A southwest wind howled around the little hut upon the Hills. The season
was in one of its humorous moods, for the day was almost summer-like in
spite of the wind's noisy insistence. Between the tops of the highest
dunes the white crested heads of the waves could be seen at times; and
the deep, solemn tones announced that there was "a heavy sea on."
The nearer water of the bay, in imitation of its mighty neighbor, echoed
in mildest tones its restlessness, and tossed its feathery foam high
upon the pebbly beach.
Thornly had found the first May pinks by the roadside that morning, and
Mark Tapkins had mentioned, in passing, that Cap'n Billy was soon coming
off. By these signs, and the singing in his heart, he knew the spring
had come.
He was sitting before the easel upon which rested "The Pimpernel,"
finished at last!
The work had been his salvation through the long weeks of waiting since
that night upon the beach. Alternately exulting and despairing, he had
painted in a frenzy born of starved desire and memory-haunted love.
Only once had he seen Janet alone since that eventful night, for Billy's
dangerous illness claimed her every thought and hour. But that once,
while Davy sat beside his friend, she had walked with Thornly upon the
sands and had told him her life story. Very simply she had spoken,
watching, meanwhile, the effect upon her listener. He had been startled
and shaken by the recital, and for a time Janet had misunderstood him.
"You must go away and think it over," she had said; "I am not the same
girl, you see!"
"Great heavens, Janet!" Thornly had exclaimed when once he recovered
from his surprise. "Do you think anything can make a difference now?
Why, you are dearer a thousand times in ways you cannot realize, for I
know Mr. Devant better than you do, and I am glad for him."
Janet shook her head. "Cap'n Billy must never know," she whispered.
"There may never be a chance, but in any case he shall never have that
hurt."
"It would be an added joy, little girl," Thornly insisted, but Janet
would not consider it.
"So please go now," she had pleaded finally. "Go and think and think.
Perhaps by and by--who can tell? Just now it must be only my Cap'n
Daddy."
Thus with the courage and patience of her nature the girl had set aside
her own love and yearning; and Thornly took to the Hills and the
unfinished picture of "The Pimpernel."
The glorious face upon the canvas changed and assumed character
according as the master's mood swayed him.
One day it would shine forth with the sweet questioning of joyous
girlhood. Then Thornly, remembering how the question had been answered
on a certain summer day when ignorance died and knowledge was born,
wiped away the expression while his heart grew heavy within him.
Then he would paint her as he recalled her on that black night upon the
beach when, her uplifted face touched by the fleeting rays of the white
moon, she had asked him if he needed her to help him finish his picture.
No! no! He could not paint her so. That was no face for a flower
wreath--and the flowers he must have!
Again he painted her as he had last seen her. The love light shining in
her eyes while courageously she put her joy from her until her duty to
Billy was ended, and her lover had had time to think.
Thornly had thought! Never in his life had he thought so deeply and
intensely, and from out the thought and love the soul of Janet had
evolved and become fixed upon the canvas. "It is a masterpiece!" cried
the artist in the man, as he gazed upon the glorious face.
"It is my woman!" responded the man in the artist. "My Spirit of the
dunes with the strength of the Hills and the mystery of the sea."
A sudden knock shattered the ecstasy. "Come!" called Thornly and turned
to meet his guest. Mark Tapkins awkwardly entered. Mark had been a great
resource to Thornly lately. Unconsciously he had been a link between
Janet and the Hills. In his slow, dull fashion he repeated all he saw
and heard at the Station, and Thornly, trusting to Tapkins's
uncomprehending manner, sent messages to the dunes that he knew Janet's
keener wit would interpret and understand. But Thornly had still
something to learn about Tapkins.
"Any news this morning?" he said cheerily, pushing a stool toward Mark.
"She's come off," said Tapkins with his eyes fixed upon "The Pimpernel."
"Is already off?" Thornly's color rose. "You know you said they were
coming soon."
"They've come! Her an' Billy is down t' Davy's."
"And Billy, how is he?" asked Thornly.
"Middlin'. But he ain't complainin' none. Say, Mr. Thornly, I don't know
as you understand why I've been runnin' here so much lately? You see I
wanted, so t' speak, t' git the lay o' the land 'twixt you an'--her!"
Tapkins kept his eyes upon the vivid face, only by its inspiration could
he hold to his purpose.
"Have you got it, Tapkins?" Thornly bent closer and gazed at his visitor
keenly.
"I seem t' sense it," was the low reply. "Travel an' city ways, Mr.
Thornly, make men understand each other." The old foolish conceit added
dignity to the evident purpose with which Mark was struggling. "Now,
over t' the Station the crew think you're a 'vestigator!"
So they had been talking him over, those quiet, apparently unobservant
men!
"What do they think I'm investigating, Tapkins?" Thornly's gaze
contracted, and he clasped his hands rigidly around his knees. He felt
as if he were before a bar of justice and he must weigh the evidence
against himself.
"The sand bar," Mark replied. "Every once so often some fellers come
down here with a fool notion o' cuttin' down the sand bar, an' dredge
deep enough to make a inlet int' the bay."
"Perhaps they may, some day, Tapkins." Thornly felt that along this line
he might sooner reach his friend's purpose in calling for the second
time that day. "It's not a bad idea, you know. It would sweeten the
waters of the bay, carry off the stagnant growth and let in a lot of new
life. But you do not think I'm an investigator, eh, Mark?"
Tapkins turned suddenly and faced his host.
"Not that kind, Mr. Thornly," he said, in a tone that brought, again,
the color to Thornly's face. "An' what's more," Tapkins continued, "I
don't think same as you do 'bout the inlet, nuther, Mr. Thornly. Nater
is pretty much alike in sand bars, an' folks, an' what not! God Almighty
knows what He's about when He piles up them dunes what divides ocean an'
bay; an' folks an' folks!"
