CHAPTER XXVIII.As all antiquarians know, Upwell Castle consists of two wings and a kind of centrepiece joining two civilizations and two divergent schools of architecture. The right wing is Tudor, and ruined; the left is Georgian, and habitable; the centre is nondescript and pseudo-Palladian. It cost a great deal to keep up, and nothing could keep it from falling down. Penelope's mother fell in love with it on first sight, and fell out with her husband about the price. Its value has fallen since then, for landed property is the only stable thing which always falls. There were pictures in it that connoisseurs gloated over, and some that picture-cleaners had restored till they were as valuable as a Gothic cathedral brought up to date by a resurrected Vandal. There were carvings by Grinling Gibbons to be seen, and some that were not by Grinling Gibbons. There were some rooms decorated by Adams that would have made Adam ill. There was an oak staircase there that a thousand intoxicated noblemen had fallen down; there was another that no sober gentleman could go up. It was ruinous, romantic, and rat-haunted; tapestry waved in its corridors, ghosts loved its precincts; there was a room stained with something that the servants said was blood, and that the skeptical averred to be port wine. The only thing against the latter theory was that the dining-room was not stained, though some said it had been so flooded all over that nothing showed. It was a delightful place, and Penelope never stayed there. Miss Mackarness did, but then she was a Scotchwoman, and didn't count. Bob adored it, but then Bob was Bob, and nothing could change him."I'll fix this all up," said Bob, "and make her happy. She's silly. I'll blow the gaff, as Baker says. She's up-stairs now, crying her eyes out, and making the baby bellow."He wandered about the grounds, and wondered where Mary and Bunting and Miss Mackarness were."Silly fools!" said Bob; "the idea of being afraid of going in a motor-car. By Jove, I wonder what's become of my man at Spilsborough! I suppose those people in Regent Street think I've stolen the car. What fun!"He explored the ruined wing, and ruined it a little more, and came out again into the Queen Anne garden."By Jove, I do wish I knew where they all were!" he said. "I wonder what granny is doing. Is she having fits, and Dr. Lumsden Griff to look after 'em? I think Griff's a soft-soapy ass. He says, 'Well, how are we this morning?' By Jove, all the rest of 'em will have fits, too. They will be sick. But I'm glad they're out of it. I wonder where Lord Bradstock is. He'll pull my wig when he sees me. And the bishop! Well, he's not a bad old boy. I rather like bishops, but their legs are queer. By Jove, but it's fun having skipped and done them! If they ever get to Spilsby and find us gone, they'll be mad!"He walked around the corner of the house, andpaffcame a motor-car and made him jump. Another one followed like a streak of light. Bob went quite pale for a boy with a complexion like an ancient red brick, and made a bolt for the door. He was too late, for Bradstock and the bishop stood in his way. Bob slowed down, put his hands in his pockets and whistled."I say," said Bob, "how did you find this place out?""I own to being surprised and disappointed with you, Robert," said the bishop; "very much surprised and greatly disappointed."Bob wagged his head to and fro."Why, what about?" he asked."At your not returning, sir," said his lordship. "You treated me and Lord Bradstock, I regret to say, with great disrespect.""I'm very sorry," said Bob, "but I couldn't help it. Pen—Oh, Lord! there's granny!"The duchess intervened."Robert, where is Penelope?"Bob hesitated."Gone to—t-to London for Paris and Marseilles and Australia," said Bob, hurriedly. "She said she couldn't wait, but had an appointment there somewhere. And she said I was to say she was sorry if any one called.""Robert," said the duchess, severely, "do not keep your eyes fixed upon the distant landscape. Look me in the face. Are you speaking the truth?"Bob wriggled and shuffled."No, I'm not," he said. "It's a beastly lie. But she did say the other day that she would go to the ends of the earth. And that's Australia, ain't it?""Bob," said the bishop, "this is very painful to me. Speak the truth like a man.""I won't," said Bob; "it isn't my truth. I won't give Pen away to any one."His vision cleared, and he saw the lovers ranked behind his grandmother and the bishop."Oh, Mr. Gordon," he cried, "do come and help me! Would you tell if you were me?""No," said Gordon, "no, of course not.""I always liked you," said Bob, "so I won't.""I command you," said Titania, looking at Gordon furiously."It's no good," said Bob, rapidly; "Pen's a great way off, far enough, that is, and I swore I'd never disclose the secret of her whereabouts to any one. At least, if I didn't swear it, I said it, and, if I said it, my lord, and broke my promise, it wouldn't be honourable, would it?""I don't care," began Titania."Would it, my lord?" asked Bob."I'm afraid not," said the bishop, "though perhaps in the circumstances, which are very peculiar—""Well, I won't," said Bob, "and that's flat. Goby wouldn't, I know, would you, Captain Goby?"But the duchess waved Goby into the background."I mean to have the truth. Shall we listen to your foolish scruples now? If you won't tell us where she is, tell us whom she has married. Is it one of these gentlemen?""I won't give any of 'em away," said Bob."Then you know?""Of course I know," said Bob."Ah," sighed the duchess, "then she is married?""She says so," said Bob, "and, if it's true, as I suppose, I know who it is. But Pen, before she went up—before she went, said I wasn't to speak."Bradstock smiled."Titania, Penelope is in the house. Let us go in," he said, and he marched up the steps. Bob shook himself free from the duchess and darted indoors before Bradstock. He bolted up-stairs to Penelope, and burst in upon her like a whirlwind."Pen, they're all here, all the gang! I couldn't keep 'em out!""Who are here?" asked Pen, in awful dismay."All of 'em, and the bishop and Bradstock and granny!""Oh, what shall I do?" wailed Penelope."I'll tell you," said Bob. "Let's sneak down the back way and steal one of their cars now, and get away!""No, no," said Penelope, "it wouldn't be dignified. I must be dignified, Bob, I must be; I will go down and see them.""No," said Bob."I will," said Penelope."And tell 'em the truth?"Penelope started."I can't, I can't, because we've quarrelled. But I will see them; I must."She went red and white and red again, and once more as pale as dawn. She kissed the sleeping, adopted, illegitimate, normal-coloured infant as he sprawled upon an historic bed, and went to the door."Come with me, Bob.""I'll hold your hand, Pen. I say, you shake!""Squeeze my hand till you hurt me," said Pen. "Now come!"She swept down the big staircase, with Bob in tow, and found herself in the presence of the entire "gang," as Bob had called them."Penelope!" said Titania, recoiling."Oh, Pen," said Bradstock, advancing."My dear Lady Penelope," said the bishop, sweetly, "do you recollect that I christened you at the early age of three months?""No," said Penelope."No!" said the bishop, "no, to be sure, how could you? But I did.""It—it was very kind of you," said Penelope. Titania recovered herself and advanced. Gordon and the rest hung about in the distance, looking as wretched as the ruined wing of the castle."Are you married, Penelope?" asked Titania."Yes," said Penelope."Of course she is," said Bob."Hold your tongue, Robert," said his grandmother. "And to whom?""I won't say," replied Penelope. "I told you I wouldn't, and I won't.""I said she wouldn't," cried Bob.Titania pointed her hand at the shrinking horde."Every single one of these gentlemen, to say nothing of Lord Bramber, who is with his invalid father at the present