 ,the later stories do not enhance his reputation1 though some of them are in his best vein--notably 8,the ,ransom of ,red ,chief10 contained in the volume ,whirligigs1 published the year of his death4 ,his last book1 ,sixes and ,sevens1 was issued posthumously1 in #aiaa4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of all short-story writers ,o4 ,henry was easily first as a master of surprise4 ,the sudden and often astounding reversals at the end of his stories became delightfully characteristic1 and the reader with the ,o4 ,henry habit played a happy though always losing game with himself in trying to forecast the denouement of each new story4 ,sometimes the yarn-spinner would delight in leading us to curl our lip1 and say1 8,pshaw1 ,o4 ,henry is employing a rather old device--in fact1 this is quite trite--0 and then all in an instant the sly phrase would peep forth to show that we had been caught from ambush2 for ,o4 ,henry had scant reverence for the reader's dignity--he poked fun at him as laughingly as could ,shakespeare himself1 on occasion4 ,no other writer ever made slang so really funny1 yet few knew better the richness of serious ,english diction for really literary ends4 ,not that he embellished his sentences1 but that he appraised every word at its true value before uttering it as literary coin4 ,when he said that one of his characters was 8denounced by the name of----0 7,i have forgotten what71 he extracted the full essence from those six words1 and that is art4 ,other short-story writers have been as trenchant in wit1 others as keen in observation1 but none has known so wide a variety of common-folk as ,o4 ,henry4 ,four great types he understood with rare completeness3 the ,texan 7,heart of the ,west71 the ,central ,american 7,cabbages and ,kings71 the middle-and lower-class ,new ,yorker 7,the ,four ,million71--and ,everybody ,else 7all of his eleven books of short-stories74 ,o4 ,henry's advice to young writers as to the secret of short-story writing is well known4 8,there are two rules10 he said4 8,the first rule is to write stories that please yourself4 ,there is no second rule40 ,he was once facetiously asked if there were a second rule1 what that rule would be4 8,sell the story10 he answered4--,g4 ,j4 ,,nathan1 ,o4 ,henry in ,his ,own ,bagdad4 ,the ,bookman1 vol4 #ca4 ,o4 ,henry has often been called 8the ,yankee ,maupassant10 and up to a certain point the characterization is suggestive4 ,his stories have the swiftness and point of the anecdote1 as ,maupassant's have4 ,he employs just enough art to keep alive the reader's interest for the laugh or the gasp to which everything else leads up4444 ,as a humorist he was ,american to the finger tips4 ,that is to say1 he secured his effects by over-statement1 which is the salient characteristic of ,american humor4444 ,mark ,twain was a world humorist2 ,o4 ,henry was an ,american humorist4--,a ,typically ,american ,short-,story ,writer 7,current ,literature1 vol4 #di74 ,the author seems to know almost every type of man--the rich and portly financier1 the 8fly0 newsboy or district messenger1 the denizens of the great hotels1 the 8salesladies10 the chorus girls1 the women in the shop1 the raffish hangers-on of the saloons1 the gamblers1 and the grafters4444 ,mr4 ,porter is a real flneur of the ,american type1 only1 he confines himself to no boulevard1 to no city1 to no state1 nor even to a single country4 ,the world1 in fact1 is his oyster1 and he has learned almost unconsciously to open it and to extract from it alike the meat and the salty juices4444 ,he gets down to the very heart of things4 ,he sees the humour and the pathos blended2 yet1 on the whole1 he is an optimist 444 who believes that in every human being there is to be found something good1 however mixed it may be with other qualities2 and1 like a true ,american1 he can see and chuckle at the humour of it all4--,,harry ,,thurston ,,peck1 ,some ,representative ,american ,story-,tellers1 ,the ,bookman1 vol4 #ca4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,o4 ,,henry ,some ,american ,story-,tellers1 ,frederic ,taber ,cooper 7#aiaa72 ,life of ,o4 ,henry1 ,peyton ,steger 7#aiaa72 ,o4 ,henry ,biography1 ,c4 ,alphonso ,smith 7#aiaf74 ,magazine articles3 ,the ,bookman3 ,the ,personal ,o4 ,henry1 #bi1 #cde2 #bi1 #egi2 ,o4 ,henry's ,shorter ,stories1 ,justus ,miles ,forman1 #ca1 #aca2 ,sketch of ,o4 ,henry1 #ca1 #def2 ,representative ,american ,story-,tellers1 ,harry ,thurston ,peck1 #ca1 #dgg2 ,o4 ,henry in ,his ,own ,bagdad1 ,g4 ,j4 ,nathan1 #ca1 #dgg4 ,north ,american ,review1 #ahg1 #gha4 ,,the ,,ransom ,,of ,,red ,,chief#bc ,,by ,o4 ,,henry ,sidenote3 ,,introduction4 ,sidenote3 ,setting and characters4 ,sidenote3 ,a favorite form of humor with ,o4 ,henry4 ,it looked like a good thing2 but wait till ,i tell you4 ,we were down ,south1 in ,alabama--,bill ,driscoll and myself--when this kidnapping idea struck us4 ,it was1 as ,bill afterward expressed it1 8during a moment of temporary mental apparition02 but we didn't find that out till later4 ,sidenote3 ,setting more specific4 ,sidenote3 ,satire of contrast--frequent with author4 #b4 ,there was a town down there1 as flat as a flannel-cake1 and called ,summit1 of course4 ,it contained inhabitants of as undeleterious and self-satisfied a class of peasantry as ever clustered around a ,maypole4 ,sidenote3 ,the narrator is not consistently ungrammatical4 ,sidenote3 ,the introduction develops the foundation of the ,,plot ,,situation gradually4 #c4 ,bill and me had a joint capital of about six hundred dollars1 and we needed just two thousand dollars more to pull off a fraudulent town-lot scheme in ,western ,illinois with4 ,we talked it over on the front steps of the hotel4 ,philoprogenitiveness1 says we1 is strong in semi-rural communities2 therefore1 and for other reasons1 a kidnapping project ought to do better there than in the radius of newspapers that send reporters out in plain clothes to stir up talk about such things4 ,we know that ,summit couldn't get after us with anything stronger than constables and1 maybe1 some lackadaisical blood-hounds and a diatribe or two in the ,weekly ,farmers' ,budget4 ,so1 it looked good4 ,sidenote3 ,the humor takes the form of situation1 diction1 satire1 and sly little surprises throughout4 #d4 ,we selected for our victim the only child of a prominent citizen named ,ebenezer ,dorset4 ,the father was respectable and tight1 a mortgage fancier and a stern1 upright collection-plate passer and forecloser4 ,the kid was a boy of ten1 with bas-relief freckles1 and hair the color of the cover of the magazine you buy at the news-stand when you want to catch a train4 ,bill and me figured that ,ebenezer would melt down for a ransom of two thousand dollars to a cent4 ,but wait till ,i tell you4 ,sidenote3 ,setting for main action4 #e4 ,about two miles from ,summit was a little mountain1 covered with a dense cedar brake4 ,on the rear elevation of this mountain was a cave4 ,there we stored provisions4 ,sidenote3 ,,main ,,action ,,begins3 ,,first ,,plot ,,incident4 #f4 ,one evening after sundown1 we drove in a buggy past old ,dorset's house4 ,the kid was in the street1 throwing rocks at the kitten on the opposite fence4 #g4 8,hey1 little boy60 says ,bill1 8would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride80 ,sidenote3 ,,contributory ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,as a matter of technique1 note that contributory incidents might be varied or omitted without altering the plot essentially4 ,these are not all specifically noted in this story4 #h4 ,the boy catches ,bill neatly in the eye with a piece of brick4 #i4 8,that will cost the old man an extra five hundred dollars10 says ,bill1 climbing over the wheel4 #aj4 ,that boy put up a fight like a welterweight cinnamon bear2 but1 at last1 we got him down in the bottom of the buggy and drove away4 ,we took him up to the cave1 and ,i hitched the horse in the cedar brake4 ,after dark ,i drove the buggy to the little village1 three miles away1 where we had hired it1 and walked back to the mountain4 ,sidenote3 8,bill0 and 8the ,kid0 serve as the contesting characters4 #aa4 ,bill was pasting court-plaster over the scratches and bruises on his features4 ,there was a fire burning behind the big rock at the entrance of the cave1 and the boy was watching a pot of boiling coffee1 with two buzzard tail-feathers stuck in his red hair4 ,he points a stick at me when ,i come up1 and says3 ,sidenote3 ,note title of the story4 ,sidenote3 8,bill0 never smiles4 #ab4 8,ha6 cursed paleface1 do you dare to enter the camp of ,red ,chief1 the terror of the plains80 ,sidenote3 ,note how the author uses swift changes to humorous effect4 #ac4 8,he's all right now10 says ,bill1 rolling up his trousers and examining some bruises on his shins4 8,we're playing ,indian4 ,we're making ,buffalo ,bill's show look like magic-lantern views of ,palestine in the town hall4 ,i'm ,old ,hank1 the ,trapper1 ,red ,chief's captive1 and ,i'm to be scalped at daybreak4 ,by ,geronimo6 that kid can kick hard40 ,sidenote3 ,,essential1 or ,,plot1 ,,situation4 #ad4 ,yes1 sir1 that kid seemed to be having the time of his life4 ,the fun of camping out in a cave had made him forget that he was a captive himself4 ,he immediately christened me ,snake-eye1 the ,spy1 and announced that1 when his braves returned from the warpath1 ,i was to be broiled at the stake at the rising of the sun4 #ae4 ,then we had supper2 and he filled his mouth full of bacon and bread and gravy1 and began to talk4 ,he made a during-dinner speech something like this3 ,sidenote3 ,somewhat overdone1 but we must judge the story not as comedy but as farce1 which blithely assumes the improbable as true4 #af4 8,i like this fine4 ,i never camped out before2 but ,i had a pet 'possum once1 and ,i was nine last birthday4 ,i hate to go to school4 ,rats ate up sixteen of ,jimmy ,talbot's aunt's speckled hen's eggs4 ,are there any real ,indians in these woods8 ,i want some more gravy4 ,does the trees moving make the wind blow8 ,we had five puppies4 ,what makes your nose so red1 ,hank8 ,my father has lots of money4 ,are the stars hot8 ,i whipped ,ed ,walker twice1 ,saturday4 ,i don't like girls4 ,you dasent catch toads unless with a string4 ,do oxen make any noise8 ,why are oranges round8 ,have you got beds to sleep on in this cave8 ,amos ,murray has got six toes4 ,a parrot can talk1 but a monkey or a fish can't4 ,how many does it take to make twelve80 ,sidenote3 ,,essential ,,situation4 #ag4 ,every few minutes he would remember that he was a pesky red-skin1 and pick up his stick rifle and tip-toe to the mouth of the cave to rubber for the scouts of the hated paleface4 ,now and then he would let out a war-whoop that made ,old ,hank the ,trapper1 shiver4 ,that boy had ,bill terrorized from the start4 #ah4 8,red ,chief10 says ,i to the kid1 8would you like to go home80 ,sidenote3 ,,key4 ,sidenote3 ,use of the unexpected4 #ai4 8,aw1 what for80 says he4 8,i don't have any fun at home4 ,i hate to go to school4 ,i like to camp out4 ,you won't take me back home again1 ,snake-eye1 will you80 #bj4 8,not right away10 says ,i4 8,we'll stay here in the cave a while40 #ba4 8,all right60 says he4 8,that'll be fine4 ,i never had such fun in all my life40 ,sidenote3 ,a tribute throughout to the dime dreadful4 ,sidenote3 ,narrator lapses now and then into 8better0 language4 #bb4 ,we went to bed about eleven o'clock4 ,we spread down some wide blankets and quilts and put ,red ,chief between us4 ,we weren't afraid he'd run away4 ,he kept us awake for three hours1 jumping up and reaching for his rifle and screeching3 8,hist6 pard10 in mine and ,bill's ears1 as the fancied crackle of a twig or the rustle of a leaf revealed to his young imagination the stealthy approach of the outlaw band4 ,at last1 ,i fell into a troubled sleep1 and dreamed that ,i had been kidnapped and chained to a tree by a ferocious pirate with red hair4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 #bc4 ,just at daybreak1 ,i was awakened by a series of awful screams from ,bill4 ,they weren't yells1 or howls1 or shouts1 or whoops1 or yawps1 such as you'd expect from a manly set of vocal organs--they were simply indecent1 terrifying1 humiliating screams1 such as women emit when they see ghosts or caterpillars4 ,it's an awful thing to hear a strong1 desperate1 fat man scream incontinently in a cave at daybreak4 #bd4 ,i jumped up to see what the matter was4 ,red ,chief was sitting on ,bill's chest1 with one hand twined in ,bill's hair4 ,in the other he had the sharp case-knife we used for slicing bacon2 and he was industriously and realistically trying to take ,bill's scalp1 according to the sentence that had been pronounced upon him the evening before4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,situation4 ,sidenote3 ,note that the author develops his story by the use of progressive plot situations and contributory 7non-essential7 incidents4 #be4 ,i got the knife away from the kid and made him lie down again4 ,but1 from that moment1 ,bill's spirit was broken4 ,he laid down on his side of the bed1 but he never closed an eye again in sleep as long as that boy was with us4 ,i dozed off for a while1 but along toward sun-up ,i remembered that ,red ,chief had said ,i was to be burned at the stake at the rising of the sun4 ,i wasn't nervous or afraid2 but ,i sat up and lit my pipe and leaned against a rock4 #bf4 8,what you getting up so soon for1 ,sam80 asked ,bill4 #bg4 8,me80 says ,i4 8,oh1 ,i got a kind of a pain in my shoulder4 ,i thought sitting up would rest it40 #bh4 8,you're a liar60 says ,bill4 8,you're afraid4 ,you was to be burned at sunrise1 and you was afraid he'd do it4 ,and he would1 too1 if he could find a match4 ,ain't it awful1 ,sam8 ,do you think anybody will pay out money to get a little imp like that back home80 #bi4 8,sure10 said ,i4 8,a rowdy kid like that is just the kind that parents dote on4 ,now1 you and the ,chief get up and cook breakfast1 while ,i go up on the top of this mountain and reconnoitre40 ,sidenote3 ,note the humorous use of the language of 8literature0--sparingly4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,situation4 ,sidenote3 ,,key4 #cj4 ,i went up on the peak of the little mountain and ran my eye over the contiguous vicinity4 ,over toward ,summit ,i expected to see the sturdy yeomanry of the village armed with scythes and pitchforks beating the country-side for the dastardly kidnappers4 ,but what ,i saw was a peaceful landscape dotted with one man ploughing with a dun mule4 ,nobody was dragging the creek2 no couriers dashed hither and yon1 bringing tidings of no news to the distracted parents4 ,there was a sylvan attitude of somnolent sleepiness pervading the section of the external outward surface of ,alabama that lay exposed to my view4 8,perhaps10 says ,i to myself1 8it has not yet been discovered that the wolves have borne away the tender lambkin from the fold4 ,heaven help the wolves60 says ,i1 and ,i went down the mountain to breakfast4 #ca4 ,when ,i got to the cave ,i found ,bill backed up against the side of it1 breathing hard1 and the boy threatening to smash him with a rock half as big as a cocoanut4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast of unexpected4 #cb4 8,he put a red-hot boiled potato down my back10 explained ,bill1 8and then mashed it with his foot2 and ,i boxed his ears4 ,have you got a gun about you1 ,sam80 #cc4 ,i took the rock away from the boy and kind of patched up the argument4 8,i'll fix you10 says the kid to ,bill4 8,no man ever yet struck the ,red ,chief but what he got paid for it4 ,you better beware60 ,sidenote3 ,return to first style of narration4 #cd4 ,after breakfast the kid takes a piece of leather with strings wrapped around it out of his pocket and goes outside the cave unwinding it4 ,sidenote3 ,a ,frank ,r4 ,stockton expression4 #ce4 8,what's he up to now80 says ,bill1 anxiously4 8,you don't think he'll run away1 do you1 ,sam80 #cf4 8,no fear of it10 says ,i4 8,he don't seem to be much of a home body4 ,but we've got to fix up some plan about the ransom4 ,there don't seem to be much excitement around ,summit on account of his disappearance2 but maybe they haven't realized yet that he's gone4 ,his folks may think he's spending the night with ,aunt ,jane or one of the neighbors4 ,anyhow1 he'll be missed to-day4 ,to-night we must get a message to his father demanding the two thousand dollars for his return40 ,sidenote3 ,plot situation hidden1 action halts4 #cg4 ,just then we heard a kind of war-whoop1 such as ,david might have emitted when he knocked out the champion ,goliath4 ,it was a sling that ,red ,chief had pulled out of his pocket1 and he was whirling it around his head4 #ch4 ,i dodged1 and heard a heavy thud and a kind of a sigh from ,bill1 like a horse gives out when you take his saddle off4 ,a niggerhead rock the size of an egg had caught ,bill just behind the left ear4 ,he loosened himself all over and fell in the fire across the frying pan of hot water for washing the dishes4 ,i dragged him out and poured cold water on his head for half an hour4 ,sidenote3 ,this expression is more clever than natural to 8,bill40 #ci4 ,by and by1 ,bill sits up and feels behind his ear and says3 8,sam1 do you know who my favorite ,biblical character is80 #dj4 8,take it easy10 says ,i4 8,you'll come to your senses presently40 ,sidenote3 ,slaughter of the ,innocents4 #da4 8,king ,herod10 says he4 8,you won't go away and leave me here alone1 will you1 ,sam80 ,sidenote3 ,see #d4 #db4 ,i went out and caught that boy and shook him until his freckles rattled4 ,sidenote3 ,note the use of the incongruous4 #dc4 8,if you don't behave10 says ,i1 8,i'll take you straight home4 ,now1 are you going to be good1 or not80 #dd4 8,i was only funning10 says he sullenly4 8,i didn't mean to hurt ,old ,hank4 ,but what did he hit me for8 ,i'll behave1 ,snake-eye1 if you won't send me home1 and if you'll let me play the ,black ,scout to-day40 #de4 8,i don't know the game10 says ,i4 8,that's for you and ,mr4 ,bill to decide4 ,he's your playmate for the day4 ,i'm going away for a while1 on business4 ,now1 you come in and make friends with him and say you are sorry for hurting him1 or home you go1 at once40 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident4 #df4 ,i made him and ,bill shake hands1 and then ,i took ,bill aside and told him ,i was going to ,poplar ,cove1 a little village three miles from the cave1 and find out what ,i could about how the kidnapping had been regarded in ,summit4 ,also1 ,i thought it best to send a peremptory letter to old man ,dorset that day1 demanding the ransom and dictating how it should be paid4 ,sidenote3 ,do these men seem like actual criminals8 ,see comment on #af4 #dg4 8,you know1 ,sam10 says ,bill1 8,i've stood by you without batting an eye in earthquakes1 fire and flood--in poker games1 dynamite outrages1 police raids1 train robberies and cyclones4 ,i never lost my nerve yet till we kidnapped that two-legged skyrocket of a kid4 ,he's got me going4 ,you won't leave me long with him1 will you1 ,sam80 ,sidenote3 ,irony4 #dh4 8,i'll be back some time this afternoon10 says ,i4 8,you must keep the boy amused and quiet till ,i return4 ,and now we'll write the letter to old ,dorset40 ,sidenote3 ,,key4 #di4 ,bill and ,i got paper and pencil and worked on the letter while ,red ,chief1 with a blanket wrapped around him1 strutted up and down1 guarding the mouth of the cave4 ,bill begged me tearfully to make the ransom fifteen hundred dollars instead of two thousand4 8,i ain't attempting10 says he1 8to decry the celebrated moral aspect of parental affection1 but we're dealing with humans1 and it ain't human for anybody to give up two thousand dollars for that forty-pound chunk of freckled wildcat4 ,i'm willing to take a chance at fifteen hundred dollars4 ,you can charge the difference up to me40 ,sidenote3 ,,preparation ,,for ,,crisis4 #ej4 ,so1 to relieve ,bill1 ,i acceded1 and we collaborated a letter that ran this way3 ,sidenote3 ,in intelligence of expression1 does this letter correspond to the general style of the narrator8 ,ebenezer ,dorset1 ,esq43 ,we have your boy concealed in a place far from ,summit4 ,it is useless for you or the most skilful detectives to attempt to find him4 ,absolutely1 the only terms on which you can have him restored to you are these3 ,we demand fifteen hundred dollars in large bills for his return2 the money to be left at midnight at the same spot and in the same box as your reply--as hereinafter described4 ,if you agree to these terms1 send your answer in writing by a solitary messenger to-night at half-past eight o'clock4 ,after crossing ,owl ,creek1 on the road to ,poplar ,cove1 there are three large trees about a hundred yards apart1 close to the fence of the wheat field on the right-hand side4 ,at the bottom of the fence-post1 opposite the third tree1 will be found a small paste-board box4 ,the messenger will place the answer in this box and return immediately to ,summit4 ,if you attempt any treachery or fail to comply with our demand as stated1 you will never see your boy again4 ,if you pay the money as demanded1 he will be returned to you safe and well within three hours4 ,these terms are final1 and if you do not accede to them no further communication will be attempted4 ,,two ,,desperate ,,men4 #ea4 ,i addressed this letter to ,dorset1 and put it in my pocket4 ,as ,i was about to start1 the kid comes up to me and says3 ,sidenote3 ,character delineation and by-play4 #eb4 8,aw1 ,snake-eye1 you said ,i could play the ,black ,scout while you was gone40 #ec4 8,play it1 of course10 says ,i4 8,mr4 ,bill will play with you4 ,what kind of a game is it80 #ed4 8,i'm the ,black ,scout10 says ,red ,chief1 8and ,i have to ride to the stockade to warn the settlers that the ,indians are coming4 ,i'm so tired of playing ,indian myself4 ,i want to be the ,black ,scout40 #ee4 8,all right10 says ,i4 8,it sounds harmless to me4 ,i guess ,mr4 ,bill will help you foil the pesky savages40 #ef4 8,what am ,i to do80 says ,bill1 looking at the kid suspiciously4 #eg4 8,you are the hoss10 says ,black ,scout4 8,get down on your hands and knees4 ,how can ,i ride to the stockade without a hoss80 #eh4 8,you'd better keep him interested10 said ,i1 8till we get the scheme going4 ,loosen up40 #ei4 ,bill gets down on his all fours1 and a look comes in his eye like a rabbit's when you catch it in a trap4 ,sidenote3 ,the two are typically in character in these paragraphs4 #fj4 8,how far is it to the stockade1 ,kid80 he asks1 in a husky manner of voice4 #fa4 8,ninety miles10 says the ,black ,scout4 8,and you have to hump yourself to get there on time4 ,whoa1 now60 #fb4 ,the ,black ,scout jumps on ,bill's back and digs his heels in his side4 #fc4 8,for ,heaven's sake10 says ,bill1 8hurry back1 ,sam1 as soon as you can4 ,i wish we hadn't made the ransom more than a thousand4 ,say1 you quit kicking me or ,i'll get up and warm you good40 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,situation4 #fd4 ,i walked over to ,poplar ,cove and sat around the post-office and store1 talking with the chawbacons that came in to trade4 ,one whiskerando says that he hears ,summit is all upset on account of ,elder ,ebenezer ,dorset's boy having been lost or stolen4 ,that was all ,i wanted to know4 ,i bought some smoking tobacco1 referred casually to the price of black-eyed peas1 posted my letter surreptitiously and came away4 ,the postmaster said the mail-carrier would come by in an hour to take the mail on to ,summit4 #fe4 ,when ,i got back to the cave ,bill and the boy were not to be found4 ,i explored the vicinity of the cave1 and risked a yodel or two1 but there was no response4 #ff4 ,so ,i lighted my pipe and sat down on a mossy bank to await developments4 #fg4 ,in about half an hour ,i heard the bushes rustle1 and ,bill wabbled out into the little glade in front of the cave4 ,behind him was the kid1 stepping softly like a scout1 with a broad grin on his face4 ,bill stopped1 took off his hat and wiped his face with a red handkerchief4 ,the kid stopped about eight feet behind him4 ,sidenote3 ,typical ,o4 ,henry speech in this paragraph4 #fh4 8,sam10 says ,bill1 8,i suppose you'll think ,i'm a renegade1 but ,i couldn't help it4 ,i'm a grown person with masculine proclivities and habits of self-defence1 but there is a time when all systems of egotism and predominance fail4 ,the boy is gone4 ,i have sent him home4 ,all is off4 ,there was martyrs in old times10 goes on ,bill1 8that suffered death rather than give up the particular graft they enjoyed4 ,none of 'em ever was subjugated to such supernatural tortures as ,i have been4 ,i tried to be faithful to our articles of depredation2 but there came a limit40 #fi4 8,what's the trouble1 ,bill80 ,i asks him4 #gj4 8,i was rode10 says ,bill1 8the ninety miles to the stockade1 not barring an inch4 ,then1 when the settlers was rescued1 ,i was given oats4 ,sand ain't a palatable substitute4 ,and then1 for an hour ,i had to try to explain to him why there was nothin' in holes1 how a road can run both ways and what makes the grass green4 ,i tell you1 ,sam1 a human can only stand so much4 ,i takes him by the neck of his clothes and drags him down the mountain4 ,on the way he kicks my legs black-and-blue from the knees down2 and ,i've got to have two or three bites on my thumb and hand cauterized4 ,sidenote3 ,note the stage trick of a character in ignorance while the audience enjoys his delusion4 ,the surprise is his1 not ours4 #ga4 8,but he's gone0--continues ,bill--8gone home4 ,i showed him the road to ,summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick4 ,i'm sorry we lose the ransom2 but it was either that or ,bill ,driscoll to the madhouse40 #gb4 ,bill is puffing and blowing but there is a look of ineffable peace and growing content on his rose-pink features4 #gc4 8,bill10 says ,i1 8there isn't any heart disease in your family1 is there80 #gd4 8,no10 says ,bill1 8nothing chronic except malaria and accidents4 ,why80 #ge4 8,then you might turn around10 says ,i1 8and have a look behind you40 ,sidenote3 ,suggestion4 ,sidenote3 ,straight delineation4 ,the former is the better art4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,situation4 #gf4 ,bill turns and sees the boy1 and loses his complexion and sits down plump on the ground and begins to pluck aimlessly at grass and little sticks4 ,for an hour ,i was afraid for his mind4 ,and then ,i told him that my scheme was to put the whole job through immediately and that we would get the ransom and be off with it by midnight if old ,dorset fell in with our proposition4 ,so ,bill braced up enough to give the kid a weak sort of a smile and a promise to play the ,russian in a ,japanese war with him as soon as he felt a little better4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident4 #gg4 ,i had a scheme for collecting that ransom without danger of being caught by counterplots that ought to commend itself to professional kidnappers4 ,the tree under which the answer was to be left--and the money later on--was close to the road fence with big1 bare fields on all sides4 ,if a gang of constables should be watching for any one to come for the note they could see him a long way off crossing the fields or in the road4 ,but no sirree6 ,at half-past eight ,i was up in that tree as well hidden as a tree toad1 waiting for the messenger to arrive4 #gh4 ,exactly on time1 a half-grown boy rides up the road on a bicycle1 locates the paste-board box at the foot of the fence-post1 slips a folded piece of paper into it and pedals away again back toward ,summit4 #gi4 ,i waited an hour and then concluded the thing was square4 ,i slid down the tree1 got the note1 slipped along the fence till ,i struck the woods1 and was back at the cave in another half an hour4 ,i opened the note1 got near the lantern and read it to ,bill4 ,it was written with a pen in a crabbed hand1 and the sum and substance of it was this3 ,sidenote3 ,,main ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,,climax4 ,two ,desperate ,men4 ,gentlemen3 ,i received your letter to-day by post1 in regard to the ransom you ask for the return of my son4 ,i think you are a little high in your demands1 and ,i hereby make you a counter-proposition1 which ,i am inclined to believe you will accept4 ,you bring ,johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash1 and ,i agree to take him off your hands4 ,you had better come at night for the neighbors believe he is lost1 and ,i couldn't be responsible for what they would do to anybody they saw bringing him back4 ,very respectfully1 ,,ebenezer ,,dorset4 #hj4 8,great pirates of ,penzance60 says ,i1 8of all the impudent--0 ,sidenote3 ,suggestion4 #ha4 ,but ,i glanced at ,bill1 and hesitated4 ,he had the most appealing look in his eyes ,i ever saw on the face of a dumb or a talking brute4 ,sidenote3 ,serio-comic4 #hb4 8,sam10 says he1 8what's two hundred and fifty dollars1 after all8 ,we've got the money4 ,one more night of this kid will send me to a bed in ,bedlam4 ,besides being a thorough gentleman1 ,i think ,mr4 ,dorset is a spendthrift for making us a liberal offer4 ,you ain't going to let the chance go1 are you80 #hc4 8,tell you the truth1 ,bill10 says ,i1 8this little he ewe lamb has somewhat got on my nerves1 too4 ,we'll take him home1 pay the ransom1 and make our get-away40 ,sidenote3 ,extreme of contrast4 #hd4 ,we took him home that night4 ,we got him to go by telling him that his father had bought a silver-mounted rifle and a pair of moccasins for him1 and we were going to hunt bears the next day4 ,sidenote3 ,,denouement4 ,sidenote3 ,,contrasting ,,plot ,,situation--,summary of the plot-outcome4 #he4 ,it was just twelve o'clock when we knocked at ,ebenezer's front door4 ,just at the moment when ,i should have been abstracting the fifteen hundred dollars from the box under the tree1 according to the original proposition1 ,bill was counting out two hundred and fifty dollars into ,dorset's hand4 ,sidenote3 ,note free use of simile4 #hf4 ,when the kid found out we were going to leave him at home he started up a howl like a calliope and fastened himself as tight as a leech to ,bill's leg4 ,his father peeled him away gradually1 like a porous plaster4 #hg4 8,how long can you hold him80 asks ,bill4 #hh4 8,i'm not as strong as ,i used to be10 says old ,dorset4 8,but ,i think ,i can promise you ten minutes40 ,sidenote3 ,humor of hyperbole4 #hi4 8,enough10 says ,bill4 8,in ten minutes ,i shall cross the ,central1 ,southern and ,middle ,western ,states1 and be legging it trippingly for the ,canadian border40 ,sidenote3 ,,resultant ,,climax4 #ij4 ,and1 as dark as it was1 and as fat as ,bill was1 and as good a runner as ,i am1 he was a good mile and half out of ,summit before ,i could catch up with him4 ,,barrie ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,james ,matthew ,barrie was born at ,kirriemuir 78,thrums071 ,scotland1 on the #ith of ,may1 #ahfj4 ,he is the son of a physician1 whom he has lovingly embodied as 8,dr4 ,mc,queen02 his mother and sister also will live as 8,jess0 and 8,leeby40 ,he was educated at ,dumfries ,academy1 entering the ,university of ,edinburgh at eighteen1 from which he was graduated in #ahhb with the degree of ,m4,a41 taking honors in ,english literature4 ,he began writing literary criticisms for the ,edinburgh ,courant at this period4 ,several months after his graduation ,barrie took a position on a ,nottingham newspaper1 leaving that city for ,london in #ahhe1 where his literary career commenced in earnest2 but success did not come until after the customary struggles and hindrances to which young literary aspirants are ever subject4 ,in #ahic he married ,miss ,ansell1 an actress1 whom he divorced in #aiji4 ,some of his best-known books are ,auld ,licht ,idylls2 ,a ,window in ,thrums2 ,margaret ,ogilvy2 ,my ,lady ,nicotine2 ,the ,little ,minister 7afterwards dramatized72 ,sentimental ,tommy2 ,tommy and ,grizel 7a sequel71 and ,the ,little ,white ,bird4 ,he also wrote several plays1 the most notable of which are ,the ,professor's ,love ,story2 ,peter ,pan 7a partial dramatization of ,the ,little ,white ,bird72 ,quality ,street2 and ,what ,every ,woman ,knows4 ,it is interesting to note that ,mr4 ,barrie did not succeed in securing the magazine publication of 8,the ,courting of ,t',nowhead's ,bell10 which is given herewith2 it was first issued between book covers1 in #ahhh4 99 99 99 99 99 ,barrie is a versatile story-teller1 though he deals mostly with ,scotch characters4 ,his early work exhibits his short-story ability at its best4 ,the warm human interest of ,a ,window in ,thrums and ,auld ,licht ,idylls1 is matched only by ,ian ,maclaren's ,beside the ,bonnie ,briar ,bush and ,the ,days of ,auld ,lang ,syne4 ,a quaint character-humor1 with swift flashes of pathos1 pervades all his work1 which for local-color and insight into the character of the ,scotch rural dweller has won a place of distinction among the stories of present-day writers4 ,with ,barrie1 realism is rarely unpleasant2 he sees all things with a gentle eye4 ,even when in his keen ability to penetrate to the heart of things he discovers the weaknesses of humanity1 he also finds redeeming virtues4 ,thus his characters are continually disclosing their true natures underneath the garb and custom of picturesque life1 and we feel ourselves to be kin to them1 every one4 ,his dialect in itself is masterly and often deliciously humorous1 so that actions and dialogue in themselves common-place take on an extraordinary interest4 ,no modern writer has a greater gift of character-drawing1 and none is more sympathetically human in his interpretations of the ,scotch commoner4 ,it is my contemptible weakness that if ,i say a character smiled vacuously1 ,i must smile vacuously2 if he frowns or leers1 ,i frown or leer2 if he is a coward or given to contortions1 ,i cringe1 or twist my legs until ,i have to stop writing to undo the knot4 ,i bow with him1 eat with him1 and gnaw my moustache with him4 ,if the character be a lady with an exquisite laugh1 ,i suddenly terrify you by laughing exquisitely4 ,one reads of the astounding versatility of an actor who is stout and lean on the same evening1 but what is he to the novelist who is a dozen persons within the hour8--,j4 ,m4 ,,barrie1 ,margaret ,ogilvy4 ,there are writers who can plan out their story beforehand as clearly as though it were a railway journey1 and adhere throughout to their original design--they draw up what playwrights call a scenario--but ,i was never one of those4 ,i spend a great deal of time indeed in looking for the best road in the map and mark it with red ink1 but at the first bypath off my characters go4 8,come back10 ,i cry1 8you are off the road40 8,we prefer this way10 they reply4 ,i try bullying4 8,you are only people in a book10 ,i shout1 8and it is my book1 and ,i can do what ,i like with you1 so come back60 ,but they seldom come1 and it ends with my plodding after them4--,j4 ,m4 ,,barrie1 ,introduction to ,when a ,man's ,single4 ,the chief features of ,barrie's style are a quaintness of expression1 a simple directness of narrative1 and an unfailing sense of humor--often as though the author were chuckling to himself as he wrote4 ,his gift for descriptive writing--probably the best test of 8style0--is very marked1 though he makes little of it4--,j4 ,a4 ,,hammerton1 ,j4 ,m4 ,barrie and ,his ,books4 ,auld ,licht ,idylls is a set of regular descriptions of the life of 8,thrums10 with special reference to the ways and character of the 8,old ,lights10 the stubborn conservative ,scotch ,puritans2 it contains also a most amusing and characteristic love story of the sect 78,the ,courting of ,t',nowhead's ,bell071 and a satiric political skit4--,,charles ,,dudley ,,warner',s ,library of the ,world's ,best ,literature4 ,by the time 8,auld ,licht ,idylls0 appeared1 he had achieved a reputation1--at least a local one4 ,this book had an immediate success1 and ran rapidly through several editions4 ,his mother had been an ,auld ,licht in her youth4444 ,mrs4 ,barrie1 knowing them from the inside1 could tell all sorts of quaint and marvellous tales about them1 whose humor was sure to please4 ,it was from her stories that the ,idylls were mainly drawn1 so she was in a sense a collaborator with her son in their production4--,,hattie ,t4 ,,griswold1 ,personal ,sketches of ,recent ,authors4 ,as a literary artist he belongs in the foremost rank4 ,he has that sense of the typical in incident1 of the universal in feeling1 and of the suggestive in language1 which mark the chiefs of letters4 ,no one can express an idea with fewer strokes2 he never expands a sufficient hint into an essay4 ,his management of the ,scotch dialect is masterly3 he uses it sparingly1 in the nearest form to ,english compatible with retaining the flavor2 he never makes it so hard as to interfere with enjoyment2 in few dialect writers do we feel so little alienness4--,,charles ,,dudley ,,warner',s ,library of the ,world's ,best ,literature4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,barrie ,my ,contemporaries in ,fiction1 by ,j4 ,d4 ,c4 ,murray 7#ahig72 ,theology of ,modern ,literature1 by ,s4 ,law ,wilson 7#ahii72 ,fame and ,fiction1 by ,e4 ,a4 ,bennett 7#aija72 ,j4 ,m4 ,barrie and ,his ,books1 by ,j4 ,a4 ,hammerton 7#aijb74 ,,for ,,analysis ,,the ,,courting ,,of ,t',,nowhead',s ,,bell ,,by ,,james ,,matthew ,,barrie ,for two years it had been notorious in the square that ,sam'l ,dickie was thinking of courting ,t',nowhead's ,bell1 and that if little ,sanders ,elshioner 7which is the ,thrums pronunciation of ,alexander ,alexander7 went in for her he might prove a formidable rival4 ,sam'l was a weaver in the ,tenements1 and ,sanders a coal-carter whose trade-mark was a bell on his horse's neck that told when coals were coming4 ,being something of a public man1 ,sanders had not so high a social position as ,sam'l1 but he had succeeded his father on the coal-cart1 while the weaver had already tried several trades4 ,it had always been against ,sam'l1 too1 that once when the kirk was vacant he had advised the selection of the third minister who preached for it on the ground that it came expensive to pay a large number of candidates4 ,the scandal of the thing was hushed up1 out of respect for his father1 who was a ,god-fearing man1 but ,sam'l was known by it in ,lang ,tammas' circle4 ,the coal-carter was called ,little ,sanders to distinguish him from his father1 who was not much more than half his size4 ,he had grown up with the name1 and its inapplicability now came home to nobody4 ,sam'l's mother had been more far-seeing than ,sanders'4 ,her man had been called ,sammy all his life because it was the name he got as a boy1 so when their eldest son was born she spoke of him as ,sam'l while still in his cradle4 ,the neighbours imitated her1 and thus the young man had a better start in life than had been granted to ,sammy1 his father4 #b4 ,it was ,saturday evening--the night in the week when ,auld ,licht young men fell in love4 ,sam'l ,dickie1 wearing a blue glengarry bonnet with a red ball on the top1 came to the door of a one-story house in the ,tenements and stood there wriggling1 for he was in a suit of tweeds for the first time that week1 and did not feel at one in them4 ,when his feeling of being a stranger to himself wore off1 he looked up and down the road1 which straggles between houses and gardens1 and then1 picking his way over the puddles1 crossed to his father's henhouse and sat down on it4 ,he was now on his way to the square4 #c4 ,eppie ,fargus was sitting on an adjoining dike knitting stockings1 and ,sam'l looked at her for a time4 #d4 8,is't yersel1 ,eppie80 he said at last4 #e4 8,it's a' that10 said ,eppie4 #f4 8,hoo's a' wi' ye80 asked ,sam'l4 #g4 8,we're juist aff an' on10 replied ,eppie cautiously4 #h4 ,there was not much more to say1 but as ,sam'l sidled off the henhouse he murmured politely1 8,ay1 ay40 ,in another minute he would have been fairly started1 but ,eppie resumed the conversation4 #i4 8,sam'l10 she said1 with a twinkle in her eye1 8ye can tell ,lisbeth ,fargus ,i'll likely be drappin' in on her aboot ,munday or ,teisday40 #aj4 ,lisbeth was sister to ,eppie1 and wife of ,tammas ,mc,quhatty1 better known as ,t',nowhead1 which was the name of his farm4 ,she was thus ,bell's mistress4 #aa4 ,sam'l leaned against the henhouse as if all his desire to depart had gone4 #ab4 8,hoo d'ye kin ,i'll be at the ,t',nowhead the nicht80 he asked1 grinning in anticipation4 #ac4 8,ou1 ,i'se warrant ye'll be after ,bell10 said ,eppie4 #ad4 8,am no sure o' that10 said ,sam'l1 trying to leer4 ,he was enjoying himself now4 #ae4 8,am no sure o' that10 he repeated1 for ,eppie seemed lost in stitches4 #af4 8,sam'l--0 #ag4 8,ay40 ,sidenote3 ,asking her4 #ah4 8,ye'll be spierin' her sune noo1 ,i dinna doot80 #ai4 ,this took ,sam'l1 who had only been courting ,bell for a year or two1 a little aback4 #bj4 8,hoo d'ye mean1 ,eppie80 he asked4 #ba4 8,maybe ye'll do't the nicht40 #bb4 8,na1 there's nae hurry10 said ,sam'l4 #bc4 8,weel1 we're a' coontin' on't1 ,sam'l40 #bd4 8,gae wa wi' ye40 #be4 8,what for no80 #bf4 8,gae wa wi' ye10 said ,sam'l again4 #bg4 8,bell's gie an' fond o' ye1 ,sam'l40 #bh4 8,ay10 said ,sam'l4 #bi4 8,but am dootin' ye're a fell billy wi' the lasses40 #cj4 8,ay1 oh1 ,i d'na kin1 moderate1 moderate10 said ,sam'l1 in high delight4 #ca4 8,i saw ye10 said ,eppie1 speaking with a wire in her mouth1 8gaein' on terr'ble wi' ,mysy ,haggart at the pump last ,saturday40 #cb4 8,we was juist amoosin' oorsels10 said ,sam'l4 #cc4 8,it'll be nae amoosement to ,mysy10 said ,eppie1 8gin ye brak her heart40 #cd4 8,losh1 ,eppie10 said ,sam'l1 8,i didna think o' that40 #ce4 8,ye maun kin weel1 ,sam'l1 'at there's mony a lass wid jump at ye40 #cf4 8,ou1 weel10 said ,sam'l1 implying that a man must take these things as they come4 #cg4 8,for ye're a dainty chield to look at1 ,sam'l40 #ch4 8,do ye think so1 ,eppie8 ,ay1 ay2 oh1 ,i d'na kin am onything by the ordinar40 #ci4 8,ye mayna be10 said ,eppie1 8but lasses doesna do to be ower partikler40 #dj4 ,sam'l resented this1 and prepared to depart again4 #da4 8,ye'll no tell ,bell that80 he asked anxiously4 #db4 8,tell her what80 #dc4 8,aboot me an' ,mysy40 #dd4 8,we'll see hoo ye behave yersel1 ,sam'l40 #de4 8,no 'at ,i care1 ,eppie2 ye can tell her gin ye like4 ,i widna think twice o' tellin' her mysel40 #df4 8,the ,lord forgie ye for leein'1 ,sam'l10 said ,eppie1 as he disappeared down ,tammy ,tosh's close4 ,here he came upon ,henders ,webster4 ,sidenote3 ,alley1 or court4 #dg4 8,ye're late1 ,sam'l10 said ,henders4 #dh4 8,what for80 #di4 8,ou1 ,i was thinkin' ye wid be gaen the length o' ,t',nowhead the nicht1 an' ,i saw ,sanders ,elshioner makkin's wy there an oor syne40 #ej4 8,did ye80 cried ,sam'l1 adding craftily1 8but it's naething to me40 #ea4 8,tod1 lad10 said ,henders1 8gin ye dinna buckle to1 ,sanders'll be carryin' her off40 #eb4 ,sam'l flung back his head and passed on4 #ec4 8,sam'l60 cried ,henders after him4 #ed4 8,ay10 said ,sam'l1 wheeling round4 #ee4 8,gie ,bell a kiss frae me40 #ef4 ,the full force of this joke struck neither all at once4 ,sam'l began to smile at it as he turned down the school-wynd1 and it came upon ,henders while he was in his garden feeding his ferret4 ,then he slapped his legs gleefully1 and explained the conceit to ,will'um ,byars1 who went into the house and thought it over4 #eg4 ,there were twelve or twenty little groups of men in the square1 which was lit by a flare of oil suspended over a cadger's cart4 ,now and again a staid young woman passed through the square with a basket on her arm1 and if she had lingered long enough to give them time1 some of the idlers would have addressed her4 ,as it was1 they gazed after her1 and then grinned to each other4 #eh4 8,ay1 ,sam'l10 said two or three young men as ,sam'l joined them beneath the town clock4 #ei4 8,ay1 ,davit10 replied ,sam'l4 #fj4 ,this group was composed of some of the sharpest wits in ,thrums1 and it was not to be expected that they would let this opportunity pass4 ,perhaps when ,sam'l joined them he knew what was in store for him4 #fa4 8,was ye lookin' for ,t',nowhead's ,bell1 ,sam'l80 asked one4 #fb4 8,or mebbe ye was wantin' the minister80 suggested another1 the same who had walked out twice with ,christy ,duff and not married her after all4 #fc4 ,sam'l could not think of a good reply at the moment1 so he laughed good-naturedly4 #fd4 8,ondoobtedly she's a snod bit crittur10 said ,davit archly4 #fe4 8,an' michty clever wi' her fingers10 added ,jamie ,deuchars4 #ff4 8,man1 ,i've thocht o' makkin' up to ,bell mysel10 said ,peter ,ogle4 8,wid there be ony chance1 think ye1 ,sam'l80 #fg4 8,i'm thinkin' she widna hae ye for her first1 ,pete10 replied ,sam'l1 in one of those happy flashes that come to some men1 8but there's nae sayin' but what she micht tak ye to finish up wi'40 #fh4 ,the unexpectedness of this sally startled everyone4 ,though ,sam'l did not set up for a wit1 however1 like ,davit1 it was notorious that he could say a cutting thing once in a way4 #fi4 8,did ye ever see ,bell reddin' up80 asked ,pete1 recovering from his overthrow4 ,he was a man who bore no malice4 #gj4 8,it's a sicht10 said ,sam'l solemnly4 #ga4 8,hoo will that be80 asked ,jamie ,deuchars4 ,sidenote3 ,little ones4 #gb4 8,it's well worth yer while10 said ,pete1 8to ging atower to the ,t',nowhead an' see4 ,ye'll mind the closed-in beds i' the kitchen8 ,ay1 well1 they're a fell spoilt crew1 ,t',nowhead's litlins1 an' no that aisy to manage4 ,th'ither lasses ,lisbeth's hae'n had a michty trouble wi' them4 ,when they war i' the middle o' their reddin' up the bairns wid come tumlin' about the floor1 but1 sal1 ,i assure ye1 ,bell didna fash lang wi' them4 ,did she1 ,sam'l80 #gc4 8,she did not10 said ,sam'l1 dropping into a fine mode of speech to add emphasis to his remark4 #gd4 8,i'll tell ye what she did10 said ,pete to the others4 8,she juist lifted up the litlins1 twa at a time1 an' flung them into the coffin-beds4 ,syne she snibbit the doors on them1 an' keepit them there till the floor was dry40 #ge4 8,ay1 man1 did she so80 said ,davit admiringly4 #gf4 8,i've seen her do't mysel10 said ,sam'l4 #gg4 8,there's no a lassie makes better bannocks this side o' ,fetter ,lums10 continued ,pete4 #gh4 8,her mither tocht her that10 said ,sam'l2 8she was a gran' han' at the bakin'1 ,kitty ,ogilvy40 #gi4 8,i've heard say10 remarked ,jamie1 putting it this way1 so as not to tie himself down to anything1 8'at ,bell's scones is equal to ,mag ,lunan's40 #hj4 8,so they are10 said ,sam'l1 almost fiercely4 #ha4 8,i kin she's a neat han' at singein' a hen10 said ,pete4 #hb4 8,an' wi't a'10 said ,davit1 8she's a snod1 canty bit stocky in her ,sabbath claes40 #hc4 8,if onything1 thick in the waist10 suggested ,jamie4 #hd4 8,i dinna see that10 said ,sam'l4 #he4 8,i d'na care for her hair either10 continued ,jamie1 who was very nice in his tastes2 8something mair yallowchy wid be an improvement40 #hf4 8,a'body kins10 growled ,sam'l1 8'at black hair's the bonniest40 #hg4 ,the others chuckled4 #hh4 8,puir ,sam'l60 ,pete said4 #hi4 ,sam'l not being certain whether this should be received with a smile or a frown1 opened his mouth wide as a kind of compromise4 ,this was position one with him for thinking things over4 #ij4 ,few ,auld ,lichts1 as ,i have said1 went the length of choosing a helpmate for themselves4 ,one day a young man's friends would see him mending the washing-tub of a maiden's mother4 ,they kept the joke until ,saturday night1 and then he learned from them what he had been after4 ,it dazed him for a time1 but in a year or so he grew accustomed to the idea1 and they were then married4 ,with a little help he fell in love just like other people4 #ia4 ,sam'l was going the way of the others1 but he found it difficult to come to the point4 ,he only went courting once a week1 and he could never take up the running at the place where he left off the ,saturday before4 ,thus he had not1 so far1 made great headway4 ,his method of making up to ,bell had been to drop in at ,t',nowhead on ,saturday nights and talk with the farmer about the rinderpest4 #ib4 ,the farm kitchen was ,bell's testimonial4 ,its chairs1 tables1 and stools were scoured by her to the whiteness of ,rob ,angus's sawmill boards1 and the muslin blind on the window was starched like a child's pinafore4 ,bell was brave1 too1 as well as energetic4 ,once ,thrums had been overrun with thieves4 ,it is now thought that there may have been only one1 but he had the wicked cleverness of a gang4 ,such was his repute that there were weavers who spoke of locking their doors when they went from home4 ,he was not very skilful1 however1 being generally caught1 and when they said they knew he was a robber he gave them their things back and went away4 ,if they had given him time there is no doubt that he would have gone off with his plunder4 ,one night he went to ,t',nowhead1 and ,bell1 who slept in the kitchen1 was wakened by the noise4 ,she knew who it would be1 so she rose and dressed herself and went to look for him with a candle4 ,the thief had not known what to do when he got in1 and as it was very lonely he was glad to see ,bell4 ,she told him he ought to be ashamed of himself1 and would not let him out by the door until he had taken off his boots so as not to soil the carpet4 #ic4 ,on this ,saturday evening ,sam'l stood his ground in the square1 until by and by he found himself alone4 ,there were other groups there still1 but his circle had melted away4 ,they went separately1 and no one said good-night4 ,each took himself off slowly1 backing out of the group until he was fairly started4 #id4 ,sam'l looked about him1 and then1 seeing that the others had gone1 walked round the townhouse into the darkness of the brae that leads down and then up to the farm of ,t',nowhead4 #ie4 ,to get into the good graces of ,lisbeth ,fargus you had to know her ways and humour them4 ,sam'l1 who was a student of women1 knew this1 and so1 instead of pushing the door open and walking in1 he went through the rather ridiculous ceremony of knocking4 ,sanders ,elshioner was also aware of this weakness of ,lisbeth's1 but1 though he often made up his mind to knock1 the absurdity of the thing prevented his doing so when he reached the door4 ,t',nowhead himself had never got used to his wife's refined notions1 and when any one knocked he always started to his feet1 thinking there must be something wrong4 #if4 ,lisbeth came to the door1 her expansive figure blocking the way in4 #ig4 8,sam'l10 she said4 #ih4 8,lisbeth10 said ,sam'l4 #ii4 ,he shook hands with the farmer's wife1 knowing that she liked it1 but only said1 8,ay1 ,bell10 to his sweetheart1 8,ay1 ,t',nowhead10 to ,mc,quhatty1 and 8,it's yersel1 ,sanders10 to his rival4 #ajj4 ,they were sitting round the fire1 ,t',nowhead1 with his feet on the ribs1 wondering why he felt so warm1 and ,bell darned a stocking1 while ,lisbeth kept an eye on a goblet full of potatoes4 #aja4 8,sit into the fire1 ,sam'l10 said the farmer1 not1 however1 making way for him4 #ajb4 8,na1 na10 said ,sam'l1 8,i'm to bide nae time40 ,then he sat into the fire4 ,his face was turned away from ,bell1 and when she spoke he answered her without looking round4 ,sam'l felt a little anxious4 ,sanders ,elshioner1 who had one leg shorter than the other1 but looked well when sitting1 seemed suspiciously at home4 ,he asked ,bell questions out of his own head1 which was beyond ,sam'l1 and once he said something to her in such a low voice that the others could not catch it4 ,t',nowhead asked curiously what it was1 and ,sanders explained that he had only said1 8,ay1 ,bell1 the morn's the ,sabbath40 ,there was nothing startling in this1 but ,sam'l did not like it4 ,he began to wonder if he was too late1 and had he seen his opportunity would have told ,bell of a nasty rumour that ,sanders intended to go over to the ,free ,church if they would make him kirk-officer4 #ajc4 ,sam'l had the good-will of ,t',nowhead's wife1 who liked a polite man4 ,sanders did his best1 but from want of practice he constantly made mistakes4 ,to-night1 for instance1 he wore his hat in the house because he did not like to put up his hand and take it off4 ,t',nowhead had not taken his off either but that was because he meant to go out by and by and lock the byre door4 ,it was impossible to say which of her lovers ,bell preferred4 ,the proper course with an ,auld ,licht lassie was to prefer the man who proposed to her4 #ajd4 8,ye'll bide a wee1 an' hae something to eat80 ,lisbeth asked ,sam'l1 with her eyes on the goblet4 #aje4 8,no1 ,i thank ye10 said ,sam'l1 with true gentility4 #ajf4 8,ye'll better80 #ajg4 8,i dinna think it40 #ajh4 8,hoots aye2 what's to hender ye80 #aji4 8,weel1 since ye're sae pressin'1 ,i'll bide40 #aaj4 ,no one asked ,sanders to stay4 ,bell could not1 for she was but the servant1 and ,t',nowhead knew that the kick his wife had given him meant that he was not to do so either4 ,sanders whistled to show that he was not uncomfortable4 #aaa4 8,ay then1 ,i'll be stappin' ower the brae10 he said at last4 #aab4 ,he did not go1 however4 ,there was sufficient pride in him to get him off his chair1 but only slowly1 for he had to get accustomed to the notion of going4 ,at intervals of two or three minutes he remarked that he must now be going4 ,in the same circumstances ,sam'l would have acted similarly4 ,for a ,thrums man it is one of the hardest things in life to get away from anywhere4 #aac4 ,at last ,lisbeth saw that something must be done4 ,the potatoes were burning1 and ,t',nowhead had an invitation on his tongue4 #aad4 8,yes1 ,i'll hae to be movin'10 said ,sanders1 hopelessly1 for the fifth time4 #aae4 8,guid nicht to ye1 then1 ,sanders10 said ,lisbeth4 8,gie the door a fling-to1 ahent ye40 #aaf4 ,sanders1 with a mighty effort1 pulled himself together4 ,he looked boldly at ,bell1 and then took off his hat carefully4 ,sam'l saw with misgivings that there was something in it which was not a handkerchief4 ,it was a paper bag glittering with gold braid1 and contained such an assortment of sweets as lads bought for their lasses on the ,muckle ,friday4 #aag4 8,hae1 ,bell10 said ,sanders1 handing the bag to ,bell in an off-hand way as if it were but a trifle4 ,nevertheless he was a little excited1 for he went off without saying good-night4 #aah4 ,no one spoke4 ,bell's face was crimson4 ,t',nowhead fidgeted on his chair1 and ,lisbeth looked at ,sam'l4 ,the weaver was strangely calm and collected1 though he would have liked to know whether this was a proposal4 #aai4 8,sit in by to the table1 ,sam'l10 said ,lisbeth1 trying to look as if things were as they had been before4 #abj4 ,she put a saucerful of butter1 salt1 and pepper near the fire to melt1 for melted butter is the shoeing-horn that helps over a meal of potatoes4 ,sam'l1 however1 saw what the hour required1 and jumping up1 he seized his bonnet4 #aba4 8,hing the tatties higher up the joist1 ,lisbeth10 he said with dignity2 8,i'se be back in ten meenits40 #abb4 ,he hurried out of the house1 leaving the others looking at each other4 #abc4 8,what do ye think80 asked ,lisbeth4 #abd4 8,i d'na kin10 faltered ,bell4 #abe4 8,thae tatties is lang o' comin' to the boil10 said ,t',nowhead4 #abf4 ,in some circles a lover who behaved like ,sam'l would have been suspected of intent upon his rival's life1 but neither ,bell nor ,lisbeth did the weaver that injustice4 ,in a case of this kind it does not much matter what ,t',nowhead thought4 #abg4 ,the ten minutes had barely passed when ,sam'l was back in the farm kitchen4 ,he was too flurried to knock this time1 and1 indeed1 ,lisbeth did not expect it of him4 #abh4 8,bell1 hae60 he cried1 handing his sweetheart a tinsel bag twice the size of ,sander's gift4 #abi4 8,losh preserve's60 exclaimed ,lisbeth2 8,i'se warrant there's a shillin's worth40 #acj4 8,there's a' that1 ,lisbeth--an' mair10 said ,sam'l1 firmly4 #aca4 8,i thank ye1 ,sam'l10 said ,bell1 feeling an unwonted elation as she gazed at the two paper bags in her lap4 #acb4 8,ye're ower extravegint1 ,sam'l10 ,lisbeth said4 #acc4 8,not at all10 said ,sam'l2 8not at all4 ,but ,i widna advise ye to eat thae ither anes1 ,bell--they're second quality40 #acd4 ,bell drew back a step from ,sam'l4 #ace4 8,how do ye kin80 asked the farmer shortly1 for he liked ,sanders4 #acf4 8,i spiered i' the shop10 said ,sam'l4 #acg4 ,the goblet was placed on a broken plate on the table with the saucer beside it1 and ,sam'l1 like the others1 helped himself4 ,what he did was to take potatoes from the pot with his fingers1 peel off their coats1 and then dip them into the butter4 ,lisbeth would have liked to provide knives and forks1 but she knew that beyond a certain point ,t',nowhead was master in his own house4 ,as for ,sam'l1 he felt victory in his hands1 and began to think that he had gone too far4 #ach4 ,in the meantime ,sanders1 little witting that ,sam'l had trumped his trick1 was sauntering along the kirk-wynd with his hat on the side of his head4 ,fortunately he did not meet the minister4 #aci4 ,the courting of ,t',nowhead's ,bell reached its crisis one ,sabbath about a month after the events above recorded4 ,the minister was in great force that day1 but it is no part of mine to tell how he bore himself4 ,i was there1 and am not likely to forget the scene4 ,it was a fateful ,sabbath for ,t',nowhead's ,bell and her swains1 and destined to be remembered for the painful scandal which they perpetrated in their passion4 #adj4 ,bell was not in the kirk4 ,there being an infant of six months in the house it was a question of either ,lisbeth or the lassie's staying at home with him1 and though ,lisbeth was unselfish in a general way1 she could not resist the delight of going to church4 ,she had nine children besides the baby1 and being but a woman1 it was the pride of her life to march them into the ,t',nowhead pew1 so well watched that they dared not misbehave1 and so tightly packed that they could not fall4 ,the congregation looked at that pew1 the mothers enviously1 when they sang the lines-- 8,jerusalem like a city is ,compactly built together40 #ada4 ,the first half of the service had been gone through on this particular ,sunday without anything remarkable happening4 ,it was at the end of the psalm which preceded the sermon that ,sanders ,elshioner1 who sat near the door1 lowered his head until it was no higher than the pews1 and in that attitude1 looking almost like a four-footed animal1 slipped out of the church4 ,in their eagerness to be at the sermon many of the congregation did not notice him1 and those who did put the matter by in their minds for future investigation4 ,sam'l1 however1 could not take it so coolly4 ,from his seat in the gallery he saw ,sanders disappear1 and his mind misgave him4 ,with the true lover's instinct he understood it all4 ,sanders had been struck by the fine turn-out in the ,t',nowhead's pew4 ,bell was alone at the farm4 ,what an opportunity to work one's way up to a proposal4 ,t',nowhead was so overrun with children that such a chance seldom occurred1 except on a ,sabbath4 ,sanders1 doubtless1 was off to propose1 and he1 ,sam'l1 was left behind4 #adb4 ,the suspense was terrible4 ,sam'l and ,sanders had both known all along that ,bell would take the first of the two who asked her4 ,even those who thought her proud admitted that she was modest4 ,bitterly the weaver repented having waited so long4 ,now it was too late4 ,in ten minutes ,sanders would be at ,t',nowhead2 in an hour all would be over4 ,sam'l rose to his feet in a daze4 ,his mother pulled him down by the coat-tail1 and his father shook him1 thinking he was walking in his sleep4 ,he tottered past them1 however1 hurried up the aisle1 which was so narrow that ,dan'l ,ross could only reach his seat by walking sideways1 and was gone before the minister could do more than stop in the middle of a whirl and gape in horror after him4 #adc4 ,a number of the congregation felt that day the advantage of sitting in the loft4 ,what was a mystery to those downstairs was revealed to them4 ,from the gallery windows they had a fine open view to the south2 and as ,sam'l took the common1 which was a short cut though a steep ascent1 to ,t',nowhead1 he was never out of their line of vision4 ,sanders was not to be seen1 but they guessed rightly the reason why4 ,thinking he had ample time1 he had gone round by the main road to save his boots--perhaps a little scared by what was coming4 ,sam'l's design was to forestall him by taking the shorter path over the burn and up the common4 #add4 ,it was a race for a wife1 and several onlookers in the gallery braved the minister's displeasure to see who won4 ,those who favoured ,sam'l's suit exultingly saw him leap the stream1 while the friends of ,sanders fixed their eyes on the top of the common where it ran into the road4 ,sanders must come into sight there1 and the one who reached this point first would get ,bell4 #ade4 ,as ,auld ,lichts do not walk abroad on the ,sabbath1 ,sanders would probably not be delayed4 ,the chances were in his favour4 ,had it been any other day in the week ,sam'l might have run4 ,so some of the congregation in the gallery were thinking1 when suddenly they saw him bend low and then take to his heels4 ,he had caught sight of ,sander's head bobbing over the hedge that separated the road from the common1 and feared that ,sanders might see him4 ,the congregation who could crane their necks sufficiently saw a black object1 which they guessed to be the carter's hat1 crawling along the hedge-top4 ,for a moment it was motionless1 and then it shot ahead4 ,the rivals had seen each other4 ,it was now a hot race4 ,sam'l1 dissembling no longer1 clattered up the common1 becoming smaller and smaller to the onlookers as he neared the top4 ,more than one person in the gallery almost rose to their feet in their excitement4 ,sam'l had it4 ,no1 ,sanders was in front4 ,then the two figures disappeared from view4 ,they seemed to run into each other at the top of the brae1 and no one could say who was first4 ,the congregation looked at one another4 ,some of them perspired4 ,but the minister held on his course4 #adf4 ,sam'l had just been in time to cut ,sanders out4 ,it was the weaver's saving that ,sanders saw this when his rival turned the corner2 for ,sam'l was sadly blown4 ,sanders took in the situation and gave in at once4 ,the last hundred yards of the distance he covered at his leisure1 and when he arrived at his destination he did not go in4 ,it was a fine afternoon for the time of the year1 and he went round to have a look at the pig1 about which ,t',nowhead was a little sinfully puffed up4 #adg4 8,ay10 said ,sanders1 digging his fingers critically into the grunting animal2 8quite so40 #adh4 8,grumph10 said the pig1 getting reluctantly to his feet4 #adi4 8,ou ay2 yes10 said ,sanders1 thoughtfully4 #aej4 ,then he sat down on the edge of the sty1 and looked long and silently at an empty bucket4 ,but whether his thoughts were of ,t',nowhead's ,bell1 whom he had lost for ever1 or of the food the farmer fed his pig on1 is not known4 #aea4 8,lord preserve's6 ,are ye no at the kirk80 cried ,bell1 nearly dropping the baby as ,sam'l broke into the room4 #aeb4 8,bell60 cried ,sam'l4 #aec4 ,then ,t',nowhead's ,bell knew that her hour had come4 #aed4 8,sam'l10 she faltered4 #aee4 8,will ye hae's1 ,bell80 demanded ,sam'l1 glaring at her sheepishly4 #aef4 8,ay10 answered ,bell4 #aeg4 ,sam'l fell into a chair4 #aeh4 8,bring's drink o' water1 ,bell10 he said4 ,but ,bell thought the occasion required milk1 and there was none in the kitchen4 ,she went out to the byre1 still with the baby in her arms1 and saw ,sanders ,elshioner sitting gloomily on the pigsty4 #aei4 8,weel1 ,bell10 said ,sanders4 #afj4 8,i thocht ye'd been at the kirk1 ,sanders10 said ,bell4 #afa4 ,then there was a silence between them4 #afb4 8,has ,sam'l spiered ye1 ,bell80 asked ,sanders1 stolidly4 #afc4 8,ay10 said ,bell again1 and this time there was a tear in her eye4 ,sanders was little better than an 8orra man10 and ,sam'l was a weaver1 and yet--,but it was too late now4 ,sanders gave the pig a vicious poke with a stick1 and when it had ceased to grunt1 ,bell was back in the kitchen4 ,she had forgotten about the milk1 however1 and ,sam'l only got water after all4 #afd4 ,in after days1 when the story of ,bell's wooing was told1 there were some who held that the circumstances would have almost justified the lassie in giving ,sam'l the go-by4 ,but these perhaps forgot that her other lover was in the same predicament as the accepted one--that of the two1 indeed1 he was the more to blame1 for he set off to ,t',nowhead on the ,sabbath of his own accord1 while ,sam'l only ran after him4 ,and then there is no one to say for certain whether ,bell heard of her suitors' delinquencies until ,lisbeth's return from the kirk4 ,sam'l could never remember whether he told her1 and ,bell was not sure whether1 if he did1 she took it in4 ,sanders was greatly in demand for weeks after to tell what he knew of the affair1 but though he was twice asked to tea to the manse among the trees1 and subjected thereafter to ministerial cross-examinations1 this is all he told4 ,he remained at the pigsty until ,sam'l left the farm1 when he joined him at the top of the brae1 and they went home together4 #afe4 8,it's yersel1 ,sanders10 said ,sam'l4 #aff4 8,it is so1 ,sam'l10 said ,sanders4 #afg4 8,very cauld10 said ,sam'l4 #afh4 8,blawy10 assented ,sanders4 #afi4 ,after a pause-- #agj4 8,sam'l10 said ,sanders4 #aga4 8,ay40 #agb4 8,i'm hearin' yer to be mairit40 #agc4 8,ay40 #agd4 8,weel1 ,sam'l she's a snod bit lassie40 #age4 8,thank ye10 said ,sam'l4 #agf4 8,i had ance a kin' o' notion o' ,bell mysel10 continued ,sanders4 #agg4 8,ye had80 #agh4 8,yes1 ,sam'l2 but ,i thocht better o't40 #agi4 8,hoo d'ye mean80 asked ,sam'l1 a little anxiously4 #ahj4 8,weel1 ,sam'l1 mairitch is a terrible responsibeelity40 #aha4 8,it is so10 said ,sam'l1 wincing4 #ahb4 8,an' no the thing to tak up withoot conseederation40 #ahc4 8,but it's a blessed and honourable state1 ,sanders2 ye've heard the minister on't40 #ahd4 8,they say10 continued the relentless ,sanders1 8'at the minister doesna get on sair wi' the wife himsel40 #ahe4 8,so they do10 cried ,sam'l1 with a sinking at the heart4 #ahf4 8,i've been telt10 ,sanders went on1 8'at gin ye can get the upper han' o' the wife for a while at first1 there's the mair chance o' a harmonious exeestence40 #ahg4 8,bell's no the lassie10 said ,sam'l1 appealingly1 8to thwart her man40 #ahh4 ,sanders smiled4 #ahi4 8,d'ye ye think she is1 ,sanders80 #aij4 8,weel1 ,sam'l1 ,i d'na want to fluster ye1 but she's been ower lang wi' ,lisbeth ,fargus no to hae learnt her ways4 ,an a'body kins what a life ,t',nowhead has wi' her40 #aia4 8,guid sake1 ,sanders1 hoo did ye no speak o' this afore80 #aib4 8,i thocht ye kent o't1 ,sam'l40 #aic4 ,they had now reached the square1 and the ,u4 ,p4 kirk was coming out4 ,the ,auld ,licht kirk would be half an hour yet4 #aid4 8,but1 ,sanders10 said ,sam'l1 brightening up1 8ye was on yer wy to spier her yersel40 #aie4 8,i was1 ,sam'l10 said ,sanders1 8and ,i canna but be thankfu' ye was ower quick for's40 #aif4 8,gin't hadna been you10 said ,sam'l1 8,i wid never hae thocht o't40 #aig4 8,i'm sayin' naething agin ,bell10 pursued the other1 8but1 man ,sam'l1 a body should be mair deleeberate in a thing o' the kind40 #aih4 8,it was michty hurried10 said ,sam'l1 woefully4 #aii4 8,it's a serious thing to spier a lassie10 said ,sanders4 #bjj4 8,it's an awfu' thing10 said ,sam'l4 #bja4 8,but we'll hope for the best10 added ,sanders1 in a hopeless voice4 #bjb4 ,they were close to the ,tenements now1 and ,sam'l looked as if he were on his way to be hanged4 #bjc4 8,sam'l80 #bjd4 8,ay1 ,sanders40 #bje4 8,did ye--did ye kiss her1 ,sam'l80 #bjf4 8,na40 #bjg4 8,hoo80 #bjh4 8,there was varra little time1 ,sanders40 #bji4 8,half an 'oor10 said ,sanders4 #baj4 8,was there8 ,man ,sanders1 to tell ye the truth1 ,i never thoct o't40 #baa4 ,then the soul of ,sanders ,elshioner was filled with contempt for ,sam'l ,dickie4 #bab4 ,the scandal blew over4 ,at first it was expected that the minister would interfere to prevent the union1 but beyond intimating from the pulpit that the souls of ,sabbath-breakers were beyond praying for1 and then praying for ,sam'l and ,sanders at great length1 with a word thrown in for ,bell1 he let things take their course4 ,some said it was because he was always frightened lest his young men should intermarry with other denominations1 but ,sanders explained it differently to ,sam'l4 #bac4 8,i hav'na a word to say agin the minister10 he said1 8they're gran' prayers1 but1 ,sam'l1 he's a mairit man himsel40 #bad4 8,he's a' the better for that1 ,sanders1 isna he80 #bae4 8,do ye no see10 asked ,sanders1 compassionately1 8'at he's tryin' to mak the best o't80 #baf4 8,oh1 ,sanders1 man60 said ,sam'l4 #bag4 8,cheer up1 ,sam'l10 said ,sanders1 8it'll sune be ower40 #bah4 ,their having been rival suitors had not interfered with their friendship4 ,on the contrary1 while they had hitherto been mere acquaintances1 they became inseparables as the wedding-day drew near4 ,it was noticed that they had much to say to each other1 and that when they could not get a room to themselves they wandered about together in the churchyard4 ,when ,sam'l had anything to tell ,bell he sent ,sanders to tell it1 and ,sanders did as he was bid4 ,there was nothing that he would not have done for ,sam'l4 #bai4 ,the more obliging ,sanders was1 however1 the sadder ,sam'l grew4 ,he never laughed now on ,saturdays1 and sometimes his loom was silent half the day4 ,sam'l felt that ,sanders's was the kindness of a friend for a dying man4 #bbj4 ,it was to be a penny wedding1 and ,lisbeth ,fargus said it was delicacy that made ,sam'l superintend the fitting-up of the barn by deputy4 ,once he came to see it in person1 but he looked so ill that ,sanders had to see him home4 ,this was on the ,thursday afternoon1 and the wedding was fixed for ,friday4 #bba4 8,sanders1 ,sanders10 said ,sam'l1 in a voice strangely unlike his own1 8it'll a' be ower by this time the morn40 #bbb4 8,it will10 said ,sanders4 #bbc4 8,if ,i had only kent her langer10 continued ,sam'l4 #bbd4 8,it wid hae been safer10 said ,sanders4 ,sidenote3 ,flower4 #bbe4 8,did ye see the yallow floor in ,bell's bonnet80 asked the accepted swain4 #bbf4 8,ay10 said ,sanders1 reluctantly4 #bbg4 8,i'm dootin'--,i'm sair dootin' she's but a flichty1 licht-hearted crittur after a'40 #bbh4 8,i had ay my suspeecions o't10 said ,sanders4 #bbi4 8,ye hae kent her langer than me10 said ,sam'l4 #bcj4 8,yes10 said ,sanders1 8but there's nae gettin' at the heart o' women4 ,man ,sam'l they're desperate cunnin'40 #bca4 8,i'm dootin't2 ,i'm sair dootin't40 #bcb4 8,it'll be a warnin' to ye1 ,sam'l1 no to be in sic a hurry i' the futur10 said ,sanders4 #bcc4 ,sam'l groaned4 #bcd4 8,ye'll be gaein up to the manse to arrange wi' the minister the morn's mornin'10 continued ,sanders1 in a subdued voice4 #bce4 ,sam'l looked wistfully at his friend4 #bcf4 8,i canna do't1 ,sanders10 he said1 8,i canna do't40 #bcg4 8,ye maun10 said ,sanders4 #bch4 8,it's aisy to speak10 retorted ,sam'l1 bitterly4 #bci4 8,we have a' oor troubles1 ,sam'l10 said ,sanders1 soothingly1 8an' every man maun bear his ain burdens4 ,johnny ,davie's wife's dead1 an' he's no repinin'40 #bdj4 8,ay10 said ,sam'l1 8but a death's no a mairitch4 ,we hae haen deaths in our family too40 #bda4 8,it may a' be for the best10 added ,sanders1 8an' there wid be a michty talk i' the hale country-side gin ye didna ging to the minister like a man40 #bdb4 8,i maun hae langer to think o't10 said ,sam'l4 #bdc4 8,bell's mairitch is the morn10 said ,sanders1 decisively4 #bdd4 ,sam'l glanced up with a wild look in his eyes4 #bde4 8,sanders10 he cried4 #bdf4 8,sam'l80 #bdg4 8,ye hae been a guid friend to me1 ,sanders1 in this sair affliction40 #bdh4 8,nothing ava10 said ,sanders2 8dount mention'd40 #bdi4 8,but1 ,sanders1 ye canna deny but what your rinnin oot o' the kirk that awfu' day was at the bottom o'd a'40 #bej4 8,it was so10 said ,sanders1 bravely4 #bea4 8,an' ye used to be fond o' ,bell1 ,sanders40 #beb4 8,i dinna deny't40 #bec4 8,sanders laddie10 said ,sam'l1 bending forward and speaking in a wheedling voice1 8,i aye thocht it was you she likeit40 #bed4 8,i had some sic idea mysel10 said ,sanders4 #bee4 8,sanders1 ,i canna think to pairt twa fowk sae weel suited to ane anither as you an' ,bell40 #bef4 8,canna ye1 ,sam'l80 #beg4 8,she wid mak ye a guid wife1 ,sanders4 ,i hae studied her weel1 and she's a thrifty1 douce1 clever lassie4 ,sanders1 there's no the like o' her4 ,mony a time1 ,sanders1 ,i hae said to mysel1 ,there's a lass ony man micht be prood to tak4 ,a'body says the same1 ,sanders4 ,there's nae risk ava1 man3 nane to speak o'4 ,tak her1 laddie1 tak her1 ,sanders2 it's a grand chance1 ,sanders4 ,she's yours for the spierin4 ,i'll gie her up1 ,sanders40 #beh4 8,will ye1 though80 said ,sanders4 #bei4 8,what d'ye think80 said ,sam'l4 #bfj4 8,if ye wid rayther10 said ,sanders1 politely4 #bfa4 8,there's my han' on't10 said ,sam'l4 8,bless ye1 ,sanders2 ye've been a true frien' to me40 #bfb4 ,then they shook hands for the first time in their lives2 and soon afterwards ,sanders struck up the brae to ,t',nowhead4 #bfc4 ,next morning ,sanders ,elshioner1 who had been very busy the night before1 put on his ,sabbath clothes and strolled up to the manse4 #bfd4 8,but--but where is ,sam'l80 asked the minister2 8,i must see himself40 #bfe4 8,it's a new arrangement10 said ,sanders4 #bff4 8,what do you mean1 ,sanders80 #bfg4 8,bell's to marry me10 explained ,sanders4 #bfh4 8,but--but what does ,sam'l say80 #bfi4 8,he's willin'10 said ,sanders4 #bgj4 8,and ,bell80 #bga4 8,she's willin'1 too4 ,she prefers't40 #bgb4 8,it is unusual10 said the minister4 #bgc4 8,it's a' richt10 said ,sanders4 #bgd4 8,well1 you know best10 said the minister4 #bge4 8,you see the hoose was taen1 at ony rate10 continued ,sanders4 8,an ,i'll juist ging in til't instead o' ,sam'l40 #bgf4 8,quite so40 #bgg4 8,an' ,i cudna think to disappoint the lassie40 #bgh4 8,your sentiments do you credit1 ,sanders10 said the minister2 8but ,i hope you do not enter upon the blessed state of matrimony without full consideration of its responsibilities4 ,it is a serious business1 marriage40 #bgi4 8,it's a' that10 said ,sanders1 8but ,i'm willin' to stan' the risk40 #bhj4 ,so1 as soon as it could be done1 ,sanders ,elshioner took to wife ,t',nowhead's ,bell1 and ,i remember seeing ,sam'l ,dickie trying to dance at the penny wedding4 #bha4 ,years afterwards it was said in ,thrums that ,sam'l had treated ,bell badly1 but he was never sure about it himself4 #bhb4 8,it was a near thing--a michty near thing10 he admitted in the square4 #bhc4 8,they say10 some other weaver would remark1 8'at it was you ,bell liked best40 #bhd4 8,i d'na kin10 ,sam'l would reply1 8but there's nae doot the lassie was fell fond o' me4 ,ou1 a mere passin' fancy's ye micht say40 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,in a few sentences1 state whether the humor of this story centers in the central situation1 the several incidents1 the dialogue1 the character1 or in the climax4 #b4 ,if in more than one element1 name them in the order of their interest1 or humor1 to you4 #c4 ,does the humor go to the limit of silliness at any point8 #d4 ,point out any passages which are serio-comic4 #e4 ,define 7a7 ,farce1 7b7 ,burlesque1 7c7 ,comedy1 7d7 ,wit1 7e7 ,satire4 #f4 ,point out passages in this or any other stories which illustrate the foregoing types4 #g4 ,name other humorous stories by ,o4 ,henry and ,j4 ,m4 ,barrie4 #h4 ,name the best humorous story you know4 ,,ten ,,representative ,,humorous ,,stories 8,the ,celebrated ,jumping ,frog of ,calaveras ,county10 ,mark ,twain1 in ,short ,stories and ,sketches1 ,vol4 ,i4 8,mike ,grady's ,safety10 ,will ,lewis1 ,everybody's ,magazine1 ,aug41 #aije4 8,their ,first ,formal ,call10 ,grace ,mac,gowan ,cooke1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,day of the ,dog10 ,george ,barr ,mc,cutcheon1 in volume of same title4 8,edgar1 the ,choir-,boy ,uncelestial10 ,mc,clure's ,magazine1 ,jan41 #aijb4 8,the ,pope's ,mule10 ,alphonse ,daudet1 translated in ,short-,story ,masterpieces4 8,colonel ,starbottle for the ,plaintiff10 ,bret ,harte1 ,harper's ,magazine1 ,mar41 #aija4 8,the ,phonograph and the ,graft10 ,o4 ,henry1 in ,cabbages and ,kings4 8,the ,king of ,boyville10 ,william ,allen ,white1 in ,tales from ,mc,clure's4 8,the ,bob-tailed ,car10 ,brander ,matthews1 in ,the ,family ,tree4 ,,footnotes3 #bc ,copyright1 #aiaj1 by ,doubleday1 ,page and ,co41 and used by permission4 ,v ,,stories ,,of ,,setting ,the ,outcasts of ,poker ,flat4--,,bret ,,harte ,moonlight4--,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant ,it is the habit of my imagination to strive after as full a vision of the medium in which a character moves as of the character itself4 ,the psychological causes which prompted me to give such details of ,florentine life and history as ,i have given in ,romola are precisely the same as those which determined me in giving the details of ,english village life in ,silas ,marner or the 8,dodson0 life1 out of which were developed the destinies of poor ,tom and ,maggie4--,,george ,,eliot1 quoted in her ,life by ,j4 ,w4 ,,cross4 ,,stories ,,of ,,setting 8,setting consists of the circumstances1 material and immaterial1 in which the characters are seen to move in the story4 ,its elements are time1 place1 occupations1 and 7,i lack a more expressive word7 conditions40#bd ,to be classified properly as a story of setting1 a narrative must be more than merely rich in local-color--as the characteristic environment of a certain district1 as set forth in fiction1 is often called4 ,the true story of setting is one in which the setting has a vital bearing on the natures or the destinies of the characters4 ,to be sure1 the setting of a story1 like the staging of a play1 has an important part in the realistic presentation of the scene1 but setting assumes a predominating part when it actually moves the characters to certain deciding actions1 as do the snow-storm in 8,the ,outcasts of ,poker ,flat10 and the soft light of the moon in 8,moonlight40 ,the local-color story is one which could not have been set elsewhere without vitally changing1 that is to say destroying1 the story4 ,for example1 ,balzac's 8,the ,unknown ,masterpiece0 is set almost entirely in an artist's studio4 ,the story would be slain by dragging it away from that atmosphere4 ,but it is also a story of setting1 because1 whatever internal influences also affected the characters1 the setting influences their destinies--the men and the women live lives as determined by their surroundings4 8,mateo ,falcone10 too1 is a story of setting1 but not primarily so2 for while it could have happened only in ,corsica1 and the local-color is singularly vivid1 it is primarily a story of human motive and action4 ,because of the powerful effect of environment upon character--in fiction just as in real life--the reader often judges of coming events by the feeling of the setting4 ,the stage manager knows this1 too1 and accompanies1 or even forecasts1 a moral crisis by having lights1 music1 sounds1 and other stage accessories harmonize with the mood of the actors4 ,or1 contrariwise1 the tone of the piece may best be brought out by a setting in contrast4 ,observe how in the two stories illustrating this type the authors never draw pictures of costumes and scenery just for the sake of description1 as beginners might do4 ,the setting1 to ,harte and ,maupassant1 is vitally a part of the story1 and any unnecessary detail would mar the harmony of the whole4 ,too much were worse than too little4 8,when the characters live1 move1 and have their being in the setting1 the result is #8atmosphere4' ,atmosphere is thus an effect4 ,it is felt1 not seen4 ,through its medium the reader must see all the action1 yes1 all the details of the story4 ,atmosphere gives value to the tones of fiction as in real life it does to landscape4 ,the hills are actually the same in cloud and in sunshine1 but the eye sees them as different through the mediate atmosphere4 ,and so setting and characters1 perfectly adjusted1 make the reader1 that is to say the beholder1 see the story in the very tones the literary artist desires4 ,a story of the sea has an atmosphere of its own1 but the atmosphere does not consist merely of the accurately colored picture of sea and strand and sailor and ship and sky4 ,the whole story is informed with the spirit of the sea--its tang clings to the garments1 its winds breathe through every passage1 its wonderful lights and glooms tone the whole story4 ,without it the story would be a poor thing1 bloodless and inert40#be ,,harte ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,francis ,bret ,harte was born in ,albany1 ,new ,york1 ,august #be1 #ahci1 of gentle parents4 ,abandoning his common-school education at the age of fifteen1 he followed the lure of the gold craze to ,california1 but neither teaching nor mining enriched him1 so in #aheg he became a compositor on the ,golden ,era1 ,san ,francisco4 ,he then edited the ,californian1 and in #ahfd was appointed secretary of the branch ,mint1 remaining until #ahgj4 ,two years before1 however1 he had become editor of the new ,overland ,monthly1 where some of his best work appeared4 ,this position did not prove permanent1 and even less so was that of the professorship of 8recent literature0 in the ,university of ,california1 for in #ahga he removed to ,new ,york4 ,in #ahgh he became ,united ,states ,consul at ,crefeld1 ,germany1 and in #ahhj was transferred to ,glasgow1 ,scotland1 holding this post until #ahhe4 ,his later life was spent chiefly in ,london1 where his brilliant talents brought him the full recognition of littrateurs4 ,he died in ,london1 ,may #f1 #aijb4 ,bret ,harte was a poet1 critic1 novelist1 and short-story writer4 ,his novels give him no such claim to fame as do his other writings4 ,his best-known dialect verses are 8,the ,society ,upon the ,stanislaus10 8,jim10 8,dickens in ,camp10 8,dow's ,flat10 and 8,plain ,language ,from ,truthful ,james0 7often called 8,the ,heathen ,chinee074 ,his best sketches and short-stories include 8,the ,luck of ,roaring ,camp10 8,an ,heiress of ,red ,dog10 8,miggles10 8,tennessee's ,partner10 8,m'liss10 8,the ,idyl of ,red ,gulch10 8,brown of ,calaveras10 and 8,the ,outcasts of ,poker ,flat0--which was first published in ,the ,overland ,monthly1 ,january1 #ahfi4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if artistic repression1 dramatic feeling1 mingled humor and pathos1 deft character drawing1 a sure sense of a 8good story10 and the ability to win the reader in spite of himself--if the certain possession of all these are marks of fictional genius1 surely ,bret ,harte deserves the name4 ,for themes1 he chose--and doubtless over-colored at times--the people and the happenings of '#di during the gold craze1 and not a few have charged him with a fondness for heroes and heroines of undoubted reputations--for evil4 ,social outcasts1 they say1 he treated too tenderly4 ,but ,bret ,harte himself effectively answered this criticism when he said3 8,when it shall be proven to him that communities are degraded and brought to guilt and crime1 suffering or destitution1 from a predominance of this quality too much mercy2 when he shall see pardoned ticket-of-leave men elbowing men of austere lives out of situation and position1 and the repentant ,magdalen supplanting the blameless virgin in society1 then he will lay aside his pen and extend his hand to the new ,draconian discipline in fiction4 ,but until then he will1 without claiming to be a religious man or a moralist1 but simply as an artist1 reverently and humbly conform to the rules laid down by a ,great ,poet1 who created the parable of the #8,prodigal ,son' and the #8,good ,samaritan1' whose works have lasted eighteen hundred years1 and will remain when the present writer and his generation are forgotten40 ,the secret of the ,american short story is the treatment of characteristic ,american life1 with absolute knowledge of its peculiarities and sympathy with its methods2 with no fastidious ignoring of its habitual expression1 or the inchoate poetry that may be found even hidden in its slang2 with no moral determination except that which may be the legitimate outcome of the story itself2 with no more elimination than may be necessary for the artistic conception1 and never from the fear of the fetich of conventionalism4 ,of such is the ,american short story of to-day--the germ of ,american literature to come4--,,bret ,,harte1 ,the ,rise of the ,short ,story1 ,cornhill ,magazine1 ,july1 #ahii4 ,he expounds an important half-truth which has been too much neglected3 that as being is greater than seeming1 appearances are often deceitful2 under the most repellent exterior a soul of goodness may exist4 ,but if we study him over much1 we may become victims of the delusion that any person whose dress and manners are respectable1 is1 to say the least1 a suspicious character1 while drunken and profane ruffians