periodicals, and wrote many amusing, and wholly sympathetic, stories
of southern life, such as _Holly and Pizen_, _Napoleon Jackson_,
_Sonny_, and _Sonny’s Father_. She died in 1917.
HER FIRST HORSE SHOW
By DAVID GRAY
Every side of life contributes short story material,—the deeds of
people in strange surroundings, unusual acts of heroism in war or in
peace, the lives of the poor, and the lives of the rich. Since men’s
characters are independent of either wealth or poverty, the story of
society life, when written effectively, may awaken as deep feelings
of sympathy or brotherhood as the story of humble life. Any story is
worthy if it broadens the understanding of life and presents its
material in artistic form.
On the surface _Her First Horse Show_ is a story of society life, of
rich people who delight in the fashionable horse show, and in dining
at the Waldorf. Fundamentally, it is a story of human understanding,
cleverness, and daring, in which the charm of a girl, and the
thoroughbred qualities of a horse, play leading parts. Quick,
suggestive conversation makes the story vividly interesting, and
clear arrangement leads effectively to the climax.
David Gray was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1870. He has done
editorial work on various papers, and has written a large number of
interesting “horse stories” collected in such books as _Gallops I_,
_Gallops II_, and _Mr. Carteret and Others_. In 1899 Mr. Gray
entered the legal profession.
=Doubting Thomas.= A reference to the Bible story of St. Thomas, who
at first doubted the resurrection of Jesus. See John: 20: 25.
“=Hands.=” Much of the skill in riding high-spirited horses depends
upon the use of the hands in holding the reins.
MY HUSBAND’S BOOK
By JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE
Sometimes the short story is used as an effective means of satire of
a type resembling that employed by Addison in _The Spectator
Papers_. Satire can be given in so few words, and in the very speech
and actions of the persons satirized, that it is well adapted as
material for the short story. It should be the aim of all satirical
short stones of the milder sort to follow Addison’s rule, and point
out little follies rather than great wickednesses, and to aim at a
thousand people rather than at one.
_My Husband’s Book_ is an admirable example of ideal satire of the
lighter type. The husband is typical—of whom?—of every one who puts
off until tomorrow what he should do to-day. The wife is presented
whimsically as altogether adoring, but as somewhat persistently and
mischievously suspicious. At no time does the husband become aware
of his real defect of character, nor the wife lose all her loving
faith. Kindly satire like this is playful in nature, the sort to be
expected from the author of _Peter Pan_. We laugh good-naturedly at
the husband—and see ourselves in him!
Sir James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, in 1860.
His delightfully romantic _Auld Licht Idylls_, _A Window in Thrums_,
and especially _The Little Minister_, made him known to all the
English-speaking world. His remarkably original and fanciful plays,
_Quality Street_, _Peter Pan_, _What Every Woman Knows_, and
numerous other dramatic works have added to his already great
reputation. He is one of the leading English writers of the present
time.
WAR
By JACK LONDON
The short story often rises beyond the light and the commonplace to
act as a stern critic of world conditions. With vivid, realistic
touches it points at reality. By focussing every light upon a single
human figure who compellingly commands sympathy it arouses in us a
sense of kinship with all who suffer. Short stories of this type
have teaching force that is all powerful.
_War_ is such a story. Although little more than a vivid sketch it
presents the brutality of war in all its horror,—not by picturing
the slaughter of thousands, but by showing a boy,—shrinking, eager
to perform his full duty, loving life, fearing death, stopping to
gather apples in a boyish way,—a boy whose instinctive and noble
hesitation to kill rebounds on himself, as if in irony, and causes
his own death. In a certain sense, the boy with his kindly manhood
and generous motives represents the American spirit. The opposite
type of spirit, the love of war for war’s sake, brutality for the
sake of brutality, is shown in the boy’s enemies,—harsh foreigners
who hang men to trees, who shoot at the boy as at a target, and
laugh at his death. The story individualizes war, and thereby gives
emphasis to its horror. Such a story demands on the part of the
author a heartfelt interest in his theme, an intense love of life,
and the ability to write in realistic style.
Jack London was deeply interested in the world of men. Far from
being a recluse, he lived an active life with his fellows. He left
his college class in order to go with other adventurers into the
Klondike; he went to Japan, and seal hunting in the Behring Sea as a
sailor before the mast; he tramped about the country; he traveled as
a war correspondent, and went on an adventurous voyage into the
South Seas in a 55-foot yacht. He wrote a great number of books, all
of which show a quick understanding of the needs of humanity. Some
of his works are thoughtful studies of social conditions. His best
known books are: _The Call of the Wild_, _The Sea Wolf_, and _The
Mutiny of the Elsinore_. He was born in San Francisco in 1876, and
died in 1916.