"Go on, Tapkins!" This was worthy of Cap'n Davy. The sojourn at the
Light had had its influence upon the assistant keeper. Mark gulped and
turned his gaze upon the picture.
"'T ain't no good tryin' t' mix things, Mr. Thornly. That's what the
crew tells them fellers 'bout the bar. They don't listen none. They work
like beavers, an' we hold off an' have our laugh. Then they go away real
pleased after they've cut through, but nation! 't ain't any time 't all
'fore the sand's piled up agin. It's awful foolish workin' agin Nater."
"Just what kind of an investigator do you take me for, Tapkins?" Thornly
felt he must know the worst, and at once. The look Mark cast upon him
was full of trouble. He did not want to wrong this man he had grown to
like, but a sense of duty lashed him on.
"The Lord knows, Mr. Thornly," he faltered, "I don't want t' make any
mistakes. It's turrible confusin' when you try t' label folks. The same
acts mean different 'cordin' t' the handlin', an' a good man an' a bad
man bear a powerful likeness t' each other on the outside, sometimes.
Once I didn't speak out t' a friend when I ought t', an'--an', well,
there was, what you might say, a wreck! I ain't goin' t' hold back
another time. Mr. Thornly, you're stayin' on down here, 'cause you have
some sort o' idee o' openin' up a inlet 'twixt sich folks as you an' Mr.
Devant an'--her!" Mark waved his cap toward the easel. "'T ain't no use,
Mr. Thornly, s'pose you did cut through an' clean an' honest, too, don't
you see a little craft like that one couldn't sail out int' deep waters?
an' the Lord knows, big craft like you an' him would get stranded in no
time down here. Folks is separated fur a good reason. 'T ain't a
question o' one bein' better nor the other," Tapkins raised his head
proudly, "it's jest a case o' difference. Cuttin' down barriers ain't
goin' t' do nothin' but cause waste o' time in buildin' 'em up agin."
Never before in his life had Mark spoken so eloquently nor so lengthily.
A dimness rose in Thornly's eyes, and a respect for the awkward fellow
grew in his heart. He arose and stood before Tapkins, his hand resting
protectingly upon "The Pimpernel."
"You're one of the best fellows I've ever met, old man!" he said, "and
you've lived pretty deep; but there is another point of view about those
sand bars of yours. There is going to be an inlet all right, some day,
over on the dunes! When that time comes, beside sweetening the waters of
the bay and doing all the rest, something else is going to happen and
don't you forget it! Craft from outside will come in and not get
stranded, either; and what's more, some craft of yours that is stronger
and better fitted than you know of is going to sail out into the open,
test its strength and not get wrecked! Sand bars are for nothing in the
world, Tapkins, but for conquering. Take my word for that. It all
depends upon who tackles the job of the inlet, see?"
Mark got upon his feet and took the hand that was suddenly stretched out
to meet his. Thornly held the poor fellow's tear-filled eyes by the
radiance of his own.
"We understand each other, old man," he continued. "I am going, please
God, to cut through a barrier that has no right to exist. I'm going to
let as brave and trusty a little craft as ever sailed go out into the
broad waters where she belongs. Do you catch on, Tapkins?"
"I do that!" murmured Mark, and he dropped Thornly's hand. "I'll watch
out, Mr. Thornly. It's my way t' watch, an' I'm learnin' one thing over
an' over. In this life there's plenty t' learn if you've got--power!"
Mark had done his duty and departed. Thornly watched him from the open
door until he shambled from sight. Then a new doubt arose. While he had
waited alone upon the Hills, working and loving without distrust of the
future, they, these patient conservatives of Quinton, had discussed him
from every point of view and were ready when he pressed his claim to
judge him.
How different from his old world was this one of the dunes! What
different standards existed from those which swayed Katharine Ogden and
her kind! Unless he met their demands, he could mean nothing to them.
How far had time and discussion influenced Janet? Might she not fear to
try the larger life with him; she who had, without a quiver, discarded
Devant with his claims and yearnings?
For a moment the day seemed chilly and the sky darker. But Thornly was
not one to hold back when even the slightest hope beckoned. He would not
wait for her to call him, he would go to her!
He closed the door and strode down the sandy road. He passed the new inn
at the foot of the Hills, and returned the salute that Pa Tapkins waved
to him with a kettle from the kitchen window. As he neared the bay the
salt smell of the water seemed to give him strength. There was James
B.'s little boat at his wharf and Eliza Jane in the doorway of the low,
vine-covered house.
"You jest better be goin' on!" she called to James B., who was loitering
on the village side of the garden.
"I ain't more'n jest come off!" James B. answered. "I ain't any more'n
had time t' swaller my dinner."
"Well, what more do you want?" snapped his wife. "You go on now, an' do
what I tell you. An' there ain't no use t' turn the P'int t' the
village, nuther. I kin see your sail till you reach the Station, an' if
you don't go straight on, I kin reach the village store 'fore you kin.
So 't ain't no use, James B."
James B. evidently agreed with her, for he turned and went
disconsolately toward the wharf.
Thornly smiled and his old cheerfulness returned. He was seeing these
people, slowly, through Janet's eyes. They were so brave, patient, and
humorous. They were so human and faulty and lovable. Among them she,
poor little wayfarer, had got her life lesson--how would she apply it
now?
Before him rose Davy's Light, its glistening head ready for duty when
the night should come. Some one was waving from the balcony up aloft!
Some one had been watching the road from the Hills! Thornly's heart beat
quicker. Was it Davy?