moment, came to me and said he was married to you! Every one of them without an exception!""I am very much obliged to them," said Pen. "In the circumstances, I think it was noble of them.""Are you alluding to the advertisement in theTimes?" asked Titania. "Are you aware that every one now says that you have adopted an infant?""What rot!" said Bob."Robert," cried his grandmother, "be silent, I command you. I will not be interrupted by you. Are you aware, Penelope, that it is said all over England and Europe and the blatant United States that you have adopted an infant?"Penelope shook her head."It's the first I've heard of it," said Penelope, who was the colour of a rose."Is it true? Do not evade my question," cried Titania."I don't see, granny, what right you have to ask 'em," said the irrepressible Bob. "I sent you a wire to say it wasn't black, and it isn't.""Augustin, silence that boy," said Titania.But Augustin shook his head."Don't you answer anything, Pen," said Bob. "No one has any right to ask you anything."He marched over to Gordon."Don't look so sad, Mr. Gordon.""I can't help it, my boy," said Gordon. "It's a horrid situation. I don't care whether it's adopted or not. If she'll marry me, I'll have her."Bob squeezed his hand."I ain'tabsolutelysure it isn't you yet," he said. "Pen hasn't told me all, you know. By the way, Mr. Gordon, did that speculation come off?""Not so well as I thought by ten thousand," said Gordon."Oh, I say," said Bob, "but, after all, it doesn't matter. I'll make fifty or sixty thousand do.""You're a fine boy," said Gordon. "But, Bob, I would like to strangle your grandmother.""Would you?" asked Bob, eagerly. "I dare say Pen does, too. Grandmothers and aunts are very trying. At least, I find them so."The duchess's voice rose now quite above the limits of social decency, except when any one is playing or singing."I will not be put off, Penelope. You will say who it is, and you will be married again by the bishop in his fine Gothic cathedral—""Mr. Dean's cathedral," interjected the bishop."With a proper service and the usual hymns, breathing over Eden, or I will stay here till you do.""Steady, Titania," said Bradstock. "If she won't, she won't.""But she shall," shrieked Titania. "Gentlemen, which of you is it? I am now entirely desperate; which of you is it?"No one said a word."Marquis, is it you?" asked the duchess. "You said so before.""How can I say?" asked poor Rivaulx. "She says no one must.""Quite right," said Bradstock. "Who will believe any one, Titania? Let's have lunch and be friendly and stop this. I'm very hungry, Pen. And let's see the baby."The duchess shivered."I cannot and will not see it," said Titania. "For by all accounts, it is an adopted illegitimate child. If Penelope will send it back to the person she got it of, and own the truth, I will forgive her and have lunch, for I am very faint.""I want to see the baby, Pen," said Augustin, with his hand on Pen's shoulder. "You know, Pen, they still say it's rather dusky."Penelope was very indignant."He's not," she cried. "They sha'n't say it any more. Bob, tell that girl up-stairs to bring him down."And Bob ran up-stairs like a monkey up a stick."I decline to see it," said Titania. "A baby without a name is a terrible object to me. It is an insult to the bishop and to the Church to bring one into the room. I will retire into the open air and try to breathe again."Goby assisted her outside."This is a calamity," said Titania. "It's a catastrophe. What is the truth, Captain Goby? Are you a liar, too?"Goby sobbed."How can I say?" he asked. "You know I can't."He looked out into the park."Here's some one coming in a motor," he cried. They all ran to the windows. But just then Bob and the nurse came down with the infant, who, though evidently awed by the number of creatures he saw about him, behaved like a gentleman, and not in the least like an adopted child."I congratulate you, Pen," said Bradstock. "The mother must be a devilish pretty woman! Does she miss it much, Pen? Oh, Pen, what a queer, mad darling you are! I begin to see daylight."But nobody else did. Penelope blushed and hugged the baby tenderly, while Bob danced around her in the wildest state of excitement."I say, Captain Goby, come and look at it! Mr. de Vere! I say, marquis! Ain't it a ripper, and as fat as a pup, and hardly a squeal out of it day or night! Granny dear, won't you look at it?""No, no," said Titania. "I cannot, cannot bring myself to do so!""You'll soon be jolly sorry, I can tell you," cried the loving grandson. "I'll bet you'll be sorry."He ran to Pen."I say, Pen, give the kid to me, or you'll drop it.""Drop him!" exclaimed Penelope. "Oh, Bob, is it likely?""Very likely," said Bob, "if you knew that I sent a telegram to some one just as soon as we got here!"Pen flushed scarlet. But not with anger."Oh, Bob!""I did! You ain't angry?""Oh, Bob!""I don't care," said Bob, as he took the child. "I don't care a hang. I'm ruined with all these jossers now. De Vere will never buy any more dogs of me. I say, who's that?"A motor-car stopped outside the great hall door, and a gentleman in black got out. He came up the steps rapidly, and stopped dead when he found all the world in front of him."I thought so," said Bradstock. "Now the catalogue is complete.""Lord Bramber!" cried the others. Penelope stood in the centre of the great hall as if she were turned to marble. But no marble ever had so sweet a colour.[image]THE EARL OF PULBOROUGH. Clever; but indolent"I believe it is now the Earl of Pulborough," said Bradstock, gravely, to the newcomer."Yes," he replied. "Penelope, you sent for me?"Pen fell upon his neck before them all and did not deny it.And, as they stood still in great amazement, Bob danced the baby up and down till that young gentleman made up his mind to roar as soon as he got his breath."This—this is Lord Bramber," howled Bob, triumphantly. "Now admit you feel sorry you spoke, granny!"He gave the baby to the nurse, and grabbed Goby by the arm."I say, I'm awfully sorry, but it isn't my fault, Captain Goby, and Ethel Mytton is a very nice girl, and dead in love with you.""Is she?" sighed Goby."Mr. de Vere, I've got a bulldog—""Damn bulldogs!" said De Vere.Bob seized Gordon."Do you feel very bad, Mr. Gordon?" he asked, sympathetically. "I almost wish it had been you.""It can't be helped," said Gordon, gloomily. "I never had a chance. Come and see me in the city next week, Bob."Rivaulx and Carew and Williams took their hats and slipped from the house, while Bob did what he could to soften things for them."I'll come and see you all very often," he cried. "Good-bye now!"An hour later, when Titania had the baby upon her capacious lap, and said how certain she had been the whole time that Bramber was Penelope's choice, Bob walked around the garden with the bishop and Lord Bradstock."Oh, it's quite easy to understand," said Bob. "After all she said, you expected she would marry some outsider, and you see she took the pick of the basket, and of course was ashamed. Oh, I know Pen.""You are a wonder, Bob," said Bradstock.The bishop said that upon adequate reflection he was inclined to agree with Bradstock."Well, Pen's all right," said Bob.THE END.* * * * * * * *L. C. Page and Company'sAnnouncement Listof New fictionThe Flight of GeorgianaA ROMANCE OF THE DAYS OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER. By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "The Bright Face of Danger," "An Enemy to the King," "The Mystery of Murray Davenport," etc.Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50Mr. Stephens's novels all bear the hall-mark of success for his men are always live, his women are always worthy of their cavaliers, and his adventures are of the sort to stir the most sluggish blood without overstepping the bounds of good taste.The theme of the new novel is one which will give Mr. Stephens splendid scope for all the powers at his command. The career of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was full of romance, intrigue, and adventure; his life was a series of episodes to delight the soul of a reader of fiction, and Mr. Stephens is to be congratulated for his selection of such a promising subject.Mrs. Jim and Mrs. JimmieBy STEPHEN CONRAD, author of "The Second Mrs. Jim."Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50This new book is in a sense a sequel to "The Second Mrs. Jim," since it gives further glimpses of that delightful stepmother and her philosophy. This time, however, she divides the field with "Mrs. Jimmie," who is quite as attractive in her different way. The book has more plot than the former volume, a little less philosophy perhaps, but just as much wholesome fun. In many ways it is a stronger book, and will therefore take an even firmer hold on the public.The Story of Red FoxTold by CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS, author of "The Watchers of the Trails," "The Kindred of the Wild," "Barbara Ladd," etc.Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with fifty illustrations and cover design by Charles Livingston Bull . . . $2.00Mr. Roberts's reputation as a scientifically accurate writer, whose literary skill transforms his animal stories into masterpieces, stands unrivalled in his particular field.This is his first long animal story, and his romance of Red Fox, from babyhood to patriarchal old age, makes reading more fascinating than any work of fiction. In his hands Red Fox becomes a personality so strong that one entirely forgets he is an animal, and his haps and mishaps grip you as do those of a person.Mr. Bull, as usual, fits his pictures to the text as hand to glove, and the ensemble becomes a book as near perfection as it is possible to attain.ReturnA STORY OF THE SEA ISLANDS IN 1739. By ALICE MACGOWAN and GRACE MACGOWAN COOKE, authors of "The Last Word," etc. With six illustrations by C. D. Williams.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50A new romance, undoubtedly the best work yet done by Miss MacGowan and Mrs. Cooke. The heroine of "Return," Diana Chaters, is the belle of the Colonial city of Charles Town, S.C., in the early eighteenth century, and the hero is a young Virginian of the historical family of Marshall. The youth, beauty, and wealth of the fashionable world, which first form the environment of the romance, are pictured in sharp contrast to the rude and exciting life of the frontier settlements in the Georgia Colony, and the authors have missed no opportunities for telling characterizations. But "Return" is, above all, a love-story.We quote the opinion of Prof. Charles G. D. Roberts, who has read the advance sheets: "It seems to me a story of quite unusual strength and interest, full of vitality and crowded with telling characters. I greatly like the authors' firm, bold handling of their subject."Lady PenelopeBy MORLEY ROBERTS, author of "Rachel Marr," "The Promotion of the Admiral," etc. With nine illustrations by Arthur W. Brown.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50Mr. Roberts certainly has versatility, since this book has not a single point of similarity with either "Rachel Marr" or his well-known sea stories. Its setting is the English so-called "upper crust" of the present day. Lady Penelope is quite the most up-to-date young lady imaginable and equally charming. As might be expected from such a heroine, her automobiling plays an important part in the development of the plot. Lady Penelope has a large number of suitors, and her method of choosing her husband is original and provocative of delightful situations and mirthful incidents.The Winged HelmetBy HAROLD STEELE MACKAYE, author of "The Panchronicon," etc. With six illustrations by H. C. Edwards.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50When an author has an original theme on which to build his story, ability in construction of unusual situations, skill in novel characterization, and a good literary style, there can be no doubt but that his work is worth reading. "The Winged Helmet" is of this description.The author gives in this novel a convincing picture of life in the early sixteenth century, and the reader will be delighted with its originality of treatment, freshness of plot, and unexpected climaxes.A Captain of MenBy E. ANSON MORE.Library 12mo, cloth, illustrated . . . $1.50A tale of Tyre and those merchant princes whose discovery of the value of tin brought untold riches into the country and afforded adventures without number to those daring seekers for the mines. Merodach, the Assyrian, Tanith, the daughter of the richest merchant of Tyre, Miriam, her Hebrew slave, and the dwarf Hiram, who was the greatest artist of his day, are a quartette of characters hard to surpass in individuality. It has been said that the powerful order of Free Masons first had its origin in the meetings which were held at Hiram's studio in Tyre, where gathered together the greatest spirits of that age and place.The Paradise of the Wild AppleBy RICHARD LEGALLIENNE, author of "Old Love Stories Retold," "The Quest of the Golden Girl," etc.Library 12mo, cloth decorative . . . $1.50The theme of Mr. LeGallienne's new romance deals with the instinct of wildness in human nature,—the wander spirit and impatience of tame domesticity, the preference for wild flowers and fruits, and the glee in summer storms and elemental frolics. A wild apple-tree, high up in a rocky meadow, is symbolic of all this, and Mr. LeGallienne works out in a fashion at once imaginative and serious the romance of a young man well placed from the view of worldly goods and estate, who suddenly hungers for the "wild apples" of his youth. The theme has limitless possibilities, and Mr. LeGallienne is artist enough to make adequate use of them.The GrappleLibrary 12mo, cloth decorative . . . $1.50This story of a strike in the coal mines of Pennsylvania gives both sides of the question,—the Union and its methods, and the non-Union workers and their loyal adherents, with a final typical clash at the end. The question is an absorbing one, and it is handled fearlessly.For the present at least "The Grapple" will be issued anonymously.Brothers of PerilBy THEODORE ROBERTS, author of "Hemming the Adventurer."Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50"Brothers of Peril" has an unusual plot, dealing with a now extinct race, the Beothic Indians of the sixteenth century, who were the original inhabitants of Newfoundland when that island was merely a fishing-station for the cod-seeking fleets of the old world.The story tells of the adventures of a young English cavalier, who, left behind by the fleet, finds another Englishman, with his daughter and servants, who is hiding from the law. A French adventurer and pirate, who is an unwelcome suitor for the daughter, plays an important part. Encounters between the Indians and the small colony of white men on shore, and perilous adventures at sea with a shipload of pirates led by the French buccaneer, make a story of breathless interest.The Black BarqueBy T. JENKINS HAINS, author of "The Wind Jammers," "The Strife of the Sea," etc. With five illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50According to a high naval authority who has seen the advance sheets, this is one of the best sea stories ever offered to the public. "The Black Barque" is a story of slavery and piracy upon the high seas about 1815, and is written with a thorough knowledge of deep-water sailing. This, Captain Hains's first long sea story, realistically pictures a series of stirring scenes at the period of the destruction of the exciting but nefarious traffic in slaves, in the form of a narrative by a young American lieutenant, who, by force of circumstances, finds himself the gunner of "The Black Barque."Cameron of LochielTranslated from the French of PHILIPPE AUBERT DE GASPÉ by PROF. CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS.Library 12mo, cloth decorative . . . $1.50The publishers are gratified to announce a new edition of a book by this famous author, who may be called the Walter Scott of Canada. This interesting and valuable romance is fortunate in having for its translator Professor Roberts, who has caught perfectly the spirit of the original. The French edition first appeared under the title of "Les Anciens Canadiens" in 1862, and was later translated and appeared in an American edition now out of print.Patriotism, devotion to the French-Canadian nationality, a just pride of race, and a loving memory for his people's romantic and heroic past, are the dominant chords struck by the author throughout the story.Castel del MonteBy NATHAN GALLIZIER. Illustrated by H. C. Edwards.