Chapter 9
There was a movement in her garden and on the walk footsteps. The three men stepped into the rectangle of lamplight--Abel, Ames and Simeon, who had left the party a little before the others and, hurrying back with the gifts that they planned, had met Ebenezer at his gate, getting home from Jenny's house. In Abel's arms was something globed, like a little world; in Simeon's, the tall, gray-gowned Saint Nicholas taken from the Exchange window, the lettered sign absent, but the little flag still in his hand; and Ebenezer was carrying the hobbyhorse. If at him the other two had wondered somewhat, they had said nothing, in that fashion of treating the essential which is as peculiar to certain simple, robust souls as to other kinds of great souls.
"Has the boy gone to bed?" Abel asked without preface.
"Yes," Mary answered, "he has. I'm sorry."
"Never mind," Simeon whispered, "you can give him these in the morning."
Mary, her shawl half hiding her face, stooped to take what the three lifted.
"They ain't presents, you know," Abel assured her positively. "They're just--well, just to let him know."
Mary set the strange assortment on the floor of the dining room--the things that were to be nothing in themselves, only just "to let him know."
"Thank you for him," she said gently. "And thank you for me," she added.
Ebenezer fumbled for a moment at his beaver hat, and took it off. Then the other two did so to their firm-fixed caps. And with an impulse that came from no one could tell whom, the three spoke--the first time hesitatingly, the next time together and confidently.
"Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas," they said.
Mary Chavah lifted her hand.
"Merry Christmas!" she cried.
The following pages contain advertisements of Macmillan books by the same author, and new fiction.
THE OTHER BOOKS OF MISS GALE
Mothers to Men
Decorated cloth, 12mo, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.62
The author is singularly successful in detaching herself from all the wear and tear of modern life and has produced a book filled with sweetness, beautiful in ideas, charming in characterizations, highly contemplative, and evidencing a philosophy of life all her own.
"One of the most widely read of our writers of short fiction."--_The Bookman_.
Friendship Village
Cloth, 12mo, $1.50
"As charming as an April day, all showers and sunshine, and sometimes both together, so that the delighted reader hardly knows whether laughter or tears are fittest."--_The New York Times_.
The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre
Cloth, 12mo, $1.50
"It contains the sort of message that seems to set the world right for even the most depressed, and can be depended upon to sweeten every moment spent over it."--_San Francisco Chronicle_.
Friendship Village Love Stories
Decorated cloth, gilt top, 12mo, $1.50
Miss Gale's pleasant and highly individual outlook upon life has never been revealed to better advantage than in these charming stories of the heart affairs of the young people of Friendship Village.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York
NEW MACMILLAN FICTION
A MAN'S WORLD By Albert Edwards
Cloth, 12mo, $1.25 net; postpaid, $1.36
"A striking book that should attract wide attention."--_New York Tribune_.
"There never has been a book like 'A Man's World.' ... A novelist of skill and power.... His greatest gift is his power of creating the illusion of reality.... Vividness and conviction unite in the wonderful portrait of Nina.... There never has been such a character in American fiction before.... Nina will be one of the famous twentieth century heroines."--_Brooklyn Eagle_.
"It is a great book, full of the real things of life.... Zola might have written such a book had he lived in New York and not in Paris. Yet, it is doubtful if he could have told a better tale in a better way, for Nina and Ann are just as true to life as Nana and Ninon."--_Chicago Record-Herald_.
"The book is far from ordinary and its philosophy is extraordinary."--_New York Times Book Review_.
"A new type of human document--written in all sincerity and honesty."--_New York Herald_.
