The Gates of Dawn

The caravan rolled slowly along the dusty road with creakings and groanings and jingling of horse-bells. It was painted a dark-green colour, with white-curtained windows picked...

Supper despatched, Dan repaired to the spring for a second bucket of water, while Peter remained selfishly curled up beside the fire. Even when his master returned he took littl...

Should the stay-at-home happen to sleep under a strange roof, on one of his rare journeys, bewilderment and pain attend the hour of his waking. With sleep-bemused brain he eyes...

It is hard to say what made Dan so excited. Usually he was a self-contained young man, who but seldom gave vent to his high spirits. On this morning, however, he was fairly carr...

Here was a polite reception to give a guest. It is not the custom in civilized society for the host to invite the stranger within his gates to a bout of fisticuffs. But this was...

My Dear Jack, Not wishing to cut myself off entirely from civilization, I write to apprise you of my adventures while exploring England. I am in the wilds--that is, in a lonely...

The determination of Dan to remain at Farbis did not result in any immediate reward for such aiding of Destiny. Not a glimpse did he obtain of Meg Merle, and he began to think h...

"The third meeting will be fatal," said Dan to himself as he climbed the hill. "At the first I liked her beauty; now I am charmed with her innocence and candour. When I meet her...

When he returned to his camp and had despatched his midday meal, Dan had a meditative smoke. There was no chance of his being interrupted, as Tinker Tim had gone on business to...

"So you are a Magdalen man, sir," said he, in a full rich voice. "I too am of that college. _Et ego in Arcadia fui_. 'Addison's Walk' by the Cher is dear to me."

The house built on the side of the hill was a dreary-looking place, standing in a park of no very great extent. Gloomy pine-woods rose above it, and the grounds appertaining to...

"My poor child, you must be making a mistake," replied the elder lady, in a pitying tone. "Gentlemen do not travel in caravans, or take rabbits from unknown young women."

If Dan was disposed to envy the open-air life of the Romany, he certainly felt that there were drawbacks to such an existence. This other view of the question impressed itself f...

All that night it rained heavily, but Dan woke next morning to find that the clouds had dispersed. He was later than usual, and the sun was already over the rim of the sea. The...

"Then I must claim the merit of originality," said Dan, humorously. "I am but indulging in a freak. Have you ever read 'C[oe]lebs in Search of a Wife,' Mr. Jarner?"

If Dan had hoped to lead a solitary life he found out his mistake at the end of his first week's camping. It became known far and wide that he was of a hospitable nature, with t...

My Dear Jack, Do not be surprised at getting a second letter from me before you have answered the first. This epistle is not so much a mark of friendship and remembrance as an o...

Meg laughed, and clinked the key against the iron bars. She was on one side of the gate, and he was on the other, but they could see and smile, which was a better fate than befe...

For the space of a minute, or it might be more, they looked at one another--Miss Linisfarne at Dan, he and Meg at Miss Linisfarne. It was so contrary to her usual custom to thus...

That evening, Dan paid a visit to Mr. Jarner in order to confess his newly born passion. After the rebuff he had received from Miss Linisfarne, he judged it as well to enlist th...

Summer was giving place to autumn, and still Lord Ardleigh lingered at Farbis. A constant succession of fine days enabled him to continue his outdoor life; and so many weeks had...

It was with considerable astonishment that Dan saw Dr. Merle approaching the dell. That so habitual a recluse should break through his customary rules, and visit a comparative s...

It was the custom of Mr. Jarner to visit at Farbis Court once a week. He pitied the loneliness of Miss Linisfarne, and did all in his power to divert her from melancholy reflect...

In her then state of mind it needed but the assurance of Jarner that Dan loved Meg to change Miss Linisfarne's passive dislike of the girl into active hatred. She had long been...

Miss Linisfarne recovered from her swoon to find that her machinations had proved unsuccessful. She had lied in saying that Meg was engaged to be married, and she had humiliated...

When Dan explained to Jarner the equivocal position in which he was placed by the folly of Miss Linisfarne, the vicar urged him to end all mysteries by declaring his name and ra...

Dear Jack, If this letter is wild, and incoherent, and rhapsodical, be sparing of your astonishment and blame. A scribe in my state of mind is not responsible for his epistles....

It is difficult, nay impossible, to alter in one day the habit of years. Meg had been accustomed to repair daily to Farbis Court from her early girlhood, and, now that Miss Lini...

True to his resolve, Dan left his camp after supper in order to assure himself that Meg had arrived safely at home. As he mounted the hill he heard confused shouts, and, on look...

Dear Jack, This is the last letter you will receive from the dell wherein I have camped so long. The days of my roving are over. No longer shall I trudge beside Simon through th...