Just then the playful wind caught the loosened, ruddy hair of the
watcher above, and Thornly hastened his steps.
The rooms of the lighthouse were empty, and silence brooded over all.
Thornly mounted the winding stairs and, as if Davy's personality
pervaded the way, his heart lightened perceptibly at each landing. In
the little room below the lamp, Janet met him.
"We're freshening up," she said with the old half-shy laugh, "Davy,
Cap'n Daddy, and I. Come!"
Thornly stretched out his hands toward her.
"Janet!" he whispered. "One moment, little girl!" She turned a full look
upon him. A look of love, of question, of joy!
"Not yet. Come!" she repeated, and paused at the foot of the steps for
him to join her.
On the sheltered side of the tower, in an easy-chair, sat Cap'n Billy.
Davy was hovering over him, good-naturedly scolding him for the exertion
he had made in getting to the balcony.
"The next time, Billy, that ye take it in t' yer head t' come up here,
by gum! I'm goin' t' hist ye up from the outside, same as if ye war
ile! How are ye, Mr. Thornly?" he cried, turning quickly. "Take a seat
on the railin'. 'T ain't what ye might call soft an' yieldin', but
there's plenty of it, there bein' no beginnin' or endin'." He laughed
and sighed in quite the old way. Billy's sickness had brought back the
sigh.
Thornly bent over Billy in greeting, and then seated himself where he
could look into all three faces. Janet sank upon a stool at Cap'n
Billy's feet.
"You know why I have waited, Cap'n Billy, for this day?" he said.
He could not resort to lesser means, when simple directness would be
better understood. Davy plunged his hands into his pockets and clutched
the courage that was supposed to lie there along with the pipe and
tobacco.
Cap'n Billy with quaint dignity put his thin, brown hand upon Janet's
bowed head, and answered in kind.
"I do that, Mr. Thornly. Out there on the beach arter I come in t'
consciousness, I done a heap o' thinkin', an' t'-day I told Davy I
knowed ye would come, an' I wanted t' freshen up on the balcony 'fore we
talked over the present and--the past!"
"Can't we let the past go, Cap'n?" Thornly asked gently. "You know it
can never matter to me. The future is all that I want." Billy shook his
head.
"Them's good heartsome words!" Davy broke in, tugging energetically at
his pockets. "An' spoke like a man, by gum! Let well enough alone,
Billy. You an' Janet is goin' t' stay right on at the Light, an' we'll
start in fresh from now!" When had Davy been a coward before? But
Billy's "works" might take to running down again, and that fear quelled
Davy's daring. But again Billy shook his head.
"'Course the government ain't goin' t' take on an old feller like me,"
he said, "'specially when he has t' be towed in himself when he's most
needed t' lend a hand; an' I ain't above takin' a place in the Light,
Davy, when I pull myself up sufficient, but I want once an' fur all t'
clar the air 'bout Janet." His troubled eyes looked pleadingly across
the sunny bay toward the Station that had been his resting place and
home for so long.
"The old see mighty clar, Mr. Thornly," he said, turning his gaze to the
present. "An' as ye git near port it's amazin' how the big things, the
real things, hold yer thoughts an' longin's. I ain't done my whole duty
by my little gal, an' the fact shadders my days."
"Don't say that, Cap'n Daddy!" Janet pressed closer to him. "You have
done your own duty and the duty of the whole world by me!"
"That's like ye, Janet, t' say them words; but ye don't know all! That's
whar I've wronged ye."
Davy saw that he must take a hand in what was going on. It would ease
Billy and spare Janet.
"We've got, so t' speak," he commenced with grim determination, "t' open
up the grave of the Past." He was always poetical when emotion swayed
him. "Ye see, Mr. Thornly, t' put it plain an' square, me an' Billy
knows that ye have some idee o' Janet, an' Billy ain't goin' t' let ye
take her under no false pretences. As t' givin' our consent t' ye payin'
yer respects, so t' speak, t' Janet, me an' Billy don't know, 'cordin t'
law, as we have any right fur givin' or holdin' our consent. An' now ye
have it straight an' fair!"
"Thank you, Cap'n Davy," Thornly replied, "but, I repeat, the past can
never mean anything to me."
"But ye see, Mr. Thornly," Billy clung to his purpose, "this girl,
properly speakin', don't b'long t' me. She drifted in t' port early, an'
from, as ye may say, a wreck; I kept her, an' loved her, God knows, as
if she war my own. But she ain't!"
This confession brought the beads of perspiration to Billy's brow, but
Thornly's unmoved expression calmed him.
"My Cap'n Daddy!" Janet turned her face to the agitated one above her.
"I've told Mr. Thornly this already, and he does not care!"
Billy drew a long, relieved sigh.
"I only want Janet," Thornly hastened to say. "Whether she belongs
rightfully to you or not, Cap'n Billy, you have trained her into exactly
the kind of woman I would have her!"
"That's the kind o' talk!" ejaculated Davy, and he drew out his pipe,
lighted it and inwardly gave thanks that they had all passed the bar so
successfully.
"But that ain't enough!" Billy insisted, shattering Davy's calm. "I
knowed who Janet's mother was, but I never knowed her father. I never
tried t' find out. I allus war afraid I would somehow, an' that's what's
clutchin' me now. I ain't acted wise or square. It comes t' me lately
when I look at Janet, an' see how much she favors some one what I don't
know, that I ain't only cheated her, but I've cheated some man out o'
his own, no matter how ye look at it. She might 'a' been the means, so
t' speak, o' bringin' him t' grace; an' times is when I've wondered if
Janet won't blame me some day."
