A
man would often be the lover of his wife—if he were married to some one else.
There come moments in life when we regret the old gods.
Time and place—temperature and temperament—and after the sunset the night—and then to-morrow.
A
ll the winter passed and the Damsel remained at the Court and the Sage in his cave. Both found the days long and their occupation insufficient.
At last, when spring came, the Damsel again mounted the hill one morning before dawn and tapped at the Sage's door.
His heart gave a bound, and he flew to open it without more ado.
"So you have come back?" he said; and his voice was eager, though it was a gray light and he could not see her plainly.
"Yes," said she; "I want you to tell me one more story of life before I go on a long voyage."
So the Sage began:
"There was once upon a time a man of half-measures, whose brain was filled with dreams for his own glory, and he possessed a woman of flesh and blood, who loved him, and would have turned the dreams into realities. Butbecausehe was happy with her, and because her hair was black and her eyes were green, and her flesh like alabaster, he said to himself, 'This is a fiend and a vampire. Nothing human can be so delectable.' So he ran a stake through her body, and buried her at the cross-roads. Then he found life an emptiness, and went down into nothingness and was forgotten—"
"Oh, hush, Sage!" said the Damsel, trembling; "I wish to hear no more. Come, shave off your beard, and put on a velvetdoublet, and return with me to the Court. See, life is short, and I am fair."
And the Sage suddenly felt he had found the philosopher's stone, and knew the secret he had come into the wilds to find.
So he went back to his cave, and shaved his beard, and donned a velvet doublet, long since lain by in lavender. And he took the Damsel by the hand, and they gladly ran down the hill.
And the zephyrs whispered, and the day dawned, and all the world smiled young—and gay.
Remember the tangible now.
"Sic transit gloria mundi!"
LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated byHoward Chandler Christy. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated byHoward Chandler Christy. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
This is Mrs. Humphry Ward's latest novel. It has been hailed as undoubtedly her best, while Julie Le Breton, the heroine, has been called "the most appealing type of heroine in English fiction."
"A story that must be read."—New York Sun.
"Vividly alive from the first line."—Chicago Record-Herald.
"The most marvellous work of its wonderful author."—New York World.
"Absolutely different from anything else that has ever appeared in fiction."—Brooklyn Eagle.
"Love is not here the sentimental emotion of the ordinary novel or play, but the power that purges the weaknesses and vivifies the dormant nobilities of men and women."—The Academy, London, England.
"Quite sure to be the most widely and most highly considered book of the year."—Chicago Evening Post.
"The story is the combat between two powers of a brilliant woman's nature. Sometimes you are sure the lawless, the vagabond, and the intriguing side will win. But it doesn't...."—Boston Transcript.
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THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
A new novel by Henry Seton Merriman is always eagerly welcomed by every reader of fiction. This is a story of intrigue, conspiracy, and exciting adventure among the political factions of the great European nations. One of the scenes is in Russia at the time of the assassination of the Czar. Theattachésof the various Foreign Offices play an important part. It is full of exciting, dramatic situations, most of which centre around the love interest of the story—the love of a young English diplomatist for the beautiful Countess Wanda of Warsaw.
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THE MAID-AT-ARMS. Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
Mr. Chambers has long since won a most enviable position among contemporary novelists. The great popular success of "Cardigan" makes this present novel of unusual interest to all readers of fiction. It is a stirring novel of American life in days just after the Revolution. It deals with the conspiracy of the great New York land-owners and the subjugation of New York Province to the British. It is a story with a fascinating love interest, and is alive with exciting incident and adventure. Some of the characters of "Cardigan" reappear in this new novel.
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A MOUNTAIN EUROPA. With Portrait. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
A MOUNTAIN EUROPA. With Portrait. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
The story is well worth careful reading for its literary art and its truth to a phase of little-known American life.—Omaha Bee.
THE KENTUCKIANS. A Novel. Illustrated by W. T.Smedley. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
THE KENTUCKIANS. A Novel. Illustrated by W. T.Smedley. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
This, Mr. Fox's first long story, sets him well in view, and distinguishes him as at once original and sound. He takes the right view of the story-writer's function and the wholesale view of what the art of fiction can rightfully attempt.—Independent, N. Y.
"HELL FER SARTAIN," and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.00.
"HELL FER SARTAIN," and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.00.
Mr. Fox has made a great success of his pictures of the rude life and primitive passions of the people of the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky. His sketches are short but graphic; he paints his scenes and his hill people in terse and simple phrases and makes them genuinely picturesque, giving us glimpses of life that are distinctively American.—Detroit Free Press.
A CUMBERLAND VENDETTA, and Other Stories. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
A CUMBERLAND VENDETTA, and Other Stories. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
These stories are tempestuously alive, and sweep the heart-strings with a master-hand.—Watchman, Boston.
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