are the saints of the earth4--,,walter ,,lewin1 ,the ,abuse of ,fiction4 ,mr4 ,kipling is a great man at sentiment 7though we hear more of his anti-sentimental side71 but has he written a child-story we can remember as long as 8,the ,luck of ,roaring ,camp10 or anything we shall remember as long as 8,the ,outcasts of ,poker ,flat10 or 8,tennessee's ,partner08 ,these things are not so exact in their 8business0 7to borrow a term from still another art71 but1 perhaps on that very account1 they remain symbols of the human heart4 ,they have the simplicity of classics1 a simplicity in which all unnecessary subtleties are dissolved4--,,richard ,,le ,,gallienne1 ,rudyard ,kipling3 ,a ,criticism4 ,his own style1 as finally formed1 leaves little to be desired2 it is clear1 flexible1 virile1 laconic and withal graceful4 ,its full meaning is given to every word1 and occasionally1 like all original masters of prose1 he imparts into a familiar word a racier significance than it had possessed before4 ,his genius is nowhere more unmistakable than in the handling of his stories1 which is terse to the point of severity1 yet wholly adequate2 everything necessary to the matter in hand is told1 but with an economy of word and phrase that betokens a powerful and radical conception4--,,julian ,,hawthorne and ,,leonard ,,lemmon1 ,american ,literature4 ,tennessee's ,partner1 ,john ,oakhurst1 ,yuba ,bill1 ,kentucky1 are as long-lived1 seemingly1 as any characters in nineteenth century fiction4444 ,what gives these characters their lasting power8 ,why does that highly melodramatic tragedy in the hills above ,poker ,flat1 with its stagy reformations1 and contrasts of black sinner and white innocent1 hold you spellbound at the thirtieth as at the first reading8 ,why does ,tennessee's ,partner make you wish to grasp him by the hand8 ,bret ,harte believed1 apparently1 that it was his realism which did it4444 ,but we do not wait to be told by ,californians1 who still remember the red-shirt period1 that ,roaring ,camp is not realism4444 ,not the realism1 but the idealization1 of this life of the ,argonauts was the prize ,bret ,harte gained4--,,henry ,s4 ,,canby1 ,the ,short ,story in ,english4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,harte ,early ,recollections of ,bret ,harte1 ,c4 ,w4 ,stoddard1 ,atlantic ,monthly1 vol4 #gh2 ,bret ,harte in ,california1 ,noah ,brooks1 ,century ,magazine1 vol4 #eh2 ,american ,humor and ,bret ,harte1 ,g4 ,k4 ,chesterton1 ,critic1 vol4 #da2 ,life of ,bret ,harte1 ,t4 ,e4 ,pemberton 7#aijc72 ,bret ,harte1 ,h4 ,w4 ,boynton1 in ,contemporary ,men of ,letters series 7#aije72 ,life of ,bret ,harte1 ,h4 ,c4 ,merwin 7#aiaa74 ,,the ,,outcasts ,,of ,,poker ,,flat ,,by ,,bret ,,harte ,sidenote3 ,central character4 ,sidenote3 ,crisis at once forecasted4 ,sidenote3 ,preliminary setting4 ,as ,mr4 ,john ,oakhurst1 gambler1 stepped into the main street of ,poker ,flat on the morning of the twenty-third of ,november1 #ahej1 he was conscious of a change in its moral atmosphere since the preceding night4 ,two or three men1 conversing earnestly together1 ceased as he approached1 and exchanged significant glances4 ,there was a ,sabbath lull in the air1 which1 in a settlement unused to ,sabbath influences1 looked ominous4 ,sidenote3 ,physical delineation interwoven with the progress of the story4 ,sidenote3 ,summary of tone of the fundamental situation4 ,,foundation ,,crisis4 #b4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst's calm1 handsome face betrayed small concern of these indications4 ,whether he was conscious of any predisposing cause1 was another question4 8,i reckon they're after somebody10 he reflected2 8likely it's me40 ,he returned to his pocket the handkerchief with which he had been whipping away the red dust of ,poker ,flat from his neat boots1 and quietly discharged his mind of any further conjecture4 ,sidenote3 ,situation explained4 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,euphemism4 #c4 ,in point of fact1 ,poker ,flat was 8after somebody40 ,it had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars1 two valuable horses1 and a prominent citizen4 ,it was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction1 quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it4 ,a secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons4 ,this was done permanently in regard to two men who were then hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch1 and temporarily in the banishment of certain other objectionable characters4 ,i regret to say that some of these were ladies4 ,it is but due to the sex1 however1 to state that their impropriety was professional1 and it was only in such easily established standards of evil that ,poker ,flat ventured to sit in judgment4 ,sidenote3 ,note the author's slight ironic tone1 which later gives way to simple pathos4 #d4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this category4 ,a few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible example1 and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from them4 8,it's agin justice10 said ,jim ,wheeler1 8to let this yer young man from ,roaring ,camp--an entire stranger--carry away our money40 ,but a crude sentiment of equity residing in the breasts of those who had been fortunate enough to win from ,mr4 ,oakhurst overruled this narrower local prejudice4 ,sidenote3 ,character delineation4 #e4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst received his sentence with philosophic calmness1 none the less coolly that he was aware of the hesitation of his judges4 ,he was too much of a gambler not to accept ,fate4 ,with him life was at best an uncertain game1 and he recognized the usual percentage in favor of the dealer4 ,sidenote3 ,first group of characters4 ,sidenote3 ,first group of characters4 ,sidenote3 ,climax of first crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,end of ,introduction and groundwork4 #f4 ,a body of armed men accompanied the deported wickedness of ,poker ,flat to the outskirts of the settlement4 ,besides ,mr4 ,oakhurst1 who was known to be a coolly desperate man1 and for whose intimidation the armed escort was intended1 the expatriated party consisted of a young woman familiarly known as 8,the ,duchess02 another1 who had gained the infelicitous title of 8,mother ,shipton02 and 8,uncle ,billy10 a suspected sluice-robber and confirmed drunkard4 ,the cavalcade provoked no comments from the spectators1 nor was any word uttered by the escort4 ,only1 when the gulch which marked the uttermost limit of ,poker ,flat was reached1 the leader spoke briefly and to the point4 ,the exiles were forbidden to return at the peril of their lives4 ,sidenote3 ,,third ,,stage ,,of ,,first ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,is 8their0 well used8 ,sidenote3 ,paragraph of character delineation4 #g4 ,as the escort disappeared1 their pent-up feelings found vent in a few hysterical tears from the ,duchess1 some bad language from ,mother ,shipton1 and a ,parthian volley of expletives from ,uncle ,billy4 ,the philosophic ,oakhurst alone remained silent4 ,he listened calmly to ,mother ,shipton's desire to cut somebody's heart out1 to the repeated statements of the ,duchess that she would die in the road1 and to the alarming oaths that seemed to be bumped out of ,uncle ,billy as he rode forward4 ,with the easy good-humor characteristic of his class1 he insisted upon exchanging his own riding-horse1 8,five ,spot10 for the sorry mule which the ,duchess rode4 ,but even this act did not draw the party into any closer sympathy4 ,the young woman readjusted her somewhat draggled plumes with a feeble1 faded coquetry2 ,mother ,shipton eyed the possessor of 8,five ,spot0 with malevolence1 and ,uncle ,billy included the whole party in one sweeping anathema4 ,sidenote3 ,second preliminary setting4 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,for ,,main ,,crisis4 #h4 ,the road to ,sandy ,bar--a camp that1 not having as yet experienced the regenerating influences of ,poker ,flat1 consequently seemed to offer some invitation to the emigrants--lay over a steep mountain range4 ,it was distant a day's severe journey4 ,in that advanced season1 the party soon passed out of the moist1 temperate regions of the foothills into the dry1 cold1 bracing air of the ,sierras4 ,the trail was narrow and difficult4 ,at noon the ,duchess1 rolling out of her saddle upon the ground1 declared her intention of going no further1 and the party halted4 ,sidenote3 ,,main ,,setting4 ,sidenote3 ,character contrasts4 #i4 ,the spot was singularly wild and impressive4 ,a wooded amphitheatre1 surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs of naked granite1 sloped gently toward the crest of another precipice that overlooked the valley4 ,it was1 undoubtedly1 the most suitable spot for a camp1 had camping been advisable4 ,but ,mr4 ,oakhurst knew that scarcely half the journey to ,sandy ,bar was accomplished1 and the party were not equipped or provisioned for delay4 ,this fact he pointed out to his companions curtly1 with a philosophic commentary on the folly of 8throwing up their hand before the game was played out40 ,but they were furnished with liquor1 which in this emergency stood them in place of food1 fuel1 rest1 and prescience4 ,in spite of his remonstrances1 it was not long before they were more or less under its influence4 ,uncle ,billy passed rapidly from a bellicose state into one of stupor1 the ,duchess became maudlin1 and ,mother ,shipton snored4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst alone remained erect1 leaning against a rock1 calmly surveying them4 ,sidenote3 ,setting in harmony with tone of story4 #aj4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst did not drink4 ,it interfered with a profession which required coolness1 impassiveness and presence of mind1 and1 in his own language1 he 8couldn't afford it40 ,as he gazed at his recumbent fellow-exiles1 the loneliness begotten of his pariah-trade1 his habits of life1 his very vices1 for the first time seriously oppressed him4 ,he bestirred himself in dusting his black clothes1 washing his hands and face1 and other acts characteristic of his studiously neat habits1 and for a moment forgot his annoyance4 ,the thought of deserting his weaker and more pitiable companions never perhaps occurred to him4 ,yet he could not help feeling the want of that excitement which1 singularly enough1 was most conducive to that calm equanimity for which he was notorious4 ,he looked at the gloomy walls that rose a thousand feet sheer above the circling pines around him2 at the sky1 ominously clouded2 at the valley below1 already deepening into shadow4 ,and1 doing so1 suddenly he heard his own name called4 ,sidenote3 ,second group of characters4 ,sidenote3 ,,opening ,,of ,,main ,,plot ,,situation4 #aa4 ,a horseman slowly ascended the trail4 ,in the fresh1 open face of the newcomer ,mr4 ,oakhurst recognized ,tom ,simson1 otherwise known as 8,the ,innocent0 of ,sandy ,bar4 ,he had met him some months before over a 8little game10 and had1 with perfect equanimity1 won the entire fortune--amounting to some forty dollars--of that guileless youth4 ,after the game was finished1 ,mr4 ,oakhurst drew the youthful speculator behind the door and thus addressed him3 8,tommy1 you're a good little man1 but you can't gamble worth a cent4 ,don't try it over again40 ,he then handed him his money back1 pushed him gently from the room1 and so made a devoted slave of ,tom ,simson4 ,sidenote3 ,character ,contrasts4 #ab4 ,there was a remembrance of this in his boyish and enthusiastic greeting of ,mr4 ,oakhurst4 ,he had started1 he said1 to go to ,poker ,flat to seek his fortune4 8,alone80 ,no1 not exactly alone2 in fact 7a giggle71 he had run away with ,piney ,woods4 ,didn't ,mr4 ,oakhurst remember ,piney8 ,she that used to wait on the table at the ,temperance ,house8 ,they had been engaged a long time1 but old ,jake ,woods had objected1 and so they ran away1 and were going to ,poker ,flat to be married1 and here they were4 ,and they were tired out1 and how lucky it was they had found a place to camp1 and company4 ,all this the ,innocent delivered rapidly1 while ,piney1 a stout1 comely damsel of fifteen1 emerged from behind the pine-tree1 where she had been blushing unseen1 and rode to the side of her lover4 ,sidenote3 ,first effect of the newcomers on the tone of the first group of characters4 ,this furnishes the motif for the story4 #ac4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst seldom troubled himself with sentiment1 still less with propriety2 but he had a vague idea that the situation was not felicitous4 ,he retained1 however1 his presence of mind sufficiently to kick ,uncle ,billy1 who was about to say something1 and ,uncle ,billy was sober enough to recognize in ,mr4 ,oakhurst's kick a superior power that would not bear trifling4 ,he then endeavored to dissuade ,tom ,simson from delaying further1 but in vain4 ,he even pointed out the fact that there was no provision1 nor means of making a camp4 ,but1 unluckily1 the ,innocent met this objection by assuring the party that he was provided with an extra mule loaded with provisions1 and by the discovery of a rude attempt at a log-house near the trail4 8,piney can stay with ,mrs4 ,oakhurst10 said the ,innocent1 pointing to the ,duchess1 8and ,i can shift for myself40 ,sidenote3 ,further effect4 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,for ,,main ,,crisis--,,not ,,yet ,,apparent4 #ad4 ,nothing but ,mr4 ,oakhurst's admonishing foot saved ,uncle ,billy from bursting into a roar of laughter4 ,as it was1 he felt compelled to retire up the caon until he could recover his gravity4 ,there he confided the joke to the tall pine-trees1 with many slaps of his leg1 contortions of his face1 and the usual profanity4 ,but when he returned to the party1 he found them seated by a fire--for the air had grown strangely chill and the sky overcast--in apparently amicable conversation4 ,piney was actually talking in an impulsive1 girlish fashion to the ,duchess1 who was listening with an interest and animation she had not shown for many days4 ,the ,innocent was holding forth1 apparently with equal effect1 to ,mr4 ,oakhurst and ,mother ,shipton1 who was actually relaxing into amiability4 8,is this yer a d--d picnic80 said ,uncle ,billy1 with inward scorn1 as he surveyed the sylvan group1 the glancing firelight1 and the tethered animals in the foreground4 ,suddenly an idea mingled with the alcoholic fumes that disturbed his brain4 ,it was apparently of a jocular nature1 for he felt impelled to slap his leg again and cram his fist into his mouth4 ,sidenote3 ,local color4 #ae4 ,as the shadows crept slowly up the mountain1 a slight breeze rocked the tops of the pine-trees1 and moaned through their long and gloomy aisles4 ,the ruined cabin1 patched and covered with pine-boughs1 was set apart for the ladies4 ,as the lovers parted1 they unaffectedly exchanged a parting kiss1 so honest and sincere that it might have been heard above the swaying pines4 ,the frail ,duchess and the malevolent ,mother ,shipton were probably too stunned to remark upon this last evidence of simplicity1 and so turned without a word to the hut4 ,the fire was replenished1 the men lay down before the door1 and in a few minutes were asleep4 ,sidenote3 ,change--approach of main crisis4 #af4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst was a light sleeper4 ,toward morning he awoke benumbed and cold4 ,as he stirred the dying fire1 the wind1 which was now blowing strongly1 brought to his cheek that which caused the blood to leave it--snow6 ,sidenote3 ,forecasted in #ad4 #ag4 ,he started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers1 for there was no time to lose4 ,but turning to where ,uncle ,billy had been lying1 he found him gone4 ,a suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips4 ,he ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered2 they were no longer there4 ,the tracks were already rapidly disappearing in the snow4 ,sidenote3 ,tone of character4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast with crisis4 ,note casual physical description4 ,sidenote3 ,,main ,,plot ,,incident--,what follows is its outgrowth4 ,sidenote3 ,crisis acute4 #ah4 ,the momentary excitement brought ,mr4 ,oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm4 ,he did not waken the sleepers4 ,the ,innocent slumbered peacefully1 with a smile on his good-humored1 freckled face2 the virgin ,piney slept beside her frailer sisters as sweetly as though attended by celestial guardians1 and ,mr4 ,oakhurst1 drawing his blanket over his shoulders1 stroked his mustaches and waited for the dawn4 ,it came slowly in a whirling mist of snow-flakes1 that dazzled and confused the eye4 ,what could be seen of the landscape appeared magically changed4 ,he looked over the valley1 and summoned up the present and future in two words1--8snowed in60 ,sidenote3 ,as the story progresses note how the physical crises and the moral crises keep pace4 #ai4 ,a careful inventory of the provisions1 which1 fortunately for the party1 had been stored within the hut1 and so escaped the felonious fingers of ,uncle ,billy1 disclosed the fact that with care and prudence they might last ten days longer4 8,that is10 said ,mr4 ,oakhurst1 sotto voce to the ,innocent1 8if you're willing to board us4 ,if you ain't--and perhaps you'd better not--you can wait till ,uncle ,billy gets back with provisions40 ,for some occult reason1 ,mr4 ,oakhurst could not bring himself to disclose ,uncle ,billy's rascality1 and so offered the hypothesis that he had wandered from the camp and had accidentally stampeded the animals4 ,he dropped a warning to the ,duchess and ,mother ,shipton1 who of course knew the facts of their associate's defection4 8,they'll find out the truth about us all when they find out anything10 he added1 significantly1 8and there's no good frightening them now40 ,sidenote3 ,lull in crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,from this point the story develops gradually and by closely knit incidents in direct succession1 all growing out of the setting1 which furnishes the physical crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,pseudo crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,resolution of pseudo crisis4 #bj4 ,tom ,simson not only put all his worldly store at the disposal of ,mr4 ,oakhurst1 but seemed to enjoy the prospect of their enforced seclusion4 8,we'll have a good camp for a week1 and then the snow'll melt1 and we'll all go back together40 ,the cheerful gayety of the young man1 and ,mr4 ,oakhurst's calm infected the others4 ,the ,innocent1 with the aid of pine-boughs1 extemporized a thatch for the roofless cabin1 and the ,duchess directed ,piney in the rearrangement of the interior with a taste and tact that opened the blue eyes of that provincial maiden to their fullest extent4 8,i reckon now you're used to fine things at ,poker ,flat10 said ,piney4 ,the ,duchess turned away sharply to conceal something that reddened her cheek through its professional tint1 and ,mother ,shipton requested ,piney not to 8chatter40 ,but when ,mr4 ,oakhurst returned from a weary search for the trail1 he heard the sound of happy laughter echoed from the rocks4 ,he stopped in some alarm1 and his thoughts first naturally reverted to the whiskey1 which he had prudently cachd4 8,and yet it don't somehow sound like whiskey10 said the gambler4 ,it was not until he caught sight of the blazing fire through the still blinding storm and the group around it that he settled to the conviction that it was 8square fun40 ,sidenote3 ,contrast with the actual danger4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast is the author's main reliance in this story4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast with character-habits4 ,a hint of character change4 ,sidenote3 ,is 8,covenanter's0 well used8 #ba4 ,whether ,mr4 ,oakhurst had cachd his cards with the whiskey as something debarred the free access of the community1 ,i cannot say4 ,it was certain that1 in ,mother ,shipton's words1 he 8didn't say cards once0 during the evening4 ,haply the time was beguiled by an accordion1 produced somewhat ostentatiously by ,tom ,simson from his pack4 ,notwithstanding some difficulties attending the manipulation of his instrument1 ,piney ,woods managed to pluck several reluctant melodies from its keys1 to an accompaniment by the ,innocent on a pair of bone castanets4 ,but the crowning festivity of the evening was reached in a rude camp-meeting hymn1 which the lovers1 joining hands1 sang with great earnestness and vociferation4 ,i fear that a certain defiant tone and ,covenanter's swing to its chorus1 rather than any devotional quality1 caused it speedily to infect the others1 who at last joined in the refrain3-- 8,i'm proud to live in the service of the ,lord1 ,and ,i'm bound to die in ,his army40 #bb4 ,the pines rocked1 the storm eddied and whirled above the miserable group1 and the flames of their altar leaped heavenward1 as if in token of the vow4 ,sidenote3 ,hope4 ,sidenote3 ,character revelation4 #bc4 ,at midnight the storm abated1 the rolling clouds parted1 and the stars glittered keenly above the sleeping camp4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst1 whose professional habits had enabled him to live on the smallest possible amount of sleep1 in dividing the watch with ,tom ,simson1 somehow managed to take upon himself the greater part of that duty4 ,he excused himself to the ,innocent1 by saying that he had 8often been a week without sleep40 8,doing what80 asked ,tom4 8,poker60 replied ,oakhurst1 sententiously2 8when a man gets a streak of luck1--nigger-luck1--he don't get tired4 ,the luck gives in first4 ,luck10 continued the gambler1 reflectively1 8is a mighty queer thing4 ,all you know about it for certain is that it's bound to change4 ,and it's finding out when it's going to change that makes you4 ,we've had a streak of bad luck since we left ,poker ,flat1--you come along1 and slap you get into it1 too4 ,if you can hold your cards right along1 you're all right4 ,for10 added the gambler1 with cheerful irrelevance3-- 8#8,i'm proud to live in the service of the ,lord1 ,and ,i'm bound to die in ,his army'40 ,sidenote3 ,note the union of setting with the progress of the story4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,,key ,,to ,,setting4 ,sidenote3 ,character change--a key passage4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 #bd4 ,the third day came1 and the sun1 looking through the white-curtained valley1 saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of provisions for the morning meal4 ,it was one of the peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry landscape1 as if in regretful commiseration of the past4 ,but it revealed drift on drift of snow piled high around the hut1--a hopeless1 uncharted1 trackless sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which the cast-aways still clung4 ,through the marvellously clear air the smoke of the pastoral village of ,poker ,flat rose miles away4 ,mother ,shipton saw it1 and from a remote pinnacle of her rocky fastness1 hurled in that direction a final malediction4 ,it was her last vituperative attempt1 and perhaps for that reason was invested with a certain degree of sublimity4 ,it did her good1 she privately informed the ,duchess4 8,just you go out there and cuss1 and see40 ,she then set herself to the task of amusing 8the child10 as she and the ,duchess were pleased to call ,piney4 ,piney was no chicken1 but it was a soothing and ingenious theory of the pair thus to account for the fact that she didn't swear and wasn't improper4 ,sidenote3 ,developing or contributory incident4 #be4 ,when night crept up again through the gorges1 the reedy notes of the accordion rose and fell in fitful spasms and long-drawn gasps by the flickering camp-fire4 ,but music failed to fill entirely the aching void left by insufficient food1 and a new diversion was proposed by ,piney1--story-telling4 ,neither ,mr4 ,oakhurst nor his female companions caring to relate their personal experiences1 this plan would have failed1 too1 but for the ,innocent4 ,some months before he had chanced upon a stray copy of ,mr4 ,pope's ingenious translation of the ,iliad4 ,he now proposed to narrate the principal incidents of that poem--having thoroughly mastered the argument and fairly forgotten the words--in the current vernacular of ,sandy ,bar4 ,and so for the rest of that night the ,homeric demigods again walked the earth4 ,trojan bully and wily ,greek wrestled in the winds1 and the great pines in the caon seemed to bow to the wrath of the son of ,peleus4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst listened with quiet satisfaction4 ,most especially was he interested in the fate of 8,ash-heels10 as the ,innocent persisted in denominating the 8swift-footed ,achilles40 ,sidenote3 ,note upward and downward movement--alternations of hope and despair1 but a gradual deepening of the crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,note the contrast between the epithet 8outcasts0 and the feeling with which they are now invested4 ,sidenote3 ,character progress4 ,sidenote3 ,hint of later character revelation4 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,character ,,climax4 #bf4 ,so with small food and much of ,homer and the accordion1 a week passed over the heads of the outcasts4 ,the sun again forsook them1 and again from leaden skies the snow-flakes were sifted over the land4 ,day by day closer around them drew the snowy circle1 until at last they looked from their prison over drifted walls of dazzling white1 that towered twenty feet above their heads4 ,it became more and more difficult to replenish their fires1 even from the fallen trees beside them1 now half hidden in the drifts4 ,and yet no one complained4 ,the lovers turned from the dreary prospect and looked into each other's eyes1 and were happy4 ,mr4 ,oakhurst settled himself coolly to the losing game before him4 ,the ,duchess1 more cheerful than she had been1 assumed the care of ,piney4 ,only ,mother ,shipton--once the strongest of the party--seemed to sicken and fade4 ,at midnight on the tenth day she called ,oakhurst to her side4 8,i'm going10 she said1 in a voice of querulous weakness1 8but don't say anything about it4 ,don't waken the kids4 ,take the bundle from under my head and open it40 ,mr4 ,oakhurst did so4 ,it contained ,mother ,shipton's rations for the last week1 untouched4 8,give 'em to the child10 she said1 pointing to the sleeping ,piney4 8,you've starved yourself10 said the gambler4 8,that's what they call it10 said the woman1 querulously1 as she lay down again1 and1 turning her face to the wall1 passed quietly away4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident4 #bg4 ,the accordion and the bones were put aside that day1 and ,homer was forgotten4 ,when the body of ,mother ,shipton had been committed to the snow1 ,mr4 ,oakhurst took the ,innocent aside1 and showed him a pair of snow-shoes1 which he had fashioned from the old pack-saddle4 8,there's one chance in a hundred to save her yet10 he said1 pointing to ,piney2 8but it's there10 he added1 pointing toward ,poker ,flat4 8,if you can reach there in two days she's safe40 8,and you80 asked ,tom ,simson4 8,i'll stay here10 was the curt reply4 ,sidenote3 ,preparation for climax4 #bh4 ,the lovers parted with a long embrace4 8,you are not going1 too80 said the ,duchess1 as she saw ,mr4 ,oakhurst apparently waiting to accompany him4 8,as far as the caon10 he replied4 ,he turned suddenly1 and kissed the ,duchess1 leaving her pallid face aflame1 and her trembling limbs rigid with amazement4 #bi4 ,night came1 but not ,mr4 ,oakhurst4 ,it brought the storm again and the whirling snow4 ,then the ,duchess1 feeding the fire1 found that some one had quietly piled beside the hut enough fuel to last a few days longer4 ,the tears rose to her eyes1 but she hid them from ,piney4 ,sidenote3 ,characters in full change4 ,sidenote3 ,note the repression of this entire climax4 ,simple1 quiet sentences are enough4 #cj4 ,the women slept but little4 ,in the morning1 looking into each other's faces1 they read their fate4 ,neither spoke2 but ,piney1 accepting the position of the stronger1 drew near and placed her arm around the ,duchess's waist4 ,they kept this attitude for the rest of the day4 ,that night the storm reached its greatest fury1 and1 rending asunder the protecting pines1 invaded the very hut4 ,sidenote3 ,no melodrama here4 ,sidenote3 ,,second ,,character ,,climax4 #ca4 ,toward morning they found themselves unable to feed the fire1 which gradually died away4 ,as the embers slowly blackened1 the ,duchess crept closer to ,piney1 and broke the silence of many hours3 8,piney1 can you pray80 8,no1 dear10 said ,piney1 simply4 ,the ,duchess1 without knowing exactly why1 felt relieved1 and putting her head upon ,piney's shoulder1 spoke no more4 ,and so reclining1 the younger and purer pillowing the head of her soiled sister upon her virgin breast1 they fell asleep4 ,sidenote3 ,local color in harmony with spirit of story4 ,sidenote3 ,symbolism of physical nature4 #cb4 ,the wind lulled as if it feared to waken them4 ,feathery drifts of snow1 shaken from the long pine-boughs1 flew like white-winged birds1 and settled about them as they slept4 ,the moon through the rifted clouds looked down upon what had been the camp4 ,but all human stain1 all trace of earthly travail1 was hidden beneath the spotless mantle mercifully flung from above4 ,sidenote3 ,poetic euphemism4 #cc4 ,they slept all that day and the next1 nor did they waken when voices and footsteps broke the silence of the camp4 ,and when pitying fingers brushed the snow from their wan faces1 you could scarcely have told from the equal peace that dwelt upon them1 which was she that had sinned4 ,even the law of ,poker ,flat recognized this1 and turned away1 leaving them still locked in each other's arms4 ,sidenote3 ,,main ,,character ,,climax1 ,,and ,,denouement4 #cd4 ,but at the head of the gulch1 on one of the largest pine-trees1 they found the deuce of clubs pinned to the bark with a bowie-knife4 ,it bore the following1 written in pencil1 in a firm hand3-- ,,beneath ,,this ,,tree ,,lies ,,the ,,body ,,of ,,john ,,oakhurst1 ,,who ,,struck ,a ,,streak ,,of ,,bad ,,luck ,,on ,,the #bc;,d ,,of ,,november1 #ahej1 ,,and ,,handed ,,in ,,his ,,checks ,,on ,,the #g,,th ,,december1 #ahej4 ,sidenote3 ,,swift ,,conclusion4 ,and pulseless and cold1 with a derringer by his side and a bullet in his heart1 though still calm as in life1 beneath the snow lay he who was at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of ,poker ,flat4 ,,maupassant ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,henri ,ren ,albert ,guy de ,maupassant was born in ,normandy1 ,france1 in #ahej4 ,in that picturesque region he passed his youth1 and returned thither for frequent sojourns in later life4 ,having finished his studies1 he became an employ in the government service in ,paris4 ,this experience1 his love for athletics1 and his recollections of the ,franco-,prussian war1 he turned to good account in his fictional work4 ,his literary education was conducted by ,gustave ,flaubert1 his uncle and god-father1 under whom he served so rigid an apprenticeship that when he produced his first short-story1 8,tallow ,ball0 7,boule de ,suif71 his preceptor pronounced it a masterpiece1 as indeed it is4 ,he died in #ahic1 at the age of #dc1 by his own hand1 his reason having failed after some years of increasing depression and gloom4 ,though his productive period covered only ten years1 ,guy de ,maupassant has left several notable novels1 some fair poetry1 and a large number of remarkable short-stories4 ,most of his work deals more frankly with the sordid side of life than ,american society approves1 but many of his short-stories are unexceptionable4 ,among the best of these are 8,the ,necklace10 8,the ,horla10 8,happiness10 8,vain ,beauty10 8,a ,coward10 8,a ,ghost10 8,little ,soldier10 8,the ,wolf10 8,moonlight10 and 8,the ,piece of ,string40 ,technically1 ,maupassant was the most finished short-story writer of all2 but he lacked spiritual power1 and so he himself missed much of the world's beauty1 and disclosed but little to others4 ,rarely can the reader feel the least throb of sympathy of the author for his characters4 ,technically flawless1 his work is too often cold1 and the warm ideals of a tender heart are chiefly absent4 ,an inflexible realist1 he pressed his method farther than did ,flaubert1 a really strong novelist4 ,from life's raw materials ,maupassant wove incomparably brilliant fiction-fabrics1 equally distinguished for plot1 characterization1 and style2 but it cannot be said that he interpreted life with a wholesome1 uplifting spirit4 ,happy are they whom life satisfies1 who can amuse themselves1 and be content 444 who have not discovered1 with a vast disgust1 444 that all things are a weariness4--,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant4 ,he who destroys the ideal destroys himself4 ,in art and in life ,maupassant lived in the lower order of facts1 the brutal world of events unrelated to a spiritual order4 ,he drained his senses of the last power of sensation and reaction2 he plunged headlong into the sensual life upon which they opened when the luminous heaven above the material world was obliterated4 ,madness always lies that way as a matter of physiology as well as of morals1 and ,maupassant went the tragic way of the sensualist since time began4--,,hamilton ,w4 ,,mabie1 in ,the ,outlook4 ,maupassant saw life with his senses1 and he reflected on it in a purely animal revolt1 the recoil of the hurt animal4 ,his observation is not1 as it has been hastily assumed to be1 cold2 it is as superficially emotional as that of the average sensual man1 and its cynicism is only another1 not less superficial1 kind of feeling4 ,he saw life in all its details1 and his soul was entangled in the details4 ,he saw it without order1 without recompense1 without pity2 he saw it too clearly to be duped by appearances1 and too narrowly to distinguish any light beyond what seemed to him the enclosing bounds of darkness4--,,arthur ,,symons1 ,studies in ,prose and ,verse4 ,he has produced a hundred short tales and only four regular novels2 but if the tales deserve the first place in any candid appreciation of his talent it is not simply because they are so much the more numerous3 they are also more characteristic2 they represent him best in his originality1 and their brevity1 extreme in some cases1 does not prevent them from being a collection of masterpieces4444 ,what they have most in common is their being extremely strong1 and after that their being extremely brutal4444 ,m4 de ,maupassant sees human life as a terribly ugly business relieved by the comical1 but even the comedy is for the most part the comedy of misery1 of avidity1 of ignorance1 helplessness1 and grossness4--,,henry ,,james1 ,partial ,portraits4 ,his short-stories are masterpieces of the art of story-telling1 because he had a ,greek sense of form1 a ,latin power of construction1 and a ,french felicity of style4 ,they are simple1 most of them2 direct1 swift1 inevitable1 and inexorable in their straightforward movement4 ,if art consists in the suppression of non-essentials1 there have been few greater artists in fiction than ,maupassant4 ,in his ,short-stories there is never a word wasted1 and there is never an excursus4 ,nor is there any feebleness or fumbling4 ,what he wanted to do he did1 with the unerring certainty of ,leatherstocking1 hitting the bull's-eye again and again4 ,he had the abundance and the ease of the very great artists2 and the half-dozen or the half-score of his best stories are among the very best ,short-stories in any language4--,,brander ,,matthews1 ,the ,philosophy of the ,short-,story4 ,his firm1 alert prose is so profoundly ,french1 free from neologisms1 strong in verbs1 sober in adjectives1 every sentence standing out with no apparent effort1 no excess1 like a muscle in the perfect body of a young athlete4444 ,he has that sense of the real which so many naturalists lack1 and which the care for exact detail does not replace4444 ,his predilection for ordinary scenes and ordinary types is everywhere evident2 he uses all kinds of settings1--a caf1 a furnished room1 a farmyard1 seen in their actual character without poetic transfiguration1 with all their vulgarity1 their poverty1 their ugliness4 ,and he uses1 too1 all kinds of characters1--clerks1 peasants of ,normandy1 petty bourgeois of ,paris and of the country4 ,they live the empty1 tragic1 or grotesque hours of their lives2 are sometimes touching1 sometimes odious2 and never achieve greatness either in heroism or in wickedness4 ,they are not gay1 these stories2 and the kind of amusement they afford is strongly mixed with irony1 pity1 and contempt4 ,gayety1 whether brutal1 frank1 mocking1 or delicate1 never leaves this bitter taste in the heart4 ,how pitiful in its folly1 in its vanity1 in its weakness1 is the humanity which loves1 weeps1 or agitates in the tales of ,maupassant6 ,there1 virtue if awkward is never recompensed1 nor vice if skillful punished2 mothers are not always saints1 nor sons always grateful and respectful2 the guilty are often ignorant of remorse4 ,then are these beings immoral8 ,to tell the truth1 they are guided by their instincts1 by events1 submissive to the laws of necessity1 and apparently released by the author from all responsibility4--,,firmin ,,roz1 ,guy de ,maupassant1 in ,,warner',s ,library of the ,world's ,best ,literature4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,maupassant ,french ,fiction of ,to-day1 ,m4 ,s4 ,van de ,velde 7#ahia72 ,some ,french ,writers1 ,edward ,delille 7#ahic72 ,studies in ,two ,literatures1 ,arthur ,symons 7#ahig72 ,french ,literature of ,to-day1 ,yetta ,blaze de ,bury 7#ahih72 ,a ,century of ,french ,fiction1 ,benjamin ,w4 ,wells 7#ahih72 ,contemporary ,french ,novelists1 ,ren ,doumic 7#ahii74 ,,for ,,analysis ,,moonlight 7,,clair ,,de ,,lune7 ,,by ,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant ,translation by ,the ,editor#bf ,the ,abb ,marignan bore well his title of ,soldier of the ,church4 ,he was a tall priest1 and spare2 fanatical1 perpetually in a state of spiritual exaltation1 but upright of soul4 ,his every belief was settled1 without even a thought of wavering4 ,he imagined sincerely that he understood his ,god thoroughly1 that he penetrated ,his designs1 ,his will1 ,his purposes4 #b4 ,as with long strides he promenaded the garden walk of his little country presbytery1 sometimes a question would arise in his mind3 8,why did ,god create that80 ,and1 mentally taking the place of ,god1 he searched obstinately for the answer--and nearly always found it4 ,it would not have been like him to murmur1 in an outburst of pious humility3 8,o ,lord1 thy designs are impenetrable60 ,rather might he say to himself3 8,i am the servant of ,god2 ,i ought to know the reasons for what ,he does1 or1 if ,i know them not1 ,i ought to divine them40 #c4 ,to him all nature seemed created with a logic as absolute as it was admirable4 ,the 8wherefore0 and the 8because0 always corresponded perfectly4 ,dawn was made to gladden our waking1 the day to ripen the crops1 the rain to water them1 the evening to prepare for slumber1 and the night was darkened for sleep4 #d4 ,the four seasons met perfectly all the needs of agriculture2 and to the priest it was quite inconceivable that nature had no designs1 and that1 on the contrary1 all living things were subjects of the same inexorable laws of period1 climate1 and matter4 #e4 ,but he did hate woman6 ,he hated her unconscionably1 and by instinct held her in contempt4 ,often did he repeat the words of ,christ1 8,woman1 what have ,i to do with thee80 ,and he would add1 8,one might think that ,god ,himself did not feel quite content with this one work of his hands60 ,to him1 indeed1 woman was the child twelve times unclean of whom the poet speaks4 ,she was the temptress who had ensnared the first man1 and who constantly kept up her work of damnation--she was a feeble1 dangerous1 and mysteriously troublous creature4 ,and even more than her accursed body did he hate her loving spirit4 #f4 ,he had often felt that women were regarding him tenderly1 and even though he knew himself to be invulnerable1 it exasperated him to recognize that need for loving which fluttered ever-present in their hearts4 #g4 ,in his opinion1 ,god had created woman only to tempt man and to test him4 ,she should never be even approached without those defensive measures which one would take1 and those fears which one would harbor1 when nearing a trap4 ,in fact1 she was precisely like a trap1 with her lips open and arms extended towards man4 #h4 ,only toward nuns did he exercise any indulgence1 for they were rendered harmless by their vow4 ,but he treated them harshly just the same1 because1 ever-living in the depths of their pent-up and humble hearts1 he discerned that everlasting tenderness which constantly surged up toward him1 priest though he was4 #i4 ,of all this he was conscious in their upturned glances1 more limpid with pious feeling than the looks of monks2 in the spiritual exaltations in which their sex indulged2 in their ecstasies of love toward ,christ1 which made the priest indignant because it was really woman's love1 carnal love4 ,of this detestable tenderness he was conscious1 too1 in their very docility1 in the gentleness of their voices when they addressed him1 in their downcast eyes1 and in their submissive tears when he rudely rebuked them4 #aj4 ,so he would shake his cassock when he left the convent door1 and stride off1 stretching his legs as if fleeing before some danger4 #aa4 ,now the abb had a niece who lived with her mother in a little house near by4 ,he was determined to make of her a sister of charity4 #ab4 ,she was pretty1 giddy1 and a born tease4 ,when he preached at her1 she laughed2 and when he became angry with her1 she kissed him vehemently1 pressing him to her bosom1 while he would instinctively seek to disengage himself from this embrace--which1 all the same1 gave him a thrill of exquisite joy1 awaking deep within his soul that feeling of fatherhood which slumbers in every man4 #ac4 ,often as they walked together along the foot-paths through the fields1 he would talk with her of ,god1 of his ,god2 but she scarcely heard him1 for she was looking at the sky1 the grass1 the flowers1 with a joy of life which beamed from her eyes4 ,sometimes she would dart