"Never! never! my own Cap'n Daddy!" Janet reassured him, but her eyes
were troubled. An old doubt rose to take sides with Billy against her
own determination.
"That's what ye say, not knowin', my girl." Poor Billy's wrinkled face
twitched. "If yer true father be among the livin', an' sufferin' has
eaten int' his soul, then don't ye see, I've stood 'twixt him an' his
chance of somewhat undoin' a bitter wrong? It ain't no light matter t'
take the settlin' o' things out o' God Almighty's hand. I wish I'd
hunted him up! 'T was my plain duty t' have done that, I see it now. I
wish I'd given my gal the choice 'tween him an' me! It's a growin'
trouble as time passes." The slow tears were rolling down Billy's
suffering face. Janet had no comfort for him now. In her ignorance she
had pushed aside her chance to give him what his honest soul had longed
for. Recalling Mr. Devant's words, she bowed her head upon Billy's knee
in contrition, and pressed her lips against his work-worn hand.
Thornly stepped beside the crouching girl and laid a firm hand upon
Billy's shoulder. He must give no shock, but his time had come to take
another duty of Janet's upon himself.
"Cap'n Billy," he said slowly, and Davy eyed him closely, "I know
Janet's--other father!"
The sun crept around the tall tower. The wind fell into a lull after its
day of play. A silence held the little group for a moment, and then
Thornly went on:
"He has suffered a lifetime of remorse. He is a lonely, sad man."
"Ye hear that, Janet?" whispered Billy hoarsely, but his yearning eyes
were fixed upon the little house across the bay.
"Yes, my Cap'n, I hear," came in muffled tones.
How much the dear voice sounded like that one which years ago had so
named him!
"An', God willin', ye kin have a choice, my girl, even now! I ain't
goin' t' stand 'twixt ye an' a open course. Ye've got his blood as well
as hers! Ye must choose yerself, Janet, an' do it just an' honest like
I've tried t' show ye how!"
"Cap'n Billy,"--Thornly pressed the thin shoulder firmer, the real test
was coming now,--"our little girl has had her chance. She knows her
father; he came and offered her a life of luxury and pleasure--and she
chose you!"
"Gawd!" burst from Davy, and his pipe lay shattered upon the floor.
Billy breathed quicker, but the habit of a lifetime helped him bear this
crowning bliss. To such as he it sometimes happens that an inner sense
prepares the soul for its mounts of vision. In the silence that
followed, Billy struggled in memory from that long-ago time when his
love was young, to this hour when he was to know!
"An' he--is?" He spoke waveringly like a child feeling out into the
darkness for an object he knows is there. Thornly waited for what his
love trusted.
"Mr. Devant, my Cap'n Daddy!" The answer was in Janet's voice.
"I--I sort o' sensed it!" whispered Billy. "An' ye chose me when ye had
sich a chance?" Wonder thrilled through the question. Was he to know
more joy?
"Yes, my own Daddy. I chose you because I loved you! I never even wanted
you to know. But Mr. Thornly knew you better than I. You are nobler
than I thought."
"An' ye loved me like that?" A shining joy broke over Billy's face, a
joy that drove pain and remorse before it. "Do ye hear that, Davy? An'
ye once said God couldn't pay me fur what I done! Why, man, God paid me
all along the way, an' now He's added more'n I ever earned!" The weak
voice rose rapturously. "Mr. Thornly, I want that ye should send fur Mr.
Devant. I ain't goin' t' prove unworthy o' the Lord's trust in me!"
"Daddy! Daddy!" broke from Janet. Billy stayed her with a look.
"No, my gal. This ain't no matter fur ye! This be man's work!"
"Right you are, Cap'n!" Thornly grasped the old hand. Davy drew near and
looked upon his friend as if he were seeing him for the first time in
years.
"By gum!" he said. "An' that's what has been draggin' on ye all these
years! Why, Billy, you an' me is goin' t' take a new lease o' life!"
"We are that!" nodded Billy. Then he turned to Thornly.
"I ain't never goin' t' doubt a man like you, Mr. Thornly," he said,
"but ye see I could only train Janet one way, havin', as ye know, no
other 'sperience. I ain't use t' sich waters as ye sail, an' Janet ain't
much wiser. I'm thinkin'," he paused and tried to see his way, "I'm
thinkin', Mr. Devant might help ye on this tack. Sort o' steer this
little craft, so t' speak, till it's able to keep upright."
Quietly the girl by Billy's knee arose. She stood just where the
westering sun touched her with a golden glow. Thornly drew his lips in
sharply as he looked at her, and even Billy and Davy were awed by what
they in no wise comprehended.
"Daddy dear," said the sweet voice, "I am going to be very fond of Mr.
De--of my father, by and by. We are going to be great friends, I know,
and that will make you glad. But I must always be your girl! I am not
afraid to sail out upon the broad middle ocean. I used to tell Davy that
I longed to go; but I want no other help than your chart, my Cap'n, and
my Davy's Light!" Her lifted eyes were tear-filled as they rested in
turn upon the two rugged faces. Then she looked at Thornly and her tears
were dried as desire grew to trust and perfect understanding; he opened
his arms to her and she came to him gladly.
"And my love, my Pimpernel!" he whispered as his lips pressed the soft,
ruddy hair.
The birds twittered among the nooks and corners of Davy's Light. The bay
sparkled, and across the dunes the ocean's voice spoke in the deep
cadences of a mighty organ's tone.
"_An' there was glory over all the land_," Davy chanted as he turned to
his evening duty. "_A flood o' glory._"
* * * * * *
JOHN FOX, JR'S.
STORIES OF THE KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.
THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE.
