Part 26

There is a wonderfully close sympathy between man and the animal world,—a sympathy that is especially strong in the case of either the horse or the dog, animals that are the close associates of man. Ancient literature,—_The Bible_ and _The Odyssey_,—tell of the faithfulness of the dog, man’s friend and protector. In recent times writers have turned to the whole world of nature for subjects,—the stag, the grizzly bear, the wolf, and other animals, but stories of dogs still awaken interest and sympathy, and will continue to do so as long as the faithfulness of dogs endures,—which is forever.

_Gulliver the Great_ is told in an interestingly suggestive manner, every part of the story being rich with hints on which our imaginations build. The pleasant calm of the setting adds much to the effect. The man’s character is emphasized from the start, making the story he tells have full meaning. The story is dramatic, but its power rests far more on sympathy than on events. The art of the story is in the clever way in which the almost human soul of the dog is revealed, acting upon the soul of the man.

Walter A. Dyer was born in Massachusetts in 1878. Since his graduation from Amherst College in 1900 he has been engaged in editorial and other literary work. His natural fondness for dogs has led to such books as _Pierrot: Dog of Belgium_, and _Gulliver the Great_.

=Early Victorian comforts.= The comforts characteristic of the first part of the reign of Queen Victoria of England, before city life and commercial life were highly developed.

=Mr. Pickwick.= The humorous hero of Charles Dickens’ famous novel, _Pickwick Papers_.

=James G. Blaine.= An American statesman, 1830-1893. He held many high offices, and was once candidate for the Presidency.

=Simplicissimus.= A humorous and satirical German periodical.

=Brunos.= From the Latin “brunus”—brown. A name frequently given to dogs.

=Moros.= The Malay inhabitants of certain islands of the Philippines.

=Great Dane.= A type of dog noted for great size and graceful build.

=Vohl’s Vulcan.= A famous dog.

=Wurtemburg breed.= A well-known breed of dogs.

=Mauna Loa.= A noted Hawaiian volcano nearly 14,000 feet in height.

=Bulls of Bashan.= _The Bible_ makes frequent mention of the bulls of Bashan, a section of Palestine east of the valley of the Jordan.

SONNY’S SCHOOLIN’ By RUTH McENERY STUART

Laughter is a legitimate part of life, especially when it clarifies the mind. The short story has seized upon all the elements of humor and made them its own, especially the anecdote. Some writers have used whimsical humor to give relief from sombre tales, or have told stories lightly and fancifully humorous, like several in this book. Others have written with broader effects. Every one of the many types of humorous story is good.—the unusual situation, the surprising climax, the fantastic character, the utter absurdity,—but every type must follow the dictates of good taste. Humor need never be coarse, or vulgar, or in any way aimed at personal satire. It may criticize, but it must do so with friendly good will.

_Sonny’s Schoolin’_ is a series of connected anecdotes, told in monologue. The humor of the anecdotes lies in their absurdity—in the presence of Sonny every one is so helpless! Any modern teacher would deal with Sonny in a way that he would understand. The humor of the narration lies partly in the events, partly in the speaker’s naïve, unconscious exposition of self, and partly in the amusing dialect. Two qualities illuminate the story: one, the gradual presentation of Sonny’s really lovable nature, seen to better advantage by the father-and-mother-love behind it; the other, the gradual criticism of the older system of education, and the suggestion of a type well adapted to quick, active, original minds like Sonny’s.

Ruth McEnery Stuart, a native of Louisiana, contributed to our best periodicals, and wrote many amusing, and wholly sympathetic, stories of southern life, such as _Holly and Pizen_, _Napoleon Jackson_, _Sonny_, and _Sonny’s Father_. She died in 1917.

HER FIRST HORSE SHOW By DAVID GRAY

Every side of life contributes short story material,—the deeds of people in strange surroundings, unusual acts of heroism in war or in peace, the lives of the poor, and the lives of the rich. Since men’s characters are independent of either wealth or poverty, the story of society life, when written effectively, may awaken as deep feelings of sympathy or brotherhood as the story of humble life. Any story is worthy if it broadens the understanding of life and presents its material in artistic form.

On the surface _Her First Horse Show_ is a story of society life, of rich people who delight in the fashionable horse show, and in dining at the Waldorf. Fundamentally, it is a story of human understanding, cleverness, and daring, in which the charm of a girl, and the thoroughbred qualities of a horse, play leading parts. Quick, suggestive conversation makes the story vividly interesting, and clear arrangement leads effectively to the climax.

David Gray was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1870. He has done editorial work on various papers, and has written a large number of interesting “horse stories” collected in such books as _Gallops I_, _Gallops II_, and _Mr. Carteret and Others_. In 1899 Mr. Gray entered the legal profession.

=Doubting Thomas.= A reference to the Bible story of St. Thomas, who at first doubted the resurrection of Jesus. See John: 20: 25.