THE BATTLE OF THE MONSTERS
By MORGAN ROBERTSON
In this day when science plays so great a part in life it is only
natural that many stories should be based on scientific knowledge.
Since such stories must almost always more or less distort
scientific truth in order to make the facts have story-interest they
are usually called “pseudo-scientific,” that is, falsely scientific.
Edgar Allan Poe, who did so much for the short story, was one of the
first to write pseudo-scientific stories, his _Descent into the
Maelström_, and _A Tale of the Ragged Mountains_ being good examples
of his peculiar power.
_The Battle of the Monsters_ is a wonderfully clever
pseudo-scientific story. In it we enter the minute world of the
microscope, every character being infinitesimally small.
The story tells how a microbe of Asiatic cholera enters the veins of
John Anderson at the same moment when he is bitten by a rabid dog.
The “white, corrugated wall” is the dog’s tooth; the army of
dog-faced creatures is composed of the microbes of rabies, or
hydrophobia. The vibrant roar heard from time to time, is the beat
of the man’s heart. In the veins the cholera microbe finds the red
corpuscles and other cells and microbes that exist in the blood, and
also the white corpuscles that, according to Metschnikoff, act as
destroyers of the microbes of disease. We go with the cholera
microbe through the series of blood vessels into the heart and
thence back into the arteries and veins, all the time seeing the
struggle between the beneficent white corpuscles and the deadly
microbes of rabies. We see the desperate efforts to keep the
microbes of rabies from entering the cells and finding their way to
the brain. As the microbes of rabies reproduce they begin to win the
battle. The cholera microbe, himself fighting the hosts of rabies,
is about to be overcome, when the physician’s injection of antitoxin
brings a new army to fight the dog-faced creatures. Now that the
danger of rabies has been overcome attention is paid to the hero of
the story, who declares himself to be the microbe of Asiatic
cholera. At once the police guardians of the blood, the white
corpuscles, close on him and destroy him. Thus John Anderson escapes
all danger from rabies and from cholera, to both of which he had
been exposed. The battle, if microscopic, had been real, had been on
a grand scale, and had been of tremendous importance.
The pseudo-scientific story could have no better illustration. Every
detail is clear, vivid with action, and tense with interest. There
is no turning aside to give scientific information—nothing that is
dry-as-dust. The microbes and corpuscles, without losing their
essential characteristics, speak and act in ways that we can
understand. That is why the story is so successful. It is a human
story, based upon human interest. Familiar language, familiar ways
of thought, events that we can understand, convey to us information
on a learned scientific subject—the work of the white blood
corpuscles.
Morgan Robertson, 1861-1915, was born in Oswego, N. Y. From 1877 to
1886 he lived the life of a sailor at sea. Gifted with natural
literary ability he turned to writing, and wrote a number of
distinctly original stories, most of them about the sea, such as
_Spun Yarn_, _Masters of Men_, _Shipmates_, and _Down to the Sea_.
=Metschnikoff’s theory.= The great Russian physiologist, Iliya
Metschnikoff, 1845-1916, taught that the white blood corpuscles
act as destroyers of disease microbes.
=The wounds of Milton’s warring angels.= In Milton’s _Paradise Lost_
the angels, wounded in the war in heaven, at once recovered.
=Darwin.= Charles Darwin, 1809-1882. The great English naturalist,
founder of the “Darwinian Theory” of evolution from lower forms.
=Pasteur.= Louis Pasteur, 1822-1895. The great French microscopist,
and student of hydrophobia. He was the first to inoculate for
hydrophobia.
=Koch.= Robert Koch, 1843-1910. A great German physician who
discovered the bacilli of tuberculosis and of cholera.
A DILEMMA
By S. WEIR MITCHELL
A popular type of story leaves the reader, at the conclusion, to
choose one of two endings, either of which is open to objections.
Such a story sets the reader’s mind at work, leads him to review
every part of the story, and leaves a peculiarly lasting impression
of construction and emphasis. In stories of this sort there is
careful exclusion of everything that does not tend to lead to, or to
increase, the difficulty.