Illustrated by F. C. Yohn.
The "lonesome pine" from which the story takes its name was a tall tree
that stood in solitary splendor on a mountain top. The fame of the pine
lured a young engineer through Kentucky to catch the trail, and when he
finally climbed to its shelter he found not only the pine but the
_foot-prints of a girl_. And the girl proved to be lovely, piquant, and
the trail of these girlish foot-prints led the young engineer a madder
chase than "the trail of the lonesome pine."
THE LITTLE SHEPHERD OF KINGDOM COME.
Illustrated by F. C. Yohn.
This is a story of Kentucky, in a settlement known as "Kingdom Come." It
is a life rude, semi-barbarous; but natural and honest, from which often
springs the flower of civilization.
"Chad" the "little shepherd" did not know who he was nor whence he
came--he had just wandered from door to door since early childhood,
seeking shelter with kindly mountaineers who gladly fathered and
mothered this waif about whom there was such a mystery--a charming waif,
by the way, who could play the banjo better than anyone else in the
mountains.
A KNIGHT OF THE CUMBERLAND.
Illustrated by F. C. Yohn.
The scenes are laid along the waters of the Cumberland, the lair of
moonshiner and feudsman. The knight is a moonshiner's son, and the
heroine a beautiful girl perversely christened "The Blight." Two
impetuous young Southerners fall under the spell of "The Blight's"
charms and she learns what a large part jealousy and pistols have in the
love making of the mountaineers.
Included in this volume is "Hell fer-Sartain" and other stories, some of
Mr. Fox's most entertaining Cumberland valley narratives.
_Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
STORIES OF RARE CHARM BY
GENE STRATTON-PORTER
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.
THE HARVESTER
Illustrated by W. L. Jacobs
"The Harvester," David Langston, is a man of the woods and fields, who
draws his living from the prodigal hand of Mother Nature herself. If the
book had nothing in it but the splendid figure of this man, with his
sure grip on life, his superb optimism, and his almost miraculous
knowledge of nature secrets, it would be notable. But when the Girl
comes to his "Medicine Woods," and the Harvester's whole sound, healthy,
large outdoor being realizes that this is the highest point of life
which has come to him--there begins a romance, troubled and interrupted,
yet of the rarest idyllic quality.
FRECKLES. Decorations by E. Stetson Crawford
Freckles is a nameless waif when the tale opens, but the way in which he
takes hold of life; the nature friendships he forms in the great
Limberlost Swamp; the manner in which everyone who meets him succumbs to
the charm of his engaging personality; and his love-story with "The
Angel" are full of real sentiment.
A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST.
Illustrated by Wladyslaw T. Brenda.
The story of a girl of the Michigan woods; a buoyant, lovable type of
the self-reliant American. Her philosophy is one of love and kindness
towards all things; her hope is never dimmed. And by the sheer beauty of
her soul, and the purity of her vision, she wins from barren and
unpromising surroundings those rewards of high courage.
It is an inspiring story of a life worth while and the rich beauties of
the out-of-doors are strewn through all its pages.
AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW.
Illustrations in colors by Oliver Kemp. Design and decorations by Ralph
Fletcher Seymour.
The scene of this charming, idyllic love story is laid in Central
Indiana. The story is one of devoted friendship, and tender
self-sacrificing love; the friendship that gives freely without return,
and the love that seeks first the happiness of the object. The novel is
brimful of the most beautiful word painting of nature, and its pathos
and tender sentiment will endear it to all.
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* * * * * *
MYRTLE REED'S NOVELS
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
LAVENDER AND OLD LACE.
A charming story of a quaint corner of New England where bygone romance
finds a modern parallel. The story centers round the coming of love to
the young people on the staff of a newspaper--and it is one of the
prettiest, sweetest and quaintest of old fashioned love stories, * * * a
rare book, exquisite in spirit and conception, full of delicate fancy,
of tenderness, of delightful humor and spontaneity.
A SPINNER IN THE SUN.
Miss Myrtle Reed may always be depended upon to write a story in which
poetry, charm, tenderness and humor are combined into a clever and
entertaining book. Her characters are delightful and she always displays
a quaint humor of expression and a quiet feeling of pathos which give a
touch of active realism to all her writings. In "A Spinner in the Sun"
she tells an old-fashioned love story, of a veiled lady who lives in
solitude and whose features her neighbors have never seen. There is a
mystery at the heart of the book that throws over it the glamour of
romance.
THE MASTER'S VIOLIN.
A love story in a musical atmosphere. A picturesque, old German virtuoso
is the reverent possessor of a genuine "Cremona." He consents to take
for his pupil a handsome youth who proves to have an aptitude for
technique, but not the soul of an artist. The youth has led the happy,
careless life of a modern, well-to-do young American and he cannot, with
his meagre past, express the love, the passion and the tragedies of life
and all its happy phases as can the master who has lived life in all its
fulness. But a girl comes into his life--a beautiful bit of human
driftwood that his aunt had taken into her heart and home, and through
his passionate love for her, he learns the lessons that life has to
give--and his soul awakes.
Founded on a fact that all artists realize.
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* * * * * *
STORIES OF WESTERN LIFE
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, By Zane Grey.
Illustrated by Douglas Duer.
In this picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago, we are
permitted to see the unscrupulous methods employed by the invisible hand
of the Mormon Church to break the will of those refusing to conform to
its rule.
FRIAR TUCK, By Robert Alexander Wason.
Illustrated by Stanley L. Wood.
Happy Hawkins tells us, in his humorous way, how Friar Tuck lived among
the Cowboys, how he adjusted their quarrels and love affairs and how he
fought with them and for them when occasion required.