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.5OA powerful romance of the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in Italy, and the overthrow of Manfred by Charles of Anjou, the champion of Pope Clement IV. The Middle Ages are noted for the weird mysticism and the deep fatalism characteristic of a people believing in signs and portents and the firm hand of fate. Mr. Gallizier has brought out these characteristics in a marked degree.Slaves of SuccessBy ELLIOTT FLOWER, author of "The Spoilsmen," etc. With twenty illustrations by different artists.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50Another striking book by Mr. Flower, whose work is already so well known, both through his long stories and his contributions toCollier's, theSaturday Evening Post, etc. Like his first success, "The Spoilsmen," it deals with politics, but in the broader field of state and national instead of municipal. The book has recently appeared in condensed form as a serial inCollier's Magazine, where it attracted wide-spread attention, and the announcement of its appearance in book form will be welcomed by Mr. Flower's rapidly increasing audience. The successful delineation of characters like John Wade, Ben Carroll, Azro Craig, and Allen Sidway throws new strong lights on the inside workings of American business and political "graft."Silver BellsBy COL. ANDREW C. P. HAGGARD, author of "Hannibal's Daughter," "Louis XIV. in Court and Camp," etc. With cover design and frontispiece by Charles Livingston Bull.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50Under the thin veneer of conventionality and custom lurks in many hearts the primeval instinct to throw civilization to the winds and hark back to the ways of the savages in the wilderness, and it often requires but a mental crisis or an emotional upheaval to break through the coating. Geoffrey Digby was such an one, who left home and kindred to seek happiness among the Indians of Canada, in the vast woods which always hold an undefinable mystery and fascination. He gained renown as a mighty hunter, and the tale of his life there, and the romance which awaited him, will be heartily enjoyed by all who like a good love-story with plenty of action not of the "stock" order. "Silver Bells," the Indian girl, is a perfect "child of nature."Selections fromL. C. Page and Company'sList of FictionWORKS OFROBERT NEILSON STEPHENSCaptain Ravenshaw;OR, THE MAID OF CHEAPSIDE. (40th thousand.) A romance of Elizabethan London. Illustrations by Howard Pyle and other artists.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50Not since the absorbing adventures of D'Artagnan have we had anything so good in the blended vein of romance and comedy. The beggar student, the rich goldsmith, the roisterer and the rake, the fop and the maid, are all here: foremost among them Captain Ravenshaw himself, soldier of fortune and adventurer, who, after escapades of binding interest, finally wins a way to fame and to matrimony.Philip Winwood.(70th thousand) A Sketch of the Domestic History of an American Captain in the War of Independence, embracing events that occurred between and during the years 1763 and 1785 in New York and London. Written by his Enemy in War, Herbert Russell, Lieutenant in the Loyalist Forces. Presented anew by ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS. Illustrated by E. W. D. Hamilton.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50"One of the most stirring and remarkable romances that have been published in a long while, and its episodes, incidents, and actions are as interesting and agreeable as they are vivid and dramatic."—Boston Times.The Mystery of Murray Davenport.(30th thousand.) By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "An Enemy to the King," "Philip Winwood," etc.Library 12mo, cloth, with six full-page illustrations by H. C. Edwards . . . $1.50"This is easily the best thing that Mr. Stephens has yet done. Those familiar with his other novels can best judge the measure of this praise, which is generous."—Buffalo News."Mr. Stephens won a host of friends through his earlier volumes, but we think he will do still better work in his new field if the present volume is a criterion."—N. Y. Com. Advertiser.An Enemy to the King.(60th thousand.) From the "Recently Discovered Memoirs of the Sieur de la Tournoire." Illustrated by H. De M. Young.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50An historical romance of the sixteenth century, describing the adventures of a young French nobleman at the Court of Henry III., and on the field with Henry of Navarre."A stirring tale."—Detroit Free Press."A royally strong piece of fiction."—Boston Ideas."Interesting from the first to the last page."—Brooklyn Eagle."Brilliant as a play; it is equally brilliant as a romantic novel."—Philadelphia Press.The Continental Dragoon:A ROMANCE OF PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE IN 1778. (43d thousand.) Illustrated by H. C. Edwards.Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50A stirring romance of the Revolution, the scene being laid in and around the old Philipse Manor House, near Yonkers, which at the time of the story was the central point of the so-called "neutral territory" between the two armies.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
As all antiquarians know, Upwell Castle consists of two wings and a kind of centrepiece joining two civilizations and two divergent schools of architecture. The right wing is Tudor, and ruined; the left is Georgian, and habitable; the centre is nondescript and pseudo-Palladian. It cost a great deal to keep up, and nothing could keep it from falling down. Penelope's mother fell in love with it on first sight, and fell out with her husband about the price. Its value has fallen since then, for landed property is the only stable thing which always falls. There were pictures in it that connoisseurs gloated over, and some that picture-cleaners had restored till they were as valuable as a Gothic cathedral brought up to date by a resurrected Vandal. There were carvings by Grinling Gibbons to be seen, and some that were not by Grinling Gibbons. There were some rooms decorated by Adams that would have made Adam ill. There was an oak staircase there that a thousand intoxicated noblemen had fallen down; there was another that no sober gentleman could go up. It was ruinous, romantic, and rat-haunted; tapestry waved in its corridors, ghosts loved its precincts; there was a room stained with something that the servants said was blood, and that the skeptical averred to be port wine. The only thing against the latter theory was that the dining-room was not stained, though some said it had been so flooded all over that nothing showed. It was a delightful place, and Penelope never stayed there. Miss Mackarness did, but then she was a Scotchwoman, and didn't count. Bob adored it, but then Bob was Bob, and nothing could change him.