away to catch some flying creature1 crying as she brought it back3 8,see1 my uncle1 how pretty it is2 ,i should like to kiss it40 ,and that passion to kiss insects1 or lilac flowers1 disturbed1 irritated1 and repelled the priest1 who recognized even in that longing the ineradicable love which blooms perennial in the heart of woman4 #ad4 ,and now one day the sacristan's wife1 who was the ,abb ,marignan's housekeeper1 cautiously told him that his niece had a lover6 #ae4 ,he was dreadfully shocked1 and stood gasping for breath1 lather all over his face1 for he was shaving4 #af4 ,when at length he was able to think and speak1 he cried3 8,it is not true4 ,you are lying1 ,mlanie60 #ag4 ,but the peasant woman laid her hand over her heart3 8,may our ,lord judge me if ,i am lying1 monsieur le cur4 ,i tell you she goes out to meet him every night as soon as your sister is in bed4 ,they meet each other down by the river4 ,you need only go there between ten o'clock and midnight to see for yourself40 #ah4 ,he stopped rubbing his chin and began pacing the room violently1 as was his custom in times of serious thought4 ,when at length he did try to finish his shaving he cut himself three times1 from nose to ear4 #ai4 ,all day long he was silent1 though almost exploding with indignation and wrath4 ,to his priestly rage against the power of love was now added the indignation of a spiritual father1 of a teacher1 of the guardian of souls1 who has been deceived1 robbed1 and trifled with by a mere child4 ,he felt that egotistical suffocation which parents experience when their daughter tells them that she has selected a husband without their advice and in defiance of their wishes4 #bj4 ,after dinner he tried to read a little1 but he could not--he grew more and more exasperated4 ,when the clock struck ten1 he grasped his cane1 a formidable oaken club which he always carried when he went out at night to visit the sick4 ,with a smile he examined this huge cudgel1 gripped it in his solid1 countryman's fist1 and flourished it menacingly in the air4 ,then1 suddenly1 with grinding teeth1 he brought it down upon a chair-back1 which fell splintered to the floor4 #ba4 ,he opened his door to go out2 but paused upon the threshold1 surprised by such a glory of moonlight as one rarely sees4 #bb4 ,and as he was endowed with an exalted soul of such a sort as the ,fathers of the ,church1 those poetic seers1 must have possessed1 he became suddenly entranced1 moved by the grand and tranquil beauty of the pale-faced night4 #bc4 ,in his little garden1 all suffused with the tender radiance1 his fruit-trees1 set in rows1 outlined in shadows upon the paths their slender limbs of wood1 scarce clothed with verdure4 ,the giant honeysuckle1 clinging to the house wall1 exhaled its delicious1 honeyed breath--the soul of perfume seemed to hover about in the warm1 clear night4 #bd4 ,he began to breathe deep1 drinking in the air as drunkards drink their wine2 and he walked slowly1 ravished1 amazed1 his niece almost forgotten4 #be4 ,when he reached the open country he paused to gaze upon the broad sweep of landscape1 all deluged by that caressing radiance1 all drowned in that soft and sensuous charm of peaceful night4 ,momently the frogs sounded out their quick metallic notes1 and distant nightingales added to the seductive moonlight their welling music1 which charms to dreams without thought--that gossamer1 vibrant melody born only to mate with kisses4 #bf4 ,the ,abb moved again1 his courage unaccountably failing4 ,he felt as though he were enfeebled1 suddenly exhausted--he longed to sit down1 to linger there1 to glorify ,god for all ,his works4 #bg4 ,a little farther on1 following the winding of the little river1 curved a row of tall poplars4 ,suspended about and above the banks1 enwrapping the whole sinuous course of the stream with a sort of light1 transparent down1 was a fine white mist1 shot through by the moon-rays1 and transmuted by them into gleaming silver4 #bh4 ,the priest paused once again1 stirred to the deeps of his soul by a growing1 an irresistible feeling of tenderness4 #bi4 ,and a doubt1 an undefined disquietude1 crept over him2 he discerned the birth of one of those questions which now and again came to him4 #cj4 ,why had ,god made all this8 ,since the night was ordained for slumber1 for unconsciousness1 for repose1 for forgetfulness of everything1 why should ,he make it lovelier than the day1 sweeter than dawn and sunset8 ,and that star1 slow-moving1 seductive1 more poetic than the sun1 so like to destiny1 and so delicate that seemingly it was created to irradiate things too subtle1 too refined1 for the greater orb--why was it come to illumine all the shades8 #ca4 ,why did not the most accomplished of all singing birds repose now like the others1 but sing in the unquiet dark8 #cb4 ,why was this semi-veil cast over the world8 ,why this sighing of the heart1 this tumult of the soul1 this languor of the flesh8 #cc4 ,why this show of charms1 never seen by men because they are asleep8 ,for whose eyes was all this sublime spectacle designed1 all this wealth of poetic loveliness diffused from heaven over the earth8 #cd4 ,and the ,abb did not understand it at all4 #ce4 ,but there below1 at the very edge of the field1 under the arching trees wet with luminous mist1 two shadows appeared1 walking side by side4 #cf4 ,the man was the taller1 and had his arm about his sweetheart's neck2 and from time to time he bent to kiss her forehead4 ,they animated suddenly the lifeless landscape1 which enveloped their figures like a divine frame fashioned expressly for them4 ,they seemed1 those two1 like a single being1 the being for whom was created this tranquil1 silent night4 ,like a living answer1 the answer which his ,master had sent to his question1 they moved toward the priest4 #cg4 ,overwhelmed1 his heart throbbing1 he stood still1 and it seemed as though there spread before him some ,biblical scene1 like the loves of ,ruth and ,boaz1 the working out of the ,lord's will in one of those majestic dramas set forth in the lives of the saints4 ,the verses of the ,song of ,songs1 the ardent cries1 the call of the body--all the glowing romance of that poem so aflame with tenderness and love1 began to sing itself into his mind4 #ch4 ,and he said to himself3 8,perhaps ,god made nights such as this in order to cast the veil of the ideal over the loves of men40 #ci4 ,he withdrew before this pair1 who went on arm in arm4 ,true1 it was his niece2 but now he asked himself if he had not been upon the verge of disobeying ,god4 ,and1 indeed1 if ,god did not permit love1 why did he visibly encompass it with glory such as this8 #dj4 ,and he fled1 bewildered1 almost ashamed1 as if he had penetrated in a temple wherein he had no right to enter4 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,precisely why do our surroundings affect our moods and actions8 ,give examples from your own experience4 #b4 ,which seems to you to be the more frequent in fiction3 harmony1 or contrast of character with setting8 #c4 ,which seems to you to be the more effective8 ,why8 #d4 ,outline the motives which actuated at least three of the characters in 8,the ,outcasts of ,poker ,flat40 #e4 ,is the story overdrawn8 #f4 ,is the influence of the moonlight enough to account for the change in the priest in 8,moonlight10 or must we allow something for romance8 #g4 ,trace the several physical crises of ,harte's story from the very beginning4 #h4 ,do the same for the moral crises4 #i4 ,show their inter-relation4 #aj4 ,select from a magazine a story in which setting influences in some way the actions of the characters1 and point out precisely how4 ,,ten ,,representative ,,stories ,,of ,,setting 8,a ,leaf in the ,storm10 ,ouida1 in ,stories by ,english ,authors4 8,mrs4 ,knollys10 ,f4 ,j4 ,stimson1 ,century ,magazine1 ,nov41 #ahhc4 8,up the ,coule10 ,hamlin ,garland1 in ,main ,travelled ,roads4 8,the ,girl at ,duke's10 ,james ,w4 ,linn1 ,mc,clure's ,magazine1 ,aug41 #aijc4 8,the ,dancin' ,party at ,harrison's ,cove10 ,charles ,egbert ,craddock1 ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,may1 #ahgh4 8,twenty-,six and ,one10 ,maxim ,gorky1 translated in volume of same title4 8,the ,unknown ,masterpiece10 ,honor de ,balzac1 translated in ,little ,french ,masterpieces1 ,balzac4 8,red ,bird10 ,elizabeth ,maury ,coombs1 ,lippincott's ,magazine1 ,dec41 #aiaa4 8,the ,wall ,opposite10 ,pierre ,loti1 translated in ,short ,story ,classics1 ,foreign4 8,the ,end of the ,tether10 ,joseph ,conrad1 in ,youth4 ,,footnotes3 #bd ,from the author's ,writing the ,short-,story1 p4 #adi1 which see for a chapter on 8,the ,setting of the ,story40 #be ,writing the ,short-,story1 pp4 #aea-aeb4 #bf ,copyright1 #aiaa1 by ,j4 ,b4 ,lippincott ,co41 and used by permission4 ,,vi ,,impressionistic ,,stories ,the ,white ,old ,maid4--,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne ,the ,fall of the ,house of ,usher4--,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe ,i prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect4 ,keeping originality always in view--for he is false to himself who ventures to dispense with so obvious and so easily attainable a source of interest--,i say to myself1 in the first place1 8,of the innumerable effects or impressions of which the heart1 the intellect1 or 7more generally7 the soul is susceptible1 what one shall ,i1 on the present occasion1 select80 ,having chosen a novel first1 and secondly1 a vivid effect1 ,i consider whether it can be best wrought by incident or tone1 or the converse1 or by peculiarity both of incident and tone--afterwards looking about me 7or rather within7 for such combinations of event or tone as shall best aid me in the construction of the effect4--,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe1 ,the ,philosophy of ,composition4 ,,impressionistic ,,stories ,the value of a literary term lies in the comprehensive and precise picture which it calls up in the mind of him who reads it4 ,so we must seek to limit1 as well as seize upon1 the meaning of this word 8impressionistic40 ,the first purpose in telling a story would seem to be the pleasure or the profit of the hearer--if we exclude the bore who tells a yarn chiefly to please himself4 ,but a closer scrutiny of certain stories discloses other objects of the narrator1 and these may be either subordinate or paramount to considerations of benefit or entertainment4 ,the most important of these artistic purposes is to reproduce in the hearer the full effect which a certain mood1 theme1 character1 situation1 incident1 or chain of incidents1 originally made upon the story-teller himself4 ,when he succeeds in reproducing in others his own feeling1 by such means as we shall presently study1 he does so by impressionistic means4 ,poe1 writing in ,graham's ,magazine1 ,may1 #ahdb1 says3 8,a skilful literary artist has constructed a tale4 ,if wise1 he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents2 but having conceived1 with deliberate care1 a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out1 he then invents such incidents--he then combines such events--as may best aid him in establishing the preconceived effect4 ,if his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect1 then he has failed in his first step4 ,in the whole composition there should be no word written1 of which the tendency1 direct or indirect1 is not to the one prestablished design40 ,it does not seem probable that ,poe meant to speak of impressionism as constituting so much a distinct type of story as to point out its importance as a method in all story-telling2 and we must not overlook its usefulness in this respect4 ,indeed1 nearly all good short-stories begin1 in the mind of the author1 and end1 in the spirit of the reader1 with a more or less clear and unified impression4 ,still1 certain little fictions are1 alike in theme and treatment1 so decidedly conceived and told with the purpose of leaving the reader under the spell of a mood1 a feeling1 a character1 or a situation1 that they are ,,impressionistic stories1 rather than impressionistic ,,stories4 ,the natural tendency for the impressionistic writer is to subordinate incident and plot to tone--in a word1 to emphasize a picture1 whether internal or external1 rather than a set of happenings1 which in dealing with fiction we call the action4 ,so an impressionistic narrative may really tell a story of situation1 crisis1 and denouement1 or1 as is more likely to be the case1 it may tend decidedly toward the sketch4 ,all depends upon the nature of the theme4 ,thus1 the beauty of sacrifice demands an action to illustrate that abnegation1 and all the accessories must serve as high-lights and shadows to bring out this motive in strong relief2 but the tone of gloom may be conveyed without even the semblance of a plot4 ,now a story may produce a gloomy effect without deliberately picturing an atmosphere of gloom--it may leave the reader with a vague1 pessimistic distaste for joy1 and yet present no such picture4 ,or it may marvellously delineate loneliness1 without leaving that as the final impression of the story4 ,this is not impressionism1 though it may be very good story-telling4 ,impressionism is conscious art1 art prepense1 and1 as will be seen in the two stories presented as examples in this section1 subordinates everything to tonal effect2 in other words1 the impressionistic story symbolizes in human action some human mood or condition4 ,for this reason such stories are often called stories of symbolism4 ,,hawthorne ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,nathaniel ,hawthorne was born in ,salem1 ,massachusetts1 ,july #d1 #ahjd4 ,his ,new ,england ancestors bore the name ,hathorne1 as did the author's sea-captain father--also a ,nathaniel--who died at ,surinam1 ,dutch ,guiana1 when his son was four years old4 ,in #ahah the family moved to ,raymond1 ,maine1 but most of the youth's education was gotten at ,salem1 and there his family returned in #ahbj4 ,the following year he entered ,bowdoin ,college1 from which he was graduated in #ahbe4 ,at this time--when he was twenty-one--he had already begun ,twice-,told ,tales2 it was then1 too1 that he inserted the w into his name4 ,he was now writing industriously1 often under a pseudonym2 he also did considerable hack and editorial work4 ,during #ahci and a part of #ahdj he served in the ,boston ,custom ,house2 then he joined the ,brook ,farm ,community in #ahda1 but remained there only a short time4 ,he married ,sophia ,peabody in #ahdb4 ,in #ahdf he returned to the ,customs service1 in ,salem1 remaining this time about three years4 ,in #ahec he was appointed by his classmate1 ,president ,pierce1 as ,united ,states ,consul at ,liverpool4 ,during the more than three years of his consulship he traveled widely in ,great ,britain1 and later spent much time in ,italy1 where some of his best work was accomplished4 ,during the last years of his life he wrote but intermittently1 being a prey to depression and ill health4 ,he died at ,plymouth1 ,new ,hampshire1 ,may #ai1 #ahfd1 and is buried in the ,sleepy ,hollow ,cemetery1 ,concord1 ,mass4 ,nathaniel ,hawthorne was a remarkable novelist1 essayist1 and short-story writer4 ,the ,scarlet ,letter and ,the ,marble ,faun1 are his greatest novels4 ,the ,house of the ,seven ,gables is a series of related sketches rather than a romance4 ,probably his best short-stories are 8,the ,birthmark10 8,rappaccini's ,daughter10 and 8,drowne's ,wooden ,image10 in ,mosses ,from ,an ,old ,manse2 8,the ,gray ,champion10 8,the ,minister's ,black ,veil10 8,the ,gentle ,boy10 8,the ,great ,carbuncle10 8,dr4 ,heidegger's ,experiment10 8,the ,ambitious ,guest10 8,wakefield10 and 8,the ,white ,old ,maid10 from ,twice-,told ,tales2 and 8,the ,great ,stone ,face10 8,ethan ,brand0 and 8,the ,snow-,image10 in ,the ,snow-,image and other ,twice-,told ,tales4 ,these three collections contain also many charming sketches1 while ,the ,wonder ,book1 and ,tanglewood ,tales are rich in interest for younger readers4 8,the ,white ,old ,maid10 given herewith in full1 was first published in the ,new ,england ,magazine for ,july1 #ahce1 and was entitled 8,the ,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet1 by the ,author of ,the ,gray ,champion40 99 99 99 99 99 ,hawthorne enjoyed the distinction of winning in his day the almost unanimous approval of critics both at home and abroad1 and this in a period when criticism was not a gentle art4 ,time1 moreover1 has only added to his praises4 ,as a fiction writer he had depth1 breadth1 and height4 ,hawthorne alone among the fictionists of his era may justly be said to have a philosophy of his own2 his themes cover a wide range2 and the loftiness of his ideals is well recognized4 ,as ,longfellow discerned1 and generously announced as early as #ahcg1 ,hawthorne was a poet who wrote prose4 ,he knew a mood in nature to match every human emotion1 and in her multiform life he saw images to enforce a thousand striking comparisons4 ,he was a student of the soul1 too1 albeit a gloomy one1 for the most part4 ,but while the sombreness of lives beset by stern problems oppressed him1 and but little humor brightens his pages1 one searches in vain for a pessimistic spirit--,hawthorne's knowledge of the human heart saddened him1 but it did not make him misanthropic4 ,one feels the reality1 the vital bearing1 of the things he writes about4 ,it is impossible to read him appreciatively and not realize the sincerity of the man1 and the fine earnestness1 the upright though severe justness1 with which he viewed life4 ,sweetness1 beauty--haunting beauty1 indeed--and a certain airy lightness1 were not wanting in his work2 but the big tones--resonant1 solemn at times1 and inspiring always--were poetic insight1 fervid intensity1 and lofty purpose4 ,hawthorne was a seer4 ,the inside of things was disclosed to him4 ,that which he could not see1 he felt4 ,and with a classic purity of style he worded the fantastic1 gloomy1 lightsome1 or tragic pageantry of his creations in sentences that live and live4 ,i wish ,god had given me the faculty of writing a sunshiny book4--,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne1 ,letter to ,james ,t4 ,fields4 ,soon to be all spirit1 ,i have already a spiritual sense of human nature1 and see deeply into the hearts of mankind1 discovering what is hidden from the wisest4444 ,my glance comprehends the crowd1 and penetrates the breast of the solitary man4--,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne1 ,my ,home ,return1 in ,tales and ,sketches4 ,he uses his characters1 like algebraic symbols1 to work out certain problems with2 they are rather more1 yet rather less1 than flesh and blood4--,h4 ,a4 ,,beers1 quoted in ,tappan's ,topical ,notes on ,american ,authors4 ,hawthorne's style1 at its best1 is one of the most perfect media employed by any writer using the ,english language4 ,dealing1 as it usually does1 with an immaterial subject-matter1 with dream-like impressions1 and fantastic products of the imagination1 it is concrete without being opaque1--luminously concrete1 one might say4 ,no other writer that ,i know of has the power of making his fancies visible and tangible without impairing their delicate immateriality4 ,if any writer can put the rainbow into words1 and yet leave it a rainbow1 surely that writer is ,hawthorne4--,,richard ,,le ,,gallienne1 ,attitudes and ,avowals4 ,in all his most daring fantasies ,hawthorne is natural2 and though he may project his vision far beyond the boundaries of fact1 nowhere does he violate the laws of nature4444 ,a brutal misuse of the supernatural is perhaps the very lowest degradation of the art of fiction4 ,but 8to mingle the marvellous rather as a slight1 delicate1 and evanescent flavour than as any actual portion of the substance10 to quote from the preface to the ,house of the ,seven ,gables1 this is1 or should be1 the aim of the writer of ,short-stories whenever his feet leave the firm ground of fact as he strays in the unsubstantial realms of fantasy4--,,brander ,,matthews1 ,the ,philosophy of the ,short-story4 ,hawthorne has been called a mystic1 which he was not1--and a psychological dreamer1 which he was in very slight degree4 ,he was really the ghost of ,new ,england4 ,i do not mean the 8spirit10 nor the 8phantom10 but the ghost in the older sense in which that term is used1 the thin1 rarefied essence which is to be found somewhere behind the physical organization3 embodied1 indeed1 and not by any means in a shadowy or diminutive earthly tabernacle1 but yet only half embodied in it1 endowed with a certain painful sense of the gulf between his nature and its organization1 always recognizing the gulf1 always trying to bridge it over1 and always more or less unsuccessful in the attempt4 ,his writings are not exactly spiritual writings1 for there is no dominating spirit in them4 ,they are ghostly writings4444 ,i may1 perhaps1 accept a phrase of which ,hawthorne himself was fond1--8the moonlight of romance10--and compel it to explain something of the secret of his characteristic genius4--,r4 ,h4 ,,hutton1 ,essays in ,literary ,criticism4 ,this1 too 8,the ,white ,old ,maid01 is a story1 in the sense that something happens2 and yet the real story1 by which ,i mean the narrative which would logically connect and develop these events1 is just hinted at1 and is not very important4 ,it is subordinated1 indeed1 to a new aim4 8,the ,white ,old ,maid0 is narrative for a purpose1 and this purpose is to suggest an impression1 and to leave us with a vivid sensation rather than a number of remembered facts4 ,in short1 it is contrived1 not to leave a record of such and such an old woman who did this or that1 but rather to stamp upon our minds the impression of a mystery-haunted house1 mysterious figures entering1 strange words1 and a terrible sorrow behind all4 ,towards such a result the structure of the plot1 every bit of description1 every carefully chosen word1 directly tends4--,,henry ,,seidel ,,canby1 ,the ,book of the ,short ,story4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,hawthorne ,hours in a ,library1 ,leslie ,stephen 7#ahgd72 ,study of ,hawthorne1 ,george ,parsons ,lathrop 7#ahgf72 ,life1 in the ,english ,men of ,letters series1 ,henry ,james 7#ahhj72 ,nathaniel ,hawthorne and ,his ,wife1 ,julian ,hawthorne 7#ahhe72 ,life1 in the ,great ,writers series1 ,moncure ,d4 ,conway 7#ahij72 ,personal ,recollections of ,nathaniel ,hawthorne1 ,horatio ,bridge 7#ahic72 ,memories of ,hawthorne1 ,rose ,hawthorne ,lathrop 7#ahig72 ,nathaniel ,hawthorne1 ,anne ,fields 7#ahii72 ,life1 in the ,american ,men of ,letters series1 ,george ,edward ,woodberry 7#aijb74 ,,the ,,white ,,old ,,maid ,,by ,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne ,sidenote3 ,introduction of setting1 giving atmosphere of story4 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,plot ,,situation4 ,the moonbeams came through two deep and narrow windows1 and showed a spacious chamber richly furnished in an antique fashion4 ,from one lattice the shadow of the diamond panes was thrown upon the floor2 the ghostly light1 through the other1 slept upon a bed1 falling between the heavy silken curtains1 and illuminating the face of a young man4 ,but1 how quietly the slumberer lay6 how pale his features6 and how like a shroud the sheet was wound about his frame6 ,yes2 it was a corpse1 in its burial clothes4 ,sidenote3 ,this uncertainty strikes the tone of the story1 which trembles constantly between the real and the fancied1 the physical and the spirit world1 keeping the reader in doubt as to whether he is witnessing a manifestation of the supernatural or is deceived by the mysterious atmosphere of the unusual4 ,sidenote3 ,,two ,,main ,,characters ,,introduced4 #b4 ,suddenly1 the fixed features seemed to move with dark emotion4 ,strange fantasy6 ,it was but the shadow of the fringed curtain waving betwixt the dead face and the moonlight1 as the door of the chamber opened and a girl stole softly to the bedside4 ,was there delusion in the moonbeams1 or did her gesture and her eye betray a gleam of triumph1 as she bent over the pale corpse--pale as itself--and pressed her living lips to the cold ones of the dead8 ,as she drew back from that long kiss1 her features writhed as if a proud heart were fighting with its anguish4 ,again it seemed that the features of the corpse had moved responsive to her own4 ,still an illusion6 ,the silken curtain had waved1 a second time1 betwixt the dead face and the moonlight1 as another fair young girl unclosed the door1 and glided1 ghostlike1 to the bedside4 ,there the two maidens stood1 both beautiful1 with the pale beauty of the dead between them4 ,but she who had first entered was proud and stately1 and the other a soft and fragile thing4 ,sidenote3 ,note the archaic1 formal language1 which sets the period in the long ago4 #c4 8,away60 cried the lofty one4 8,thou hadst him living6 ,the dead is mine60 ,sidenote3 ,motif of story4 #d4 8,thine60 returned the other1 shuddering4 8,well hast thou spoken6 ,the dead is thine60 #e4 ,the proud girl started1 and stared into her face with a ghastly look4 ,but a wild and mournful expression passed across the features of the gentle one2 and weak and helpless1 she sank down on the bed1 her head pillowed beside that of the corpse1 and her hair mingling with his dark locks4 ,a creature of hope and joy1 the first draught of sorrow had bewildered her4 #f4 8,edith60 cried her rival4 ,sidenote3 ,note 8of the heart40 #g4 ,edith groaned1 as with a sudden compassion of the heart2 and removing her cheek from the dead youth's pillow1 she stood upright1 fearfully encountering the eyes of the lofty girl4 #h4 8,wilt thou betray me80 said the latter calmly4 ,sidenote3 ,full statement of the motif1 ending with #ab4 ,,foundation ,,of ,,main ,,crisis4 #i4 8,till the dead bid me speak1 ,i will be silent10 answered ,edith4 8,leave us alone together6 ,go1 and live many years1 and then return1 and tell me of thy life4 ,he1 too1 will be here6 ,then1 if thou tellest of sufferings more than death1 we will both forgive thee40 #aj4 8,and what shall be the token80 asked the proud girl1 as if her heart acknowledged a meaning in these wild words4 #aa4 8,this lock of hair10 said ,edith1 lifting one of the dark1 clustering curls that lay heavily on the dead man's brow4 ,sidenote3 ,end of first part of story4 #ab4 ,the two maidens joined their hands over the bosom of the corpse1 and appointed a day and hour1 far1 far in time to come1 for their next meeting in that chamber4 ,the statelier girl gave one deep look at the motionless countenance1 and departed--yet turned again and trembled ere she closed the door1 almost believing that her dead lover frowned upon her4 ,and ,edith1 too6 ,was not her white form fading into the moonlight8 ,scorning her own weakness she went forth1 and perceived that a negro slave was waiting in the passage with a wax-light1 which he held between her face and his own1 and regarded her1 as she thought1 with an ugly expression of merriment4 ,lifting his torch on high1 the slave lighted her down the staircase1 and undid the portal of the mansion4 ,the young clergyman of the town had just ascended the steps1 and bowing to the lady1 passed in without a word4 ,sidenote3 ,second stage4 ,sidenote3 ,hawthorne's first title for this story4 ,sidenote3 ,character delineation1 largely mental and moral4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 ,sidenote3 ,note language of symbolism4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #ac4 ,years1 many years1 rolled on2 the world seemed new again1 so much older was it grown since the night when those pale girls had clasped their hands across the bosom of the corpse4 ,in the interval1 a lonely woman had passed from youth to extreme age1 and was known by all the town as the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet40 ,a taint of insanity had affected her whole life1 but so quiet1 sad1 and gentle1 so utterly free from violence1 that she was suffered to pursue her harmless fantasies1 unmolested by the world1 with whose business or pleasure she had nought to do4 ,she dwelt alone1 and never came into the daylight1 except to follow funerals4 ,whenever a corpse was borne along the street in sunshine1 rain1 or snow2 whether a pompous train of the rich and proud thronged after it1 or few and humble were the mourners1 behind them came the lonely woman in a long white garment which the people called her shroud4 ,she took no place among the kindred or the friends1 but stood at the door to hear the funeral prayer1 and walked in the rear of the procession1 as one whose earthly charge it was to haunt the house of mourning1 and be the shadow of affliction1 and see that the dead were duly buried4 ,so long had this been her custom that the inhabitants of the town deemed her a part of every funeral1 as much as the coffin pall1 or the very corpse itself1 and augured ill of the sinner's destiny unless the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet0 came gliding1 like a ghost1 behind4 ,once1 it is said1 she affrighted a bridal party with her pale presence1 appearing suddenly in the illuminated hall1 just as the priest was uniting a false maid to a wealthy man1 before her lover had been dead a year4 ,evil was the omen to that marriage6 ,sometimes she stole forth by moonlight and visited the graves of venerable ,integrity1 and wedded ,love1 and virgin ,innocence1 and every spot where the ashes of a kind and faithful heart were mouldering4 ,over the hillocks of those favored dead would she stretch out her arms1 with a gesture1 as if she were scattering seeds2 and many believed that she brought them from the garden of ,paradise2 for the graves which she had visited were green beneath the snow1 and covered with sweet flowers from ,april to ,november4 ,her blessing was better than a holy verse upon the tombstone4 ,thus wore away her long1 sad1 peaceful1 and fantastic life1 till few were so old as she1 and the people of later generations wondered how the dead had ever been buried1 or mourners had endured their grief1 without the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet40 ,sidenote3 ,third stage4 ,sidenote3 ,preparation for main crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,opening of ,,main ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,local-color4 ,sidenote3 ,central setting2 return to original setting4 ,sidenote3 ,development of setting1 and ,,tone ,,of ,,an ,,empty ,,house4 #ad4 ,still years went on1 and still she followed funerals1 and was not yet summoned to her own festival of death4 ,one afternoon the great street of the town was all alive with business and bustle1 though the sun now gilded only the upper half of the church spire1 having left the housetops and loftiest trees in shadow4 ,the scene was cheerful and animated1 in spite of the sombre shade between the high brick buildings4 ,here were pompous merchants1 in white wigs and laced velvet2 the bronzed faces of sea-captains2 the foreign garb and air of ,spanish creoles2 and the disdainful port of natives of ,old ,england2 all contrasted with the rough aspect of one or two back settlers1 negotiating sales of timber from forests where axe had never sounded4 ,sometimes a lady passed1 swelling roundly forth in an embroidered petticoat1 balancing her steps in high-heeled shoes1 and courtesying with lofty grace to the punctilious obeisances of the gentlemen4 ,the life of the town seemed to have its very centre not far from an old mansion1 that stood somewhat back from the pavement1 surrounded by neglected grass1 with a strange air of loneliness1 rather deepened than dispelled by the throng so near4 ,its site would have been suitably occupied by a magnificent ,exchange or a brick block1 lettered all over with various signs2 or the large house itself might have made a noble tavern1 with the 8,king's ,arms0 swinging before it1 and guests in every chamber1 instead of the present solitude4 ,but owing to some dispute about the right of inheritance1 the mansion had been long without a tenant1 decaying from year to year1 and throwing the stately gloom of its shadow over the busiest part of the town4 ,such was the scene1 and such the time1 when a figure unlike any that have been described was observed at a distance down the street4 ,sidenote3 ,first main character4 #ae4 8,i espy a strange sail1 yonder10 remarked a ,liverpool captain2 8that woman in the long white garment60 #af4 ,the sailor seemed much struck by the object1 as were several others who1 at the same moment1 caught a glimpse of the figure that had attracted his notice4 ,almost immediately the various topics of conversation gave place to speculations1 in an undertone1 on this unwonted occurrence4 #ag4 8,can there be a funeral so late this afternoon80 inquired some4 #ah4 ,they looked for the signs of death at every door--the sexton1 the hearse1 the assemblage of black-clad relatives--all that makes up the woful pomp of funerals4 ,they raised their eyes1 also1 to the sun-gilt spire of the church1 and wondered that no clang proceeded from its bell1 which had always tolled till now when this figure appeared in the light of day4 ,but none had heard that a corpse was to be borne to its home that afternoon1 nor was there any token of funeral1 except the apparition of the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet40 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #ai4 8,what may this portend80 asked each man of his neighbor4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,impressionism vivid4 ,sidenote3 ,direct character description4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,character delineation by suggestion4 #bj4 ,all smiled as they put the question1 yet with a certain trouble in their eyes1 as if pestilence or some other wide calamity were prognosticated by the untimely intrusion among the living of one whose presence had always been associated with death and woe4 ,what a comet is to the earth was that sad woman to the town4 ,still she moved on1 while the hum of surprise was hushed at her approach1 and the proud and the humble stood aside1 that her white garment might not wave against them4 ,it was a long1 loose robe1 of spotless purity4 ,its wearer appeared very old1 pale1 emaciated1 and feeble1 yet glided onward without the unsteady pace of extreme age4 ,at one point of her course a little rosy boy burst forth from a door1 and ran1 with open arms1 towards the ghostly woman1 seeming to expect a kiss from her bloodless lips4 ,she made a slight pause1 fixing her eye upon him with an expression of no earthly sweetness1 so the child shivered and stood awe-struck1 rather than affrighted1 while the ,old ,maid passed on4 ,perhaps her garment might have been polluted even by an infant's touch2 perhaps her kiss would have been death to the sweet boy within a year4 ,sidenote3 ,tone of story summarized4 #ba4 8,she is but a shadow10 whispered the superstitious4 8,the child put forth his arms and could not grasp her robe60 ,sidenote3 ,crisis approaches4 ,sidenote3 ,the house mentioned in paragraphs #a1 #ab and #ad4 #bb4 ,the wonder was increased when the ,old ,maid passed beneath the porch of the deserted mansion1 ascended the moss-covered steps1 lifted the iron knocker1 and gave three raps4 ,the people could only conjecture that some old remembrance1 troubling her bewildered brain1 had impelled the poor woman hither to visit the friends of her youth2 all gone from their home long since and forever1 unless their ghosts still haunted it--fit company for the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet40 ,an elderly man approached the steps1 and1 reverently uncovering his gray locks1 essayed to explain the matter4 ,sidenote3 ,note 8,none--have40 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 ,sidenote3 ,first mention of name4 #bc4 8,none1 ,madam10 said he1 8have dwelt in this house these fifteen years agone--no1 not since the death of old ,colonel ,fenwicke1 whose funeral you may remember to have followed4 ,his heirs1 being ill agreed among themselves1 have let the mansion-house go to ruin40 ,sidenote3 ,note atmosphere of vagueness4 #bd4 ,the ,old ,maid looked slowly round with a slight gesture of one hand1 and a finger of the other upon her lip1 appearing more shadow-like than ever in the obscurity of the porch4 ,but again she lifted the hammer1 and gave1 this time1 a single rap4 ,could it be that a footstep was now heard coming down the staircase of the old mansion1 which all conceived to have been so long untenanted8 ,slowly1 feebly1 yet heavily1 like the pace of an aged and infirm person1 the step approached1 more distinct on every downward stair1 till it reached the portal4 ,the bar fell on the inside2 the door opened4 ,one upward glance towards the church spire1 whence the sunshine had just faded1 was the last that the people saw of the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet40 ,sidenote3 ,tone of mystery4 #be4 8,who undid the door80 asked many4 ,sidenote3 ,see #ab4 #bf4 ,this question1 owing to the depth of shadow beneath the porch1 no one could satisfactorily answer4 ,two or three aged men1 while protesting against an inference which might be drawn1 affirmed that the person within was a negro1 and bore a singular resemblance to old ,csar1 formerly a slave in the house1 but freed by death some thirty years before4 #bg4 8,her summons has waked up a servant of the old family10 said one1 half seriously4 #bh4 8,let us wait here10 replied another4 8,more guests will knock at the door1 anon4 ,but the gate of the graveyard should be thrown open60 ,sidenote3 ,preparation for climax4 ,sidenote3 ,no indication whence it came4 ,sidenote3 ,setting4 #bi4 ,twilight had overspread the town before the crowd began to separate1 or the comments on this incident were exhausted4 ,one after another was wending his way homeward1 when a coach--no common spectacle in those days--drove slowly into the street4 ,it was an old-fashioned equipage1 hanging close to the ground1 with arms on the panels1 a footman behind1 and a grave1 corpulent coachman seated high in front--the whole giving an idea of solemn state and dignity4 ,there was something awful in the heavy rumbling of the wheels4 ,the coach rolled down the street1 till1 coming to the gateway of the deserted mansion1 it drew up1 and the footman sprang to the ground4 #cj4 8,whose grand coach is this80 asked a very inquisitive body4 ,sidenote3 ,three raps signify a formal demand for entrance4 #ca4 ,the footman made no reply1 but ascended the steps of the old house1 gave three raps with the iron hammer1 and returned to open the coach door4 ,an old man1 possessed of the heraldic lore so common in that day1 examined the shield of arms on the panel4 ,sidenote3 ,setting4 #cb4 8,azure1 a lion's head erased1 between three flower-de-luces10 said he2 then whispered the name of the family to whom these bearings belonged4 ,the last inheritor of his honors was recently dead1 after a long residence amid the splendor of the ,british court1 where his birth and wealth had given him no mean station4 8,he left no child10 continued the herald1 8and these arms1 being in a lozenge1 betoken that the coach appertains to his widow40 ,sidenote3 ,,second ,,main ,,character4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 #cc4 ,further disclosures1 perhaps1 might have been made had not the speaker suddenly been struck dumb by the stern eye of an ancient lady who thrust forth her head from the coach1 preparing to descend4 ,as she emerged1 the people saw that her dress was magnificent1 and her figure dignified1 in spite of age and infirmity--a stately ruin but with a look1 at once1 of pride and wretchedness4 ,her strong and rigid features had an awe about them1 unlike that of the white ,old ,maid1 but as of something evil4 ,she passed up the steps1 leaning on a gold-headed cane2 the door swung open as she ascended--and the light of a torch glittered on the embroidery of her dress1 and gleamed on the pillars of the porch4 ,after a momentary pause--a glance backwards--and then a desperate effort--she went in4 ,the decipherer of the coat of arms had ventured up the lowest step1 and shrinking back immediately1 pale and tremulous1 affirmed that the torch was held by the very image of old ,csar4 ,sidenote3 ,subordinate character of central action4 ,sidenote3 ,compare #ab4 #cd4 8,but such a hideous grin10 added he1 8was never seen on the face of mortal man1 black or white6 ,it will haunt me till my dying day40 ,sidenote3 ,note the use of shadows and twilights as accessories4 ,sidenote3 ,,key4 ,sidenote3 ,atmosphere--a sense of something about to occur4 #ce4 ,meanwhile1 the coach had wheeled round1 with a prodigious clatter on the pavement1 and rumbled up the street1 disappearing in the twilight1 while the ear still tracked its course4 ,scarcely was it gone1 when the people began to question whether the coach and attendants1 the ancient lady1 the spectre of old ,csar1 and the ,old ,maid herself1 were not all a strangely combined delusion1 with some dark purport in its mystery4 ,the whole town was astir1 so that1 instead of dispersing1 the crowd continually increased1 and stood gazing up at the windows of the mansion1 now silvered by the brightening moon4 ,the elders1 glad to indulge the narrative propensity of age1 told of the long-faded splendor of the family1 the entertainments they had given1 and the guests1 the greatest of the land1 and even titled and noble ones from abroad1 who had passed beneath that portal4 ,these graphic reminiscences seemed to call up the ghosts of those to whom they referred4 ,so strong was the impression on some of the more imaginative hearers1 that two or three were seized with trembling fits1 at one and the same moment1 protesting that they had distinctly heard three other raps of the iron knocker4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory material4 #cf4 8,impossible60 exclaimed others4 8,see6 ,the moon shines beneath the porch1 and shows every part of it1 except in the narrow shade of that pillar4 ,there is no one there60 #cg4 8,did not the door open80 whispered one of these fanciful persons4 #ch4 8,didst thou see it1 too80 said his companion1 in a startled tone4 ,sidenote3 ,vagueness4 ,sidenote3 ,tone4 #ci4 ,but the general sentiment was opposed to the idea that a third visitant had made application at the door of the deserted house4 ,a few1 however1 adhered to this new marvel1 and even declared that a red gleam like that of a torch had shone through the great front window1 as if the negro were lighting a guest up the staircase4 ,this1 too1 was pronounced a mere fantasy4 ,but at once the whole multitude started1 and each man beheld his own terror painted in the faces of all the rest4 #dj4 8,what an awful thing is this60 cried they4 ,sidenote3 ,minor climax--preparation for main climax4 ,sidenote3 ,note shifting of tenses4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 #da4 ,a shriek too fearfully distinct for doubt had been heard within the mansion1 breaking forth suddenly1 and succeeded by a deep stillness1 as if a heart had burst in giving it utterance4 ,the people knew not whether to fly from the very sight of the house1 or to rush trembling in1 and search out the strange mystery4 ,amid their confusion and affright1 they are somewhat reassured by the appearance of their clergyman1 a venerable patriarch1 and equally a saint1 who had taught them and their fathers the way to heaven for more than the space of an ordinary life-time4 ,he was a reverend figure1 with long1 white hair upon his shoulders1 a white beard upon his breast1 and a back so bent over his staff that he seemed to be looking downward continually1 as if to choose a proper grave for his weary frame4 ,it was some time before the good old man1 being deaf and of impaired intellect1 could be made to comprehend such portions of the affair as were comprehensible at all4 ,but1 when possessed of the facts1 his energies assumed unexpected vigor4 #db4 8,verily10 said the old gentleman1 8it will be fitting that ,i enter the mansion-house of the worthy ,colonel ,fenwicke1 lest any harm should have befallen that true ,christian woman whom ye call the #8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet4'0 ,sidenote3 ,again a shift in the manner of narration4 #dc4 ,behold1 then1 the venerable clergyman ascending the steps of the mansion1 with a torch-bearer behind him4 ,it was the elderly man who had spoken to the ,old ,maid1 and the same who had afterwards explained the shield of arms and recognized the features of the negro4 ,like their predecessors1 they gave three raps with the iron hammer4 #dd4 8,old ,csar cometh not10 observed the priest4 8,well ,i wot he no longer doth service in this mansion40 #de4 8,assuredly1 then1 it was something worse1 in old ,csar's likeness60 said the other adventurer4 ,sidenote3 ,one who ventures4 #df4 8,be it as ,god wills10 answered the clergyman4 8,see6 my strength1 though it be much decayed1 hath sufficed to open this heavy door4 ,let us enter and pass up the staircase40 ,sidenote3 ,key to tone further developed4 #dg4 ,here occurred a singular exemplification of the dreamy state of a very old man's mind4 ,as they ascended the wide flight of stairs1 the aged clergyman appeared to move with caution1 occasionally standing aside1 and oftener bending his head1 as it were in salutation1 thus practising all the gestures of one who makes his way through a throng4 ,reaching the head of the staircase1 he looked around with sad and solemn benignity1 laid aside his staff1 bared his hoary locks1 and was evidently on the point of commencing a prayer4 #dh4 8,reverend ,sir10 said his attendant1 who conceived this a very suitable prelude to their further search1 8would it not be well that the people join with us in prayer80 ,sidenote3 ,confusion between real and unreal further illustrated by contributory material4 ,sidenote3 ,deft introduction of central character4 #di4 8,welladay60 cried the old clergyman1 staring strangely around him4 8,art thou here with me1 and none other8 ,verily1 past times were present to me1 and ,i deemed that ,i was to make a funeral prayer1 as many a time heretofore1 from the head of this staircase4 ,of a truth1 ,i saw the shades of many that are gone4 ,yea1 ,i have prayed at their burials1 one after another1 and the #8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet' hath seen them to their graves60 ,sidenote3 ,tone4 ,sidenote3 ,,key4 #ej4 ,being now more thoroughly awake to their present purpose1 he took his staff and struck forcibly on the floor1 till there came an echo from each deserted chamber1 but no menial to answer their summons4 ,they therefore walked along the passage1 and again paused1 opposite to the great front window through which was seen the crowd1 in the shadow and partial moonlight of the street beneath4 ,on their right hand was the open door of a chamber1 and a closed one on their left4 ,the clergyman pointed his cane to the carved oak panel of the latter4 ,sidenote3 ,foundation situation4 #ea4 8,within that chamber10 observed he1 8a whole life-time since1 did ,i sit by the death-bed of a goodly young man1 who1 being now at the last gasp0-- ,sidenote3 ,atmosphere4 ,sidenote3 ,note author's device4 ,sidenote3 ,the decision must be inferred4 ,sidenote3 ,tone of vagueness to the end4 #eb4 ,apparently there was some powerful excitement in the ideas which had now flashed across his mind4 ,he snatched the torch from his companion's hand1 and threw open the door with such sudden violence that the flame was extinguished1 leaving them no other light than the moonbeams1 which fell through two windows into the spacious chamber4 ,it was sufficient to discover all that could be known4 ,in a high-backed oaken armchair1 upright1 with her hands clasped across her heart1 and her head thrown back1 sat the 8,old ,maid in the ,winding ,sheet40 ,the stately dame had fallen on her knees1 with her forehead on the holy knees of the ,old ,maid1 one hand upon the floor and the other pressed convulsively against her heart4 ,it clutched a lock of hair1 once sable1 now discolored with a greenish mould4 ,as the priest and layman advanced into the chamber1 the ,old ,maid's features assumed such a semblance of shifting expression that they trusted to hear the whole mystery explained by a single word4 ,but it was only the shadow of a tattered curtain waving betwixt the dead face and the moonlight4 ,sidenote3 ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,vague denouement4 #ec4 8,both dead60 said the venerable man4 8,then who shall divulge the secret8 ,methinks it glimmers to and fro in my mind1 like the light and shadow across the ,old ,maid's face4 ,and now 'tis gone60 ,,for ,,analysis ,,the ,,fall ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,usher ,,by ,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe ,son cur est un luth suspendu2 ,sitt qu'on le touche il rsonne4 ,,beranger4 ,during the whole of a dull1 dark1 and soundless day in the autumn of the year1 when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens1 ,i had been passing alone1 on horseback1 through a singularly dreary tract of country2 and at length found myself1 as the shades of the evening drew on1 within view of the melancholy ,house of ,usher4 ,i know not how it was1 but1 with the first glimpse of the building1 a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit4 ,i say insufferable2 for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable1 because poetic1 sentiment with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible4 ,i looked upon the scene before me--upon the mere house1 and the simple landscape features of the domain1 upon the bleak walls1 upon the vacant eye-like windows1 upon a few rank sedges1 and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees--with an utter depression of soul which ,i can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium3 the bitter lapse into everyday life1 the hideous dropping off of the veil4 ,there was an iciness1 a sinking1 a sickening of the heart1 an unredeemed dreariness of thought1 which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime4 ,what was it--,i paused to think--what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the ,house of ,usher8 ,it was a mystery all insoluble2 nor could ,i grapple with the shadow fancies that crowded upon me as ,i pondered4 ,i was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion that while1 beyond doubt1 there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us1 still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth4 ,it was possible1 ,i reflected1 that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene1 of the details of the picture1 would be sufficient to modify1 or perhaps to annihilate1 its capacity for sorrowful impression1 and1 acting upon this idea1 ,i reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled lustre by the dwelling1 and gazed down--but with a shudder even more thrilling than before--upon the remodeled and inverted images of the gray sedge1 and the ghastly tree-stems1 and the vacant and eye-like windows4 #b4 ,nevertheless1 in this mansion of gloom ,i now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks4 ,its proprietor1 ,roderick ,usher1 had been one of my boon companions in boyhood2 but many years had elapsed since our last meeting4 ,a letter1 however1 had lately reached me in a distant part of the country--a letter from him--which in its wildly importunate nature had admitted of no other than a personal reply4 ,the ,,ms4 gave evidence of nervous agitation4 ,the writer spoke of acute bodily illness1 of a mental disorder which oppressed him1 and of an earnest desire to see me1 as his best and indeed his only personal friend1 with a view of attempting1 by the cheerfulness of my society1 some alleviation of his malady4 ,it was the manner in which all this1 and much more1 was said--it was the apparent heart that went with his request--which allowed me no room for hesitation2 and ,i accordingly obeyed forthwith what ,i still considered a very singular summons4 #c4 ,although as boys we had been even intimate associates1 yet ,i really knew little of my friend4 ,his reserve had been always excessive and habitual4 ,i was aware1 however1 that his very ancient family had been noted1 time out of mind1 for a peculiar sensibility of temperament1 displaying itself1 through long ages1 in many works of exalted art1 and manifested of late in repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity1 as well as in a passionate devotion to the intricacies1 perhaps even more than to the orthodox and easily recognizable beauties1 of musical science4 ,i had learned1 too1 the very remarkable fact that the stem of the ,usher race1 all time-honored as it was1 had put forth at no period any enduring branch2 in other words1 that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent1 and had always1 with a very trifling and very temporary variation1 so lain4 ,it was this deficiency1 ,i considered1 while running over in thought the perfect keeping of the character of the premises with the accredited character of the people1 and while speculating upon the possible influence which the one1 in the long lapse of centuries1 might have exercised upon the other1--it was this deficiency1 perhaps1 of collateral issue1 and the consequent undeviating transmission from sire to son of the patrimony with the name1 which had at length so identified the two as to merge the original title of the estate in the quaint and equivocal appellation of the 8,house of ,usher10--an appellation which seemed to include1 in the minds of the peasantry who used it1 both the family and the family mansion4 #d4 ,i have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment1 that of looking down within the tarn1 had been to deepen the first singular impression4 ,there can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition--for why should ,i not so term it8--served mainly to accelerate the increase itself4 ,such1 ,i have long known1 is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis4 ,and it might have been for this reason only1 that1 when ,i again uplifted my eyes to the house itself from its image in the pool1 there grew in my mind a strange fancy1--a fancy so ridiculous1 indeed1 that ,i but mention it to show the vivid force of the sensations which oppressed me4 ,i had so worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity3 an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven1 but which had reeked up from the decayed trees1 and the gray wall1 and the silent tarn2 a pestilent and mystic vapor1 dull1 sluggish1 faintly discernible1 and leaden-hued4 #e4 ,shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream1 ,i scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building4 ,its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity4 ,the discoloration of ages had been great4 ,minute fungi overspread the whole exterior1 hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves4 ,yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation4 ,no portion of the masonry had fallen2 and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts and the crumbling condition of the individual stones4 ,in this there was much that reminded me of the specious totality of old wood-work which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault1 with no disturbance from the breath of the external air4 ,beyond this indication of extensive decay1 however1 the fabric gave little token of instability4 ,perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure1 which1 extending from the roof of the building in front1 made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction1 until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn4 #f4 ,noticing these things1 ,i rode over a short causeway to the house4 ,a servant in waiting took my horse1 and ,i entered the ,gothic archway of the hall4 ,a valet1 of stealthy step1 thence conducted me in silence through many dark and intricate passages in my progress to the studio of his master4 ,much that ,i encountered on the way contributed1 ,i know not how1 to heighten the vague sentiments of which ,i have already spoken4 ,while the objects around me--while the carvings of the ceiling1 the sombre tapestries of the walls1 the ebon blackness of the floors1 and the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as ,i strode1 were but matters of which1 or to such as which1 ,i had been accustomed from my infancy1--while ,i hesitated not to acknowledge how familiar was all this1 ,i still wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up4 ,on one of the staircases ,i met the physician of the family4 ,his countenance1 ,i thought1 wore a mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity4 ,he accosted me with trepidation and passed on4 ,the valet now threw open a door and ushered me into the presence of his master4 #g4 ,the room in which ,i found myself was very large and lofty4 ,the windows were long1 narrow1 and pointed1 and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within4 ,feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes1 and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around2 the eye1 however1 struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber1 or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling4 ,dark draperies hung upon the walls4 ,the general furniture was profuse1 comfortless1 antique1 and tattered4 ,many books and musical instruments lay scattered about1 but failed to give any vitality to the scene4 ,i felt that ,i breathed an atmosphere of sorrow4 ,an air of stern1 deep1 and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all4 #h4 ,upon my entrance1 ,usher arose from a sofa on which he had been lying at full length1 and greeted me with a vivacious warmth which had much in it1 ,i at first thought1 of an overdone cordiality1--of the constrained effort of the ennuy man of the world4 ,a glance1 however1 at his countenance1 convinced me of his perfect sincerity4 ,we sat down2 and for some moments1 while he spoke not1 ,i gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity1 half of awe4 ,surely man had never before so terribly altered1 in so brief a period1 as had ,roderick ,usher6 ,it was with difficulty that ,i could bring myself to admit the identity of the wan being before me with the companion of my early boyhood4 ,yet the character of his face had been at all times remarkable4 ,a cadaverousness of complexion2 an eye large1 liquid1 and luminous beyond comparison2 lips somewhat thin and very pallid1 but of a surpassingly beautiful curve2 a nose of a delicate ,hebrew model1 but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations2 a finely-moulded chin1 speaking1 in its want of prominence1 of a want of moral energy2 hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity1--these features1 with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple1 made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten4 ,and now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these features1 and of the expression they were wont to convey1 lay so much of change that ,i doubted to whom ,i spoke4 ,the now ghastly pallor of the skin1 and the now miraculous lustre of the eye1 above all things startled and even awed me4 ,the silken hair1 too1 had been suffered to grow all unheeded1 and as1 in its wild gossamer texture1 it floated rather than fell about the face1 ,i could not1 even with effort1 connect its arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity4 #i4 ,in the manner of my friend ,i was at once struck with an incoherence1 an inconsistency2 and ,i soon found this to arise from a series of feeble and futile struggles to overcome an habitual trepidancy1 an excessive nervous agitation4 ,for something of this nature ,i had indeed been prepared1 no less by his letter than by reminiscences of certain boyish traits1 and by conclusions deduced from his peculiar physical conformation and temperament4 ,his action was alternately vivacious and sullen4 ,his voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision 7when the animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance7 to that species of energetic concision--that abrupt1 weighty1 unhurried1 and hollow-sounding enunciation1 that leaden1 self-balanced1 and perfectly modulated guttural utterance--which may be observed in the lost drunkard1 or the irreclaimable eater of opium1 during the periods of his most intense excitement4 #aj4 ,it was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit1 of his earnest desire to see me1 and of the solace he expected me to afford him4 ,he entered at some length into what he conceived to be the nature of his malady4 ,it was1 he said1 a constitutional and a family evil1 and one for which he despaired to find a remedy1--a mere nervous affection1 he immediately added1 which would undoubtedly soon pass off4 ,it displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations4 ,some of these1 as he detailed them1 interested and bewildered me2 although1 perhaps1 the terms and the general manner of the narration had their weight4 ,he suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses2 the most insipid food was alone endurable2 he could wear only garments of certain texture2 the odors of all flowers were oppressive2 his eyes were tortured by even a faint light2 and there were but peculiar sounds1 and these from stringed instruments1 which did not inspire him with horror4 #aa4 ,to an anomalous species of terror ,i found him a bounden slave4 8,i shall perish10 said he1 8,i must perish in this deplorable folly4 ,thus1 thus1 and not otherwise1 shall ,i be lost4 ,i dread the events of the future1 not in themselves1 but in their results4 ,i shudder at the thought of any1 even the most trivial1 incident1 which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul4 ,i have1 indeed1 no abhorrence of danger1 except in its absolute effect1--in terror4 ,in this unnerved1 in this pitiable condition1 ,i feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when ,i must abandon life and reason together in some struggle with the grim phantasm1 ,,fear40 #ab4 ,i learned moreover at intervals1 and through broken and equivocal hints1 another singular feature of his mental condition4 ,he was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted1 and whence for many years he had never ventured forth1 in regard to an influence whose supposititious force was conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be restated1--an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family mansion had1 by dint of long sufferance1 he said1 obtained over his spirit2 an effect which the physique of the gray walls and turrets1 and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down1 had at length brought about upon the morale of his existence4 #ac4 ,he admitted1 however1 although with hesitation1 that much of the peculiar gloom which thus afflicted him could be traced to a more natural and far more palpable origin1--to the severe and long-continued illness1 indeed to the evidently approaching dissolution1 of a tenderly beloved sister1 his sole companion for long years1 his last and only relative on earth4 8,her decease10 he said1 with a bitterness which ,i can never forget1 8would leave him 7him1 the hopeless and the frail7 the last of the ancient race of the ,ushers40 ,while he spoke1 the lady ,madeline 7for so was she called7 passed slowly through a remote portion of the apartment1 and1 without having noticed my presence1 disappeared4 ,i regarded her with an utter astonishment not unmingled with dread1 and yet ,i found it impossible to account for such feelings4 ,a sensation of stupor oppressed me1 as my eyes followed her retreating steps4 ,when a door1 at length1 closed upon her1 my glance sought instinctively and eagerly the countenance of the brother2 but he had buried his face in his hands1 and ,i could only perceive that a far more than ordinary wanness had overspread the emaciated fingers through which trickled many passionate tears4 #ad4 ,the disease of the lady ,madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians4 ,a settled apathy1 a gradual wasting away of the person1 and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character1 were the unusual diagnosis4 ,hitherto she had steadily borne up against the pressure of her malady1 and had not betaken herself finally to bed3 but1 on the closing-in of the evening of my arrival at the house1 she succumbed 7as her brother told me at night with inexpressible agitation7 to the prostrating power of the destroyer2 and ,i learned that the glimpse ,i had obtained of her person would thus probably be the last ,i should obtain1--that the lady1 at least while living1 would be seen by me no more4 #ae4 ,for several days ensuing1 her name was unmentioned by either ,usher or myself2 and during this period ,i was busied in earnest endeavors to alleviate the melancholy of my friend4 ,we painted and read together2 or ,i listened1 as if in a dream1 to the wild improvisation of his speaking guitar4 ,and thus1 as a closer and still closer intimacy admitted me more unreservedly into the recesses of his spirit1 the more bitterly did ,i perceive the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness1 as if an inherent positive quality1 poured forth upon all objects of the moral and physical universe1 in one unceasing radiation of gloom4 #af4 ,i shall ever bear about me a memory of the many solemn hours ,i thus spent alone with the master of the ,house of ,usher4 ,yet ,i should fail in any attempt to convey an idea of the exact character of the studies1 or of the occupations1 in which he involved me1 or led me the way4 ,an excited and highly distempered ideality threw a sulphureous lustre over all4 ,his long1 improvised dirges will ring forever in my ears4 ,among other things1 ,i hold painfully in mind a certain singular perversion and amplification of the wild air of the last waltz of ,von ,weber4 ,from the paintings over which his elaborate fancy brooded1 and which grew1 touch by touch1 into vaguenesses at which ,i shuddered the more thrillingly because ,i shuddered knowing not why1--from these paintings 7vivid as their images now are before me7 ,i would in vain endeavor to educe more than a small portion which should lie within the compass of merely written words4 ,by the utter simplicity1 by the nakedness of his designs1 he arrested and overawed attention4 ,if ever mortal painted an idea1 that mortal was ,roderick ,usher4 ,for me at least1 in the circumstances then surrounding me1 there arose1 out of the pure abstractions which the hypochondriac contrived to throw upon his canvas1 an intensity of intolerable awe1 no shadow of which felt ,i ever yet in the contemplation of the certainly glowing yet too concrete reveries of ,fuseli4 #ag4 ,one of the phantasmagoric conceptions of my friend1 partaking not so rigidly of the spirit of abstraction1 may be shadowed forth1 although feebly1 in words4 ,a small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel1 with low walls1 smooth1 white1 and without interruption or device4 ,certain accessory points of the design served well to convey the idea that this excavation lay at an exceeding depth below the surface of the earth4 ,no outlet was observed in any portion of its vast extent1 and no torch1 or other artificial source of light1 was discernible2 yet a flood of intense rays rolled throughout1 and bathed the whole in a ghastly and inappropriate splendor4 #ah4 ,i have just spoken of that morbid condition of the auditory nerve which rendered all music intolerable to the sufferer1 with the exception of certain effects of stringed instruments4 ,it was1 perhaps1 the narrow limits to which he thus confined himself upon the guitar1 which gave birth1 in great measure1 to the fantastic character of his performances4 ,but the fervid facility of his impromptus could not be so accounted for4 ,they must have been1 and were1 in the notes as well as in the words of his wild fantasias 7for he not unfrequently accompanied himself with rhymed verbal improvisations71 the result of that intense mental collectedness and concentration to which ,i have previously alluded as observable only in particular moments of the highest artificial excitement4 ,the words of one of these rhapsodies ,i have easily remembered4 ,i was1 perhaps1 the more forcibly impressed with it as he gave it1 because1 in the under or mystic current of its meaning1 ,i fancied that ,i perceived1 and for the first time1 a full consciousness1 on the part of ,usher1 of the tottering of his lofty reason upon her throne4 ,the verses1 which were entitled 8,the ,haunted ,palace10 ran very nearly1 if not accurately1 thus3-- ,i4 ,in the greenest of our valleys ,by good angels tenanted1 ,once a fair and stately palace-- ,radiant palace--reared its head4 ,in the monarch ,thought's dominion1 ,it stood there2 ,never seraph spread a pinion ,over fabric half so fair4 ,,ii4 ,banners yellow1 glorious1 golden1 ,on its roof did float and flow 7,this--all this--was in the olden ,time long ago71 ,and every gentle air that dallied1 ,in that sweet day1 ,along the ramparts plumed and pallid1 ,a winged odor went away4 ,,iii4 ,wanderers in that happy valley ,through two luminous windows saw ,spirits moving musically ,to a lute's well-tund law1 ,round about a throne1 where sitting1 ,porphyrogene1 ,in state his glory well befitting1 ,the ruler of the realm was seen4 ,,iv4 ,and all with pearl and ruby glowing ,was the fair palace door1 ,through which came flowing1 flowing1 flowing1 ,and sparkling evermore1 ,a troop of ,echoes1 whose sweet duty ,was but to sing1 ,in voices of surpassing beauty1 ,the wit and wisdom of their king4 ,v4 ,but evil things1 in robes of sorrow1 ,assailed the monarch's high estate2 7,ah1 let us mourn1 for never morrow ,shall dawn upon him1 desolate67 ,and1 round about his home1 the glory ,that blushed and bloomed ,is but a dim-remembered story ,of the old time entombed4 ,,vi4 ,and travellers now within that valley ,through the red-litten windows see ,vast forms that move fantastically ,to a discordant melody2 ,while1 like a ghastly rapid river1 ,through the pale door1 ,a hideous throng rush out forever1 ,and laugh--but smile no more4 #ai4 ,i well remember that suggestions arising from this ballad led us into a train of thought1 wherein there became manifest an opinion of ,usher's which ,i mention1 not so much on account of its novelty 7for other men have thought thus7 as on account of the pertinacity with which he maintained it4 ,this opinion1 in its general form1 was that of the sentience of all vegetable things4 ,but in his disordered fancy1 the idea had assumed a more daring character1 and trespassed1 under certain conditions1 upon the kingdom of inorganization4 ,i lack words to express the full extent or the earnest abandon of his persuasion4 ,the belief1 however1 was connected 7as ,i have previously hinted7 with the gray stones of the home of his forefathers4 ,the conditions of the sentience had been here1 he imagined1 fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones1--in the order of their arrangement1 as well as in that of the many fungi which overspread them1 and of the decayed trees which stood around2 above all1 in the long undisturbed endurance of this arrangement1 and in its reduplication in the still waters of the tarn4 ,its evidence--the evidence of the sentience--was to be seen1 he said 7and ,i here started as he spoke71 in the gradual yet certain condensation of an atmosphere of their own about the waters and the walls4 ,the result was discoverable1 he added1 in that silent yet importunate and terrible influence which for centuries had moulded the destinies of his family1 and which made him what ,i now saw him1--what he was4 ,such opinions need no comment1 and ,i will make none4 #bj4 ,our books--the books which for years had formed no small portion of the mental existence of the invalid--were1 as might be supposed1 in strict keeping with this character of phantasm4 ,we pored together over such works as the ,ververt and ,chartreuse of ,gresset2 the ,belphegor of ,machiavelli2 the ,heaven and ,hell of ,swedenborg2 the ,subterranean ,voyage of ,nicholas ,klimm by ,holberg2 the ,chiromancy of ,robert ,flud1 of ,jean ,d',indagin1 and of ,de la ,chambre2 the ,journey into the ,blue ,distance of ,tieck2 and the ,city of the ,sun of ,campanella4 ,one favorite volume was a small octavo edition of the ,directorium ,inquisitorum1 by the ,dominican ,eymeric de ,gironne2 and there were passages in ,pomponius ,mela1 about the old ,african ,satyrs and gipans1 over which ,usher would sit dreaming for hours4 ,his chief delight1 however1 was found in the perusal of an exceedingly rare and curious book in quarto ,gothic1--the manual of a forgotten church1--the ,vigil ,mortuorum secundum ,chorum ,ecclesi ,maguntin4 #ba4 ,i could not help thinking of the wild ritual of this work1 and of its probable influence on the hypochondriac1 when one evening1 having informed me abruptly that the lady ,madeline was no more1 he stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight 7previously to its final interment71 in one of the numerous vaults within the main walls of the building4 ,the worldly reason1 however1 assigned for this singular proceeding was one which ,i did not feel at liberty to dispute4 ,the brother had been led to his resolution 7so he told me7 by consideration of the unusual character of the malady of the deceased1 of certain obtrusive and eager inquiries on the part of her medical men1 and of the remote and exposed situation of the burial-ground of the family4 ,i will not deny that when ,i called to mind the sinister countenance of the person whom ,i met upon the staircase1 on the day of my arrival at the house1 ,i had no desire to oppose what ,i regarded as at best but a harmless1 and by no means an unnatural1 precaution4 #bb4 ,at the request of ,usher1 ,i personally aided him in the arrangements for the temporary entombment4 ,the body having been encoffined1 we two alone bore it to its rest4 ,the vault in which we placed it 7and which had been so long unopened that our torches1 half smothered in its oppressive atmosphere1 gave us little opportunity for investigation7 was small1 damp1 and entirely without means of admission for light2 lying1 at great depth1 immediately beneath that portion of the building in which was my own sleeping apartment4 ,it had been used apparently1 in remote feudal times1 for the worst purposes of a donjon-keep1 and in later days as a place of deposit for powder1 or some other highly combustible substance1 as a portion of its floor1 and the whole interior of a long archway through which we reached it1 were carefully sheathed with copper4 ,the door1 of massive iron1 had been also similarly protected4 ,its immense weight caused an unusually sharp grating sound as it moved upon its hinges4 #bc4 ,having deposited our mournful burden upon tressels within this region of horror1 we partially turned aside the yet unscrewed lid of the coffin1 and looked upon the face of the tenant4 ,a striking similitude between the brother and sister now first arrested my attention2 and ,usher1 divining1 perhaps1 my thoughts1 murmured out some few words from which ,i learned that the deceased and himself had been twins1 and that sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature had always existed between them4 ,our glances1 however1 rested not long upon the dead1 for we could not regard her unawed4 ,the disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of youth1 had left1 as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character1 the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face1 and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death4 ,we replaced and screwed down the lid1 and having secured the door of iron1 made our way1 with toil1 into the scarcely less gloomy apartments of the upper portion of the house4 #bd4 ,and now1 some days of bitter grief having elapsed1 an observable change came over the features of the mental disorder of my friend4 ,his ordinary manner had vanished4 ,his ordinary occupations were neglected or forgotten4 ,he roamed from chamber to chamber with hurried1 unequal1 and objectless step4 ,the pallor of his countenance had assumed1 if possible1 a more ghastly hue1 but the luminousness of his eye had utterly gone out4 ,the once occasional huskiness of his tone was heard no more2 and a tremulous quaver1 as if of extreme terror1 habitually characterized his utterance4 ,there were times1 indeed1 when ,i thought his unceasingly agitated mind was laboring with some oppressive secret1 to divulge which he struggled for the necessary courage4 ,at times1 again1 ,i was obliged to resolve all into the mere inexplicable vagaries of madness1 for ,i beheld him gazing upon vacancy for long hours1 in an attitude of the profoundest attention1 as if listening to some imaginary sound4 ,it was no wonder that his condition terrified--that it infected me4 ,i felt creeping upon me1 by slow yet certain degrees1 the wild influences of his own fantastic yet impressive superstitions4 #be4 ,it was1 especially1 upon retiring to bed late in the night of the seventh or eighth day after the placing of the lady ,madeline within the donjon1 that ,i experienced the full power of such feelings4 ,sleep came not near my couch1 while the hours waned and waned away4 ,i struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me4 ,i endeavored to believe that much if not all of what ,i felt was due to the bewildering influence of the gloomy furniture of the room1--of the dark and tattered draperies which1 tortured into motion by the breath of a rising tempest1 swayed fitfully to and fro upon the walls1 and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed4 ,but my efforts were fruitless4 ,an irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame2 and at length there sat upon my very heart an incubus of utterly causeless alarm4 ,shaking this off with a gasp and a struggle1 ,i uplifted myself upon the pillows1 and1 peering earnestly within the intense darkness of the chamber1 hearkened--,i know not why1 except that an instinctive spirit prompted me--to certain low and indefinite sounds which came1 through the pauses of the storm1 at long intervals1 ,i knew not whence4 ,overpowered by an intense sentiment of horror1 unaccountable yet unendurable1 ,i threw on my clothes with haste 7for ,i felt that ,i should sleep no more during the night71 and endeavored to arouse myself from the pitiable condition into which ,i had fallen1 by pacing rapidly to and fro through the apartment4 #bf4 ,i had taken but a few turns in this manner1 when a light step on an adjoining staircase arrested my attention4 ,i presently recognized it as that of ,usher4 ,in an instant afterward he rapped with a gentle touch at my door1 and entered1 bearing a lamp4 ,his countenance was1 as usual1 cadaverously wan--but1 moreover1 there was a species of mad hilarity in his eyes1--an evidently restrained hysteria in his whole demeanor4 ,his air appalled me--but anything was preferable to the solitude which ,i had so long endured1 and ,i even welcomed his presence as a relief4 #bg4 8,and you have not seen it80 he said abruptly1 after having stared about him for some moments in silence1--8you have not then seen it8--but1 stay6 you shall40 ,thus speaking1 and having carefully shaded his lamp1 he hurried to one of the casements1 and threw it freely open to the storm4 #bh4 ,the impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our feet4 ,it was1 indeed1 a tempestuous yet sternly beautiful night1 and one wildly singular in its terror and its beauty4 ,a whirlwind had apparently collected its force in our vicinity1 for there were frequent and violent alterations in the direction of the wind2 and the exceeding density of the clouds 7which hung so low as to press upon the turrets of the house7 did not prevent our perceiving the life-like velocity with which they flew careering from all points against each other1 without passing away into the distance4 ,i say that even their exceeding density did not prevent our perceiving this2 yet we had no glimpse of the moon or stars1 nor was there any flashing forth of the lightning4 ,but the under surfaces of the huge masses of agitated vapor1 as well as all terrestrial objects immediately around us1 were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion4 #bi4 8,you must not--you shall not behold this60 said ,i shudderingly1 to ,usher1 as ,i led him with a gentle violence from the window to a seat4 8,these appearances1 which bewilder you1 are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon--or it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn4 ,let us close this casement2 the air is chilling and dangerous to your frame4 ,here is one of your favorite romances4 ,i will read1 and you shall listen2--and so we will pass away this terrible night together40 #cj4 ,the antique volume which ,i had taken up was the 8,mad ,trist0 of ,sir ,launcelot ,canning2 but ,i had called it a favorite of ,usher's more in sad jest than in earnest2 for1 in truth1 there is little in its uncouth and unimaginative prolixity which could have had interest for the lofty and spiritual ideality of my friend4 ,it was1 however1 the only book immediately at hand2 and ,i indulged a vague hope that the excitement which now agitated the hypochondriac might find relief 7for the history of mental disorder is full of similar anomalies7 even in the extremeness of the folly which ,i should read4 ,could ,i have judged1 indeed1 by the wild1 overstrained air of vivacity with which he hearkened1 or apparently hearkened1 to the words of the tale1 ,i might well have congratulated myself upon the success of my design4 #ca4 ,i had arrived at that well-known portion of the story where ,ethelred1 the hero of the ,trist1 having sought in vain for peaceable admission into the dwelling of the hermit1 proceeds to make good an entrance by force4 ,here1 it will be remembered1 the words of the narrative run thus3-- #cb4 8,and ,ethelred1 who was by nature of a doughty heart1 and who was now mighty withal on account of the powerfulness of the wine which he had drunken1 waited no longer to hold parley with the hermit1 who1 in sooth1 was of an obstinate and maliceful turn1 but1 feeling the rain upon his shoulders1 and fearing the rising of the tempest1 uplifted his mace outright and with blows made quickly room in the plankings of the door for his gauntleted hand2 and now1 pulling therewith sturdily1 he so cracked1 and ripped1 and tore all asunder1 that the noise of the dry and hollow-sounding wood alarumed and reverberated throughout the forest40 #cc4 ,at the termination of this sentence ,i started1 and for a moment paused2 for it appeared to me 7although ,i at once concluded that my excited fancy had deceived me7--it appeared to me that from some very remote portion of the mansion there came1 indistinctly1 to my ears1 what might have been in its exact similarity of character the echo 7but a stifled and dull one certainly7 of the very cracking and ripping sound which ,sir ,launcelot had so particularly described4 ,it was1 beyond doubt1 the coincidence alone which had arrested my attention2 for1 amid the rattling of the sashes of the casements1 and the ordinary commingled noises of the still increasing storm1 the sound1 in itself1 had nothing1 surely1 which should have interested or disturbed me4 ,i continued the story3-- #cd4 8,but the good champion ,ethelred1 now entering within the door1 was so enraged and amazed to perceive no signal of the maliceful hermit2 but1 in the stead thereof1 a dragon of a scaly and prodigious demeanor1 and of a fiery tongue1 which sate in guard before a palace with a floor of silver2 and upon the wall there hung a shield of shining brass with this legend enwritten3-- ,who entereth herein1 a conqueror hath bin2 ,who slayeth the dragon1 the shield he shall win4 ,and ,ethelred uplifted his mace1 struck upon the head of the dragon1 which fell before him1 and gave up his pesty breath1 with a shriek so horrid and harsh1 and withal so piercing1 that ,ethelred had fain to close his ears with his hands against the dreadful noise of it1 the like whereof was never before heard40 #ce4 ,here again ,i paused abruptly1 and now with a feeling of wild amazement1 for there could be no doubt whatever that1 in this instance1 ,i did actually hear 7although from what direction it proceeded ,i found it impossible to say7 a low and apparently distant1 but harsh1 protracted1 and most unusual screaming or grating sound1--the exact counterpart of what my fancy had already conjured up for the dragon's unnatural shriek as described by the romancer4 #cf4 ,oppressed as ,i certainly was1 upon the occurrence of this second and most extraordinary coincidence1 by a thousand conflicting sensations1 in which wonder and extreme terror were predominant1 ,i still retained sufficient presence of mind to avoid exciting1 by any observation1 the sensitive nervousness of my companion4 ,i was by no means certain that he had noticed the sounds in question2 although1 assuredly1 a strange alteration had during the last