THE SKY PILOT, By Ralph Connor.
Illustrated by Louis Rhead.
There is no novel, dealing with the rough existence of cowboys, so
charming in the telling, abounding as it does with the freshest and the
truest pathos.
THE EMIGRANT TRAIL, By Geraldine Bonner.
Colored frontispiece by John Rae.
The book relates the adventures of a party on its overland pilgrimage,
and the birth and growth of the absorbing love of two strong men for a
charming heroine.
THE BOSS OF WIND RIVER, By A. M. Chisholm.
Illustrated by Frank Tenney Johnson.
This is a strong, virile novel with the lumber industry for its central
theme and a love story full of interest as a sort of subplot.
A PRAIRIE COURTSHIP, By Harold Bindloss.
A story of Canadian prairies in which the hero is stirred, through the
influence of his love for a woman, to settle down to the heroic business
of pioneer farming.
JOYCE OF THE NORTH WOODS, By Harriet T. Comstock.
Illustrated by John Cassel.
A story of the deep woods that shows the power of love at work among its
primitive dwellers. It is a tensely moving study of the human heart and
its aspirations that unfolds itself through thrilling situations and
dramatic developments.
_Ask for a complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
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* * * * * *
CHARMING BOOKS FOR GIRLS
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
WHEN PATTY WENT TO COLLEGE, By Jean Webster.
Illustrated by C. D. Williams.
One of the best stories of life in a girl's college that has ever been
written. It is bright, whimsical and entertaining, lifelike, laughable
and thoroughly human.
JUST PATTY, By Jean Webster.
Illustrated by C. M. Relyea.
Patty is full of the joy of living, fun-loving, given to ingenious
mischief for its own sake, with a disregard for pretty convention which
is an unfailing source of joy to her fellows.
THE POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL, By Eleanor Gates.
With four full page illustrations.
This story relates the experience of one of those unfortunate children
whose early days are passed in the companionship of a governess, seldom
seeing either parent, and famishing for natural love and tenderness. A
charming play as dramatized by the author.
REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM, By Kate Douglas Wiggin.
One of the most beautiful studies of childhood--Rebecca's artistic,
unusual and quaintly charming qualities stand out midst a circle of
austere New Englanders. The stage version is making a phenomenal
dramatic record.
NEW CHRONICLES OF REBECCA, By Kate Douglas Wiggin.
Illustrated by F. C. Yohn.
Additional episodes in the girlhood of this delightful heroine that
carry Rebecca through various stages to her eighteenth birthday.
REBECCA MARY, By Annie Hamilton Donnell.
Illustrated by Elizabeth Shippen Green.
This author possesses the rare gift of portraying all the grotesque
little joys and sorrows and scruples of this very small girl with a
pathos that is peculiarly genuine and appealing.
EMMY LOU: Her Book and Heart, By George Madden Martin.
Illustrated by Charles Louis Hinton.
Emmy Lou is irresistibly lovable, because she is so absolutely real. She
is just a bewitchingly innocent, hugable little maid. The book is
wonderfully human.
_Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
GROSSET & DUNLAP'S DRAMATIZED NOVELS
THE KIND THAT ARE MAKING THEATRICAL HISTORY
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
WITHIN THE LAW. By Bayard Veiller & Marvin Dana.
Illustrated by Wm. Charles Cooke.
This is a novelization of the immensely successful play which ran for
two years in New York and Chicago.
The plot of this powerful novel is of a young woman's revenge directed
against her employer who allowed her to be sent to prison for three
years on a charge of theft, of which she was innocent.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MARY. By Robert Carlton Brown.
Illustrated with scenes from the play.
This is a narrative of a young and innocent country girl who is suddenly
thrown into the very heart of New York, "the land of her dreams," where
she is exposed to all sorts of temptations and dangers.
The story of Mary is being told in moving pictures and played in
theatres all over the world.
THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM. By David Belasco.
Illustrated by John Rae.
This is a novelization of the popular play in which David Warfield, as
Old Peter Grimm, scored such a remarkable success.
The story is spectacular and extremely pathetic but withal, powerful,
both as a book and as a play.
THE GARDEN OF ALLAH. By Robert Hichens.
This novel is an intense, glowing epic of the great desert, sunlit,
barbaric, with its marvelous atmosphere of vastness and loneliness.
It is a book of rapturous beauty, vivid in word painting. The play has
been staged with magnificent cast and gorgeous properties.
BEN HUR. A Tale of the Christ. By General Lew Wallace.
The whole world has placed this famous Religious-Historical Romance on a
height of pre-eminence which no other novel of its time has reached. The
clashing of rivalry and the deepest human passions, the perfect
reproduction of brilliant Roman life, and the tense, fierce atmosphere
of the arena have kept their deep fascination. A tremendous dramatic
success.
BOUGHT AND PAID FOR. By George Broadhurst and Arthur Hornblow.
Illustrated with scenes from the play.
A stupendous arraignment of modern marriage which has created an
interest on the stage that is almost unparalleled. The scenes are laid
in New York, and deal with conditions among both the rich and poor.
The interest of the story turns on the day-by-day developments which
show the young wife the price she has paid.
_Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
GROSSET & DUNLAP'S DRAMATIZED NOVELS
Original, sincere and courageous--often amusing--the kind that are
making theatrical history.
MADAME X. By Alexandre Bisson and J. W. McConaughy. Illustrated with
scenes from the play.
A beautiful Parisienne became an outcast because her husband would not
forgive an error of her youth. Her love for her son is the great final
influence in her career. A tremendous dramatic success.
THE GARDEN OF ALLAH. By Robert Hichens.
