_468,327 copies of English editions sold to date._
This story is intended to show the futility of the spirit of
revenge--that vengeance belongs to God only. Two sons (born in
different countries) of the same father by different mothers set out
to search for each other to avenge the wrongs they have suffered
through their parents. When they meet it is as fellow-prisoners
chained together in a penal settlement, where their identity is
unknown (their names being hidden by numbers) and they become the
most passionately devoted friends. Finally one of the half brothers
gives his life for the life of the man he came to kill, and restores
him to the woman they have both loved. The scene is chiefly Iceland,
and the period the recent past. "THE BONDMAN" is one of Hall Caine's
most moving love stories. In some foreign countries, particularly
Scandinavia, it is thought to be his best.
_The Scotsman_ says: "Hall Caine has, in this work, placed himself
beyond the front rank of the novelists of the day."