CHAPTER I THE LONELY ENCAMPMENT An autumn evening in Bengal was rapidly drawing to a close, with a brief afterglow from a vanished sun to soften the rich hues of the tropical foliage, and garb it fittingly for approaching night. The grass beside the Government tents showed grey in the gathering dusk, while a blue haze of smoke, creeping upward, gently veiled the sheltering trees. But for the modulated... more...

CHAPTER I Rotten Row on a brilliant June morning, and Hyde Park at its loveliest. The London "season" at its height, and throngs of fashionably-dressed men and women "taking the air," strolling idly to and fro, lounging on little green-painted chairs, or leaning on the rails watching the riders of all nationalities. A sight well worth watching. It is the week of the International Horse... more...

INTRODUCTION "His varied life is toss'd on Faction's wave, A leader now, and now a party's slave; And shall his character a waverer's seem? If that's a fault, impute it not to him; He play'd a stake, and fortune threw the die; So look upon him with a brother's eye. We would for him an interest create, His own his virtues, and his faults his fate." Schiller.... more...

At half-past two of a sunny, sultry afternoon late in the month of August, Mr. Benjamin Staff sat at table in the dining-room of the Authors’ Club, moodily munching a morsel of cheese and a segment of cast-iron biscuit and wondering what he must do to be saved from the death-in-life of sheer ennui. A long, lank gentleman, surprisingly thin, of a slightly saturnine cast: he was not only unhappy, he... more...

I "Professor James Parkhurst, I consider you a colossal failure as an educator," said Francesca, his daughter, known to friend and family as Bambina, or Bambi for short. Professor Parkhurst lifted a startled face from his newspaper and surveyed his only child across the breakfast table. "My dear, what causes this sweeping assertion of my incompetence?" "I do! I do! Just what did you... more...

CATECHISM THE LORD'S PRAYER. Q. 1. Say the Lord's Prayer. A. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Q. 2. Who made the Lord's Prayer? A.... more...

THE LORD'S PRAYER Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. This is the most beautiful and best of all prayers, because Our Lord Himself made it.... more...

PRAYERS THE LORD'S PRAYER Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION Hail Mary, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed... more...

PRAYERS THE LORD'S PRAYER Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION Hail Mary, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed... more...

CHAPTER I. MY BIRTHPLACE AND ANCESTRY. The town of Marshalltown, the county seat of Marshall County, in the great State of Iowa, is now a handsome and flourishing place of some thirteen or fourteen thousand inhabitants. I have not had time recently to take the census myself, and so I cannot be expected to certify exactly as to how many men, women and children are contained within the corporate limits.... more...