few minutes taken place in his demeanor4 ,from a position fronting my own1 he had gradually brought round his chair1 so as to sit with his face to the door of the chamber2 and thus ,i could but partially perceive his features1 although ,i saw that his lips trembled as if he were murmuring inaudibly4 ,his head had dropped upon his breast2 yet ,i knew that he was not asleep1 from the wide and rigid opening of the eye as ,i caught a glance of it in profile4 ,the motion of his body1 too1 was at variance with this idea1 for he rocked from side to side with a gentle yet constant and uniform sway4 ,having rapidly taken notice of all this1 ,i resumed the narrative of ,sir ,launcelot1 which thus proceeded3-- #cg4 8,and now the champion1 having escaped from the terrible fury of the dragon1 bethinking himself of the brazen shield1 and of the breaking up of the enchantment which was upon it1 removed the carcass from out of the way before him1 and approached valorously over the silver pavement of the castle to where the shield was upon the wall2 which in sooth tarried not for his full coming1 but fell down at his feet upon the silver floor1 with a mighty great and terrible ringing sound40 #ch4 ,no sooner had these syllables passed my lips than--as if a shield of brass had indeed1 at the moment1 fallen heavily upon a floor of silver--,i became aware of a distinct1 hollow1 metallic1 and clangorous yet apparently muffled reverberation4 ,completely unnerved1 ,i leaped to my feet2 but the measured rocking movement of ,usher was undisturbed4 ,i rushed to the chair in which he sat4 ,his eyes were bent fixedly before him1 and throughout his whole countenance there reigned a stony rigidity4 ,but1 as ,i placed my hand upon his shoulder1 there came a strong shudder over his whole person2 a sickly smile quivered about his lips2 and ,i saw that he spoke in a low1 hurried1 and gibbering murmur1 as if unconscious of my presence4 ,bending closely over him1 ,i at length drank in the hideous import of his words4 #ci4 8,not hear it8--yes1 ,i hear it1 and have heard it4 ,long--long--long--many minutes1 many hours1 many days1 have ,i heard it1 yet ,i dared not--oh1 pity me1 miserable wretch that ,i am6--,i dared not--,i dared not speak6 ,we have put her living in the tomb6 ,said ,i not that my senses were acute8 ,i now tell you that ,i heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin4 ,i heard them--many1 many days ago--yet ,i dared not--,i dared not speak6 ,and now--to-night--,ethelred--ha6 ha6--the breaking of the hermit's door1 and the death-cry of the dragon1 and the clangor of the shield6--say rather1 the rending of her coffin1 and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison1 and her struggles within the coppered archway of the vault6 ,oh1 whither shall ,i fly8 ,will she not be here anon8 ,is she not hurrying to upbraid me for my haste8 ,have ,i not heard her footsteps on the stair8 ,do ,i not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart8 ,madman60--here he sprang furiously to his feet1 and shrieked out his syllables1 as if in the effort he were giving up his soul--8,madman6 ,i tell you that she now stands without the door60 #dj4 ,as if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell1 the huge antique panels to which the speaker pointed threw slowly back1 upon the instant1 their ponderous and ebony jaws4 ,it was the work of the rushing gust--but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady ,madeline of ,usher6 ,there was blood upon her white robes1 and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame4 ,for a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold--then1 with a low moaning cry1 fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother1 and1 in her violent and now final death agonies1 bore him to the floor a corpse1 and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated4 #da4 ,from that chamber and from that mansion ,i fled aghast4 ,the storm was still abroad in all its wrath as ,i found myself crossing the old causeway4 ,suddenly there shot along the path a wild light1 and ,i turned to see whence a gleam so unusual could have issued2 for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me4 ,the radiance was that of the full1 setting1 and blood-red moon1 which now shone vividly through that once barely discernible fissure1 of which ,i have before spoken as extending from the roof of the building1 in a zigzag direction1 to the base4 ,while ,i gazed1 this fissure rapidly widened--there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind--the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight--my brain reeled as ,i saw the mighty walls rushing asunder--there was a long1 tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters--and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the 8,house of ,usher40 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,state as briefly as possible the impression made upon you by the story under consideration4 #b4 ,cite passages which are most effective in making this impression4 #c4 ,do you find any jarring elements which tend to mar the single impression8 #d4 ,does the story approach any types besides that of the impressionistic8 #e4 ,mention any weak points you discover4 #f4 ,write about three hundred words on the merits of the story4 #g4 ,try to find an impressionistic story in some present-day magazine4 #h4 ,criticise ,poe's language1 in general and in particular4 #i4 ,would either of these stories be popular if written to-day by an unknown author8 #aj4 ,would cutting improve either of these stories8 ,if so1 say where4 #aa4 ,compare ,hawthorne's style with that of ,poe4 #ab4 ,which story do you prefer1 and why8 ,,ten ,,representative ,,impressionistic ,,stories 8,the ,luck of ,roaring ,camp10 ,bret ,harte1 in ,the ,luck of ,roaring ,camp and ,other ,stories4 8,the ,father10 ,bjrnstjerne ,bjrnson1 translated in ,stories by ,foreign ,authors1 ,scandinavian4 8,a ,journey10 ,edith ,wharton1 in ,the ,greater ,inclination4 8,the ,brushwood ,boy10 ,rudyard ,kipling1 in ,the ,day's ,work4 8,the ,great ,stone ,face10 ,nathaniel ,hawthorne1 in ,the ,snow-,image and ,other ,twice-,told ,tales4 8,a ,passion in the ,desert10 ,honor de ,balzac1 translated in ,little ,french ,masterpieces1 ,balzac4 8,the ,pit and the ,pendulum10 ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 in ,tales4 8,the ,silent ,woman10 ,leopold ,kompert1 translated in ,modern ,ghosts4 8,jesus ,christ in ,flanders10 ,honor de ,balzac1 translated in ,little ,french ,masterpieces1 ,balzac4 8,silence10 ,leonid ,andreyev1 translated in ,short-,story ,masterpieces4 ,,vii ,,character ,,studies ,the ,piece of ,string4--,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant ,the ,substitute4--,,fran,,ois ,,copp,e ,most of us1 in actual life1 are accustomed to distinguish people who are worth our while from people who are not2 and those of us who live advisedly are accustomed to shield ourselves from people who cannot1 by the mere fact of what they are1 repay us for the expenditure of time and energy we should have to make to know them4 ,and whenever a friend of ours asks us deliberately to meet another friend of his1 we take it for granted that our friend has reasons for believing that the acquaintanceship will be of benefit or of interest to both4 ,now the novelist stands in the position of a friend who asks us to meet certain people whom he knows2 and he runs the risk of our losing faith in his judgment unless we find his people worth our while4444 ,he 444 owes us an assurance that they shall be even more worth while than the average actual person4--,,clayton ,,hamilton1 ,materials and ,methods of ,fiction4 ,,character ,,studies ,a character-study1 whether in the form of a sketch1 a tale1 or a short-story1 attempts to reveal individual human nature by the unfolding of the story4 ,in the sketch it will be a photograph of character in a striking mood1 under stress of emotion1 or just before1 or during1 or after a crisis that is peculiarly suited to showing either the full character or one of its interesting phases4 ,some photographs consist of bold masses of light and shade1 others are so handled as to bring out a multitude of details4 ,the sketch allows in a literary way the same methods of treatment1 but the typical sketch avoids unnecessary minuti4 ,the tale is also a photograph1 but instead of being a single stationary picture1 it is a moving-picture1 delineating character by a chain of incidents which allow us to see what the characters are by what they do4 ,true to the type of the tale1 it does not deal with character crisis1 but merely reveals character in a series of illuminating deeds4 ,in the character short-story the author's method is more complicated1 for the whole mechanism of the story--introduction1 plot1 dialogue1 and conclusion--are designed to show us the characters under stress of emotion and the results of that emotional arousement4 ,we learn the characters of the characters--for there is a distinction here--by seeing how they act upon each other1 how they solve problems1 how they meet the crises of life--what effect trouble or joy has upon them--and the final outcome of it all4 ,it is like studying a human being while he is being subjected to a test1 and observing the development of his character1 or its failure to stand the test1 in that critical moment4 ,by this it will be seen that a character-study is a story with a purpose--a purpose deeper than that of affording entertainment from the plot4 ,the finest stories are those which so interest us in the action1 or plot1 of the story proper that the profound character disclosures and changes are borne in upon us while we are watching the progress of the story4 ,it is this subtle balance of narrative and character-study which presents the story-teller's art at its best4 ,,the ,,piece ,,of ,,string 7,,la ,,ficelle7 ,,by ,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant ,translation by ,the ,editor ,sidenote3 ,introduction4 ,sidenote3 ,establishes the general setting1 and station in life of the characters4 ,sidenote3 ,minute observation4 ,on all the roads around ,goderville the peasants and their wives were coming towards the town1 for it was market-day4 ,the men swung along at an easy gait1 their whole bodies swaying forward with every movement of their long1 twisted legs--legs misshapen by hard work3 by holding down the plough1 which throws up the left shoulder while it deforms the figure2 by mowing grain1 the effort of which spreads the knees too wide apart to permit them to stand quite steady2 by all the tedious and laborious tasks of the fields4 ,their blue blouses1 starched and glossy as though varnished1 and decorated at collar and cuffs with neat designs in white stitching1 puffed out about their bony forms just like balloons all ready to rise1 from which protruded a head1 two arms1 and two legs4 ,sidenote3 ,characterization4 ,sidenote3 ,local-color by character description4 #b4 ,some of the men were leading a cow or a calf at the end of a rope4 ,following close behind1 the wives switched the animals over the back with branches still covered with leaves1 in order to quicken their pace4 ,the women carried on their arms great baskets from which the heads of chickens and ducks protruded1 and they walked with a shorter1 quicker step than the men--each withered figure erect and wrapped in a scanty little shawl pinned across her flat bosom1 each head done up in a white cloth1 bound close about the hair and surmounted by a cap4 #c4 ,now a wagonette passed1 drawn by a nag at a fitful trot1 grotesquely shaking up the two men seated side by side1 and the woman in the back of the vehicle1 who clutched its sides to lessen the rough jolting4 ,sidenote3 ,local-color4 #d4 ,in the ,goderville market-place there was a great crowd--a medley of man and beast4 ,the horns of the cattle1 the high1 long-napped hats of the prosperous peasants1 and the head-dresses of the women1 rose above the level of the throng4 ,and the voices--sharp1 shrill1 squawking--rose in a wild1 incessant clamor1 which was dominated now and then by a great guffaw of laughter emitted from the robust chest of some sturdy bumpkin1 or by the long-drawn-out lowing of a cow tethered to the wall of a house4 #e4 ,everything there smelled of the stable--the milk1 the manure1 the hay1 the sweat1 gave forth that acrid1 offensive odor of man and animal so peculiar to dwellers of the fields4 ,sidenote3 ,,chief ,,character4 ,sidenote3 ,the ,normans are said to be typically 8ambitious1 positive1 bold1 tricky1 economical40 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,,chief ,,complication4 ,sidenote3 ,,resultant ,,complication4 #f4 ,master ,hauchecorne1 of ,braut1 had just arrived at ,goderville1 and was moving toward the square1 when he observed a little piece of string on the ground4 ,economical1 like a true ,norman1 ,master ,hauchecorne thought that everything which could be used was worth saving2 so he stooped down painfully1 for he suffered from rheumatism1 picked up from the dirt the insignificant scrap of twine1 and was just about to roll it up with care when he noticed ,master ,malandin1 the harness-maker1 standing on his doorstep looking at him4 ,once the two men had had a difference over the matter of a halter1 and ever since they had remained angry with each other1 cherishing their spite4 ,master ,hauchecorne was seized with a sort of shame at having his enemy thus see him searching in the mud for a mere scrap of string4 ,he therefore hastily hid away his find in his blouse1 and then in his breeches-pocket4 ,at the same time he pretended to be still searching in the dirt for something which he had not been able to find4 ,finally he moved on toward the market-place1 his head thrust forward1 his body bent double by his pains4 ,sidenote3 ,local-color4 ,sidenote3 ,see note on #f4 #g4 ,in a moment he was lost in the slowly shifting1 noisy throng1 agitated by its own constant chafferings4 ,the peasants felt of the cows1 turned away1 came back again1 much puzzled--always fearful of being over-reached in the bargain1 never reaching a decision1 watching the eye of the vendor1 seeking ever to unmask the ruse of the man and the defect in his animal4 #h4 ,the women1 having set their huge baskets at their feet1 took out their poultry1 which they laid on the ground with legs tied together1 terror-stricken eyes1 and scarlet combs4 #i4 ,they listened to offers1 maintaining their price with a keen air but impassive face1 or else suddenly deciding to take the counter offer1 crying out to the slowly retreating customer3 #aj4 8,it's settled1 ,master ,anthime1 ,i'll give them to you60 #aa4 ,at length1 little by little1 the square became empty1 and when the ,angelus sounded noon1 those who lived too far away to go home repaired to the inns4 ,sidenote3 ,setting for main crisis4 #ab4 ,at ,jourdain's1 the large hall was crowded with diners1 while the great courtyard was full of vehicles of every sort--carts1 gigs1 wagonettes1 tilburies1 traps1 nameless carriages1 yellow with mud1 shapeless1 patched1 shafts pointing to heaven like two arms1 or with noses in the ground and backs in the air4 #ac4 ,right opposite the diners at table1 the immense fireplace1 all brightly aflame1 cast a lively warmth on the backs of those ranged along the right4 ,three spits were turning1 laden with chickens1 pigeons1 and legs of mutton2 and a delectable odor of roasting meat1 and of juices streaming over the browned skin1 rose from the hearth1 kindled good humor and made everyone's mouth water4 ,sidenote3 ,note how the author gathers the people to witness the crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,mat'--colloquial abbreviation for ,matre1 equal here to 8,mine ,host40 #ad4 ,all the aristocracy of the plough were eating there1 at ,mat' ,jourdain's1 inn-keeper and horse-trader--a sly fellow who had made money4 #ae4 ,the dishes went round1 and1 like the jugs of yellow cider1 were emptied4 ,everyone told of his affairs3 his sales and his purchases4 ,they exchanged news of the crops--the weather was good for vegetables1 but a trifle wet for wheat4 ,sidenote3 ,approach of crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,typical of their class4 #af4 ,suddenly the roll of a drum sounded in the courtyard before the house4 ,instantly everyone was on his feet1 save a few indifferent ones1 and ran to the door or to the windows1 with mouth still full and napkin in hand4 #ag4 ,after the public crier had ended his tattoo1 he shouted out in a jerky voice1 making his pauses at the wrong time3 ,sidenote3 ,preparation for crisis4 #ah4 8,be it known to the people of ,goderville1 and in general to all--persons present at the market1 that there was lost this morning1 upon the ,beuzeville road between--nine and ten o'clock1 a black leather pocketbook1 containing five hundred francs and some business papers4 ,you are requested to return it--to the mayor's office1 without delay1 or to ,master ,fortun ,houlbrque of ,manneville4 ,there will be twenty francs reward40 #ai4 ,then the man went away4 ,once again was heard afar the muffled roll of the drum and the faint voice of the crier4 #bj4 ,then they began to talk over the incident1 estimating the chances ,master ,houlbrque had of recovering or of not recovering his pocketbook4 ,meanwhile the meal went on4 #ba4 ,they were finishing coffee when the corporal of gendarmes appeared in the doorway4 #bb4 ,he asked3 ,sidenote3 ,closer approach of crisis4 #bc4 8,master ,hauchecorne of ,braut--is he here80 #bd4 ,master ,hauchecorne1 who was seated at the other end of the table1 replied3 #be4 8,that's me40 #bf4 ,and the corporal replied3 #bg4 8,master ,hauchecorne1 will you have the goodness to go with me to the mayor's office4 ,monsieur le maire would like to speak with you40 ,sidenote3 ,note how throughout the author emphasizes physical characteristics as indicating character4 ,sidenote3 ,minute observation4 #bh4 ,the peasant--surprised1 disturbed--drained his glass at a gulp1 got up1 and1 more doubled up than in the morning1 because the first steps after a rest were always particularly difficult1 he started off1 repeating3 #bi4 8,that's me1 that's me10 and he followed the corporal4 #cj4 ,the mayor was awaiting him1 seated in an armchair4 ,he was the notary of the place1 a large man1 grave1 and pompous in speech4 ,sidenote3 ,,full ,,crisis4 #ca4 8,master ,hauchecorne10 said he1 8you were seen to pick up this morning1 on the ,beuzeville road1 the pocketbook lost by ,master ,houlbrque1 of ,manneville40 #cb4 ,the countryman1 speechless1 stared at the mayor1 already terrified by this suspicion which rested upon him without his understanding why4 #cc4 8,me1 me1 ,i picked up that pocketbook80 #cd4 8,yes1 exactly you40 #ce4 8,word of honor1 ,i ain't even so much as seen it40 #cf4 8,you were seen40 #cg4 8,they saw me1 me8 ,who's it 'as seen me80 ,sidenote3 ,note how the complication is involved by personal prejudice4 #ch4 8,monsieur ,malandin1 the harness-maker40 #ci4 ,then the old man remembered1 and understood4 ,reddening with rage1 he cried3 #dj4 8,ah6 he saw me1 that cad6 ,he saw me pick up this here string--look1 m'sieu le maire40 #da4 ,and1 fumbling at the bottom of his pocket1 he pulled out the little bit of cord4 #db4 ,but the mayor1 incredulous1 shook his head4 #dc4 8,you will not make me believe1 ,master ,hauchecorne1 that ,monsieur ,malandin1 who is a man worthy of belief1 has mistaken that bit of string for a pocketbook40 #dd4 ,the peasant1 furious1 raised his hand and spat to one side1 thus to attest his honor1 repeating3 #de4 8,all the same it's the truth of the good ,god1 the holy truth1 m'sieu le maire4 ,there6 ,upon my soul and my salvation1 ,i say it again40 #df4 ,the mayor replied3 ,sidenote3 ,circumstantial evidence4 ,the miser's character helps condemn him unjustly4 #dg4 8,after having picked the thing up1 you even hunted a long time in the mud to see if some piece of money had not fallen out40 #dh4 ,the good man choked with indignation and fear4 #di4 8,how can anyone tell--how can anyone tell--lies like that to misrepresent an honest man6 ,how can anyone tell--0 #ej4 ,however he might protest1 no one believed him4 #ea4 ,he was confronted with ,monsieur ,malandin1 who repeated and sustained his affirmation4 ,they railed at each other for a whole hour4 ,at his own request1 ,master ,hauchecorne was searched4 ,they found nothing upon him4 ,sidenote3 ,suspense4 #eb4 ,at last1 the mayor1 greatly perplexed1 sent him away1 with the warning that he would advise the public prosecutor1 and ask for orders4 #ec4 ,the news had spread4 ,when he came out of the mayor's office the old man was surrounded and questioned with a curiosity either serious or bantering1 but into which not the least indignation entered4 ,and he began to recount the history of the piece of string4 ,no one believed him4 ,they laughed4 ,sidenote3 ,tone of story4 #ed4 ,he went on1 halted by everyone1 stopping his acquaintances1 renewing endlessly his recital and his protestations1 showing his pockets turned inside out to prove that he had nothing4 ,sidenote3 ,note ,maupassant's use of the short paragraph4 #ee4 ,they said to him3 #ef4 8,g'long1 you old rascal60 #eg4 ,and he grew angry1 working himself into exasperation1 into a fever1 desperate at not being believed1 not knowing what to do1 and always repeating his story4 #eh4 ,night came on4 ,he must go home4 ,he started out with three neighbors to whom he showed the place where he had picked up the piece of string2 and all along the road he kept talking of his adventure4 #ei4 ,that evening1 he made a round of the village of ,braut1 in order to tell everyone of the matter4 ,he encountered none but unbelievers4 #fj4 ,he was ill of it all night4 #fa4 ,the next day1 about one o'clock in the afternoon1 ,marius ,paumelle1 a farm-hand of ,master ,breton's1 the market-gardener at ,ymauville1 returned the pocketbook and its contents to ,master ,houlbrque1 of ,manneville4 ,sidenote3 ,apparent resolution of the complication4 #fb4 ,this man asserted1 in substance1 that he had found the article on the road2 but1 not being able to read1 he had carried it home and given it to his employer4 #fc4 ,the news spread to the suburbs4 ,master ,hauchecorne was informed of it4 ,he set himself at once to journeying about and commenced to narrate his story as completed by the denouement4 ,he was triumphant4 #fd4 8,wha' made me feel bad10 he said1 8wasn't the thing itself1 you understand1 but it was the lies4 ,there's nothing hurts you like being blamed for a lie40 ,sidenote3 ,tone of story4 ,sidenote3 ,,foundation ,,for ,,climax4 #fe4 ,all day long he talked of his adventure1 he recounted it on the roadways to the people who passed1 at the tavern to the folks who drank1 at the dismissal of church on the following ,sunday4 ,he even button-holed strangers to tell it to them4 ,sidenote3 ,,resultant ,,complication4 ,now1 he was tranquil1 and yet something else bothered him without his being able to tell precisely what4 ,people did not seem to be convinced4 ,he felt as if they gossiped behind his back4 #ff4 ,on ,tuesday of the following week1 he went to the ,goderville market1 solely impelled by the desire to relate his story4 ,malandin1 standing in his doorway1 began to laugh when he saw him pass4 ,why8 #fg4 ,he accosted a farmer of ,criquetot who would not let him finish1 but giving him a dig in the pit of the stomach1 cried out in his face1 8,g'long1 you great rogue60 ,then he turned on his heel4 ,sidenote3 ,peasant simplicity4 #fh4 ,master ,hauchecorne stood speechless1 growing more and more disturbed4 ,why had he called him 8great rogue08 #fi4 ,when seated at table at ,jourdain's tavern1 he again began to explain the affair4 #gj4 ,a ,montivilliers horse-dealer called out to him3 #ga4 8,go on1 go on1 you old trickster1 ,i know you1 and your piece of string60 #gb4 ,hauchecorne stammered1 8,but--they--found it1 the pocketbook60 #gc4 ,but the other retorted3 ,sidenote3 ,,denouement ,,as ,,to ,,the ,,resultant ,,complication4 ,sidenote3 ,,final ,,complication4 #gd4 8,be quiet1 daddy6 ,there's one who finds it1 and one who takes it back4 ,no one sees it1 no one recognizes it1 no one is the wiser for it40 #ge4 ,the peasant sat dumbfounded4 ,he understood at last4 ,they accused him of having returned the pocketbook by a confederate1 an accomplice4 #gf4 ,he tried to protest4 ,everyone at the table began to laugh4 #gg4 ,he could not finish his dinner1 and left amidst their mockeries4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #gh4 ,he returned home1 ashamed and indignant1 strangled by his anger1 by his confusion1 and all the more thunderstruck because1 with his ,norman cunning1 he was quite capable of having done the thing of which they had accused him1 and even of boasting of it as a good trick4 ,it appeared to him confusedly as impossible to prove his innocence1 for his trickery was well known4 ,and he felt struck to the heart with the injustice of the suspicion4 ,sidenote3 ,tone4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #gi4 ,again he began to tell of his adventure1 every day lengthening his recital1 advancing each time new proofs1 more energetic protestations1 and more solemn oaths which he conjured up in his hours of solitude--his mind was occupied solely by the story of the piece of string4 ,they believed him all the less as his defense became more complicated and his reasoning more fine-spun4 ,sidenote3 ,complication summarized4 #hj4 8,ha1 they are liar's reasons60 they said behind his back4 #ha4 ,he realized it2 he fretted over it2 he exhausted himself in futile efforts4 #hb4 ,he visibly wasted away4 #hc4 ,the wags now made him recite 8,the ,piece of ,string0 for their amusement1 as one persuades a soldier who has been through a campaign1 to tell the story of his battles4 ,his mind1 attacked at its foundations1 began to totter4 #hd4 ,towards the end of ,december he took to his bed4 #he4 ,during the first days of ,january he died1 and1 in the delirium of his mortal agony he protested his innocence1 repeating3 ,sidenote3 ,,climax4 #hf4 8--a li'l' piece of string 444 a li'l' piece of string 444 see1 here it is1 m'sieu le maire40 ,,copp,e ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,franois ,edouard ,joachim ,coppe was born in ,paris1 ,january #ab1 #ahdb4 ,he was educated at the ,lyce ,st4 ,louis1 and early attracted attention by his poetic gifts4 ,he held office as ,librarian of the ,senate1 and also ,guardian of the ,archives at the ,comdie ,franaise4 ,the honors of membership in the ,french ,academy and that of being decorated with the ,cross of the ,legion of ,honor were given him in #ahhc and #ahhh respectively4 ,he died ,may #bc1 #aijh4 ,franois ,coppe was a poet1 dramatist1 and short-story writer4 ,the collection ,pomes ,modernes1 published at the age of twenty-seven1 contains some remarkable work which well represents his talent4 ,the plays ,madame de ,maintenon and ,le ,luthier de ,crmone rank with his best dramatic work4 ,among his short-story gems are 8,the ,sabots of ,little ,wolff10 8,at ,table10 8,two ,clowns10 8,the ,captain's ,vices10 8,my ,friend ,meurtrier10 8,an ,accident10 and 8,the ,substitute40 99 99 99 99 99 ,as a novelist1 ,coppe left no permanent mark upon his times1 for in this field he was far surpassed by his contemporaries2 but as a writer of little prose fictions1 he stands well forward among that brilliant group which includes those immortals of the short-story--,maupassant1 ,daudet1 and ,mrime4 ,from the work of these masters1 ,coppe's is well distinguished4 ,the ,norman ,maupassant drew his lines with a sharper pencil1 and1 by the same token1 an infinitely harder one2 ,daudet1 child of ,provence though he was1 dipped his stylus more often in the acid of satire2 and the ,parisian ,mrime1 though nearer than any other to ,coppe in his manner of work1 was less in sympathy with his own characters than the warmer-hearted author of 8,the ,sabots of ,little ,wolff0 and 8,the ,substitute0--which follows in a translation by the author of this volume4 ,coppe was almost an idealist--certainly he was quick to respond to the call of the ideal in his themes4 ,amidst so much that is sordid and gross in ,french fiction1 how refreshing it is to read a master who could be truthful without wallowing1 moral without sermonizing1 compassionate without sniveling1 humorous without buffooning1 and always disclose in his stories the spirit of a sympathetic lover of mankind4 ,like ,dickens1 he chose the lowly for his characters1 and like ,dickens1 he found poetry in their simple lives4 ,in common with other modern ,french writers1 with ,daudet1 ,maupassant1 and others1 ,coppe excels in the writing of tales4 ,his prose is remarkable for the same qualities that appear in his poetical works3 sympathy1 tenderness1 marked predilection for the weak1 the humble1 and especially a masterly treatment of subjects essentially ,parisian and modern4--,,robert ,,sanderson1 ,franois ,coppe1 in ,,warner',s ,library of the ,world's ,best ,literature4 ,compassion is the chief quality of this little masterpiece1--compassion and understanding of a primitive type of character4 ,the author shows us the good in a character not altogether bad2 and he almost makes us feel that the final sacrifice was justifiable4 ,he succeeds in doing this chiefly because he shows us the other characters only as they appeared to ,jean ,franois1 thus focusing the interest of the reader on this single character4--,,brander ,,matthews1 ,the ,short-story4 ,more than ,daudet1 ,coppe deserves the title of the ,french ,dickens4 ,a fellow member of the ,french ,academy1 ,jos de ,heredia1 calls him 8the poet of the humble1 painting with sincere emotion his profound sympathy for the sorrows1 the miseries1 and the sacrifices of the meek40 ,as an artist in fiction1 says ,heredia1 8,coppe possesses preminently the gift of presenting concrete fact rather than abstraction10 and a 8great grasp of character10 enabling him 8to show us the human heart and intellect in full play and activity0--both of which endowments were the supreme characteristics of the author of ,nicholas ,nickleby and ,david ,copperfield4--,,merion ,m4 ,,miller1 ,introduction to ,the ,guilty ,man4 ,contrast the touching pathos of the 8,substitute10 poignant in his magnificent self-sacrifice1 by which the man who has conquered his shameful past goes back willingly to the horrible life he has fled from1 that he may save from a like degradation and from an inevitable moral decay the one friend he has in the world1 all unworthy as this friend is--contrast this with the story of the gigantic deeds 8,my ,friend ,meurtrier0 boasts about unceasingly1 not knowing that he has been discovered in his little round of daily domestic duties--making the coffee of his good old mother1 and taking her poodle out for a walk4444 ,no doubt ,m4 ,coppe's contes stories have not the sharpness of ,maupassant's nor the brilliancy of ,m4 ,daudet's4 ,but what of it8 ,they have qualities of their own4 ,they have sympathy1 poetry1 and a power of suggesting pictures not exceeded1 ,i think1 by those of either ,maupassant or ,m4 ,daudet4 ,m4 ,coppe's street views in ,paris1 his interiors1 his impressionist sketches of life under the shadow of ,notre ,dame1 are convincingly successful4--,,brander ,,matthews1 ,aspects of ,fiction4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,copp,e ,introduction to ,ten ,tales by ,coppe1 ,brander ,matthews 7#ahij72 ,books and ,play-,books1 ,brander ,matthews 7#ahie72 ,literary ,movement in ,france during the ,nineteenth ,century1 ,georges ,pellissier 7#ahig72 ,hours with ,famous ,parisians1 ,stuart ,henry 7#ahig74 ,,for ,,analysis ,,the ,,substitute 7,,le ,,rempla,,ant7 ,,by ,,fran,,ois ,,copp,e ,translation by ,the ,editor#bg ,he was scarcely ten years old when he was first arrested as a vagabond4 #b4 ,thus he spoke to the judges3 #c4 ,i am called ,jean ,franois ,leturc1 and for six months now ,i've been with the man who sings between two lanterns on the ,place de la ,bastille1 while he scrapes on a string of catgut4 ,i repeat the chorus with him1 and then ,i cry out1 #8,get the collection of new songs1 ten centimes1 two sous6' ,he was always drunk and beat me2 that's why the police found me the other night1 in the tumble-down buildings4 ,before that1 ,i used to be with the man who sells brushes4 ,my mother was a laundress2 she called herself ,adle4 ,at one time a gentleman had given her an establishment1 on the ground-floor1 at ,montmartre4 ,she was a good worker and loved me well4 ,she made money because she had the clientele of the caf waiters1 and those people use lots of linen4 ,sundays1 she would put me to bed early to go to the ball2 but week days1 she sent me to the ,brothers' school1 where ,i learned to read4 ,well1 at last the sergent-de-ville whose beat was up our street1 began always stopping before her window to talk to her--a fine fellow1 with the ,crimean medal4 ,they got married1 and all went wrong4 ,he didn't take to me1 and set mamma against me4 ,every one boxed my ears2 and it was then that1 to get away from home1 ,i spent whole days on the ,place ,clichy1 where ,i got to know the mountebanks4 ,my stepfather lost his place1 mamma her customers2 she went to the wash-house to support her man4 ,it was there she got consumption--from the steam of the lye4 ,she died at ,lariboisire4 ,she was a good woman4 ,since that time ,i've lived with the brush-seller and the catgut-scraper4 ,are you going to put me in prison80 #d4 ,he talked this way openly1 cynically1 like a man4 ,he was a ragged little rascal1 as tall as a boot1 with his forehead hidden under a strange mop of yellow hair4 #e4 ,nobody claimed him1 so they sent him to the ,reform ,school4 #f4 ,not very intelligent1 lazy1 above all maladroit with his hands1 he was able to learn there only a poor trade--the reseating of chairs4 ,yet he was obedient1 of a nature passive and taciturn1 and he did not seem to have been too profoundly corrupted in that school of vice4 ,but when1 having come to his seventeenth year1 he was set free again on the streets of ,paris1 he found there1 for his misfortune1 his prison comrades1 all dreadful rascals1 exercising their low callings4 ,some were trainers of dogs for catching rats in the sewers2 some shined shoes on ball nights in the ,passage de l',opra2 some were amateur wrestlers1 who let themselves be thrown by the ,hercules of the side-shows2 some fished from rafts out in the river1 in the full sunlight4 ,he tried all these things a little1 and a few months after he had left the house of correction he was arrested anew for a petty theft3 a pair of old shoes lifted from out an open shop-window4 ,result3 a year of prison at ,sainte-,plagie1 where he served as valet to the political prisoners4 ,sidenote3 ,revolutionary songs of #agic4 ,sidenote3 ,tu--thou--used only in familiar address4 #g4 ,he lived1 astonished1 among this group of prisoners1 all very young and negligently clad1 who talked in loud voices and carried their heads in such a solemn way4 ,they used to meet in the cell of the eldest of them1 a fellow of some thirty years1 already locked up for a long time and apparently settled at ,sainte-,plagie3 a large cell it was1 papered with colored caricatures1 and from whose windows one could see all ,paris--its roofs1 its clock-towers1 and its domes1 and far off1 the distant line of the hills1 blue and vague against the sky4 ,there were upon the walls several shelves filled with books1 and all the old apparatus of a salle d'armes--broken masks1 rusty foils1 leather jackets1 and gloves that were losing their stuffing4 ,it was there that the 8politicians0 dined together1 adding to the inevitable 8soup and beef0 some fruit1 cheese1 and half-pints of wine that ,jean ,franois went out to buy in a can--tumultuous repasts1 interrupted by violent disputes1 where they sang in chorus at the dessert the ,carmagnole and a ira4 ,they took on1 however1 an air of dignity on days when they made place for a newcomer1 who was at first gravely treated as 8citizen10 but who was the next day tutoyed1 and called by his nickname4 ,they used big words there--,corporation1 ,solidarity1 and phrases all quite unintelligible to ,jean ,franois1 such as this1 for example1 which he once heard uttered imperiously by a frightful little hunchback who scribbled on paper all night long3 #h4 8,it is settled4 ,the cabinet is to be thus composed3 ,raymond in the ,department of ,education1 ,martial in the ,interior1 and ,i in ,foreign ,affairs40 ,sidenote3 ,police headquarters4 #i4 ,having served his time1 he wandered again about ,paris1 under the surveillance of the police1 in the fashion of beetles that cruel children keep flying at the end of a string4 ,he had become one of those fugitive and timid beings whom the law1 with a sort of coquetry1 arrests and releases1 turn and turn about1 a little like those platonic fishermen who1 so as not to empty the pond1 throw back into the water the fish just out of the net4 ,without his suspecting that so much honor was done to his wretched personality1 he had a special docket in the mysterious archives of la rue de ,jrusalem1 his name and surnames were written in a large back-hand on the gray paper of the cover1 and the notes and reports1 carefully classified1 gave him these graded appellations3 8the man named ,leturc10 8the prisoner ,leturc10 and at last 8the convicted ,leturc40 ,sidenote3 ,the ,california1 a cheap eating-house in ,paris4 ,sidenote3 ,in drawing lots for military service the higher numbers give exemption1 and this he secured by drawing 8a good number40 ,sidenote3 ,a receiver of stolen goods4 #aj4 ,he stayed two years out of prison1 dining la ,californie1 sleeping in lodging-houses1 and sometimes in lime-kilns1 and taking part with his fellows in endless games of pitch-penny on the boulevards near the city gates4 ,he wore a greasy cap on the back of his head1 carpet slippers1 and a short white blouse4 ,when he had five sous1 he had his hair curled4 ,he danced at ,constant's at ,montparnasse2 bought for two sous the jack-of-hearts or the ace-of-spades1 which were used as return checks1 to resell them for four sous at the door of ,bobino2 opened carriage-doors as occasion offered2 led about sorry nags at the horse-market4 ,of all the bad luck--in the conscription he drew a good number4 ,who knows whether the atmosphere of honor which is breathed in a regiment1 whether military discipline1 might not have saved him8 ,caught in a haul of the police-net with the younger vagabonds who used to rob the drunkards asleep in the streets1 he denied very energetically having taken part in their expeditions4 ,it was perhaps true4 ,but his antecedents were accepted in lieu of proof1 and he was sent up for three years to ,poissy4 ,there he had to make rough toys1 had himself tattooed on the chest1 and learned thieves' slang and the penal code4 ,a new liberation1 a new plunge into the ,parisian sewer1 but very short this time1 for at the end of hardly six weeks he was again compromised in a theft by night1 aggravated by violent entry1 a doubtful case in which he played an obscure rle1 half dupe and half fence4 ,on the whole1 his complicity seemed evident1 and he was condemned to five years' hard labor4 ,his sorrow in this adventure was1 chiefly1 to be separated from an old dog which he had picked up on a heap of rubbish and cured of the mange4 ,this beast loved him4 ,sidenote3 ,straw was stuffed into the sabots to cushion the feet4 ,sidenote3 ,the northwest storm-wind from the ,mediterranean4 #aa4 ,toulon1 the ball on his ankle1 the work in the harbor1 the blows from the staves1 the wooden shoes without straw1 the soup of black beans dating from ,trafalgar1 no money for tobacco1 and the horrible sleep on the filthy camp-bed of the galley slave1 that is what he knew for five torrid summers and five winters blown upon by the ,mistral4 ,he came out from there stunned1 and was sent under surveillance to ,vernon1 where he worked for some time on the river2 then1 an incorrigible vagabond1 he broke exile and returned again to ,paris4 #ab4 ,he had his savings1 fifty-six francs--that is to say1 time enough to reflect4 ,during his long absence1 his old and horrible comrades had been dispersed4 ,he was well hidden1 and slept in a loft at an old woman's1 to whom he had represented himself as a sailor weary of the sea1 having lost his papers in a recent shipwreck1 and who wished to essay another trade4 ,his tanned face1 his calloused hands1 and a few nautical terms he let fall one time or another1 made this story sufficiently probable4 #ac4 ,one day when he had risked a saunter along the streets1 and when the chance of his walk had brought him to ,montmartre1 where he had been born1 an unexpected memory arrested him before the door of the ,brothers' school in which he had learned to read4 ,since it was very warm1 the door was open1 and with a single glance the passing incorrigible could recognize the peaceful schoolroom4 ,nothing was changed3 neither the bright light shining in through the large windows1 nor the crucifix over the desk1 nor the rows of seats furnished with leaden ink-stands1 nor the table of weights and measures1 nor the map on which pins stuck in still pointed out the operations of some ancient war4 ,heedlessly and without reflecting1 ,jean ,franois read on the blackboard these words of the ,gospel1 which a well-trained hand had traced as an example of penmanship3 ,joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth1 more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance4 #ad4 ,it was doubtless the hour for recreation1 for the ,brother professor had left his chair1 and1 sitting on the edge of a table1 he seemed to be telling a story to all the gamins who surrounded him1 attentive and raising their eyes4 ,what an innocent and gay countenance was that of the beardless young man1 in long black robe1 with white necktie1 with coarse1 ugly shoes1 and with badly cut brown hair pushed up at the back4 ,all those pallid faces of children of the populace which were looking at him seemed less childlike than his1 above all when1 charmed with a candid1 priestly pleasantry he had made1 he broke out with a good and frank peal of laughter1 which showed his teeth sound and regular--laughter so contagious that all the scholars broke out noisily in their turn4 ,and it was simple and sweet1 this group in the joyous sunlight that made their clear eyes and their blonde hair shine4 #ae4 ,jean ,franois looked at the scene some time in silence1 and1 for the first time1 in that savage nature all instinct and appetite1 there awoke a mysterious and tender