“=Hands.=” Much of the skill in riding high-spirited horses depends upon the use of the hands in holding the reins.

MY HUSBAND’S BOOK By JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE

Sometimes the short story is used as an effective means of satire of a type resembling that employed by Addison in _The Spectator Papers_. Satire can be given in so few words, and in the very speech and actions of the persons satirized, that it is well adapted as material for the short story. It should be the aim of all satirical short stones of the milder sort to follow Addison’s rule, and point out little follies rather than great wickednesses, and to aim at a thousand people rather than at one.

_My Husband’s Book_ is an admirable example of ideal satire of the lighter type. The husband is typical—of whom?—of every one who puts off until tomorrow what he should do to-day. The wife is presented whimsically as altogether adoring, but as somewhat persistently and mischievously suspicious. At no time does the husband become aware of his real defect of character, nor the wife lose all her loving faith. Kindly satire like this is playful in nature, the sort to be expected from the author of _Peter Pan_. We laugh good-naturedly at the husband—and see ourselves in him!

Sir James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, in 1860. His delightfully romantic _Auld Licht Idylls_, _A Window in Thrums_, and especially _The Little Minister_, made him known to all the English-speaking world. His remarkably original and fanciful plays, _Quality Street_, _Peter Pan_, _What Every Woman Knows_, and numerous other dramatic works have added to his already great reputation. He is one of the leading English writers of the present time.

WAR By JACK LONDON

The short story often rises beyond the light and the commonplace to act as a stern critic of world conditions. With vivid, realistic touches it points at reality. By focussing every light upon a single human figure who compellingly commands sympathy it arouses in us a sense of kinship with all who suffer. Short stories of this type have teaching force that is all powerful.

_War_ is such a story. Although little more than a vivid sketch it presents the brutality of war in all its horror,—not by picturing the slaughter of thousands, but by showing a boy,—shrinking, eager to perform his full duty, loving life, fearing death, stopping to gather apples in a boyish way,—a boy whose instinctive and noble hesitation to kill rebounds on himself, as if in irony, and causes his own death. In a certain sense, the boy with his kindly manhood and generous motives represents the American spirit. The opposite type of spirit, the love of war for war’s sake, brutality for the sake of brutality, is shown in the boy’s enemies,—harsh foreigners who hang men to trees, who shoot at the boy as at a target, and laugh at his death. The story individualizes war, and thereby gives emphasis to its horror. Such a story demands on the part of the author a heartfelt interest in his theme, an intense love of life, and the ability to write in realistic style.

Jack London was deeply interested in the world of men. Far from being a recluse, he lived an active life with his fellows. He left his college class in order to go with other adventurers into the Klondike; he went to Japan, and seal hunting in the Behring Sea as a sailor before the mast; he tramped about the country; he traveled as a war correspondent, and went on an adventurous voyage into the South Seas in a 55-foot yacht. He wrote a great number of books, all of which show a quick understanding of the needs of humanity. Some of his works are thoughtful studies of social conditions. His best known books are: _The Call of the Wild_, _The Sea Wolf_, and _The Mutiny of the Elsinore_. He was born in San Francisco in 1876, and died in 1916.

THE BATTLE OF THE MONSTERS By MORGAN ROBERTSON

In this day when science plays so great a part in life it is only natural that many stories should be based on scientific knowledge. Since such stories must almost always more or less distort scientific truth in order to make the facts have story-interest they are usually called “pseudo-scientific,” that is, falsely scientific.

Edgar Allan Poe, who did so much for the short story, was one of the first to write pseudo-scientific stories, his _Descent into the Maelström_, and _A Tale of the Ragged Mountains_ being good examples of his peculiar power.

_The Battle of the Monsters_ is a wonderfully clever pseudo-scientific story. In it we enter the minute world of the microscope, every character being infinitesimally small.

The story tells how a microbe of Asiatic cholera enters the veins of John Anderson at the same moment when he is bitten by a rabid dog. The “white, corrugated wall” is the dog’s tooth; the army of dog-faced creatures is composed of the microbes of rabies, or hydrophobia. The vibrant roar heard from time to time, is the beat of the man’s heart. In the veins the cholera microbe finds the red corpuscles and other cells and microbes that exist in the blood, and also the white corpuscles that, according to Metschnikoff, act as destroyers of the microbes of disease. We go with the cholera microbe through the series of blood vessels into the heart and thence back into the arteries and veins, all the time seeing the struggle between the beneficent white corpuscles and the deadly microbes of rabies. We see the desperate efforts to keep the microbes of rabies from entering the cells and finding their way to the brain. As the microbes of rabies reproduce they begin to win the battle. The cholera microbe, himself fighting the hosts of rabies, is about to be overcome, when the physician’s injection of antitoxin brings a new army to fight the dog-faced creatures. Now that the danger of rabies has been overcome attention is paid to the hero of the story, who declares himself to be the microbe of Asiatic cholera. At once the police guardians of the blood, the white corpuscles, close on him and destroy him. Thus John Anderson escapes all danger from rabies and from cholera, to both of which he had been exposed. The battle, if microscopic, had been real, had been on a grand scale, and had been of tremendous importance.

