_A NOVEL_
BY
LOUIS BROMFIELD
_Author of
“The Green Bay Tree"_
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
MCMXXVI
_Copyright, 1925, by_
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
Published September 30, 1925
Second Printing (before Publication), Sept. 26, 1925
Third Printing October 20, 1925
Fourth Printing November 14, 1925
Fifth Printing November 25, 1925
Sixth Printing December 9, 1925
Seventh Printing January 25, 1926
Eighth Printing February 15, 1926
Ninth Printing May 1, 1926
_Printed in the United States of America_
To
MARY
“Life is hard for our children. It isn’t as simple as it was for us.
Their grandfathers were pioneers and the same blood runs in their veins,
only they haven’t a frontier any longer. They stand--these children of
ours--with their backs toward this rough-hewn middle west and their
faces set toward Europe and the East and they belong to neither. They
are lost somewhere between.”
* * * * *
“Wherever she goes, trouble will follow. She’s born like most people
with a touch of genius, under a curse. She is certain to affect the
lives of every one about her ... because, well, because the threads of
our lives are hopelessly tangled.... Marry her if you will, but don’t
expect happiness to come of it. She would doubtless bear you a son ... a
fine strong son, because she’s a fine cold animal. But don’t expect
satisfaction from her. She knows too well exactly where she is bound.”