An unconventional English woman and an inscrutable stranger meet and
love in an oasis of the Sahara. Staged this season with magnificent cast
and gorgeous properties.
THE PRINCE OF INDIA. By Lew Wallace.
A glowing romance of the Byzantine Empire, presenting with extraordinary
power the siege of Constantinople, and lighting its tragedy with the
warm underglow of an Oriental romance. As a play it is a great dramatic
spectacle.
TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY. By Grace Miller White. Illust. by Howard
Chandler Christy.
A girl from the dregs of society, loves a young Cornell University
student, and it works startling changes in her life and the lives of
those about her. The dramatic version is one of the sensations of the
season.
YOUNG WALLINGFORD. By George Randolph Chester. Illust. by F. R. Gruger
and Henry Raleigh.
A series of clever swindles conducted by a cheerful young man, each of
which is just on the safe side of a State's prison offence. As
"Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford," it is probably the most amusing expose of
money manipulation ever seen on the stage.
THE INTRUSION OF JIMMY. By P. G. Wodehouse. Illustrations by Will Grefe.
Social and club life in London and New York, an amateur burglary
adventure and a love story. Dramatized under the title of "A Gentleman
of Leisure," it furnishes hours of laughter to the play-goers.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
B. M. Bower's Novels
Thrilling Western Romances
Large 12 mos. Handsomely bound in cloth. Illustrated
CHIP, OF THE FLYING U
A breezy wholesome tale, wherein the love affairs of Chip and Della
Whitman are charmingly and humorously told. Chip's jealousy of Dr. Cecil
Grantham, who turns out to be a big, blue eyed young woman is very
amusing. A clever, realistic story of the American Cow-puncher.
THE HAPPY FAMILY
A lively and amusing story, dealing with the adventures of eighteen
jovial, big hearted Montana cowboys. Foremost amongst them, we find
Ananias Green, known as Andy, whose imaginative powers cause many lively
and exciting adventures.
HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT
A realistic story of the plains, describing a gay party of Easterners
who exchange a cottage at Newport for the rough homeliness of a Montana
ranch-house. The merry-hearted cowboys, the fascinating Beatrice, and
the effusive Sir Redmond, become living, breathing personalities.
THE RANGE DWELLERS
Here are everyday, genuine cowboys, just as they really exist. Spirited
action, a range feud between two families, and a Romeo and Juliet
courtship make this a bright, jolly, entertaining story, without a dull
page.
THE LURE OF DIM TRAILS
A vivid portrayal of the experience of an Eastern author, among the
cowboys of the West, in search of "local color" for a new novel. "Bud"
Thurston learns many a lesson while following "the lure of the dim
trails" but the hardest, and probably the most welcome, is that of love.
THE LONESOME TRAIL
"Weary" Davidson leaves the ranch for Portland, where conventional city
life palls on him. A little branch of sage brush, pungent with the
atmosphere of the prairie, and the recollection of a pair of large brown
eyes soon compel his return. A wholesome love story.
THE LONG SHADOW
A vigorous Western story, sparkling with the free, outdoor, life of a
mountain ranch. Its scenes shift rapidly and its actors play the game of
life fearlessly and like men. It is a fine love story from start to
finish.
_Ask for a complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
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* * * * * *
THE NOVELS OF STEWART EDWARD WHITE
THE RULES OF THE GAME. Illustrated by Lajaren A. Hiller
The romance of the son of "The Riverman." The young college hero goes
into the lumber camp, is antagonized by "graft" and comes into the
romance of his life.
ARIZONA NIGHTS. Illus. and cover inlay by N. C. Wyeth.
A series of spirited tales emphasizing some phases of the life of the
ranch, plains and desert. A masterpiece.
THE BLAZED TRAIL. With illustrations by Thomas Fogarty.
A wholesome story with gleams of humor, telling of a young man who
blazed his way to fortune through the heart of the Michigan pines.
THE CLAIM JUMPERS. A Romance.
The tenderfoot manager of a mine in a lonesome gulch of the Black Hills
has a hard time of it, but "wins out" in more ways than one.
CONJUROR'S HOUSE. Illustrated Theatrical Edition.
Dramatized under the title of "The Call of the North."
"Conjuror's House" is a Hudson Bay trading post where the head factor is
the absolute lord. A young fellow risked his life and won a bride on
this forbidden land.
THE MAGIC FOREST. A Modern Fairy Tale. Illustrated.
The sympathetic way in which the children of the wild and their life is
treated could only belong to one who is in love with the forest and open
air. Based on fact.
THE RIVERMAN. Illus. by N. C. Wyeth and C. Underwood.
The story of a man's fight against a river and of a struggle between
honesty and grit on the one side, and dishonesty and shrewdness on the
other.
THE SILENT PLACES. Illustrations by Philip R. Goodwin.
The wonders of the northern forests, the heights of feminine devotion,
and masculine power, the intelligence of the Caucasian and the instinct
of the Indian, are all finely drawn in this story.
THE WESTERNERS.
A story of the Black Hills that is justly placed among the best American
novels. It portrays the life of the new West as no other book has done
in recent years.
THE MYSTERY. In collaboration with Samuel Hopkins Adams
With illustrations by Will Crawford.
The disappearance of three successive crews from the stout ship
"Laughing Lass" in mid-Pacific, is a mystery weird and inscrutable. In
the solution, there is a story of the most exciting voyage that man ever
undertook.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
TITLES SELECTED FROM GROSSET & DUNLAP'S LIST
RE-ISSUES OF THE GREAT LITERARY SUCCESSES OF THE TIME
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
BEN HUR. A Tale of the Christ. By General Lew Wallace.