_A Dilemma_ makes complete preparation for the final puzzle by
giving all the necessary facts, and all the motives for possible
action, or non-action. When the reader reviews all that has been
said, and sees how cleverly the story is constructed, he finds that
the difficulty of solution appears even greater than at first.
Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, 1829-1914, was born in Philadelphia, and there
spent most of his life. As a physician he wrote many medical books,
and became one of the most distinguished neurologists in the world.
His unusual ability led to his becoming member of many learned
scientific societies in this country and in Europe. In spite of his
active medical work he found time for much writing of a purely
literary nature. Such books as _Hugh Wynne_, _The Adventures of
François_, and _Dr. North and His Friends_, are distinctly original
American contributions, and made their author unusually popular.
=Empress-Queen Maria Theresa=. Maria Theresa, 1717-1780. Archduchess
of Austria, Queen of Hungary, and wife of Emperor Francis I of
Austria. One of the most interesting and notable women in history.
THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
By A. CONAN DOYLE
Edgar Allan Poe was the first author to succeed in the “detective
story.” His _Murders in the Rue Morgue_, _The Mystery of Marie
Roget_, and _The Purloined Letter_ are among the first stories of
their type. Since Poe’s time there have been all sorts of detective
stories,—good, bad, and indifferent,—from cheap penny-dreadfuls to
elaborate novels. Poe’s method has been followed in nearly every
one, whether written in this country, or abroad, as by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle in England, Émile Gaboriau in France, or Anton Chekhov
in Russia.
Of all the thousands who have tried their hands in writing detective
stories Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has won the most pleasing success.
His Sherlock Holmes is a world-known character.
The _Red-Headed League_ is an admirable example of the author’s
method. The story is told by the hero’s friend, Dr. Watson, allowing
opportunity for close appearance of reality, and for unstinted
praise. The problem is introduced at first hand, apparently with
every detail. To a certain degree we are allowed to enter the series
of deductive reasonings pursued by Sherlock Holmes. We are given a
brilliant series of events, and then the final solution. Occasional
hints at other work performed by Sherlock Holmes tend to awaken
further interest. There is such closeness to life, realistic
character drawing, good humor, and natural conversation, that the
story,—like all the four books of the Sherlock Holmes series,—is
most attractive.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. Both his
father and grandfather achieved fame as artists. Sir Arthur began
life as a physician and surgeon, but soon found his real work in
letters. He has written a number of our best historical novels, _The
White Company_, _Micah Clarke_, _The Refugees_, _Sir Nigel_, etc.,
and four books of stories about Sherlock Holmes, as well as much
other work both in prose and in verse.
=Omne ignotum pro magnifico.= Whatever is unknown is thought to be
magnificent.
=Sarasate.= A famous Spanish violinist, 1844—.
=Partie carrée.= A party of four.
“=L’homme c’est rien—l’œuvre c’est tout.=“ The man is nothing—the
work is everything.
=Gustave Flaubert.= 1821-1880. One of the greatest French novelists.
=George Sand.= The pseudonym of the Baroness Dudevant, 1804-1876, a
great French novelist and playwright.
ONE HUNDRED IN THE DARK
By OWEN JOHNSON
In _One Hundred in the Dark_ Owen Johnson makes one of the
characters say that the peculiar fascination of the detective story
lies more in the statement of the problem than in the solution. “The
solution doesn’t count. It is usually banal; it should be
prohibited. What interests us is, can we guess it?”
_One Hundred in the Dark_ illustrates that type of detective story
that presents a problem but gives no solution. Giving all the
information that one could be expected to have, it presents a
problem with several different solutions possible. At the end of the
story the problem is left unsolved—the reader is “in the dark,” but,
because his mind has been awakened, he is fascinated. The author has
gone further than usual, for he gives the story as if told in a club
at the conclusion of a conversation in which several persons have
taken part. The story is followed by further conversation that
suggests a second problem—what did the members of the club think of
the person who told the story? The result is that the author has
cleverly established a definite setting, has aroused interest in the
type of story to be told, and has emphasized the problem by giving
it a new interest in the light of the question: What part did the
members of the club think Peters played in the story that he himself
told?
Owen Johnson was born in New York in 1878. He turned his college
life at Yale into literary account in his interesting novel, _Stover
at Yale_. He is the author of numerous short stories and plays.
=Bon mots.= Bright sayings.
=De Maupassant.= Guy de Maupassant, 1850-1893. A celebrated French
novelist and poet. In _Fort comme la Mort_ (Strong as Death) he
tells of the life of fashionable society.