MY LOVE AND I By Martin Redfield
Cloth, 12mo, $1.35 net; postpaid, $1.47
Even the publishers do not know who the author of this remarkable book is. Its pages tell with powerful reality the struggle of a heart against the subtler problems of love and a solution not usually found in fiction. It is not an ordinary love story; it is, on the contrary, the intimate confession of a man's life.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York
NEW MACMILLAN FICTION--Continued
THE RICH MRS. BURGOYNE By Kathleen Norris Author of "Mother"
Decorated cloth, 12mo, illustrated, $1.25 net; postpaid, $1.38
When it is rumored about in Santa Paloma that Mrs. Burgoyne, a widow and heiress to many millions, has bought an old-fashioned and somewhat run-down estate and intends to make her home in the little California town, food for gossip at all the bridge clubs is furnished for more than one meeting. To live well in Santa Paloma involves heavy expenditures for all sorts of social functions and many a family feels the strain which, however, they would not admit for worlds. The society clique think that everything will be run on even a more gorgeous scale with Mrs. Burgoyne's millions in the game, but they reckon without the possessor of these millions, as the successive events of the story show in a highly entertaining fashion.
LONDON LAVENDER By E. V. Lucas
Decorated cloth, 12mo, $1.35 net; postpaid, $1.47
We meet again several of the fine characters with whom Mr. Lucas has already made us acquainted in his other novels as well as others equally interesting and entertaining. The intimate sketches of various phases of London life--visits to the Derby, Zoo, the National Gallery--are delightfully chronicled and woven into a novel that is a most charming entertainment.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York
NEW MACMILLAN FICTION--Continued
THE DRIFTING DIAMOND By Lincoln Colcord With Frontispiece in Colors by Anton Fischer
Decorated cloth, 12mo, $1.25 net
The strange effects which the possession of a gem of marvelous beauty and great value has upon several sharply differentiated characters is the thread with which this dramatic tale of events is woven. The combination of the mystical, the imaginative and the realistic makes very unusual reading. The diamond has the power of making its owner love it not for what it means in money, but for itself; it also has in it a lurking devil which portends evil happenings. The series of incidents which these qualities in the gem bring about, taken with the love story, which runs through it all, comprise a novel which holds the reader's attention from the very first adventure to the final outcome.
* * * * *
A New Novel By James Lane Allen
THE HEROINE IN BRONZE
Decorated cloth, 12mo, $1.35 net
In "The Heroine in Bronze" Mr. Allen has written with exquisite felicity of thought and expression a novel that is unique and powerful. The story of a young man,--a writer,--the women he loves, and the great novel he writes, is the design threading a background which reveals Mr. Allen's profound understanding of life and his high spirituality. "The Heroine in Bronze" is the most vital contribution to American literature in recent years.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York
A BEAUTIFUL EDITION OF A BEAUTIFUL STORY
The Christmas Edition of Kathleen Norris's MOTHER
Decorated cloth, 12mo, illustrations, $1.25; by mail, $1.36
"A little book that can be finished in an hour, but the sweet thoughts will remain in the mind long after the book has been set aside.... Before I had covered ten pages I realized that I had something worth its weight in gold. What theme could be more interesting to the ordinary reader than 'Mother,' especially when it is a panegyric on maternal devotion? The author was fortunate in her selection and still happier in her treatment of it, for if there is anything that appeals, it is a true loyal discussion of mother and mother-love. In modern fiction we have too little of the chastening and purifying presence of real motherhood. Few books have the power of recalling worthy thoughts with the force and with the good effect possessed by this little book."--_Catholic Columbian_.
* * * * *
A NEW EDITION OF A MASTERPIECE
The Christmas Edition of Jack London's THE CALL OF THE WILD
Decorated cloth, 12mo, profusely illustrated in color, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.63
To all readers of Jack London and particularly to those who love his masterpiece, this new edition of "The Call of the Wild" will mean much. Some of the previous issues of this great book were thought to be beautiful, but none of them seems so now in comparison with the latest one, the make-up of which is distinguished by a number of features. In the first place there are many full-page plates reproduced in color from paintings done by Mr. Bransom. More than this, the first two pages of each chapter are printed in colors and decorated with head pieces and drawings, while every other two pages carry black and white half tones in the text, also the work of Mr. Bransom.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York