"I'll fix this all up," said Bob, "and make her happy. She's silly. I'll blow the gaff, as Baker says. She's up-stairs now, crying her eyes out, and making the baby bellow."
He wandered about the grounds, and wondered where Mary and Bunting and Miss Mackarness were.
"Silly fools!" said Bob; "the idea of being afraid of going in a motor-car. By Jove, I wonder what's become of my man at Spilsborough! I suppose those people in Regent Street think I've stolen the car. What fun!"
He explored the ruined wing, and ruined it a little more, and came out again into the Queen Anne garden.
"By Jove, I do wish I knew where they all were!" he said. "I wonder what granny is doing. Is she having fits, and Dr. Lumsden Griff to look after 'em? I think Griff's a soft-soapy ass. He says, 'Well, how are we this morning?' By Jove, all the rest of 'em will have fits, too. They will be sick. But I'm glad they're out of it. I wonder where Lord Bradstock is. He'll pull my wig when he sees me. And the bishop! Well, he's not a bad old boy. I rather like bishops, but their legs are queer. By Jove, but it's fun having skipped and done them! If they ever get to Spilsby and find us gone, they'll be mad!"
He walked around the corner of the house, andpaffcame a motor-car and made him jump. Another one followed like a streak of light. Bob went quite pale for a boy with a complexion like an ancient red brick, and made a bolt for the door. He was too late, for Bradstock and the bishop stood in his way. Bob slowed down, put his hands in his pockets and whistled.
"I say," said Bob, "how did you find this place out?"
"I own to being surprised and disappointed with you, Robert," said the bishop; "very much surprised and greatly disappointed."
Bob wagged his head to and fro.
"Why, what about?" he asked.
"At your not returning, sir," said his lordship. "You treated me and Lord Bradstock, I regret to say, with great disrespect."
"I'm very sorry," said Bob, "but I couldn't help it. Pen—Oh, Lord! there's granny!"
The duchess intervened.
"Robert, where is Penelope?"
Bob hesitated.
"Gone to—t-to London for Paris and Marseilles and Australia," said Bob, hurriedly. "She said she couldn't wait, but had an appointment there somewhere. And she said I was to say she was sorry if any one called."
"Robert," said the duchess, severely, "do not keep your eyes fixed upon the distant landscape. Look me in the face. Are you speaking the truth?"
Bob wriggled and shuffled.
"No, I'm not," he said. "It's a beastly lie. But she did say the other day that she would go to the ends of the earth. And that's Australia, ain't it?"
"Bob," said the bishop, "this is very painful to me. Speak the truth like a man."
"I won't," said Bob; "it isn't my truth. I won't give Pen away to any one."
His vision cleared, and he saw the lovers ranked behind his grandmother and the bishop.
"Oh, Mr. Gordon," he cried, "do come and help me! Would you tell if you were me?"
"No," said Gordon, "no, of course not."
"I always liked you," said Bob, "so I won't."
"I command you," said Titania, looking at Gordon furiously.
"It's no good," said Bob, rapidly; "Pen's a great way off, far enough, that is, and I swore I'd never disclose the secret of her whereabouts to any one. At least, if I didn't swear it, I said it, and, if I said it, my lord, and broke my promise, it wouldn't be honourable, would it?"
"I don't care," began Titania.
"Would it, my lord?" asked Bob.
"I'm afraid not," said the bishop, "though perhaps in the circumstances, which are very peculiar—"
"Well, I won't," said Bob, "and that's flat. Goby wouldn't, I know, would you, Captain Goby?"
But the duchess waved Goby into the background.
"I mean to have the truth. Shall we listen to your foolish scruples now? If you won't tell us where she is, tell us whom she has married. Is it one of these gentlemen?"
"I won't give any of 'em away," said Bob.
"Then you know?"
"Of course I know," said Bob.
"Ah," sighed the duchess, "then she is married?"
"She says so," said Bob, "and, if it's true, as I suppose, I know who it is. But Pen, before she went up—before she went, said I wasn't to speak."
Bradstock smiled.
"Titania, Penelope is in the house. Let us go in," he said, and he marched up the steps. Bob shook himself free from the duchess and darted indoors before Bradstock. He bolted up-stairs to Penelope, and burst in upon her like a whirlwind.
"Pen, they're all here, all the gang! I couldn't keep 'em out!"
"Who are here?" asked Pen, in awful dismay.
"All of 'em, and the bishop and Bradstock and granny!"
"Oh, what shall I do?" wailed Penelope.
"I'll tell you," said Bob. "Let's sneak down the back way and steal one of their cars now, and get away!"
"No, no," said Penelope, "it wouldn't be dignified. I must be dignified, Bob, I must be; I will go down and see them."
"No," said Bob.
"I will," said Penelope.
"And tell 'em the truth?"
Penelope started.
"I can't, I can't, because we've quarrelled. But I will see them; I must."
She went red and white and red again, and once more as pale as dawn. She kissed the sleeping, adopted, illegitimate, normal-coloured infant as he sprawled upon an historic bed, and went to the door.
"Come with me, Bob."
"I'll hold your hand, Pen. I say, you shake!"
"Squeeze my hand till you hurt me," said Pen. "Now come!"
She swept down the big staircase, with Bob in tow, and found herself in the presence of the entire "gang," as Bob had called them.
"Penelope!" said Titania, recoiling.
"Oh, Pen," said Bradstock, advancing.
"My dear Lady Penelope," said the bishop, sweetly, "do you recollect that I christened you at the early age of three months?"
"No," said Penelope.
"No!" said the bishop, "no, to be sure, how could you? But I did."
"It—it was very kind of you," said Penelope. Titania recovered herself and advanced. Gordon and the rest hung about in the distance, looking as wretched as the ruined wing of the castle.