emotion4 ,his heart1 that rude1 hardened heart1 which neither the cudgel of the galley-master nor the weight of the watchman's heavy whip falling on his shoulders was able to stir1 beat almost to bursting4 ,before this spectacle1 in which he saw again his childhood1 his eyes closed sadly1 and1 restraining a violent gesture1 a prey to the torture of regret1 he walked away with great strides4 #af4 ,the words written on the blackboard came back to him4 #ag4 8,if it were not too late1 after all60 he murmured4 8,if ,i could once more1 like the others1 eat my toasted bread honestly1 sleep out my sleep without nightmare8 ,the police spy would be very clever to recognize me now4 ,my beard1 that ,i shaved off down there1 has grown out now thick and strong4 ,one can borrow somewhere in this big ant-heap1 and work is not lacking4 ,whoever does not go to pieces soon in the hell of the galleys comes out agile and robust2 and ,i have learned how to climb the rope-ladders with loads on my back4 ,building is going on all around here1 and the masons need helpers4 ,three francs a day1--,i have never earned so much4 ,that they should forget me1 that is all ,i ask40 #ah4 ,he followed his courageous resolution1 he was faithful to it1 and three months afterward he was another man4 ,the master for whom he labored cited him as his best workman4 ,after a long day passed on the scaffolding1 in the full sun1 in the dust1 constantly bending and straightening his back to take the stones from the hands of the man below him and to pass them to the man above him1 he went to get his soup1 at the cheap eating house1 tired out1 his legs numb1 his hands burning1 and his eyelashes stuck together by the plaster1 but content with himself1 and carrying his well-earned money in the knot of his handkerchief4 ,he went out without fear1 for his white mask made him unrecognizable1 and1 then1 he had observed that the suspicious glance of the policeman seldom falls on the real worker4 ,he was silent and sober4 ,he slept the sound sleep of honest fatigue4 ,he was free4 99 99 99 99 99 #ai4 ,at last--supreme recompense6--he had a friend4 #bj4 ,it was a mason's helper like himself1 named ,savinien1 a little peasant from ,limoges1 red-cheeked1 who had come to ,paris with his stick over his shoulder and his bundle on the end of it1 who fled from the liquor-dealers and went to mass on ,sundays4 ,jean ,franois loved him for his piety1 for his candor1 for his honesty1 for all that he himself had lost1 and so long ago4 ,it was a passion profound1 reserved1 disclosing itself in the care and forethought of a father4 ,savinien1 himself easily moved and self-loving1 let things take their course1 satisfied only in that he had found a comrade who shared his horror of the wine-shop4 ,the two friends lived together in a furnished room1 fairly clean1 but their resources were very limited2 they had to take into their room a third companion1 an old man from ,auvergne1 sombre and rapacious1 who found a way of economizing out of his meagre wages enough to buy some land in his own province4 #ba4 ,jean ,franois and ,savinien scarcely left each other4 ,on days of rest they took long walks in the environs of ,paris and dined in the open air in one of those little country inns where there are plenty of mushrooms in the sauces and innocent enigmas on the bottoms of the plates4 ,there ,jean ,franois made his friend tell him all those things of which those born in the cities are ignorant4 ,he learned the names of the trees1 the flowers1 the plants2 the seasons for the different harvests2 he listened avidly to the thousand details of a farmer's labors3 the autumn's sowing1 the winter's work1 the splendid ftes of harvest-home and vintage1 and the flails beating the ground1 and the noise of the mills by the borders of the streams1 and the tired horses led to the trough1 and the morning hunting in the mists1 and1 above all1 the long evenings around the fire of vine-branches1 shortened by tales of wonder4 ,he discovered in himself a spring of imagination hitherto unsuspected1 finding a singular delight in the mere recital of these things1 so gentle1 calm1 and monotonous4 #bb4 ,one anxiety troubled him1 however1 that ,savinien should not come to know his past4 ,sometimes there escaped him a shady word of thieves' slang1 an ignoble gesture1 vestiges of his horrible former existence2 and then he felt the pain of a man whose old wounds reopen1 more especially as he thought he saw then in ,savinien the awakening of an unhealthy curiosity4 ,when the young man1 already tempted by the pleasures which ,paris offers even to the poorest1 questioned him about the mysteries of the great city1 ,jean ,franois feigned ignorance and turned the conversation2 but he had now conceived a vague inquietude for the future of his friend4 #bc4 ,this was not without foundation1 and ,savinien could not long remain the nave rustic he had been on his arrival in ,paris4 ,if the gross and noisy pleasures of the wine-shop always were repugnant to him1 he was profoundly troubled by other desires full of danger for the inexperience of his twenty years4 ,when the spring came1 he began to seek solitude1 and at first he wandered before the gayly lighted entrances to the dancing-halls1 through which he saw the girls going in couples1 without bonnets--and with their arms around each other's waists1 whispering low4 ,then1 one evening1 when the lilacs shed their perfume1 and the appeal of the quadrilles was more entrancing1 he crossed the threshold1 and after that ,jean ,franois saw him change little by little in manners and in visage4 ,savinien became more frivolous1 more extravagant2 often he borrowed from his friend his miserable savings1 which he forgot to repay4 ,jean ,franois1 feeling himself abandoned1 was both indulgent and jealous2 he suffered and kept silent4 ,he did not think he had the right to reproach2 but his penetrating friendship had cruel and insurmountable presentiments4 #bd4 ,one evening when he was climbing the stairs of his lodging1 absorbed in his preoccupations1 he heard in the room he was about to enter a dialogue of irritated voices1 and he recognized one as that of the old man from ,auvergne1 who lodged with him and ,savinien4 ,an old habit of suspicion made him pause on the landing1 and he listened to learn the cause of the trouble4 #be4 8,yes10 said the man from ,auvergne angrily1 8,i am sure that some one has broken open my trunk and stolen the three louis which ,i had hidden in a little box2 and the man who has done this thing can only be one of the two companions who sleep here1 unless it is ,maria1 the servant4 ,this concerns you as much as me1 since you are the master of the house1 and ,i will drag you before the judge if you do not let me at once open up the valises of the two masons4 ,my poor hoard6 ,it was in its place only yesterday2 and ,i will tell you what it was1 so that1 if we find it1 no one can accuse me of lying4 ,oh1 ,i know them1 my three beautiful gold pieces1 and ,i can see them as plainly as ,i see you4 ,one was a little more worn than the others1 of a slightly greenish gold1 and that had the portrait of the great ,emperor2 another had that of a fat old fellow with a queue and epaulets2 and the third had a ,philippe with side-whiskers4 ,i had marked it with my teeth4 ,no one can trick me1 not me4 ,do you know that ,i needed only two others like those to pay for my vineyard8 ,come on1 let us look through the things of these comrades1 or ,i will call the police4 ,make haste60 #bf4 8,all right10 said the voice of the householder2 8we'll search with ,maria4 ,so much the worse if you find nothing1 and if the masons get angry4 ,it is you who have forced me to it40 #bg4 ,jean ,franois felt his heart fill with fear4 ,he recalled the poverty and the petty borrowings of ,savinien1 the sombre manner he had borne the last few days4 ,yet he could not believe in any theft4 ,he heard the panting of the man from ,auvergne in the ardor of his search1 and he clenched his fists against his breast as if to repress the beatings of his heart4 #bh4 8,there they are60 suddenly screamed the victorious miser4 8,there they are1 my louis1 my dear treasure6 ,and in the ,sunday waistcoat of the little hypocrite from ,limoges4 ,look1 landlord6 they are just as ,i told you4 ,there's the ,napoleon1 and the man with the queue1 and the ,philippe ,i had dented with my teeth4 ,look at the mark4 ,ah1 the little rascal with his saintly look6 ,i should more likely have suspected the other4 ,ah1 the villain6 ,he will have to go to the galleys60 #bi4 ,at this moment ,jean ,franois heard the well-known step of ,savinien1 who was slowly mounting the stairs4 #cj4 8,he is going to his betrayal10 thought he4 8,three flights4 ,i have time60 #ca4 ,and1 pushing open the door1 he entered1 pale as death1 into the room where he saw the landlord and the stupefied servant in a corner1 and the man from ,auvergne on his knees amid the disordered clothes1 lovingly kissing his gold pieces4 #cb4 8,enough of this10 he said in a thick voice4 8,it is ,i who have taken the money and who have put it in my comrade's trunk4 ,but that is too disgusting4 ,i am a thief and not a ,judas4 ,go hunt for the police4 ,i'll not try to save myself4 ,only1 ,i must say a word in private to ,savinien1 who is here40 #cc4 ,the little man from ,limoges had1 in fact1 just arrived1 and1 seeing his crime discovered1 and believing himself lost1 he stood still1 his eyes fixed1 his arms drooping4 #cd4 ,jean ,franois seized him violently about the neck as though to embrace him2 he pressed his mouth to ,savinien's ear and said to him in a voice low and supplicating3 #ce4 8,be quiet60 #cf4 ,then1 turning to the others3 #cg4 8,leave me alone with him4 ,i shall not go away1 ,i tell you4 ,shut us up1 if you wish1 but leave us alone40 #ch4 ,and1 with a gesture of command1 he showed them the door4 ,they went out4 #ci4 ,savinien1 broken with anguish1 had seated himself on a bed1 and dropped his eyes without comprehending4 #dj4 8,listen10 said ,jean ,franois1 who approached to take his hands4 8,i understand you have stolen three gold pieces to buy some trifle for a girl4 ,that would have cost six months of prison for you4 ,but one does not get out of that except to go back again1 and you would have become a pillar of the police tribunals and the courts of assizes4 ,i know all about them4 ,i have done seven years in the ,reform ,school1 one year at ,sainte-,plagie1 three years at ,poissy1 and five years at ,toulon4 ,now1 have no fear4 ,all is arranged4 ,i have taken this affair on my shoulders40 #da4 8,unhappy fellow60 cried ,savinien2 but hope was already coming back to his cowardly heart4 #db4 8,when the elder brother is serving under the colors1 the younger does not go10 ,jean ,franois went on4 8,i'm your substitute1 that's all4 ,you love me a little1 do you not8 ,i am paid4 ,do not be a baby4 ,do not refuse4 ,they would have caught me one of these days1 for ,i have broken my exile4 ,and then1 you see1 that life out there will be less hard for me than for you2 ,i know it1 and shall not complain if ,i do not render you this service in vain and if you swear to me that you will not do it again4 ,savinien1 ,i have loved you well1 and your friendship has made me very happy1 for it is thanks to my knowing you that ,i have kept honest and straight1 as ,i might have been1 perhaps1 if ,i had had1 like you1 a father to put a tool in my hands1 a mother to teach me my prayers4 ,my only regret was that ,i was useless to you and that ,i was deceiving you about my past4 ,to-day ,i lay aside the mask in saving you4 ,it is all right4 ,come1 good-bye6 ,do not weep2 and embrace me1 for already ,i hear the big boots on the stairs4 ,they are returning with the police2 and we must not seem to know each other so well before these fellows40 #dc4 ,he pressed ,savinien hurriedly to his breast1 and then he pushed him away as the door opened wide4 #dd4 ,it was the landlord and the man from ,auvergne1 who were bringing the police4 ,jean ,franois started forward to the landing and held out his hands for the handcuffs and said1 laughing3 #de4 8,forward1 bad lot60 #df4 ,to-day he is at ,cayenne1 condemned for life1 as an incorrigible4 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,write a paragraph showing how character is affected 7a7 unfavorably and 7b7 favorably by the two tests1 as shown by these two stories4 #b4 ,in your opinion1 was each character changed or merely revealed by the crisis which occurred in each instance8 #c4 ,which of these stories seems the more real to you8 #d4 ,have you ever heard of a similar instance in real life8 ,if so1 cite it4 #e4 ,write a paragraph contrasting the trivial and the important crisis in each story1 though both led to important results4 #f4 ,set down all the traits of character exhibited by the two leading actors in each story4 #g4 ,select a character-study from some book or magazine and write a brief discussion of it4 #h4 ,do the same for another character-study by 7a7 ,maupassant1 and 7b7 ,coppe4 ,,ten ,,representative ,,character ,,studies 8,the ,captain's ,vices10 ,franois ,coppe1 translated in ,ten ,tales by ,coppe4 8,the ,incarnation of ,krishna ,mulvaney10 ,rudyard ,kipling1 in ,soldiers ,three4 8,a ,new ,england ,nun10 ,mary ,e4 ,wilkins ,freeman1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,old ,gentleman of the ,black ,stock10 ,thomas ,nelson ,page1 ,harper's ,magazine1 ,oct41 #ahid4 8,the ,sick-a-,bed ,lady10 ,eleanor ,hallowell ,abbott1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,insurgent10 ,ludovic ,halvy1 translated in ,short-,story ,masterpieces4 8,caybigan10 ,james ,hopper1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,liar10 ,henry ,james1 in ,short-,story ,classics1 ,american4 8,editha10 ,w4 ,d4 ,howells1 in ,harper's ,novelettes4 8,our ,sermon ,taster10 ,ian ,maclaren1 in ,beside the ,bonnie ,briar ,bush4 ,,footnotes3 #bg ,copyright1 #aiaa1 by ,j4 ,b4 ,lippincott ,co41 and used by permission4 ,,viii ,,psychological ,,studies ,markheim4--,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson ,on the ,stairs4--,,arthur ,,morrison ,he the author can sometimes rouse our intense curiosity and eagerness by the mere depiction of a psychological state1 as ,walter ,pater has done in the case of ,sebastian ,storck and other personages of his ,imaginary ,portraits4 ,the fact that 8nothing happens0 in stories of this kind may be precisely what most interests us1 because we are made to understand what it is that inhibits action4--,,bliss ,,perry1 ,a ,study of ,prose ,fiction4 ,,psychological ,,studies ,a subtle distinction is to be observed between the character-study and the psychological study1 but it will not be supposed that writers of short-stories plainly label the distinction1 or that the two types are frequently1 if ever1 found entirely separate4 ,in the character-study more attention is paid to the true natures of the actors1 and the demonstration of their natures is shown in the action of the story2 in the psychological study more stress is laid upon the actual operation of thought1 feeling and purpose--it is a laboratory study of what goes on in the human heart1 to use a somewhat vague but necessary term1 under stress of crisis4 ,the psychological study is the most difficult because the most penetrating of all short-story forms1 and in consequence the most rare in its perfect presentation4 ,to show the processes of reasoning1 the interplay of motive1 the power of feeling acting upon feeling1 and the intricate combinations of these1 calls for the most clear-sighted understanding of man1 and the utmost skill in literary art1 lest the story be lost in a fog of tiresome analysis and discussion4 ,in 8,markheim0 and 8,on the ,stairs10 two master story-tellers are easily at their best1 for they never obtrude their own opinions1 but swiftly and with a firm onward movement the stories disclose the true inward workings of the unique characters1 while from mood1 speech1 and action we infallibly infer all the soul-processes by which their conclusions are reached4 ,,markheim ,,by ,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson ,sidenote3 ,,introduction4 ,remarkable because it at once touches upon the external crisis of the story4 8,yes10 said the dealer1 8our wind-falls are of various kinds4 ,some customers are ignorant1 and then ,i touch a dividend on my superior knowledge4 ,some are dishonest10 and here he held up the candle1 so that the light fell strongly on his visitor1 8and in that case10 he continued1 8,i profit by my virtue40 ,sidenote3 ,note double reason4 #b4 ,markheim had but just entered from the daylight streets1 and his eyes had not yet grown familiar with the mingled shine and darkness in the shop4 ,at these pointed words1 and before the near presence of the flame1 he blinked painfully and looked aside4 ,sidenote3 ,see how daringly the author plays with the reader without arousing suspicion4 ,compare ,stevenson's reasoning as to the reader's suspicions with ,dupin's reasoning in 8,the ,purloined ,letter10 pp4 #ia1 #ib4 ,sidenote3 ,markheim has been there before4 #c4 ,the dealer chuckled4 8,you come to me on ,christmas-day10 he resumed1 8when you know that ,i am alone in my house1 put up my shutters1 and make a point of refusing business4 ,well1 you will have to pay for that2 you will have to pay for my loss of time1 when ,i should be balancing my books2 you will have to pay1 besides1 for a kind of manner that ,i remark in you to-day very strongly4 ,i am the essence of discretion1 and ask no awkward questions2 but when a customer can not look me in the eye1 he has to pay for it40 ,the dealer once more chuckled2 and then1 changing to his usual business voice1 though still with a note of irony1 8,you can give1 as usual1 a clean account of how you came into possession of the object80 he continued4 8,still your uncle's cabinet8 ,a remarkable collector1 sir60 #d4 ,and the little1 pale1 round-shouldered dealer stood almost on tip-toe1 looking over the top of his gold spectacles1 and nodding his head with every mark of disbelief4 ,markheim returned his gaze with one of infinite pity1 and a touch of horror4 ,sidenote3 ,forecast4 ,sidenote3 ,insincerity evident4 #e4 8,this time10 he said1 8you are in error4 ,i have not come to sell1 but to buy4 ,i have no curios to dispose of2 my uncle's cabinet is bare to the wainscot2 even were it still intact1 ,i have done well on the ,stock ,exchange1 and should more likely add to it than otherwise1 and my errand to-day is simplicity itself4 ,i seek a ,christmas-present for a lady10 he continued1 waxing more fluent as he struck into the speech he had prepared2 8and certainly ,i owe you every excuse for thus disturbing you upon so small a matter4 ,but the thing was neglected yesterday2 ,i must produce my little compliment at dinner2 and1 as you very well know1 a rich marriage is not a thing to be neglected40 #f4 ,there followed a pause1 during which the dealer seemed to weigh this statement incredulously4 ,the ticking of many clocks among the curious lumber of the shop1 and the faint rushing of the cabs in a near thoroughfare1 filled up the interval of silence4 ,sidenote3 ,compare this setting1 as it is gradually unfolded1 with that of ,gautier's 8,the ,mummy's ,foot40 #g4 8,well1 sir10 said the dealer1 8be it so4 ,you are an old customer after all2 and if1 as you say1 you have the chance of a good marriage1 far be it from me to be an obstacle4 ,here is a nice thing for a lady now10 he went on1 8this hand-glass--fifteenth century1 warranted2 comes from a good collection1 too2 but ,i reserve the name1 in the interests of my customer1 who was just like yourself1 my dear sir1 the nephew and sole heir of a remarkable collector40 ,sidenote3 ,analyse its nature4 #h4 ,the dealer1 while he thus ran on in his dry and biting voice1 had stooped to take the object from its place2 and1 as he had done so1 a shock had passed through ,markheim1 a start both of hand and foot1 a sudden leap of many tumultuous passions to the face4 ,it passed as swiftly as it came1 and left no trace beyond a certain trembling of the hand that now received the glass4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 #i4 8,a glass10 he said1 hoarsely1 and then paused1 and repeated it more clearly4 8,a glass8 ,for ,christmas8 ,surely not80 #aj4 8,and why not80 cried the dealer4 8,why not a glass80 ,sidenote3 ,forecast4 #aa4 ,markheim was looking upon him with an indefinable expression4 8,you ask me why not80 he said4 8,why1 look here--look in it--look at yourself6 ,do you like to see it8 ,no6 nor ,i--nor any man40 #ab4 ,the little man had jumped back when ,markheim had so suddenly confronted him with the mirror2 but now1 perceiving there was nothing worse on hand1 he chuckled4 8,your future lady1 sir1 must be pretty hard favoured10 said he4 ,sidenote3 ,note the working of ,markheim's morbid conscience1 not yet understood by himself4 #ac4 8,i ask you10 said ,markheim1 8for a ,christmas-present1 and you give me this--this damned reminder of years1 and sins and follies--this hand-conscience6 ,did you mean it8 ,had you a thought in your mind8 ,tell me4 ,it will be better for you if you do4 ,come1 tell me about yourself4 ,i hazard a guess now1 that you are in secret a very charitable man80 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,moral ,,crisis4 #ad4 ,the dealer looked closely at his companion4 ,it was very odd1 ,markheim did not appear to be laughing2 there was something in his face like an eager sparkle of hope1 but nothing of mirth4 #ae4 8,what are you driving at80 the dealer asked4 #af4 8,not charitable80 returned the other1 gloomily4 8,not charitable2 not pious2 not scrupulous2 unloving1 unbeloved2 a hand to get money1 a safe to keep it4 ,is that all8 ,dear ,god1 man1 is that all80 #ag4 8,i will tell you what it is10 began the dealer1 with some sharpness1 and then broke off again into a chuckle4 8,but ,i see this is a love match of yours1 and you have been drinking the lady's health40 #ah4 8,ah60 cried ,markheim1 with a strange curiosity4 8,ah1 have you been in love8 ,tell me about that40 ,sidenote3 ,note change of attitude4 #ai4 8,i10 cried the dealer4 8,i in love6 ,i never had the time1 nor have ,i the time to-day for all this nonsense4 ,will you take the glass80 ,sidenote3 ,analyse the forces back of ,markheim's parleying4 #bj4 8,where is the hurry80 returned ,markheim4 8,it is very pleasant to stand here talking2 and life is so short and insecure that ,i would not hurry away from any pleasure--no1 not even from so mild a one as this4 ,we should rather cling1 cling to what little we can get1 like a man at a cliff's edge4 ,every second is a cliff1 if you think upon it--a cliff a mile high--high enough1 if we fall1 to dash us out of every feature of humanity4 ,hence it is best to talk pleasantly4 ,let us talk of each other2 why should we wear this mask8 ,let us be confidential4 ,who knows1 we might become friends80 #ba4 8,i have just one word to say to you10 said the dealer4 8,either make your purchase1 or walk out of my shop40 ,sidenote3 ,note how quickly ,markheim follows the unconscious lead4 #bb4 8,true1 true10 said ,markheim4 8,enough fooling4 ,to business4 ,show me something else40 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,external ,,crisis4 #bc4 ,the dealer stooped once more1 this time to replace the glass upon the shelf1 his thin blonde hair falling over his eyes as he did so4 ,sidenote3 ,note all these4 ,markheim moved a little nearer1 with one hand in the pocket of his great-coat2 he drew himself up and filled his lungs2 at the same time many different emotions were depicted together on his face--terror1 horror and resolve1 fascination and a physical repulsion2 and through a haggard lift of his upper lip1 his teeth looked out4 ,sidenote3 ,he was prepared for the crime4 #bd4 8,this1 perhaps1 may suit10 observed the dealer2 and then1 as he began to re-arise1 ,markheim bounded from behind upon his victim4 ,the long1 skewerlike dagger flashed and fell4 ,the dealer struggled like a hen1 striking his temple on the shelf1 and then tumbled on the floor in a heap4 ,sidenote3 ,,first ,,minor ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,beginning of the internal action4 ,note how all external things now begin to play upon the internal man4 ,sidenote3 ,throughout1 note ,stevenson's rich imagery1 and also his unusual vocabulary4 ,sidenote3 ,an unusual word4 #be4 ,time had some score of small voices in that shop1 some stately and slow as was becoming to their great age2 others garrulous and hurried4 ,all these told out the seconds in an intricate chorus of tickings4 ,then the passage of a lad's feet1 heavily running on the pavement1 broke in upon these smaller voices and startled ,markheim into the consciousness of his surroundings4 ,he looked about him awfully4 ,the candle stood on the counter1 its flame solemnly wagging in a draught2 and by that inconsiderable movement1 the whole room was filled with noiseless bustle and kept heaving like a sea3 the tall shadows nodding1 the gross blots of darkness swelling and dwindling as with respiration1 the faces of the portraits and the china gods changing and wavering like images in water4 ,the inner door stood ajar1 and peered into that leaguer of shadows with a long slit of daylight like a pointing finger4 ,sidenote3 ,picture4 ,sidenote3 ,evidence of premeditation4 ,sidenote3 ,note the interplay of the outward picture and ,markheim's mind4 ,keep before you always the double movement of this study as both progress side by side1 finally resulting in the predominance of the spiritual4 #bf4 ,from these fear-stricken rovings1 ,markheim's eyes returned to the body of his victim1 where it lay both humped and sprawling1 incredibly small and strangely meaner than in life4 ,in these poor1 miserly clothes1 in that ungainly attitude1 the dealer lay like so much sawdust4 ,markheim had feared to see it1 and1 lo6 it was nothing4 ,and yet1 as he gazed1 this bundle of old clothes and pool of blood began to find eloquent voices4 ,there it must lie2 there was none to work the cunning hinges or direct the miracle of locomotion--there it must lie till it was found4 ,found6 ay1 and then8 ,then would this dead flesh lift up a cry that would ring over ,england1 and fill the world with the echoes of pursuit4 ,ay1 dead1 or not1 this was still the enemy4 8,time was that when the brains were out10 he thought2 and the first word struck into his mind4 ,time1 now that the deed was accomplished--time1 which had closed for the victim1 had become instant and momentous for the slayer4 #bg4 ,the thought was yet in his mind1 when1 first one and then another1 with every variety of pace and voice--one deep as the bell from a cathedral turret1 another ringing on its treble notes the prelude of a waltz--the clocks began to strike the hour of three in the afternoon4 ,sidenote3 ,the old motive reasserts itself4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,as fear subsides craft returns4 ,sidenote3 ,a significant expression4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast physical and moral fear4 ,consider how the two are related4 #bh4 ,the sudden outbreak of so many tongues in that dumb chamber staggered him4 ,he began to bestir himself1 going to and fro with the candle1 beleaguered by moving shadows1 and startled to the soul by chance reflections4 ,in many rich mirrors1 some of home designs1 some from ,venice or ,amsterdam1 he saw his face repeated and repeated1 as it were an army of spies2 his own eyes met and detected him2 and the sound of his own steps1 lightly as they fell1 vexed the surrounding quiet4 ,and still as he continued to fill his pockets1 his mind accused him1 with a sickening iteration1 of the thousand faults of his design4 ,he should have chosen a more quiet hour2 he should have prepared an alibi2 he should not have used a knife2 he should have been more cautious1 and only bound and gagged the dealer1 and not killed him2 he should have been more bold1 and killed the servant also2 he should have done all things otherwise2 poignant regrets1 weary1 incessant toiling of the mind to change what was unchangeable1 to plan what was now useless1 to be the architect of the irrevocable past4 ,meanwhile1 and behind all this activity1 brute terrors1 like scurrying of rats in a deserted attic1 filled the more remote chambers of his brain with riot2 the hand of the constable would fall heavy on his shoulder1 and his nerves would jerk like a hooked fish2 or he beheld1 in galloping defile1 the dock1 the prison1 the gallows1 and the black coffin4 ,sidenote3 ,note the primary use of the word 8rumor40 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,study of fear4 ,sidenote3 ,impressionism4 #bi4 ,terror of the people in the street sat down before his mind like a besieging army4 ,it was impossible1 he thought1 but that some rumor of the struggle must have reached their ears and set on edge their curiosity2 and now1 in all the neighboring houses1 he divined them sitting motionless and with uplifted ear--solitary people1 condemned to spend ,christmas dwelling alone on memories of the past1 and now startlingly recalled from that tender exercise2 happy family parties1 struck into silence round the table1 the mother still with raised finger3 every degree and age and humor1 but all1 by their own hearths1 prying and hearkening and weaving the rope that was to hang him4 ,sometimes it seemed to him he could not move too softly2 the clink of the tall ,bohemian goblets rang out loudly like a bell2 and alarmed by the bigness of the ticking1 he was tempted to stop the clocks4 ,and then1 again1 with a swift transition of his terrors1 the very silence of the place appeared a source of peril1 and a thing to strike and freeze the passerby2 and he would step more boldly1 and bustle aloud among the contents of the shop1 and imitate1 with elaborate bravado1 the movements of a busy man at ease in his own house4 ,sidenote3 ,an important observation4 ,sidenote3 ,note how his reasoning becomes hyper-acute4 ,sidenote3 ,forecast4 #cj4 ,but he was now so pulled about by different alarms that1 while one portion of his mind was still alert and cunning1 another trembled on the brink of lunacy4 ,one hallucination in particular took a strong hold on his credulity4 ,the neighbor hearkening with white face beside his window1 the passerby arrested by a horrible surmise on the pavement--these could at worst suspect1 they could not know2 through the brick walls and shuttered windows only sounds could penetrate4 ,but here1 within the house1 was he alone8 ,he knew he was2 he had watched the servant set forth sweethearting1 in her poor best1 8out for the day0 written in every ribbon and smile4 ,yes1 he was alone1 of course2 and yet1 in the bulk of empty house above him1 he could surely hear a stir of delicate footing--he was surely conscious1 inexplicably conscious of some presence4 ,ay1 surely2 to every room and corner of the house his imagination followed it2 and now it was a faceless thing1 and yet had eyes to see with2 and again it was a shadow of himself2 and yet again behold the image of the dead dealer1 reinspired with cunning and hatred4 #ca4 ,at times1 with a strong effort1 he would glance at the open door which still seemed to repel his eyes4 ,sidenote3 ,note force of 8blind40 ,the house was tall1 the skylight small and dirty1 the day blind with fog2 and the light that filtered down to the ground story was exceedingly faint1 and showed dimly on the threshold of the shop4 ,and yet1 in that strip of doubtful brightness1 did there not hang wavering a shadow8 ,sidenote3 ,pseudo crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,contributory incident4 #cb4 ,suddenly1 from the street outside1 a very jovial gentleman began to beat with a staff on the shop-door1 accompanying his blows with shouts and railleries in which the dealer was continually called upon by name4 ,markheim1 smitten into ice1 glanced at the dead man4 ,but no6 he lay quite still2 he was fled away far beyond earshot of these blows and shoutings2 he was sunk beneath seas of silence2 and his name1 which would once have caught his notice above the howling of a storm1 had become an empty sound4 ,and presently the jovial gentleman desisted from his knocking and departed4 ,sidenote3 ,note 8apparent40 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #cc4 ,here was a broad hint to hurry what remained to be done1 to get forth from this accusing neighborhood1 to plunge into a bath of ,london multitudes1 and to reach1 on the other side of day1 that haven of safety and apparent innocence--his bed4 ,one visitor had come3 at any moment another might follow and be more obstinate4 ,to have done the deed1 and yet not to reap the profit1 would be too abhorrent a failure4 ,the money1 that was now ,markheim's concern2 and as a means to that1 the keys4 ,sidenote3 ,note subsidence of acute fears and rise of his true mood4 ,sidenote3 ,carefully consider the question of ,markheim's sanity1 judging only from the story as thus far told4 ,sidenote3 ,reaction4 #cd4 ,he glanced over his shoulder at the open door1 where the shadow was still lingering and shivering2 and with no conscious repugnance of the mind1 yet with a tremor of the belly1 he drew near the body of his victim4 ,the human character had quite departed4 ,like a suit half-stuffed with bran1 the limbs lay scattered1 the trunk doubled1 on the floor2 and yet the thing repelled him4 ,although so dingy and inconsiderable to the eye1 he feared it might have more significance to the touch4 ,he took the body by the shoulders1 and turned it on its back4 ,it was strangely light and supple1 and the limbs1 as if they had been broken1 fell into the oddest postures4 ,the face was robbed of all expression2 but it was as pale as wax1 and shockingly smeared with blood about one temple4 ,that was1 for ,markheim1 the one displeasing circumstance4 ,it carried him back1 upon the instant1 to a certain fair day in a fisher's village3 a gray day1 a piping wind1 a crowd upon the street1 the blare of brasses1 the booming of drums1 the nasal voice of a ballad singer2 and a boy going to and fro1 buried over head in the crowd and divided between interest and fear1 until1 coming out upon the chief place of concourse1 he beheld a booth and a great screen with pictures1 dismally designed1 garishly colored3 ,brownrigg with her apprentice2 the ,mannings with their murdered guest2 ,weare in the death-grip of ,thurtell2 and a score besides of famous crimes4 ,the thing was as clear as an illusion2 he was once again that little boy2 he was looking once again1 and with the same sense of physical revolt1 at these vile pictures2 he was still stunned by the thumping of the drums4 ,a bar of that day's music returned upon his memory2 and at that1 for the first time1 a qualm came over him1 a breath of nausea1 a sudden weakness of the joints1 which he must instantly resist and conquer4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 ,what caused this benumbed conscience8 #ce4 ,he judged it more prudent to confront than to flee from these considerations2 looking the more hardily in the dead face1 bending his mind to realize the nature and greatness of his crime4 ,so little a while ago that face had moved with every change of sentiment1 that pale mouth had spoken1 that body had been all on fire with governable energies2 and now1 and by his act1 that piece of life had been arrested1 as the horologist1 with interjected finger1 arrests the beating of the clock4 ,so he reasoned in vain2 he could rise to no more remorseful consciousness2 the same heart which had shuddered before the painted effigies of crime1 looked on its reality unmoved4 ,at best1 he felt a gleam of pity for one who had been endowed in vain with all those faculties that can make the world a garden of enchantment1 one who had never lived and who was now dead4 ,but of penitence1 no1 not a tremor4 ,sidenote3 ,,plot ,,incident4 ,sidenote3 ,forecast of moral crisis4 #cf4 ,with that1 shaking himself clear of these considerations1 he found the keys and advanced toward the open door of the shop4 ,outside1 it had begun to rain smartly2 and the sound of the shower upon the roof had banished silence4 ,like some dripping cavern1 the chambers of the house were haunted by an incessant echoing1 which filled the ear and mingled with the ticking of the clocks4 ,and1 as ,markheim approached the door1 he seemed to hear1 in answer to his own cautious tread1 the steps of another foot withdrawing up the stair4 ,the shadow still palpitated loosely on the threshold4 ,he threw a ton's weight of resolve upon his muscles1 and drew back the door4 ,sidenote3 ,note harmony of setting with tone of approaching crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,compare ,stevenson's combination of fact and fantasy with ,hawthorne's in 8,the ,white ,old ,maid40 ,sidenote3 ,rise toward crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,body and spirit4 ,sidenote3 ,a notable passage4 #cg4 ,the faint1 foggy daylight glimmered dimly on the bare floor and stairs2 on the bright suit of armor posted1 halbert in hand1 upon the landing2 and on the dark wood-carvings1 and framed pictures that hung against the yellow panels of the wainscot4 ,so loud was the beating of the rain through all the house that1 in ,markheim's ears1 it began to be distinguished into many different sounds4 ,footsteps and sighs1 the tread of regiments marching in the distance1 the chink of money in the counting1 and the creaking of doors held stealthily ajar1 appeared to mingle with the patter of the drops upon the cupola and the gushing of the water in the pipes4 ,the sense that he was not alone grew upon him to the verge of madness4 ,on every side he was haunted and begirt by presences4 ,he heard them moving in the upper chambers2 from the shop1 he heard the dead man getting to his legs2 and as he began with a great effort to mount the stairs1 feet fled quietly before him and followed stealthily behind4 ,if he were but deaf1 he thought1 how tranquilly he would possess his soul4 ,and then again1 and hearkening with every fresh attention1 he blessed himself for that unresisting sense which held the outposts and stood a trusty sentinel upon his life4 ,his head turned continually on his neck2 his eyes1 which seemed starting from their orbits1 scouted on every side1 and on every side were half-rewarded as with the tail of something nameless1 vanishing4 ,the four-and-twenty steps to the first floor were four-and-twenty agonies4 ,sidenote3 ,note the exception4 ,sidenote3 ,note how suspense in the reader is maintained by disclosing ,markheim's suspense4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 ,sidenote3 ,is this normal8 #ch4 ,on that first story1 the doors stood ajar1 three of them like three ambushes1 shaking his nerves like the throats of cannon4 ,he could never again1 he felt1 be sufficiently immured and fortified from men's observing eyes2 he longed to be home1 girt in by walls1 buried among bed-clothes1 and invisible to all but ,god4 ,and at that thought he wondered a little1 recollecting tales of other murderers and the fear they were said to entertain of heavenly avengers4 ,it was not so1 at least1 with him4 ,he feared the laws of nature1 lest1 in their callous and immutable procedure1 they should preserve some damning evidence of his crime4 ,he feared tenfold more1 with a slavish1 superstitious terror1 some scission in the continuity of man's experience1 some willful illegality of nature4 ,he played a game of skill1 depending on the rules1 calculating consequence from cause2 and what if nature1 as the defeated tyrant overthrew the chess-board1 should break the mold of their succession8 ,the like had befallen ,napoleon 7so writers said7 when the winter changed the time of its appearance4 ,the like might befall ,markheim3 the solid walls might become transparent and reveal his doings like those of bees in a glass hive2 the stout planks might yield under his foot like quicksands and detain him in their clutch2 ay1 and there were soberer accidents that might destroy him2 if1 for instance1 the house should fall and imprison him beside the body of his victim2 or the house next door should fly on fire1 and the firemen invade him from all sides4 ,these things he feared2 and1 in a sense1 these things might be called the hands of ,god reached forth against sin4 ,but about ,god himself he was at ease2 his act was doubtless exceptional1 but so were his excuses1 which ,god knew2 it was there1 and not among men1 that he felt sure of justice4 ,sidenote3 ,note action of auto-suggestion4 ,sidenote3 ,remarkable relief in suspense period4 #ci4 ,when he had got safe into the drawing-room1 and shut the door behind him1 he was aware of a respite from alarms4 ,the room was quite dismantled1 uncarpeted besides1 and strewn with packing cases and incongruous furniture2 several great pier-glasses1 in which he beheld himself at various angles1 like an actor on the stage2 many pictures1 framed and unframed1 standing with their faces to the wall2 a fine ,sheraton sideboard1 a cabinet of marquetry1 and a great old bed1 with tapestry hangings4 ,the windows opened to the floor2 but by great good fortune the lower part of the shutters had been closed1 and this concealed him from the neighbors4 ,here1 then1 ,markheim drew in a packing case before the cabinet1 and began to search among the keys4 ,it was a long business1 for there were many2 and it was irksome1 besides2 for1 after all1 there might be nothing in the cabinet1 and time was on the wing4 ,but the closeness of the occupation sobered him4 ,with the tail of his eye he saw the door--even glanced at it from time to time directly1 like a besieged commander pleased to verify the good estate of his defenses4 ,but in truth he was at peace4 ,the rain falling in the street sounded natural and pleasant4 ,presently1 on the other side1 the notes of a piano were wakened to the music of a hymn1 and voices of many children took up the air and words4 ,how stately1 how comfortable was the melody6 ,how fresh the youthful voices6 ,markheim gave ear to it smilingly1 as he sorted out the keys2 and his mind was thronged with answerable ideas and images2 church-going children and the pealing of the high organ2 children afield1 bathers by the brookside1 ramblers on the brambly common1 kite-flyers in the windy and cloud-navigated sky2 and then1 at another cadence of the hymn1 back again to church1 and the somnolence of summer ,sundays1 and the high genteel voice of the parson 7which he smiled a little to recall7 and the painted ,jacobean tombs1 and the dim lettering of the ,ten ,commandments