=The Faust theme.= A reference to the great tragedy of _Faust_ by
the German poet, Goethe, 1749-1832. Faust personifies humanity
with all its longings.
=The Three Musketeers, etc.= _The Three Musketeers_, by Alexander
Dumas, père, 1803-1870; _Trilby_, by George du Maurier, 1834-1896,
and _Soldiers Three_, by Rudyard Kipling, 1865-, all tell stories
of the close comradeship of three men.
=Vie de Bohème.= _Scènes de la vie de Bohème_ by Henri Murger. The
opera _La Bohème_ is based upon this book.
=Bluebeard and The Moonstone.= In the stories of _Bluebeard_, and
_The Moonstone_, a famous mystery story by Wilkie Collins,
1824-1889, curiosity plays a leading part.
=Watteaulike.= A reference to the conventional pictures of
shepherdesses by Jean Antoine Watteau, a celebrated French
painter, 1684-1721.
=Fines herbes.= Vegetable greens.
=En maître.= As master.
A RETRIEVED REFORMATION
By O. HENRY
The story of self-sacrifice has appealed to people in all times,
whether it appears in history,—as in the partly legendary story of
Arnold von Winkelried, who gathered the Austrian spears against his
breast in order that his comrades might make a way through the ranks
of the enemy,—or in fiction, as in Dickens’ _A Tale of Two Cities_.
Such a story is particularly fascinating, when, as in the story of
Sidney Carton, it combines the idea of self-sacrifice with that of
fundamental change in character.
In _A Retrieved Reformation_ O. Henry has told, in a convincingly
brilliant way, how a man—always really good at heart,—even when set
in evil ways—was led through love to develop his better self. The
greatness of Jimmy Valentine’s soul is made clear by his instant
willingness to sacrifice every hope he had,—to lay everything on the
altar of love and manliness.
The quick, realistic, kindly-humorous characterizations, the clear,
logical arrangement of opposing forces, the dramatic situation at
the climax, and the instant solution,—for which every step has
inevitably prepared,—point alike to a master hand in story telling.
William Sidney Porter, 1867-1910,—better known by the name, “O.
Henry,” which he chose humorously because it is so easy to write
“O,” and because he happened to see “Henry” as a last name in a
newspaper account,—achieved as much popularity as any short story
writer could desire. He was born in North Carolina, and brought up
in Texas, where he gained the little schooling that fell to his lot.
He became a sort of rolling stone, working on various periodicals,
living in South America, working in Texas as a drug clerk, engaging
fully in literary work in New Orleans, and finally coming to New
York City where he sold stories as fast as he could write them—and
his powers of production were most astonishing. He was only 42 when
he died, but, in spite of his wandering life, he had made himself,
with almost careless ease, the master of the short story. He wrote
quite untrammeled by convention or custom, using slang, coining
words, writing in any way he pleased, but always, in reality,
following the best principles of story telling, making his plots
clear, convincing, and full of the unexpected humors of life. With
it all he wrote with a spirit of gentleness and often touched real
pathos. His favorite method was to surprise the reader by bringing
him to a most unexpected climax.
BROTHER LEO
By PHYLLIS BOTTOME
The world is so full of selfishness, and resulting misery, that
every one more or less often thinks how different life would be if
every individual were to be ideal. Somewhere, somehow, we think,
must be a Utopia where everything is as it should be.
_Brother Leo_ is not a fantastic dream of some unreal place. It is a
simply beautiful story of a monk who had known no other life than
that in his monastic retreat on an island near Venice. There, in a
sort of heaven on earth, in a life of extreme simplicity, the young
man, untouched by the world, developed all that should characterize
us in our daily lives. For one day he goes out into the city, comes
into touch with its veneer and dishonesty, and goes back joyfully,
without the slightest regret, into his calm retreat.
The story, or character sketch, has no startling event. The young
monk moves in the soft light of kindliness, a beautiful, dream-like
figure presented to us with sufficient realism to give
verisimilitude. How much better to show this modern, idealistic
figure in modern surroundings than to picture some one in the
distant past, or in the still more distant future!
Phyllis Bottome was born in England. Her father was an American
clergyman and her mother an English woman. She has spent most of her
life in England, although she has lived in America, France and
Italy. She has written many short stories, some of which have been
collected in a volume called _The Derelict_.
=Torcello.= An island six miles northeast of Venice.