"Are you married, Penelope?" asked Titania.
"Yes," said Penelope.
"Of course she is," said Bob.
"Hold your tongue, Robert," said his grandmother. "And to whom?"
"I won't say," replied Penelope. "I told you I wouldn't, and I won't."
"I said she wouldn't," cried Bob.
Titania pointed her hand at the shrinking horde.
"Every single one of these gentlemen, to say nothing of Lord Bramber, who is with his invalid father at the present moment, came to me and said he was married to you! Every one of them without an exception!"
"I am very much obliged to them," said Pen. "In the circumstances, I think it was noble of them."
"Are you alluding to the advertisement in theTimes?" asked Titania. "Are you aware that every one now says that you have adopted an infant?"
"What rot!" said Bob.
"Robert," cried his grandmother, "be silent, I command you. I will not be interrupted by you. Are you aware, Penelope, that it is said all over England and Europe and the blatant United States that you have adopted an infant?"
Penelope shook her head.
"It's the first I've heard of it," said Penelope, who was the colour of a rose.
"Is it true? Do not evade my question," cried Titania.
"I don't see, granny, what right you have to ask 'em," said the irrepressible Bob. "I sent you a wire to say it wasn't black, and it isn't."
"Augustin, silence that boy," said Titania.
But Augustin shook his head.
"Don't you answer anything, Pen," said Bob. "No one has any right to ask you anything."
He marched over to Gordon.
"Don't look so sad, Mr. Gordon."
"I can't help it, my boy," said Gordon. "It's a horrid situation. I don't care whether it's adopted or not. If she'll marry me, I'll have her."
Bob squeezed his hand.
"I ain'tabsolutelysure it isn't you yet," he said. "Pen hasn't told me all, you know. By the way, Mr. Gordon, did that speculation come off?"
"Not so well as I thought by ten thousand," said Gordon.
"Oh, I say," said Bob, "but, after all, it doesn't matter. I'll make fifty or sixty thousand do."
"You're a fine boy," said Gordon. "But, Bob, I would like to strangle your grandmother."
"Would you?" asked Bob, eagerly. "I dare say Pen does, too. Grandmothers and aunts are very trying. At least, I find them so."
The duchess's voice rose now quite above the limits of social decency, except when any one is playing or singing.
"I will not be put off, Penelope. You will say who it is, and you will be married again by the bishop in his fine Gothic cathedral—"
"Mr. Dean's cathedral," interjected the bishop.
"With a proper service and the usual hymns, breathing over Eden, or I will stay here till you do."
"Steady, Titania," said Bradstock. "If she won't, she won't."
"But she shall," shrieked Titania. "Gentlemen, which of you is it? I am now entirely desperate; which of you is it?"
No one said a word.
"Marquis, is it you?" asked the duchess. "You said so before."
"How can I say?" asked poor Rivaulx. "She says no one must."
"Quite right," said Bradstock. "Who will believe any one, Titania? Let's have lunch and be friendly and stop this. I'm very hungry, Pen. And let's see the baby."
The duchess shivered.
"I cannot and will not see it," said Titania. "For by all accounts, it is an adopted illegitimate child. If Penelope will send it back to the person she got it of, and own the truth, I will forgive her and have lunch, for I am very faint."
"I want to see the baby, Pen," said Augustin, with his hand on Pen's shoulder. "You know, Pen, they still say it's rather dusky."
Penelope was very indignant.
"He's not," she cried. "They sha'n't say it any more. Bob, tell that girl up-stairs to bring him down."
And Bob ran up-stairs like a monkey up a stick.
"I decline to see it," said Titania. "A baby without a name is a terrible object to me. It is an insult to the bishop and to the Church to bring one into the room. I will retire into the open air and try to breathe again."
Goby assisted her outside.
"This is a calamity," said Titania. "It's a catastrophe. What is the truth, Captain Goby? Are you a liar, too?"
Goby sobbed.
"How can I say?" he asked. "You know I can't."
He looked out into the park.
"Here's some one coming in a motor," he cried. They all ran to the windows. But just then Bob and the nurse came down with the infant, who, though evidently awed by the number of creatures he saw about him, behaved like a gentleman, and not in the least like an adopted child.
"I congratulate you, Pen," said Bradstock. "The mother must be a devilish pretty woman! Does she miss it much, Pen? Oh, Pen, what a queer, mad darling you are! I begin to see daylight."
But nobody else did. Penelope blushed and hugged the baby tenderly, while Bob danced around her in the wildest state of excitement.
"I say, Captain Goby, come and look at it! Mr. de Vere! I say, marquis! Ain't it a ripper, and as fat as a pup, and hardly a squeal out of it day or night! Granny dear, won't you look at it?"
"No, no," said Titania. "I cannot, cannot bring myself to do so!"
"You'll soon be jolly sorry, I can tell you," cried the loving grandson. "I'll bet you'll be sorry."
He ran to Pen.
"I say, Pen, give the kid to me, or you'll drop it."
"Drop him!" exclaimed Penelope. "Oh, Bob, is it likely?"
"Very likely," said Bob, "if you knew that I sent a telegram to some one just as soon as we got here!"
Pen flushed scarlet. But not with anger.
"Oh, Bob!"
"I did! You ain't angry?"
"Oh, Bob!"
"I don't care," said Bob, as he took the child. "I don't care a hang. I'm ruined with all these jossers now. De Vere will never buy any more dogs of me. I say, who's that?"
A motor-car stopped outside the great hall door, and a gentleman in black got out. He came up the steps rapidly, and stopped dead when he found all the world in front of him.
"I thought so," said Bradstock. "Now the catalogue is complete."
"Lord Bramber!" cried the others. Penelope stood in the centre of the great hall as if she were turned to marble. But no marble ever had so sweet a colour.
[image]THE EARL OF PULBOROUGH. Clever; but indolent
[image]
[image]
THE EARL OF PULBOROUGH. Clever; but indolent
"I believe it is now the Earl of Pulborough," said Bradstock, gravely, to the newcomer.
"Yes," he replied. "Penelope, you sent for me?"
Pen fell upon his neck before them all and did not deny it.
And, as they stood still in great amazement, Bob danced the baby up and down till that young gentleman made up his mind to roar as soon as he got his breath.
"This—this is Lord Bramber," howled Bob, triumphantly. "Now admit you feel sorry you spoke, granny!"
He gave the baby to the nurse, and grabbed Goby by the arm.
"I say, I'm awfully sorry, but it isn't my fault, Captain Goby, and Ethel Mytton is a very nice girl, and dead in love with you."
"Is she?" sighed Goby.