The pseudo-scientific story could have no better illustration. Every detail is clear, vivid with action, and tense with interest. There is no turning aside to give scientific information—nothing that is dry-as-dust. The microbes and corpuscles, without losing their essential characteristics, speak and act in ways that we can understand. That is why the story is so successful. It is a human story, based upon human interest. Familiar language, familiar ways of thought, events that we can understand, convey to us information on a learned scientific subject—the work of the white blood corpuscles.

Morgan Robertson, 1861-1915, was born in Oswego, N. Y. From 1877 to 1886 he lived the life of a sailor at sea. Gifted with natural literary ability he turned to writing, and wrote a number of distinctly original stories, most of them about the sea, such as _Spun Yarn_, _Masters of Men_, _Shipmates_, and _Down to the Sea_.

=Metschnikoff’s theory.= The great Russian physiologist, Iliya Metschnikoff, 1845-1916, taught that the white blood corpuscles act as destroyers of disease microbes.

=The wounds of Milton’s warring angels.= In Milton’s _Paradise Lost_ the angels, wounded in the war in heaven, at once recovered.

=Darwin.= Charles Darwin, 1809-1882. The great English naturalist, founder of the “Darwinian Theory” of evolution from lower forms.

=Pasteur.= Louis Pasteur, 1822-1895. The great French microscopist, and student of hydrophobia. He was the first to inoculate for hydrophobia.

=Koch.= Robert Koch, 1843-1910. A great German physician who discovered the bacilli of tuberculosis and of cholera.

A DILEMMA By S. WEIR MITCHELL

A popular type of story leaves the reader, at the conclusion, to choose one of two endings, either of which is open to objections. Such a story sets the reader’s mind at work, leads him to review every part of the story, and leaves a peculiarly lasting impression of construction and emphasis. In stories of this sort there is careful exclusion of everything that does not tend to lead to, or to increase, the difficulty.

_A Dilemma_ makes complete preparation for the final puzzle by giving all the necessary facts, and all the motives for possible action, or non-action. When the reader reviews all that has been said, and sees how cleverly the story is constructed, he finds that the difficulty of solution appears even greater than at first.

Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, 1829-1914, was born in Philadelphia, and there spent most of his life. As a physician he wrote many medical books, and became one of the most distinguished neurologists in the world. His unusual ability led to his becoming member of many learned scientific societies in this country and in Europe. In spite of his active medical work he found time for much writing of a purely literary nature. Such books as _Hugh Wynne_, _The Adventures of François_, and _Dr. North and His Friends_, are distinctly original American contributions, and made their author unusually popular.

=Empress-Queen Maria Theresa=. Maria Theresa, 1717-1780. Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, and wife of Emperor Francis I of Austria. One of the most interesting and notable women in history.

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE By A. CONAN DOYLE

Edgar Allan Poe was the first author to succeed in the “detective story.” His _Murders in the Rue Morgue_, _The Mystery of Marie Roget_, and _The Purloined Letter_ are among the first stories of their type. Since Poe’s time there have been all sorts of detective stories,—good, bad, and indifferent,—from cheap penny-dreadfuls to elaborate novels. Poe’s method has been followed in nearly every one, whether written in this country, or abroad, as by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in England, Émile Gaboriau in France, or Anton Chekhov in Russia.

Of all the thousands who have tried their hands in writing detective stories Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has won the most pleasing success. His Sherlock Holmes is a world-known character.

The _Red-Headed League_ is an admirable example of the author’s method. The story is told by the hero’s friend, Dr. Watson, allowing opportunity for close appearance of reality, and for unstinted praise. The problem is introduced at first hand, apparently with every detail. To a certain degree we are allowed to enter the series of deductive reasonings pursued by Sherlock Holmes. We are given a brilliant series of events, and then the final solution. Occasional hints at other work performed by Sherlock Holmes tend to awaken further interest. There is such closeness to life, realistic character drawing, good humor, and natural conversation, that the story,—like all the four books of the Sherlock Holmes series,—is most attractive.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. Both his father and grandfather achieved fame as artists. Sir Arthur began life as a physician and surgeon, but soon found his real work in letters. He has written a number of our best historical novels, _The White Company_, _Micah Clarke_, _The Refugees_, _Sir Nigel_, etc., and four books of stories about Sherlock Holmes, as well as much other work both in prose and in verse.

=Omne ignotum pro magnifico.= Whatever is unknown is thought to be magnificent.