This famous Religious-Historical Romance with its mighty story,
brilliant pageantry, thrilling action and deep religious reverence,
hardly requires an outline. The whole world has placed "Ben-Hur" on a
height of pre-eminence which no other novel of its time has reached. The
clashing of rivalry and the deepest human passions, the perfect
reproduction of brilliant Roman life, and the tense, fierce atmosphere
of the arena have kept their deep fascination.
THE PRINCE OF INDIA. By General Lew Wallace.
A glowing romance of the Byzantine Empire, showing, with vivid
imagination, the possible forces behind the internal decay of the Empire
that hastened the fall of Constantinople.
The foreground figure is the person known to all as the Wandering Jew,
at this time appearing as the Prince of India, with vast stores of
wealth, and is supposed to have instigated many wars and fomented the
Crusades.
Mohammed's love for the Princess Irene is beautifully wrought into the
story, and the book as a whole is a marvelous work both historically and
romantically.
THE FAIR GOD. By General Lew Wallace. A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico.
With Eight Illustrations by Eric Pape.
All the annals of conquest have nothing more brilliantly daring and
dramatic than the drama played in Mexico by Cortes. As a dazzling
picture of Mexico and the Montezumas it leaves nothing to be desired.
The artist has caught with rare enthusiasm the spirit of the Spanish
conquerors of Mexico, its beauty and glory and romance.
TARRY THOU TILL I COME or, Salathiel, the Wandering Jew. By George
Croly. With twenty illustrations by T. de Thulstrup.
A historical novel, dealing with the momentous events that occurred,
chiefly in Palestine, from the time of the Crucifixion to the
destruction of Jerusalem.
The book, as a story, is replete with Oriental charm and richness, and
the character drawing is marvelous. No other novel ever written has
portrayed with such vividness the events that convulsed Rome and
destroyed Jerusalem in the early days of Christianity.
_Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
AMELIA E. BARR'S STORIES
DELIGHTFUL TALES OF OLD NEW YORK
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.
THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON. With Frontispiece.
This exquisite little romance opens in New York City in "the tender
grace" of a May day long past, when the old Dutch families clustered
around Bowling Green. It is the beginning of the romance of Katherine, a
young Dutch girl who has sent, as a love token, to a young English
officer, the bow of orange ribbon which she has worn for years as a
sacred emblem on the day of St. Nicholas. After the bow of ribbon
Katherine's heart soon flies. Unlike her sister, whose heart has found a
safe resting place among her own people, Katherine's heart must rove
from home--must know to the utmost all that life holds of both joy and
sorrow. And so she goes beyond the seas, leaving her parents as desolate
as were Isaac and Rebecca of old.
THE MAID OF MAIDEN LANE; A Love Story. With Illustrations by S. M.
Arthur.
A sequel to "The Bow of Orange Ribbon." The time is the gracious days of
Seventeen-hundred and ninety-one, when "The Marseillaise" was sung with
the American national airs, and the spirit affected commerce, politics
and conversation. In the midst of this period the romance of "The
Sweetest Maid in Maiden Lane" unfolds. Its chief charm lies in its
historic and local color.
SHEILA VEDDER. Frontispiece in colors by Harrison Fisher.
A love story set in the Shetland Islands.
Among the simple, homely folk who dwelt there Jan Vedder was raised; and
to this island came lovely Sheila Jarrow. Jan knew, when first he beheld
her, that she was the one woman in all the world for him, and to the
winning of her love he set himself. The long days of summer by the sea,
the nights under the marvelously soft radiance of Shetland moonlight
passed in love-making, while with wonderment the man and woman, alien in
traditions, adjusted themselves to each other. And the day came when Jan
and Sheila wed, and then a sweeter love story is told.
TRINITY BELLS. With eight Illustrations by C. M. Relyea.
The story centers around the life of little Katryntje Van Clyffe, who,
on her return home from a fashionable boarding school, faces poverty and
heartache. Stout of heart, she does not permit herself to become
discouraged even at the news of the loss of her father and his ship "The
Golden Victory." The story of Katryntje's life was interwoven with the
music of the Trinity Bells which eventually heralded her wedding day.
_Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK
* * * * * *
LOUIS TRACY'S
CAPTIVATING AND EXHILARATING ROMANCES
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR. Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy.
A pretty American girl in London is touring in a car with a chauffeur
whose identity puzzles her. An amusing mystery.
THE STOWAWAY GIRL. Illustrated by Nesbitt Benson.
A shipwreck, a lovely girl stowaway, a rascally captain, a fascinating
officer, and thrilling adventures in South Seas.
THE CAPTAIN OF THE KANSAS.
Love and the salt sea, a helpless ship whirled into the hands of
cannibals, desperate fighting and a tender romance.
THE MESSAGE. Illustrated by Joseph Cummings Chase.
A bit of parchment found in the figurehead of an old vessel tells of a
buried treasure. A thrilling mystery develops.
THE PILLAR OF LIGHT.
The pillar thus designated was a lighthouse, and the author tells with
exciting detail the terrible dilemma of its cut-off inhabitants.
THE WHEEL O'FORTUNE. With illustrations by James Montgomery Flagg.
The story deals with the finding of a papyrus containing the particulars
of some of the treasures of the Queen of Sheba.
A SON OF THE IMMORTALS. Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy.
A young American is proclaimed king of a little Balkan Kingdom, and a
pretty Parisian art student is the power behind the throne.
THE WINGS OF THE MORNING.
A sort of Robinson Crusoe _redivivus_ with modern setting, and a very
pretty love story added. The hero and heroine are the only survivors of
a wreck, and have many thrilling adventures on their desert island.
_Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction_
GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26TH ST., NEW YORK