"Mr. de Vere, I've got a bulldog—"
"Damn bulldogs!" said De Vere.
Bob seized Gordon.
"Do you feel very bad, Mr. Gordon?" he asked, sympathetically. "I almost wish it had been you."
"It can't be helped," said Gordon, gloomily. "I never had a chance. Come and see me in the city next week, Bob."
Rivaulx and Carew and Williams took their hats and slipped from the house, while Bob did what he could to soften things for them.
"I'll come and see you all very often," he cried. "Good-bye now!"
An hour later, when Titania had the baby upon her capacious lap, and said how certain she had been the whole time that Bramber was Penelope's choice, Bob walked around the garden with the bishop and Lord Bradstock.
"Oh, it's quite easy to understand," said Bob. "After all she said, you expected she would marry some outsider, and you see she took the pick of the basket, and of course was ashamed. Oh, I know Pen."
"You are a wonder, Bob," said Bradstock.
The bishop said that upon adequate reflection he was inclined to agree with Bradstock.
"Well, Pen's all right," said Bob.
THE END.
* * * * * * * *
L. C. Page and Company'sAnnouncement Listof New fiction
The Flight of Georgiana
A ROMANCE OF THE DAYS OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER. By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "The Bright Face of Danger," "An Enemy to the King," "The Mystery of Murray Davenport," etc.
Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50
Mr. Stephens's novels all bear the hall-mark of success for his men are always live, his women are always worthy of their cavaliers, and his adventures are of the sort to stir the most sluggish blood without overstepping the bounds of good taste.
The theme of the new novel is one which will give Mr. Stephens splendid scope for all the powers at his command. The career of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was full of romance, intrigue, and adventure; his life was a series of episodes to delight the soul of a reader of fiction, and Mr. Stephens is to be congratulated for his selection of such a promising subject.
Mrs. Jim and Mrs. Jimmie
By STEPHEN CONRAD, author of "The Second Mrs. Jim."
Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50
This new book is in a sense a sequel to "The Second Mrs. Jim," since it gives further glimpses of that delightful stepmother and her philosophy. This time, however, she divides the field with "Mrs. Jimmie," who is quite as attractive in her different way. The book has more plot than the former volume, a little less philosophy perhaps, but just as much wholesome fun. In many ways it is a stronger book, and will therefore take an even firmer hold on the public.
The Story of Red Fox
Told by CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS, author of "The Watchers of the Trails," "The Kindred of the Wild," "Barbara Ladd," etc.
Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with fifty illustrations and cover design by Charles Livingston Bull . . . $2.00
Mr. Roberts's reputation as a scientifically accurate writer, whose literary skill transforms his animal stories into masterpieces, stands unrivalled in his particular field.
This is his first long animal story, and his romance of Red Fox, from babyhood to patriarchal old age, makes reading more fascinating than any work of fiction. In his hands Red Fox becomes a personality so strong that one entirely forgets he is an animal, and his haps and mishaps grip you as do those of a person.
Mr. Bull, as usual, fits his pictures to the text as hand to glove, and the ensemble becomes a book as near perfection as it is possible to attain.
Return
A STORY OF THE SEA ISLANDS IN 1739. By ALICE MACGOWAN and GRACE MACGOWAN COOKE, authors of "The Last Word," etc. With six illustrations by C. D. Williams.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
A new romance, undoubtedly the best work yet done by Miss MacGowan and Mrs. Cooke. The heroine of "Return," Diana Chaters, is the belle of the Colonial city of Charles Town, S.C., in the early eighteenth century, and the hero is a young Virginian of the historical family of Marshall. The youth, beauty, and wealth of the fashionable world, which first form the environment of the romance, are pictured in sharp contrast to the rude and exciting life of the frontier settlements in the Georgia Colony, and the authors have missed no opportunities for telling characterizations. But "Return" is, above all, a love-story.
We quote the opinion of Prof. Charles G. D. Roberts, who has read the advance sheets: "It seems to me a story of quite unusual strength and interest, full of vitality and crowded with telling characters. I greatly like the authors' firm, bold handling of their subject."
Lady Penelope
By MORLEY ROBERTS, author of "Rachel Marr," "The Promotion of the Admiral," etc. With nine illustrations by Arthur W. Brown.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
Mr. Roberts certainly has versatility, since this book has not a single point of similarity with either "Rachel Marr" or his well-known sea stories. Its setting is the English so-called "upper crust" of the present day. Lady Penelope is quite the most up-to-date young lady imaginable and equally charming. As might be expected from such a heroine, her automobiling plays an important part in the development of the plot. Lady Penelope has a large number of suitors, and her method of choosing her husband is original and provocative of delightful situations and mirthful incidents.
The Winged Helmet
By HAROLD STEELE MACKAYE, author of "The Panchronicon," etc. With six illustrations by H. C. Edwards.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
When an author has an original theme on which to build his story, ability in construction of unusual situations, skill in novel characterization, and a good literary style, there can be no doubt but that his work is worth reading. "The Winged Helmet" is of this description.
The author gives in this novel a convincing picture of life in the early sixteenth century, and the reader will be delighted with its originality of treatment, freshness of plot, and unexpected climaxes.
A Captain of Men
By E. ANSON MORE.
Library 12mo, cloth, illustrated . . . $1.50
A tale of Tyre and those merchant princes whose discovery of the value of tin brought untold riches into the country and afforded adventures without number to those daring seekers for the mines. Merodach, the Assyrian, Tanith, the daughter of the richest merchant of Tyre, Miriam, her Hebrew slave, and the dwarf Hiram, who was the greatest artist of his day, are a quartette of characters hard to surpass in individuality. It has been said that the powerful order of Free Masons first had its origin in the meetings which were held at Hiram's studio in Tyre, where gathered together the greatest spirits of that age and place.
The Paradise of the Wild Apple
By RICHARD LEGALLIENNE, author of "Old Love Stories Retold," "The Quest of the Golden Girl," etc.
Library 12mo, cloth decorative . . . $1.50
The theme of Mr. LeGallienne's new romance deals with the instinct of wildness in human nature,—the wander spirit and impatience of tame domesticity, the preference for wild flowers and fruits, and the glee in summer storms and elemental frolics. A wild apple-tree, high up in a rocky meadow, is symbolic of all this, and Mr. LeGallienne works out in a fashion at once imaginative and serious the romance of a young man well placed from the view of worldly goods and estate, who suddenly hungers for the "wild apples" of his youth. The theme has limitless possibilities, and Mr. LeGallienne is artist enough to make adequate use of them.
The Grapple
Library 12mo, cloth decorative . . . $1.50
This story of a strike in the coal mines of Pennsylvania gives both sides of the question,—the Union and its methods, and the non-Union workers and their loyal adherents, with a final typical clash at the end. The question is an absorbing one, and it is handled fearlessly.