=Sarasate.= A famous Spanish violinist, 1844—.

=Partie carrée.= A party of four.

“=L’homme c’est rien—l’œuvre c’est tout.=“ The man is nothing—the work is everything.

=Gustave Flaubert.= 1821-1880. One of the greatest French novelists.

=George Sand.= The pseudonym of the Baroness Dudevant, 1804-1876, a great French novelist and playwright.

ONE HUNDRED IN THE DARK By OWEN JOHNSON

In _One Hundred in the Dark_ Owen Johnson makes one of the characters say that the peculiar fascination of the detective story lies more in the statement of the problem than in the solution. “The solution doesn’t count. It is usually banal; it should be prohibited. What interests us is, can we guess it?”

_One Hundred in the Dark_ illustrates that type of detective story that presents a problem but gives no solution. Giving all the information that one could be expected to have, it presents a problem with several different solutions possible. At the end of the story the problem is left unsolved—the reader is “in the dark,” but, because his mind has been awakened, he is fascinated. The author has gone further than usual, for he gives the story as if told in a club at the conclusion of a conversation in which several persons have taken part. The story is followed by further conversation that suggests a second problem—what did the members of the club think of the person who told the story? The result is that the author has cleverly established a definite setting, has aroused interest in the type of story to be told, and has emphasized the problem by giving it a new interest in the light of the question: What part did the members of the club think Peters played in the story that he himself told?

Owen Johnson was born in New York in 1878. He turned his college life at Yale into literary account in his interesting novel, _Stover at Yale_. He is the author of numerous short stories and plays.

=Bon mots.= Bright sayings.

=De Maupassant.= Guy de Maupassant, 1850-1893. A celebrated French novelist and poet. In _Fort comme la Mort_ (Strong as Death) he tells of the life of fashionable society.

=The Faust theme.= A reference to the great tragedy of _Faust_ by the German poet, Goethe, 1749-1832. Faust personifies humanity with all its longings.

=The Three Musketeers, etc.= _The Three Musketeers_, by Alexander Dumas, père, 1803-1870; _Trilby_, by George du Maurier, 1834-1896, and _Soldiers Three_, by Rudyard Kipling, 1865-, all tell stories of the close comradeship of three men.

=Vie de Bohème.= _Scènes de la vie de Bohème_ by Henri Murger. The opera _La Bohème_ is based upon this book.

=Bluebeard and The Moonstone.= In the stories of _Bluebeard_, and _The Moonstone_, a famous mystery story by Wilkie Collins, 1824-1889, curiosity plays a leading part.

=Watteaulike.= A reference to the conventional pictures of shepherdesses by Jean Antoine Watteau, a celebrated French painter, 1684-1721.

=Fines herbes.= Vegetable greens.

=En maître.= As master.

A RETRIEVED REFORMATION By O. HENRY

The story of self-sacrifice has appealed to people in all times, whether it appears in history,—as in the partly legendary story of Arnold von Winkelried, who gathered the Austrian spears against his breast in order that his comrades might make a way through the ranks of the enemy,—or in fiction, as in Dickens’ _A Tale of Two Cities_. Such a story is particularly fascinating, when, as in the story of Sidney Carton, it combines the idea of self-sacrifice with that of fundamental change in character.

In _A Retrieved Reformation_ O. Henry has told, in a convincingly brilliant way, how a man—always really good at heart,—even when set in evil ways—was led through love to develop his better self. The greatness of Jimmy Valentine’s soul is made clear by his instant willingness to sacrifice every hope he had,—to lay everything on the altar of love and manliness.

The quick, realistic, kindly-humorous characterizations, the clear, logical arrangement of opposing forces, the dramatic situation at the climax, and the instant solution,—for which every step has inevitably prepared,—point alike to a master hand in story telling.

William Sidney Porter, 1867-1910,—better known by the name, “O. Henry,” which he chose humorously because it is so easy to write “O,” and because he happened to see “Henry” as a last name in a newspaper account,—achieved as much popularity as any short story writer could desire. He was born in North Carolina, and brought up in Texas, where he gained the little schooling that fell to his lot. He became a sort of rolling stone, working on various periodicals, living in South America, working in Texas as a drug clerk, engaging fully in literary work in New Orleans, and finally coming to New York City where he sold stories as fast as he could write them—and his powers of production were most astonishing. He was only 42 when he died, but, in spite of his wandering life, he had made himself, with almost careless ease, the master of the short story. He wrote quite untrammeled by convention or custom, using slang, coining words, writing in any way he pleased, but always, in reality, following the best principles of story telling, making his plots clear, convincing, and full of the unexpected humors of life. With it all he wrote with a spirit of gentleness and often touched real pathos. His favorite method was to surprise the reader by bringing him to a most unexpected climax.

BROTHER LEO By PHYLLIS BOTTOME