=Saint Francis.= Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226. The founder of the
monastic order of Franciscans.
=Poverelli.= Poor people.
=Rembrandt.= 1607-1669. A great Dutch painter. Some of his
pictures,—especially _The Night Watch_,—show wonderful light
effects.
=Poverino.= Poor little fellow.
=The sin of Esau.= See the Bible story in _Genesis_ 25: 27-34. Esau
sold his birthright in order to satisfy his hunger.
=St. Francis’ birds.= St. Francis loved all animate and inanimate
nature, and once preached to the birds as if they could understand
him.
=Per Bacco, Signore.= By Bacchus, Sir!
=Signore Dio.= Lord God.
=Veramente.= Truly.
=Il Signore Dio.= The Lord God.
=Piazzetta.= An open square near the landing place in Venice.
=The ducal palace.= The palace of the Doges of Venice, built in the
fifteenth century.
=Chi lo sa?= Who knows?
=The column of the Lion of St. Mark’s.= A column in the Piazzetta
bearing a winged lion, the emblem of St. Mark.
=Saint Mark’s.= One of the most famous and beautiful church
buildings in the world, originally founded in 830. Its attractive
Byzantine architecture and its wonderful mosaics have always given
delight.
=The Piazza.= The chief business and pleasure center of Venice.
=The new Campanile.= A new tower that takes the place of the fallen
Campanile begun in the ninth century.
=Frari.= A great Venetian church built for the Franciscan Friars,
1250-1350.
=Titian.= 1477-1576. The most famous of all Venetian painters. One
of the greatest artists the world has known.
=Bellinis.= Pictures by Giovanni Bellini, 1427(?)-1516, a great
Venetian painter, and the instructor of Titian.
=Andiamo.= Let us go.
=Palazzo Giovanelli.= A Venetian palace containing a small but
beautiful collection of paintings.
=Giorgiones.= Pictures by Giorgione, 1477-1511, a pupil of Bellini,
much noted for color effects.
=Florian’s.= A famous Venetian café, some 200 years old.
=Speriamo.= We hope.
A FIGHT WITH DEATH
By IAN MACLAREN
Heroism is as great in daily life as in battle. We live beside
heroic figures perhaps not recognizing their greatness. Plain,
simple surroundings, daily scenes, everyday people, the accustomed
language of daily life, may all take on noble proportions.
_A Fight with Death_ is a local color story, for it gives the
dialect, the way of life, the character, of certain people in a
remote part of Scotland. It is a story of noble type, presenting a
character ideal—a country doctor fighting for the life of a humble
patient.
The world will always appreciate any story that finds the ideal in
the actual; it will appreciate it all the sooner if it is written,
as in this case, with plenty of action, vivid character drawing,
natural, everyday language, and touches of pathos and of humor, all
so combined that the story rises to climax, and wakens sympathy.
_A Fight with Death_ is the third of a series of five simple,
exquisitely pathetic stories of Scotch life, entitled _A Doctor of
the Old School_, printed in the collection of stories called _Beside
the Bonnie Brier Bush_, by Ian Maclaren,—the pseudonym of Rev. John
Watson. The author was born in Manningtree, Essex, in 1850. He
gained a large part of his education in Edinburgh University, and
has spent many years in intimate touch with Scotch life. In addition
to _Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush_ Dr. Watson has written a number of
books, the most notable being _Days of Auld Lang Syne_, _The Upper
Room_, and _The Mind of the Master_.
=Drumsheugh’s grieve.= Drumsheugh is tenant of a large farm. The
“grieve” is his farm manager.
=Greet.= Cry.
=A certain mighty power.= Death.
=Sough.= Breathe.
=Thraun.= Perverse.
=Shilpit.= Weak.
=Feckless.= Spiritless.
=Pushioned.= Poisoned.
=Kirny aitmeal.= Oatmeal with full kernels.
=Buirdly.= Strong.
=Fecht.= Fight.
=Haflin.= A stripling,—half-grown.
=Dour chiel.= Stubborn fellow.
=Caller.= Fresh.
=Oxters.= Armpits.
=Grampians.= Mountains in central Scotland.
=Byre.= Cow-barn.
=Thole.= Endure,—permit.
=Fraikin’.= Disgraceful action.
=Glen Urtach.= A valley in the highlands.
=Jess.= The doctor’s old horse.
=Goon and bans.= Gown and bands,—clerical robes.
THE DÀN-NAN-RÒN
By FIONA MACLEOD