For the present at least "The Grapple" will be issued anonymously.
Brothers of Peril
By THEODORE ROBERTS, author of "Hemming the Adventurer."
Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50
"Brothers of Peril" has an unusual plot, dealing with a now extinct race, the Beothic Indians of the sixteenth century, who were the original inhabitants of Newfoundland when that island was merely a fishing-station for the cod-seeking fleets of the old world.
The story tells of the adventures of a young English cavalier, who, left behind by the fleet, finds another Englishman, with his daughter and servants, who is hiding from the law. A French adventurer and pirate, who is an unwelcome suitor for the daughter, plays an important part. Encounters between the Indians and the small colony of white men on shore, and perilous adventures at sea with a shipload of pirates led by the French buccaneer, make a story of breathless interest.
The Black Barque
By T. JENKINS HAINS, author of "The Wind Jammers," "The Strife of the Sea," etc. With five illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
According to a high naval authority who has seen the advance sheets, this is one of the best sea stories ever offered to the public. "The Black Barque" is a story of slavery and piracy upon the high seas about 1815, and is written with a thorough knowledge of deep-water sailing. This, Captain Hains's first long sea story, realistically pictures a series of stirring scenes at the period of the destruction of the exciting but nefarious traffic in slaves, in the form of a narrative by a young American lieutenant, who, by force of circumstances, finds himself the gunner of "The Black Barque."
Cameron of Lochiel
Translated from the French of PHILIPPE AUBERT DE GASPÉ by PROF. CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS.
Library 12mo, cloth decorative . . . $1.50
The publishers are gratified to announce a new edition of a book by this famous author, who may be called the Walter Scott of Canada. This interesting and valuable romance is fortunate in having for its translator Professor Roberts, who has caught perfectly the spirit of the original. The French edition first appeared under the title of "Les Anciens Canadiens" in 1862, and was later translated and appeared in an American edition now out of print.
Patriotism, devotion to the French-Canadian nationality, a just pride of race, and a loving memory for his people's romantic and heroic past, are the dominant chords struck by the author throughout the story.
Castel del Monte
By NATHAN GALLIZIER. Illustrated by H. C. Edwards.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.5O
A powerful romance of the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in Italy, and the overthrow of Manfred by Charles of Anjou, the champion of Pope Clement IV. The Middle Ages are noted for the weird mysticism and the deep fatalism characteristic of a people believing in signs and portents and the firm hand of fate. Mr. Gallizier has brought out these characteristics in a marked degree.
Slaves of Success
By ELLIOTT FLOWER, author of "The Spoilsmen," etc. With twenty illustrations by different artists.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
Another striking book by Mr. Flower, whose work is already so well known, both through his long stories and his contributions toCollier's, theSaturday Evening Post, etc. Like his first success, "The Spoilsmen," it deals with politics, but in the broader field of state and national instead of municipal. The book has recently appeared in condensed form as a serial inCollier's Magazine, where it attracted wide-spread attention, and the announcement of its appearance in book form will be welcomed by Mr. Flower's rapidly increasing audience. The successful delineation of characters like John Wade, Ben Carroll, Azro Craig, and Allen Sidway throws new strong lights on the inside workings of American business and political "graft."
Silver Bells
By COL. ANDREW C. P. HAGGARD, author of "Hannibal's Daughter," "Louis XIV. in Court and Camp," etc. With cover design and frontispiece by Charles Livingston Bull.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
Under the thin veneer of conventionality and custom lurks in many hearts the primeval instinct to throw civilization to the winds and hark back to the ways of the savages in the wilderness, and it often requires but a mental crisis or an emotional upheaval to break through the coating. Geoffrey Digby was such an one, who left home and kindred to seek happiness among the Indians of Canada, in the vast woods which always hold an undefinable mystery and fascination. He gained renown as a mighty hunter, and the tale of his life there, and the romance which awaited him, will be heartily enjoyed by all who like a good love-story with plenty of action not of the "stock" order. "Silver Bells," the Indian girl, is a perfect "child of nature."
Selections fromL. C. Page and Company'sList of Fiction
WORKS OFROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS
Captain Ravenshaw;OR, THE MAID OF CHEAPSIDE. (40th thousand.) A romance of Elizabethan London. Illustrations by Howard Pyle and other artists.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
Not since the absorbing adventures of D'Artagnan have we had anything so good in the blended vein of romance and comedy. The beggar student, the rich goldsmith, the roisterer and the rake, the fop and the maid, are all here: foremost among them Captain Ravenshaw himself, soldier of fortune and adventurer, who, after escapades of binding interest, finally wins a way to fame and to matrimony.
Philip Winwood.(70th thousand) A Sketch of the Domestic History of an American Captain in the War of Independence, embracing events that occurred between and during the years 1763 and 1785 in New York and London. Written by his Enemy in War, Herbert Russell, Lieutenant in the Loyalist Forces. Presented anew by ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS. Illustrated by E. W. D. Hamilton.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
"One of the most stirring and remarkable romances that have been published in a long while, and its episodes, incidents, and actions are as interesting and agreeable as they are vivid and dramatic."—Boston Times.
The Mystery of Murray Davenport.(30th thousand.) By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "An Enemy to the King," "Philip Winwood," etc.
Library 12mo, cloth, with six full-page illustrations by H. C. Edwards . . . $1.50
"This is easily the best thing that Mr. Stephens has yet done. Those familiar with his other novels can best judge the measure of this praise, which is generous."—Buffalo News.
"Mr. Stephens won a host of friends through his earlier volumes, but we think he will do still better work in his new field if the present volume is a criterion."—N. Y. Com. Advertiser.
An Enemy to the King.(60th thousand.) From the "Recently Discovered Memoirs of the Sieur de la Tournoire." Illustrated by H. De M. Young.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
An historical romance of the sixteenth century, describing the adventures of a young French nobleman at the Court of Henry III., and on the field with Henry of Navarre.
"A stirring tale."—Detroit Free Press.
"A royally strong piece of fiction."—Boston Ideas.
"Interesting from the first to the last page."—Brooklyn Eagle.
"Brilliant as a play; it is equally brilliant as a romantic novel."—Philadelphia Press.
The Continental Dragoon:A ROMANCE OF PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE IN 1778. (43d thousand.) Illustrated by H. C. Edwards.
Library 12mo, cloth . . . $1.50
A stirring romance of the Revolution, the scene being laid in and around the old Philipse Manor House, near Yonkers, which at the time of the story was the central point of the so-called "neutral territory" between the two armies.