in the chancel4 ,sidenote3 ,powerful contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,approach of moral crisis4 #dj4 ,and as he sat thus1 at once busy and absent1 he was startled to his feet4 ,a flash of ice1 a flash of fire1 a bursting gush of blood1 went over him1 and then he stood transfixed and thrilling4 ,a step mounted the stair slowly and steadily1 and presently a hand was laid upon the knob1 and the lock clicked1 and the door opened4 ,sidenote3 ,markheim perceives only a physical danger4 ,note how long he remains dead to any moral judgment of himself4 ,sidenote3 ,here is a real though unrecognized moral crisis4 ,fear eventually leads to his moral triumph4 #da4 ,fear held ,markheim in a vice4 ,what to expect he knew not1 whether the dead man walking1 or the official ministers of human justice1 or some chance witness blindly stumbling in to consign him to the gallows4 ,but when a face was thrust into the aperture1 glanced round the room1 looked at him1 nodded and smiled as if in friendly recognition1 and then withdrew again1 and the door closed behind it1 his fear broke loose from his control in a hoarse cry4 ,at the sound of this the visitant returned4 ,sidenote3 ,note the symbolism of the closed door4 #db4 8,did you call me80 he asked1 pleasantly1 and with that he entered the room and closed the door behind him4 ,sidenote3 ,,key4 ,sidenote3 ,this states the problem4 #dc4 ,markheim stood and gazed at him with all his eyes4 ,perhaps there was a film upon his sight1 but the outlines of the newcomer seemed to change and waver like those of the idols in the wavering candle-light of the shop2 and at times he thought he knew him2 and at times he thought he bore a likeness to himself2 and always1 like a lump of living terror1 there lay in his bosom the conviction that this thing was not of the earth and not of ,god4 #dd4 ,and yet the creature had a strange air of the common-place1 as he stood looking on ,markheim with a smile2 and when he added3 8,you are looking for the money1 ,i believe80 it was in the tones of everyday politeness4 #de4 ,markheim made no answer4 #df4 8,i should warn you10 resumed the other1 8that the maid has left her sweetheart earlier than usual and will soon be here4 ,if ,mr4 ,markheim be found in this house1 ,i need not describe to him the consequences40 #dg4 8,you know me80 cried the murderer4 #dh4 ,the visitor smiled4 8,you have long been a favorite of mine10 he said2 8and ,i have long observed and often sought to help you40 #di4 8,what are you80 cried ,markheim3 8the devil80 ,sidenote3 ,this is an important passage4 #ej4 8,what ,i may be10 returned the other1 8cannot affect the service ,i propose to render you40 ,sidenote3 ,forecast of ,markheim's struggle with his better self4 #ea4 8,it can10 cried ,markheim2 8it does6 ,be helped by you8 ,no1 never2 not by you6 ,you do not know me yet1 thank ,god1 you do not know me60 #eb4 8,i know you10 replied the visitant1 with a sort of kind severity or rather firmness4 8,i know you to the soul40 ,sidenote3 ,does ,markheim really know himself8 #ec4 8,know me60 cried ,markheim4 8,who can do so8 ,my life is but a travesty and slander on myself4 ,i have lived to belie my nature4 ,all men do2 all men are better than this disguise that grows about and stifles them4 ,you see each dragged away by life1 like one whom bravos have seized and muffled in a cloak4 ,if they had their own control--if you could see their faces1 they would be altogether different1 they would shine out for heroes and saints6 ,i am worse than most2 myself is more overlaid2 my excuse is known to me and ,god4 ,but1 had ,i the time1 ,i could disclose myself40 #ed4 8,to me80 inquired the visitant4 ,sidenote3 ,note the author's name for ,markheim4 ,sidenote3 ,seek a cause for such reasoning4 #ee4 8,to you before all10 returned the murderer4 8,i supposed you were intelligent4 ,i thought--since you exist--you would prove a reader of the heart4 ,and yet you would propose to judge me by my acts6 ,think of it2 my acts6 ,i was born and ,i have lived in a land of giants2 giants have dragged me by the wrists since ,i was born out of my mother--the giants of circumstance4 ,and you would judge me by my acts6 ,but can you not look within8 ,can you not understand that evil is hateful to me8 ,can you not see within me the clear writing of conscience1 never blurred by any willful sophistry1 although too often disregarded8 ,can you not read me for a thing that surely must be common as humanity--the unwilling sinner80 ,sidenote3 ,note the distinction between the final importance of cause and effect4 ,sidenote3 ,contrast4 ,sidenote3 ,,minor ,,moral ,,crisis4 #ef4 8,all this is very feelingly expressed10 was the reply4 8,but it regards me not4 ,these points of consistency are beyond my province1 and ,i care not in the least by what compulsion you may have been dragged away1 so as you are but carried in the right direction4 ,but time flies2 the servant delays1 looking in the faces of the crowd and at the pictures on the hoardings1 but still she keeps moving nearer2 and remember1 it is as if the gallows itself was striding toward you through the ,christmas streets6 ,shall ,i help you2 ,i1 who know all8 ,shall ,i tell you where to find the money80 ,sidenote3 ,a test of ,markheim's consistency4 #eg4 8,for what price80 asked ,markheim4 #eh4 8,i offer you the service for a ,christmas gift10 returned the other4 #ei4 ,markheim could not refrain from smiling with a kind of bitter triumph4 8,no10 said he1 8,i will take nothing at your hands2 if ,i were dying of thirst1 and it was your hand that put the pitcher to my lips1 ,i should find the courage to refuse4 ,it may be credulous1 but ,i will do nothing to commit myself to evil40 #fj4 8,i have no objection to a death-bed repentance10 observed the visitant4 #fa4 8,because you disbelieve their efficacy60 ,markheim cried4 ,sidenote3 ,key4 ,sidenote3 ,is this irony8 #fb4 8,i do not say so10 returned the other2 8but ,i look on these things from a different side1 and when the life is done my interest falls4 ,the man has lived to serve me1 to spread black looks under color of religion1 or to sow tares in the wheat-field1 as you do1 in a course of weak compliance with desire4 ,now that he draws so near to his deliverance1 he can add but one act of service--to repent1 to die smiling1 and thus to build up in confidence and hope the more timorous of my surviving followers4 ,i am not so hard a master4 ,try me4 ,accept my help4 ,please yourself in life as you have done hitherto2 please yourself more amply1 spread your elbows at the board2 and when the night begins to fall and the curtains to be drawn1 ,i tell you1 for your greater comfort1 that you will find it even easy to compound your quarrel with your conscience1 and to make a truckling peace with ,god4 ,i came but now from such a death bed1 and the room was full of sincere mourners1 listening to the man's last words3 and when ,i looked into that face1 which had been set as a flint against mercy1 ,i found it smiling with hope40 ,sidenote3 ,markheim has judged the example4 #fc4 8,and do you1 then1 suppose me such a creature80 asked ,markheim4 8,do you think ,i have no more generous aspirations than to sin1 and sin1 and sin1 and1 at last1 sneak into heaven8 ,my heart rises at the thought4 ,is this1 then1 your experience of mankind8 or is it because you find me with red hands that you presume such baseness8 and is this crime of murder indeed so impious as to dry up the very springs of good80 ,sidenote3 ,is this true reasoning8 ,sidenote3 ,note the detached attitude4 ,sidenote3 ,note paradox4 #fd4 8,murder is to me no special category10 replied the other4 8,all sins are murder1 even as all life is war4 ,i behold your race1 like starving mariners on a raft1 plucking crusts out of the hands of famine and feeding on each other's lives4 ,i follow sins beyond the moment of their acting2 ,i find in all that the last consequence is death2 and to my eyes1 the pretty maid who thwarts her mother with such taking graces on a question of a ball1 drips no less visibly with human gore than such a murderer as yourself4 ,do ,i say that ,i follow sins8 ,i follow virtues also2 they differ not by the thickness of a nail1 they are both scythes for the reaping angel of ,death4 ,evil1 for which ,i live1 consists not in action but in character4 ,the bad man is dear to me2 not the bad act1 whose fruits1 if we could follow them far enough down the hurtling cataract of the ages1 might yet be found more blessed than those of the rarest virtues4 ,and it is not because you have killed a dealer1 but because you are ,markheim1 that ,i offered to forward your escape40 ,sidenote3 ,an unusual expression4 ,sidenote3 ,note use of 8of40 ,sidenote3 ,could that have been8 #fe4 8,i will lay my heart open to you10 answered ,markheim4 8,this crime on which you find me is my last4 ,on my way to it ,i have learned many lessons2 itself is a lesson1 a momentous lesson4 ,hitherto ,i have been driven with revolt to what ,i would not2 ,i was a bond-slave to poverty1 driven and scourged4 ,there are robust virtues that can stand in these temptations2 mine was not so3 ,i had a thirst of pleasure4 ,but to-day1 and out of this deed1 ,i pluck both warning and riches--both the power and a fresh resolve to be myself4 ,i become in all things a free actor in the world2 ,i begin to see myself all changed1 these hands the agents of good1 this heart at peace4 ,something comes over me out of the past2 something of what ,i have dreamed on ,sabbath evenings to the sound of the church organ1 of what ,i forecast when ,i shed tears over noble books1 or talked1 an innocent child1 with my mother4 ,there lies my life2 ,i have wandered a few years1 but now ,i see once more my city of destination40 #ff4 8,you are to use this money on the ,stock ,exchange1 ,i think80 remarked the visitor2 8and there1 if ,i mistake not1 you have already lost some thousands80 ,sidenote3 ,self-deception uncovered4 #fg4 8,ah10 said ,markheim1 8but this time ,i have a sure thing40 #fh4 8,this time1 again1 you will lose10 replied the visitor1 quietly4 #fi4 8,ah1 but ,i keep back the half60 cried ,markheim4 #gj4 8,that also you will lose10 said the other4 ,sidenote3 ,moral crisis begins to appear to ,markheim4 ,sidenote3 ,self-deception still struggling4 #ga4 ,the sweat started upon ,markheim's brow4 8,well1 then1 what matter80 he exclaimed4 8,say it be lost1 say ,i am plunged again in poverty1 shall one part of me1 and that the worse1 continue until the end to override the better8 ,evil and good run strong in me1 haling me both ways4 ,i do not love the one thing1 ,i love all4 ,i can conceive great deeds1 renunciations1 martyrdoms2 and though ,i be fallen to such a crime as murder1 pity is no stranger to my thoughts4 ,i pity the poor2 who knows their trials better than myself8 ,i pity and help them2 ,i prize love1 ,i love honest laughter2 there is no good thing nor true thing on earth but ,i love it from my heart4 ,and are my vices only to direct my life1 and my virtues to lie without effect1 like some passive lumber of the mind8 ,not so2 good1 also1 is a spring of acts40 ,sidenote3 ,here the story is plainly didactic4 #gb4 ,but the visitant raised his finger4 8,for six-and-thirty years that you have been in this world10 said he1 8through many changes of fortune and varieties of humor1 ,i have watched you steadily fall4 ,fifteen years ago you would have started at a theft4 ,three years back you would have blenched at the name of murder4 ,is there any crime1 is there any cruelty or meanness1 from which you still recoil8--five years from now ,i shall detect you in the fact6 ,downward1 downward1 lies your way2 nor can anything but death avail to stop you40 #gc4 8,it is true10 ,markheim said1 huskily1 8,i have in some degree complied with evil4 ,but it is so with all3 the very saints1 in the mere exercise of living1 grow less dainty1 and take on the tone of their surroundings40 ,sidenote3 ,key4 #gd4 8,i will propound to you one simple question10 said the other2 8and as you answer1 ,i shall read to you your moral horoscope4 ,you have grown in many things more lax2 possibly you do right to be so2 and at any account1 it is the same with all men4 ,but granting that1 are you in any one particular1 however trifling1 more difficult to please with your own conduct1 or do you go in all things with a looser rein80 ,sidenote3 ,,minor ,,moral ,,climax4 ,sidenote3 ,markheim at last sees himself4 #ge4 8,in any one80 repeated ,markheim1 with an anguish of consideration4 8,no10 he added1 with despair1 8in none6 ,i have gone down in all40 #gf4 8,then10 said the visitor1 8content yourself with what you are1 for you will never change2 and the words of your part on this stage are irrevocably written down40 #gg4 ,markheim stood for a long while silent1 and indeed it was the visitor who first broke the silence4 8,that being so10 he said1 8shall ,i show you the money80 #gh4 8,and grace80 cried ,markheim4 #gi4 8,have you not tried it80 returned the other4 8,two or three years ago1 did ,i not see you on the platform of revival meetings1 and was not your voice the loudest in the hymn80 #hj4 8,it is true10 said ,markheim2 8and ,i see clearly what remains for me by way of duty4 ,i thank you for these lessons from my soul3 my eyes are opened1 and ,i behold myself at last for what ,i am40 #ha4 ,at this moment1 the sharp note of the door-bell rang through the house2 and the visitant1 as though this were some concerted signal for which he had been waiting1 changed at once in his demeanor4 ,sidenote3 ,,full ,,moral ,,crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,,physical ,,resultant ,,crisis4 ,sidenote3 ,final test4 #hb4 8,the maid60 he cried4 8,she has returned1 as ,i forewarned you1 and there is now before you one more difficult passage4 ,her master1 you must say1 is ill2 you must let her in1 with an assured but rather serious countenance--no smiles1 no overacting1 and ,i promise you success6 ,once the girl within1 and the door closed1 the same dexterity that has already rid you of the dealer will relieve you of this last danger in your path4 ,thenceforward you have the whole evening--the whole night1 if needful--to ransack the treasures of the house and to make good your safety4 ,this is help that comes to you with the mask of danger4 ,up60 he cried3 8up1 friend2 your life hangs trembling in the scales2 up1 and act60 #hc4 ,markheim steadily regarded his counsellor4 8,if ,i be condemned to evil acts10 he said1 8there is still one door of freedom open--,i can cease from action4 ,if my life be an ill thing1 ,i can lay it down4 ,though ,i be1 as you say truly1 at the beck of every small temptation1 ,i can yet1 by one decisive gesture1 place myself beyond the reach of all4 ,my love of good is damned to barrenness2 it may1 and let it1 be6 ,but ,i have still my hatred of evil2 and from that1 to your galling disappointment1 you shall see that ,i can draw both energy and courage40 ,sidenote3 ,who was the visitant8 #hd4 ,the features of the visitor began to undergo a wonderful and lovely change2 they brightened and softened with a tender triumph2 and1 even as they brightened1 faded and dislimned4 ,but ,markheim did not pause to watch or understand the transformation4 ,he opened the door and went downstairs very slowly1 thinking to himself4 ,his past went soberly before him2 he beheld it as it was1 ugly and strenuous like a dream1 random as chance-medley--a scene of defeat4 ,life1 as he thus reviewed it1 tempted him no longer2 but on the further side he perceived a quiet haven for his bark4 ,he paused in the passage1 and looked into the shop1 where the candle still burned by the dead body4 ,it was strangely silent4 ,thoughts of the dealer swarmed into his mind1 as he stood gazing4 ,and then the bell once more broke out into impatient clamor4 #he4 ,he confronted the maid upon the threshold with something like a smile4 ,sidenote3 ,,moral ,,climax4 ,,denouement4 #hf4 8,you had better go for the police10 said he3 8,i have killed your master40 ,,morrison ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,arthur ,morrison was born in ,kent1 ,england1 in #ahfc4 ,after some experience as a clerk in the civil service1 as the secretary of a charity trust in the ,east ,end of ,london1 and as a journalist on the editorial staff of an evening paper1 he settled down definitely to his career as novelist and writer on oriental art4 ,he is best known as a journalist1 however1 and his familiarity with the ,east ,end has largely contributed to his success in depicting the sordid life of ,london's 8mean streets10 as the 8remorseless realism0 of his pictures testify4 ,mr4 ,morrison's literary work was in the nature of prose and verse panegyrizing bicycles and bicycling4 ,his principal works1 apart from several plays and magazine contributions1 are ,tales of ,mean ,streets2 the several ,martin ,hewitt 7detective7 books2 ,a ,child of the ,jago2 ,to ,london ,town2 ,the ,hole in the ,wall2 ,the ,red ,triangle2 ,the ,green ,eye of ,goona 7published in ,america as ,the ,green ,diamond72 and ,the ,painters of ,japan4 ,mr4 ,morrison's best fiction is not large in bulk1 for his detective stories are surpassed both in merit and in popular appeal by more than one writer on similar themes2 but in his ,tales of ,mean ,streets1 which contains the appended study1 8,on the ,stairs10 he has attained a compressed power equalled only by the ,french realists and scarcely surpassed even by them4 ,he has brought the art of suggestion to a high pass1 his swiftness and firmness of delineation are equally effective1 and though his subjects are sordid and often depressing they live before us as real folk4 ,the introduction to ,tales of ,mean ,streets appeared in ,macmillan's ,magazine in ,october1 #ahia1 where it was called simply1 8,a ,street40 ,this sketch attracted the attention of ,mr4 ,w4 ,e4 ,henley1 who gave the young writer the benefit of his own knowledge and criticism2 and it is to ,henley and to ,walter ,besant that ,mr4 ,morrison makes special acknowledgment for help in the technicalities and mechanism of his tales4 ,most of these ,tales of ,mean ,streets appeared in the ,national ,observer 7while ,henley was the editor71 and a few in the ,pall ,mall ,budget4--,book ,buyer 7,london71 vol4 #ab4 ,if the modern novel about the slums1 such as novels of ,mr4 ,arthur ,morrison1 or the exceedingly able novels of ,mr4 ,somerset ,maugham1 are intended to be sensational1 ,i can only say that that is a noble and reasonable object1 and that they attain it4444 ,it may be 444 it is necessary to have in our fiction the image of the horrible and hairy ,east-ender1 merely to keep alive in us a fearful and childlike wonder at external peculiarities4444 ,to summarize1 our slum fiction is quite defensible as sthetic fiction2 it is not defensible as spiritual fact4--,,gilbert ,k4 ,,chesterton1 ,heretics4 ,ever seeking the clean-cut1 picturesque phrase and the vivid word1 he produced a very striking picture of the ,east ,end4 ,but1 nevertheless1 it was not quite satisfactory and convincing4 ,human nature does not alter so much with conditions as he seems to think4 ,a little less or a little more morality does not affect its elements4444 ,mr4 ,morrison's strongest gift in writing is a cynicism that is almost brutal4 ,with it he elaborates the features of all his characters till the impression is produced that one savage1 hideous1 ugly coster and one gaudy-feathered1 bedizened 8,jonah0 have acted as models for all his studies of ,jagodom4 ,moreover1 his success has been achieved in pictures of the brutal4--,academy 7,london71 vol4 #eb4 ,the 8mean streets0 are streets in ,london4444 ,they have found in ,arthur ,morrison an interpreter who lifts them out of their meanness upon the plane of a just claim to human sympathy4 ,he lets us see the relief4 ,bill ,napper1 the drunken kerb-whacker1 come into property and defending it against the rascally labor agitator1 ,scuddy ,lond1 mixing religious fervor and till-tapping with entire sincerity1 ,simmons and ,ford1 victims of their joint wife's 8jore0 and mania for trouser-making1 even the ,anarchists of the ,red ,cow group1 appeal to us with a sense almost of kinship because we feel that the figures are real4 ,they are capital character-studies besides4 ,dickens never made a finer than the thief ,scuddy ,lond1 or than ,billy ,chope4444 ,the art of these stories seems flawless4 ,mr4 ,morrison's gift amounts to genius4--,,jacob ,,riis1 ,romances of 8,the ,other ,half10 ,the ,book ,buyer1 vol4 #ab4 ,,further ,,references ,,for ,,reading ,,on ,,morrison ,methods of ,arthur ,morrison1 ,academy1 vol4 #ej1 #eca2 ,his ,work1 ,academy1 vol4 #eb1 #dic2 ,blackwood's ,magazine1 vol4 #afc1 #gcd2 ,how to ,write a ,short ,story1 ,bookman1 vol4 #e1 #de2 ,morrison as a ,realist1 ,h4 ,d4 ,traill1 ,fortnightly1 vol4 #fg1 #fe2 ,reply1 ,a4 ,morrison1 ,new ,review1 vol4 #af1 #cbf2 ,child of the ,jago3 ,true to ,facts1 ,a4 ,o4 ,jay1 ,fortnightly1 vol4 #fg1 #cbd4 ,,for ,,analysis ,,on ,,the ,,stairs ,,by ,,arthur ,,morrison ,the house had been 8genteel40 ,when trade was prospering in the ,east ,end1 and the ship-fitter or block-maker thought it no shame to live in the parish where his workshop lay1 such a master had lived here4 ,now1 it was a tall1 solid1 well-bricked1 ugly house1 grimy and paintless in the joinery1 cracked and patched in the windows3 where the front door stood open all day long2 and the womankind sat on the steps1 talking of sickness and deaths and the cost of things2 and treacherous holes lurked in the carpet of road-soil on the stairs and in the passage4 ,for when eight families live in a house1 nobody buys a door-mat1 and the street was one of those streets that are always muddy4 ,it smelt1 too1 of many things1 none of them pleasant 7one was fried fish72 but for all that it was not a slum4 #b4 ,three flights up1 a gaunt woman with bare forearms stayed on her way to listen at a door which1 opening1 let out a warm1 fetid waft from a close sick-room4 ,a bent and tottering old woman stood on the threshold1 holding the door behind her4 #c4 8,an' is 'e no better now1 ,mrs4 ,curtis80 the gaunt woman asked1 with a nod at the opening4 #d4 ,the old woman shook her head1 and pulled the door closer4 ,her jaw waggled loosely in her withered chaps3 8,nor won't be2 till 'e's gone40 ,then after a certain pause1 8',e's goin'10 she said4 #e4 8,don't doctor give no 'ope80 #f4 8,lor' bless ye1 ,i don't want to ast no doctors10 ,mrs4 ,curtis replied1 with something not unlike a chuckle4 8,i've seed too many on 'em4 ,the boy's a-goin'1 fast2 ,i can see that4 ,an' then0--she gave the handle another tug1 and whispered--8he's been called40 ,she nodded amain2 8,three seprit knocks at the bed-head las' night2 an' ,i know what that means60 #g4 ,the gaunt woman raised her brows1 and nodded4 8,ah1 well10 she said1 8we all on us comes to it some day1 sooner or later4 ,an' it's often a 'appy release40 #h4 ,the two looked into space beyond each other1 the elder with a nod and a croak4 ,presently the other pursued1 8',e's been a very good son1 ain't 'e80 #i4 8,ay1 ay1 well enough son to me10 responded the old woman1 a little peevishly2 8an' ,i'll 'ave 'im put away decent1 though there's on'y the ,union for me after4 ,i can do that1 thank ,gawd60 she added1 meditatively1 as chin on fist she stared into the thickening dark over the stairs4 #aj4 8,when ,i lost my pore 'usband10 said the gaunt woman with a certain brightening1 8,i give 'im a 'ansome funeral4 ',e was a ,oddfeller1 an' ,i got twelve pound4 ,i 'ad a oak caufin an' a open 'earse4 ,there was a kerridge for the fam'ly an' one for 'is mates--two 'orses each1 an' feathers1 an' mutes2 an' it went the furthest way round to the cimitry4 ',wotever 'appens1 ,mrs4 ,manders1' says the undertaker1 #8you'll feel as you've treated 'im proper2 nobody can't reproach you over that4' ,an' they couldn't4 ',e was a good 'usband to me1 an' ,i buried 'im respectable40 #aa4 ,the gaunt woman exulted4 ,the old1 old story of ,manders's funeral fell upon the other one's ears with a freshened interest1 and she mumbled her gums ruminantly4 8,bob'll 'ave a 'ansome buryin'1 too10 she said4 8,i can make it up1 with the insurance money1 an' this1 an' that4 ,on'y ,i dunno about mutes4 ,it's a expense40 #ab4 ,in the ,east ,end1 when a woman has not enough money to buy a thing much desired1 she does not say so in plain words2 she says the thing is an 8expense10 or a 8great expense40 ,it means the same thing1 but it sounds better4 ,mrs4 ,curtis had reckoned her resources1 and found that mutes would be an 8expense40 ,at a cheap funeral mutes cost half-a-sovereign and their liquor4 ,mrs4 ,manders said as much4 #ac4 8,yus1 yus1 'arf-a-sovereign10 the old woman assented4 ,within1 the sick feebly beat the floor with a stick4 8,i'm a-comin'10 she cried shrilly2 8yus1 'arf-a-sovereign1 but it's a lot1 an' ,i don't see 'ow ,i'm to do it--not at present40 ,she reached for the door-handle again1 but stopped and added1 by after-thought1 8,unless ,i don't 'ave no plooms40 #ad4 8,it 'ud be a pity not to 'ave plooms4 ,i 'ad--0 #ae4 ,there were footsteps on the stairs3 then a stumble and a testy word4 ,mrs4 ,curtis peered over into the gathering dark4 8,is it the doctor1 sir80 she asked4 ,it was the doctor's assistant2 and ,mrs4 ,manders tramped up to the next landing as the door of the sick-room took him in4 #af4 ,for five minutes the stairs were darker than ever4 ,then the assistant1 a very young man1 came out again1 followed by the old woman with a candle4 ,mrs4 ,manders listened in the upper dark4 8,he's sinking fast10 said the assistant4 8,he must have a stimulant4 ,dr4 ,mansell ordered port wine4 ,where is it80 ,mrs4 ,curtis mumbled dolorously4 8,i tell you he must have it10 he averred with unprofessional emphasis 7his qualification was only a month old74 8,the man can't take solid food1 and his strength must be kept up somehow4 ,another day may make all the difference4 ,is it because you can't afford it80 8,it's a expense--sich a expense1 doctor10 the old woman pleaded4 8,an' wot with 'arf-pints o' milk an'--0 ,she grew inarticulate1 and mumbled dismally4 #ag4 8,but he must have it1 ,mrs4 ,curtis1 if it's your last shilling3 it's the only way4 ,if you mean you absolutely haven't the money--0 and he paused a little awkwardly4 ,he was not a wealthy young man--wealthy young men do not devil for ,east ,end doctors--but he was conscious of a certain haul of sixpences at nap the night before2 and1 being inexperienced1 he did not foresee the career of persecution whereon he was entering at his own expense and of his own motion4 ,he produced five shillings3 8,if you absolutely haven't the money1 why--take this and get a bottle--good3 not at a public-house4 ,but mind1 at once4 ,he should have had it before40 #ah4 ,it would have interested him1 as a matter of coincidence1 to know that his principal had been guilty of the selfsame indiscretion--even the amount was identical--on that landing the day before4 ,but1 as ,mrs4 ,curtis said nothing of this1 he floundered down the stair and out into the wetter mud1 pondering whether or not the beloved son of a ,congregational minister might take full credit for a deed of charity on the proceeds of sixpenny nap4 ,but ,mrs4 ,curtis puffed her wrinkles1 and shook her head sagaciously as she carried in her candle4 ,from the room came a clink as of money falling into a teapot4 ,and ,mrs4 ,manders went about her business4 #ai4 ,the door was shut1 and the stair a pit of blackness4 ,twice a lodger passed down1 and up and down1 and still it did not open4 ,men and women walked on the lower flights1 and out at the door1 and in again4 ,from the street a shout or a snatch of laughter floated up the pit4 ,on the pavement footsteps rang crisper and fewer1 and from the bottom passage there were sounds of stagger and sprawl4 ,a demented old clock buzzed divers hours at random1 and was rebuked every twenty minutes by the regular tread of a policeman on his beat4 ,finally1 somebody shut the street-door with a great bang1 and the street was muffled4 ,a key turned inside the door on the landing1 but that was all4 ,a feeble light shone for hours along the crack below1 and then went out4 ,the crazy old clock went buzzing on1 but nothing left that room all night4 ,nothing that opened the door4444 #bj4 ,when next the key turned1 it was to ,mrs4 ,manders's knock1 in the full morning2 and soon the two women came out on the landing together1 ,mrs4 ,curtis with a shapeless clump of bonnet4 8,ah1 'e's a lovely corpse10 said ,mrs4 ,manders4 8,like wax4 ,so was my 'usband40 #ba4 8,i must be stirrin'10 croaked the old woman1 8an' go about the insurance an' the measurin' an' that4 ,there's lots to do40 #bb4 8,ah1 there is4 ',oo are you goin' to 'ave1--,wilkins8 ,i 'ad ,wilkins4 ,better than ,kedge1 ,i think3 ,kedge's mutes dresses rusty1 an' their trousis is frayed4 ,if you was thinkin' of 'avin' mutes--0 #bc4 8,yus1 yus10--with a palsied nodding1--8,i'm a-goin' to 'ave mutes3 ,i can do it respectable1 thank ,gawd60 #bd4 8,and the plooms80 #be4 8,ay1 yus1 and the plooms too4 ,they ain't sich a great expense1 after all40 ,,suggestive ,,questions ,,for ,,study #a4 ,what are the points of similarity between the ,character-,study and the ,psychological ,study8 #b4 ,define 7a7 ,psychology1 7b7 ,realism4 #c4 ,does ,markheim's change of heart seem to you to be genuine8 ,give your reasons4 #d4 ,analyze his motives fully4 #e4 ,is the supernatural element convincing8 #f4 ,could conscience produce the same effect as the ,visitant8 #g4 ,what impression did ,stevenson seek to convey by 8,markheim08 #h4 ,fully analyze the thoughts1 feelings1 and motives of the mother4 #i4 ,can you detect ,morrison's motive in writing 8,on the ,stairs08 #aj4 ,fully analyze one other psychological study1 from any source4 ,,ten ,,representative ,,psychological ,,studies 8,a ,coward10 ,guy de ,maupassant1 translated in ,the ,odd ,number4 8,another ,gambler10 ,paul ,bourget1 translated in ,stories by ,foreign ,authors4 8,la ,bretonne10 ,andr ,theuriet1 translated in ,short-,story ,masterpieces4 8,the ,song of ,death10 ,hermann ,sudermann1 translated in ,the ,indian ,lily4 8,the ,recovery10 ,edith ,wharton1 in ,crucial ,instances4 8,billy-,boy10 ,john ,luther ,long1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,executioner10 ,honor de ,balzac1 translated in ,masterpieces of ,fiction4 8,the ,revolt of #8,mother1'0 ,mary ,e4 ,wilkins ,freeman1 ,harper's ,magazine1 vol4 #ha1 #eec4 8,the ,lady or the ,tiger10 ,frank ,r4 ,stockton1 in volume of same title4 8,the ,man ,without a ,country10 ,edward ,everett ,hale1 in ,short ,story ,classics1 ,american4 ,,bibliographical ,,note ,an extended list of books and magazine articles on the short-story will be found on pages #cge-cgh1 #dbf-dca of the present author's ,writing the ,short-,story1 ,new ,york1 ,hinds1 ,hayden and ,eldredge 7#aiji71 xiv#dda pp4 ,most of the bibliographical references here appended also appear in the revised edition of ,writing the ,short-,story 7#aiah74 ,magazine articles have not been included1 as they may be found listed in the cumulative periodical indexes4 ,for several years1 ,the ,writer's ,monthly1 ,springfield1 ,mass41 a periodical for literary workers1 has printed monthly a list of magazine articles of interest to writers4 ,notes on the ,influence of ,e4 ,t4 ,a4 ,hoffman on ,edgar ,allan ,poe1 ,g4 ,gruener1 ,modern ,language ,association of ,america 7#aijd74 ,how to ,write1 ,charles ,sears ,baldwin4 ,macmillan 7#aijf74 ,chapters on 8,how to ,tell a ,story10 and 8,how to ,describe40 ,based upon ,bible narratives4 ,the ,art of the ,short-,story1 ,george ,w4 ,gerwig4 ,werner 7#aiji74 ,a brief general study4 ,out of print4 ,the ,short ,story in ,english1 ,henry ,seidel ,canby4 ,holt 7#aiji74 ,an exhaustive examination into the origin and development of the form4 ,a ,history of ,story ,telling1 ,arthur ,ransome4 ,stokes 7#aiji74 ,studies in ,several ,literatures1 ,harry ,thurston ,peck4 ,dodd1 ,mead 7#aiji74 ,chapters on 8,poe10 and 8,the ,detective ,story40 ,the ,art of ,writing 7also issued under the title1 ,the ,art of ,short ,story ,writing71 ,george ,randolph ,chester4 ,the ,publishers ,syndicate 7#aiaj74 ,a collection of brief notes on all phases of the title-subject4 ,the ,fiction ,factory1 ,john ,milton ,edwards 7pseudonym74 ,editor ,co4 7#aiaa74 8,the author tells how he conceived1 planned1 wrote and sold #ajj1jjj worth of manuscripts40 ,the ,craftsmanship of ,writing1 ,frederic ,taber ,cooper4 ,dodd1 ,mead 7#aiab74 ,these papers appeared serially in ,the ,bookman1 ,new ,york4 ,the ,plot of the ,short ,story1 ,henry ,albert ,phillips4 ,stanhope-,dodge 7#aiab74 ,the technique and mechanics of plot4 ,the ,american ,short ,story1 ,c4 ,alphonso ,smith4 ,ginn 7#aiab74 ,an ,american reprint of one of the author's lectures delivered as ,roosevelt ,professor at the ,university of ,berlin4 ,the ,art and ,business of ,story ,writing1 ,w4 ,b4 ,pitkin4 ,macmillan 7#aiab74 ,the ,american ,short ,story1 ,elias ,lieberman4 ,editor ,co4 7#aiab74 ,the ,art of ,story ,writing1 ,j4 ,berg ,esenwein and ,mary ,davoren ,chambers4 ,home ,correspondence ,school 7#aiac74 ,a study of the shorter fictional forms--the anecdote1 fable1 parable1 tale1 sketch1 and short-story--with outlines for study and instruction4 ,the ,technique of the ,mystery ,story1 ,carolyn ,wells4 ,home ,correspondence ,school 7#aiac74 ,art in ,short ,story ,narration1 ,henry ,albert ,phillips4 ,stanhope-,dodge 7#aiac74 ,the ,art of ,writing1 ,preface to 8,the ,nigger of the ,narcissus10 ,joseph ,conrad4 ,doubleday 7#aiad74 ,short ,stories in the ,making1 ,robert ,wilson ,neal4 ,oxford ,university ,press 7#aiad74 ,the ,author's ,craft1 ,arnold ,bennett4 ,doran 7#aiad7 ,the ,art of the ,short ,story1 ,carol ,grabo4 ,scribner 7#aiad74 ,the ,modern ,short-,story1 ,lilian ,notestein and ,waldo ,h4 ,dunn4 ,barnes 7#aiad74 ,on the ,art of ,writing1 ,a4 ,quiller-,couch4 ,putnam 7#aiaf74 ,the ,contemporary ,short ,story1 ,harry ,t4 ,baker4 ,heath 7#aiaf74 ,the ,short-,story1 ,barry ,pain4 ,doran 7#aiaf74 ,reprint of an earlier ,english edition4 ,the ,thirty ,six ,dramatic ,situations1 ,georges ,polti4 ,editor ,co4 7#aiaf74 ,a ,handbook of ,story ,writing1 ,blanche ,colton ,williams4 ,dodd1 ,mead 7#aiag74 ,children's ,stories and ,how to ,tell ,them1 ,j4 ,berg ,esenwein and ,marietta ,stockard4 ,home ,correspondence ,school 7#aiag74 ,helps for ,student-,writers1 ,willard ,e4 ,hawkins4 ,the ,student-,writer ,press 7#aiag74 ,the ,technique of ,fiction ,writing1 ,robert ,saunders ,dowst4 ,editor ,co4 7#aiag74 ,besides the edited collections of miscellaneous short-stories included in the first edition of ,writing the ,short-,story1 which need not be reproduced here1 are the following4 ,in most instances the collections are prefaced by introductory notes by the editors named4 ,the ,best ,american ,tales1 ,w4 ,p4 ,trent and ,john ,bell ,henneman4 ,crowell 7#aijg74 ,international ,library of ,fiction 7#c vols471 ,william ,patten4 ,collier 7#aiaj74 ,the ,great ,english ,short-,story ,writers 7#b vols471 ,william ,j4 and ,coningsby ,w4 ,dawson4 ,harper 7#aiaj74 ,the ,lock and ,key ,library 7#aj vols471 ,julian ,hawthorne4 ,this is an expansion of the six-volume edition of ,mystery and ,detective ,stories 7#f vols474 ,review of ,reviews ,co4 7#aiab74 ,short-,story ,masterpieces1 ,french 7#b vols471 ,j4 ,berg ,esenwein4 ,home ,correspondence ,school 7#aiab74 ,short-,story ,masterpieces1 ,russian 7#b vols471 ,j4 ,berg ,esenwein4 ,home ,correspondence ,school 7#aiac74 ,a ,collection of ,short ,stories1 ,l4 ,a4 ,pittenger4 ,macmillan 7#aiac74 ,a ,study of the ,short ,story1 ,henry ,s4 ,canby4 ,holt 7#aiac74 ,a ,book of ,short ,stories1 ,stuart ,p4 ,sherman4 ,holt 7#aiad74 ,types of the ,short-,story1 ,benjamin ,a4 ,heydrick4 ,scott1 ,foresman 7#aiad74 ,the ,short-,story1 ,e4 ,a4 ,cross4 ,mc,clurg 7#aiad74 ,modern ,short ,stories1 ,margaret ,ashmun4 ,macmillan 7#aiad74 ,short ,stories1 ,leonard ,moulton4 ,houghton1 ,mifflin 7#aiae74 ,short ,stories for ,high ,schools1 ,rosa ,m4 ,r4 ,mikels4 ,scribner 7#aiae74 ,elements of the ,short ,story1 ,e4 ,e4 ,hale1 ,jr41 and ,f4 ,t4 ,dawson4 ,holt 7#aiae74 ,short ,stories from 8,life10 ,t4 ,l4 ,masson4 ,doubleday 7#aiaf74 ,short ,stories and ,selections1 for ,use in ,secondary ,schools1 ,emilie ,k4 ,baker4 ,macmillan 7#aiaf74 ,representative ,short ,stories1 ,nina ,hart and ,edna ,m4 ,perry4 ,macmillan 7#aiag74 ,the ,best ,short ,stories of #aiae1 and ,the ,yearbook of the ,american ,short ,story1 ,e4 ,j4 ,o',brien4 ,small1 ,maynard 7#aiaf74 ,similar collections by the same editor have been issued for #aiaf and #aiag1 and others for later years are to follow4 ,atlantic ,narratives1 ,charles ,swain ,thomas4 ,atlantic ,monthly ,press 7#aiah74 ,index to ,short ,stories4 ,ina ,ten,eyck ,firkins4 ,wilson4 ,,index ,in this index1 names of authors are printed in small capitals and titles of books in italics2 titles of short-stories are enclosed in quotations1 and general persons and subjects are in ,roman type4 ,it has not seemed necessary to index titles and authors which are merely included in biographical and bibliographical notes4 ,a ,action1 #b1 #c4 ,,addison1 ,,joseph1 xix4 ,adventure 7see ,action71 xvi1 #c4 ,anecdote1 xvi1 xvii1 xx4 ,arabian ,nights1 xviii4 ,b ,,baldwin1 ,,charles ,s41 xxiv4 ,,balzac1 ,,honor ,,de1 xx1 #acd1 #bec4 ,,barrie1 ,,james ,m41 #acc1 #bae-bdi4 ,,barrett1 ,,charles ,,raymond1 xxiii4 ,,beers1 ,h4 ,a41 #cjj4 ,,beranger1 #cbj4 ,bibliography of ,short-,story1 xxi1 #dcc4 ,,bierce1 ,,ambrose1 #gb4 ,,boccaccio1 xviii2 ,decameron1 xvii2 ,rinaldo1 xvii4 ,,burke1 ,,edmund1 #acb4 ,,burton1 ,,richard1 #cb4 ,,butler1 ,,ellis ,,parker1 #acc4 ,c ,,canby1 ,h4 ,s41 xxiv1 #cb1 #cc1 #ge1 #gf1 #adi1 #beh1 #cja1 #cjb4 ,characters1 #d1 #ced1 #cee1 #cef4 ,character ,studies1 #cec-chi4 ,,chaucer1 ,,geoffrey1 xviii1 ,canterbury ,tales1 xvii1 ,pardoner's ,tale1 xvii4 ,,chesterton1 ,,gilbert ,k41 #dbd4 ,,cody1 ,,sherwin1 xxiii4 ,comedy1 #aib4 ,conte dvot1 xvi1 xvii4 ,contributory incident1 #ba1 #aii4 ,,copp,e1 ,,fran,,ois1 #acd1 #cfh-chh4 8,courting of ,t',nowhead's ,bell1 ,the10 #bai-bdi4 ,,crawford1 ,f4 ,,marion1 #gb4 ,,crawford1 ,v4 ,m41 #acg1 #ach4 ,crisis1 xxvi1 #cee4 ,,cross1 ,j4 ,w41 #beb4 ,,curtis1 ,,george ,,william1 #gj4 ,d ,,daudet1 ,,alphonse1 #acc-adg4 ,,defoe1 ,,daniel1 xix4 ,denouement1 xxvi4 ,detective ,story1 xix4 ,developing incident 7see contributory incident74 ,,dye1 ,,charity1 xxiii4 ,e ,,edgeworth1 ,,maria1 ,moral ,tales1 xix4 ,egyptian tales1 xv1 xvi4 ,,eliot1 ,,george1 #beb4 ,emotion1 ,stories of1 #aca-aij4 ,episode1 xvii1 xix4 ,essay-,stories1 xix4 ,esther1 ,book of1 xvi4 ,exercises1 xxxi1 #fg1 #abi1 #ahi1 #bdi1 #bij1 #cea1 #chh1 #dca4 ,f ,fabliau1 xviii4 ,,faguet1 ,,mile1 #f4 8,fall of the ,house of ,usher1 ,the10 #cbj-cea4 ,fiction1 ,art of1 xiii4 ,,flaubert1 ,,gustave1 #cb1 #cc4 ,g ,ghosts1 #gj4 ,golden ,ass1 ,the1 ,apuleius1 xvi4 ,graham's ,magazine1 xxii1 #bie4 ,,grenier1 ,,edouard1 #g4 ,,griswold1 ,,hattie ,t41 #bah4 ,guardian1 xix4 ,h ,,hamilton1 ,,clayton1 #ced4 ,,hammerton1 ,j4 ,a41 #bah4 ,handbook of ,literary ,criticism1 #ca4 ,,harte1 ,,bret1 #acc1 #bec1 #bed4 ,,hawthorne1 ,,julian1 #gj1 #beh4 ,,hawthorne1 ,,nathaniel1 xix1 xxii1 xxiii1 #cc1 #ga1 #ge1 #big-cai4 ,,henry1 ,o41 #aic-bae4 ,,higginson1 ,,thomas ,,wentworth1 xxiii4 ,,hoffman1 ,e4 ,a41 xix1 #ge4 ,homeric stories1 xv4 ,humorous ,stories1 #aia-bej4 ,,hutton1 ,r4 ,h41 #cja4 ,i ,idler1 xix4 ,impressionistic ,stories1 #bic-ceb4 ,,independent1 xxiii4 ,,irving1 ,,washington1 xix1 #ga2 ,rip ,van ,winkle1 xviii4 ,j ,,jacobs1 ,w4 ,w41 #ajh-abi4 ,,james1 ,,henry1 #acg1 #adi1 #bgi4 ,,jessup1 ,,alexander1 xxiv4 ,,johnson1 ,,samuel1 xix4 ,k ,,king1 ,,grace1 #f1 #g4 ,,kipling1 ,,rudyard1 #ca1 #acc1 #adg-ahi1 #beh4 ,l ,,lang1 ,,andrew1 #cb1 #ge4 8,last ,class1 ,the10 #acd1 #acf1 #aci-adg4 ,,le ,,gallienne1 ,,richard1 #aej1 #beh1 #cjj4 ,,lemmon1 ,,leonard1 #beh4 ,,lewin1 ,,walter1 #beg1 #beh4 ,,lewis1 ,e4 ,h41 xxiii4 ,lippincott's ,magazine1 xxiii4 ,local color1 #h1 #bed 7see setting74 8,lodging for the ,night1 ,a10 #cb1 #cd-fg4 ,,longfellow1 ,h4 ,w41 #bii4 ,m ,,mabie1 ,,hamilton ,,wright1 #bgi4 ,,mcintyre1 ,,marion1 #acg4 ,,maclaren1 ,,ian1 #baf4 8,mateo ,falcone10 #h-bi1 #acd1 #bed4 ,,matthews1 ,,brander1 xxiii1 #ge1 #bhj1 #cgj1 #cga4 8,markheim10 #cb1 #cc1 #cic-dbb4 ,,maupassant1 ,,guy ,,de1 vii1 xxix1 #acc1 #aif1 #bed1 #bgg-bij1 #cef-cfh4 ,m,,rim,e1 ,,prosper1 xix1 xx1 #d1 #h-bi4 ,milesian ,tales1 xvi4 ,,miller1 ,,merion ,m41 #cgj4 8,moonlight10 #bec1 #bgh1 #bha-bij4 8,monkey's ,paw1 ,the10 #aaj-abi1 #acd4 ,,morrison1 ,,arthur1 #dbb-dca4 ,mystery and ,fantasy ,stories1 #fi-acj4 ,n ,,nathan1 ,g4 ,j41 #aif4 ,,nodier1 ,,charles1 xix4 ,novel1 xiii4 ,novelette1 xx1 xxvii4 ,novella1 xvii1 xviii4 ,o ,o',,brien1 ,,fitz-,,james1 #gb4 8,on the ,stairs10 #cic1 #dbe-dca4 8,outcasts of ,poker ,flat1 ,the10 #bec1 #beh-bgg4 ,p ,,pater1 ,,walter1 #cib4 ,,peck1 ,,harry ,,thurston1 #aig4 ,,pellissier1 ,,georges1 #g4 ,,perry1 ,,bliss1 #b1 #cib4 ,,phelps1 ,,william ,,lyon1 #ca4 8,piece of ,string1 ,the10 #cef-cfh4 ,plot1 xxv4 ,plot incident1 #aa4 ,,poe1 ,,edgar ,,allan1 xix1 xx1 xxi1 xxii1 xxv1 #cj1 #gb-ajg1 #acd1 #bid1 #bie1 #bif1 #cbj-cea4 ,psychological ,studies1 #cia-dcb4 8,purloined ,letter1 ,the10 #gb1 #ge-ajg4 ,,pushkin1 xix4 ,q ,questions1 see ,exercises4 ,r ,rambler1 xix4 8,ransom of ,red ,chief1 ,the10 #aih-bae4 ,representative ,stories1 ,lists of1 #fh1 #acj1 #aij1 #bej1 #bij1 #cea1 #chi1 #dcb4 ,,riis1 ,,jacob1 #dbd4 ,romanticism1 #ca4 ,,roz1 ,,firmin1 #bhj4 ,ruth1 ,book of1 #acc4 ,s ,sadness in ,stories1 viii4 ,,saintsbury1 ,,george1 #g4 ,,sanderson1 ,,robert1 #cgj4 ,saturday ,review1 xxiii4 ,scenario1 xvi1 xxvii4 ,,scott1 ,,sir ,,walter1 xix4 ,setting1 ,stories of1 #bea-bij4 ,,sheran1 ,,william ,h41 #ca4 ,short ,history of ,french ,literature1 #g4 ,short-,story1 origin of1 xx2 defined1 xxv1 xxvi2 ,study of1 xiii1 xiv4 ,sketch1 xxviii1 #cee4 ,,smith1 ,c4 ,,alfonso1 xxiii4 ,,smith1 ,,lewis ,w41 xxiii4 ,spectator1 xix4 ,,spielhagen1 ,,friedrich1 xxiii4 ,,steele1 ,,richard1 xix4 ,,stevenson1 ,,robert ,,louis1 #bi-fg1 #cic-dbb4 ,story-tellers1 xv1 xvi4 8,substitute1 ,the10 #cga-chh4 ,,symons1 ,,arthur1 #ach1 #bgi4 ,t ,tale1 xv1 xvii1 xx1 xxvii1 #cee4 ,taller1 xix4 ,,tieck1 ,j4 ,l41 xix1 #ge4 ,to ,teachers1 vii4 ,,trent1 ,w4 ,p41 #acg4 ,,twain1 ,,mark1 #aic4 ,v ,,voltaire1 xix1 #gb4 ,w ,,ward1 ,,artemus1 #aic4 ,warner ,library1 #f1 #g1 #bah1 #bhj1 #cgj4 ,,weiss1 ,,john1 #aib4 8,white ,old ,maid1 ,the10 #cjb-cai4 ,,white1 ,,william ,,allen1 #aic4 8,without ,benefit of ,clergy10 #acd1 #adh-ahi4 ,writing the ,short-,story1 vii1 ix1 xi1 xxvi1 #acc1 #bec1 #bee4 ,z ,zadig1 xix1 #gb4