When shadows die

The Earl of Enderby and his sister, Mrs. Force, acting under the directions of the earl’s doctor, now set out for Germany, and in due time reached Baden-Baden. Their apartments,...

“We can get a train back to London, and catch the night steamer to Ostend, and be with your mother by to-morrow evening. Shall we do so, or shall we go down to Chester and take...

Who that endured them ever shall forget The emotions of that spirit-trying time, When breathless in the mart the couriers met, Early and late, at evening and at prime, When the...

“Elf,” he answered, “I am inclined to suspect that you are right. Certainly most of my ailments, real or imaginary, have vanished under the influence of change, motion and socie...

“He is a mate on a merchantman at present. But when he gets his rights, I am sure he will be a nobleman of high rank, and maybe a prince of royal race.”

They were of those few who in the dreadful struggle could not take any side. They only longed for peace and reconciliation. They passed the winter in Rome, but in the early spri...

“Among the pirates, Capt. Grandiere? Roland Bayard among the pirates?” exclaimed Mr. Force, while Mrs. Force closed her lips with a sudden motion and grew a shade paler. Rosemar...

“I will tell you, my girl, though I hate to talk of it. About a month ago I sailed from Havana, bound to London, with a cargo of rum, tobacco and sweetmeats. The weather was fin...

The next day the passengers all arose early to go on deck; but most of them had to lie down again before they had finished dressing; and to remain in their staterooms, where the...

The wind rose to a hurricane! It had a thousand voices! It hummed, sang, whistled and hurrahed, as it danced in the rigging. It moaned, wailed, howled and shrieked, as it knocke...

“Where is Roland? Oh, Mrs. Force, where is Roland? He was on the pirate ship, you know! Oh, was he wounded in the sea fight? Was he taken prisoner? Was he killed? Oh, was he kil...

“Everybody is happy but me! Oh, Uncle Gideon, I have looked all over, up and down, and everywhere in the papers, and I cannot see one word about Roland! Oh, Roland! Roland!” moa...

The very first news that met Mr. Force on his entrance into the gentlemen’s reading room was, that the _Argente_ was in the navy yard. She had arrived at dawn that morning.

“Yes! He is Silver—Silver, the pirate captain! No irons on his wrists yet! Prisoner of war, is he? Ah! ah! we shall see—we shall see! But my brave Roland! Taken with him! This,...

“Yet you do not know his parentage, or what traits of character he may have inherited, which may have been kept down by circumstances, and only wanted opportunity to spring into...

Meanwhile, Capt. Grandiere, having obtained his pass, got into a crowded street car, en route for the Old Capitol prison. After toiling up the long hill on the north side of the...

As they neared it they saw an officer in naval uniform standing with his back toward them, and his gaze directed toward a boat, rowed by six men, that was swiftly coming toward...

“We must wait until Franklin comes on board,” said Leonidas Force, the next morning, as he stood beside Mr. Force, on the deck of the _Argente_, looking off toward the navy yard...

“She is doing as well as possible under the circumstances. All depends now on absolute quiet. It was for that reason I summoned a trained nurse and forbid any of the family to a...

Rosemary quickly put on the olive green linsey suit in which she had crossed the sea, and the little round traveling cap in which she had ridden to the city, and hurried downsta...

“Thank Heaven! I hope she will be all right in a day or two!” exclaimed Grandiere, heartily, as he threw himself into a big armchair and dropped his hat between his feet.

“Oh, yes!” said the good woman, after she had shaken hands all around, and had sunk breathless into the nearest easy chair. “It is all mighty fine to cry out ‘Miss Sibby,’ as if...

It was no more than a closet, and had evidently been used as a dressing room attached to the large chamber before the exigencies of war had rendered space in the house too valua...

“That letter told me that my father had married and was spending his honeymoon in Paris. I had a stepmother! A being whom, I knew not how, or why, unless perhaps from the idle t...

“Steward and housekeeper were both ‘taken aback’ and ‘flustered,’ as they described themselves; yet they were not unprepared. The house was always as well kept as the circumstan...

“I never was reconciled to my lonely life at Weirdwaste, but as the years passed on, and I grew toward womanhood the solitude and monotony of my surroundings pressed more and mo...

“My companion and chaperon—once my English teacher—Miss Murray, was confined to the house by a slight attack of bronchitis, which she was carefully nursing lest it should become...

“Ah! I have often thought since that it was well, in the interest of poetry and romance, that the story of these lovers never carried them into matrimony; for such delirious pas...

“It came up about nine o’clock. We entered it and were off to London. The daylight journey was even more pleasant than our festive night ride. I, who had been so confined all my...

There is not in this world of sin A soul so deeply sunk therein, Thronged though it be with crimes and cares, Revenges, malices, despairs, However dire the phantoms there, Howev...

“His manner was full of the most respectful sympathy. He was my brother’s dearest friend. He had acted in my father’s and my brother’s absence as my own best friend; and, since...

“Anglesea watched me closely, as if in anxiety to see how much this suspense and uncertainty might affect my health and spirits. And I think he was surprised and pleased to disc...

“‘My dearest Elfrida, for my beastly stupidity I deserve all the reproaches you can heap upon me. But not the utter reproach of complicity in the deception that was practiced up...

“He was dressed in deep mourning, and he looked older by twenty years than when I had seen him last. As I gazed on his worn face, on which there was no trace of anger, but only...

“‘Oh, my poor child! Oh, my dear child! And here you have been controlling and concealing your own great sorrow to listen to me and to sympathize with my lighter ones. Oh, my po...

“‘You do not know whether you have any right to do so? What do you mean, Elfrida? Are we still at cross-purposes, my dear? Or what new enigma is this?’ he demanded, uneasily.

“We liked Myrtle Grove so well that we made it our home for three years. Its quiet beauty seemed so soothing and restful after the terrible grandeur of Enderby Castle and the mo...

“We avoided the ‘highways’ and public resorts of travel—the grand railway lines, the great cities, the famous spas, the big hotels, and we sought out the by-ways—unfrequented ha...

“In the first winter of our marriage news came to us of my father’s death, and we mourned him deeply, as you know. Added to grief for his loss was anxiety for the fate of the ch...

When Abel Force had finished reading this manuscript he sat with it in his hand, thoughtfully gazing at the paper and almost involuntarily listening for any sound from the adjoi...

“You are, of course, aware,” said the latter, sitting down at the table and beginning to arrange his papers before him—“you are, of course, aware of my own intimate connection w...

“Will you tell me now, as we walk along, why my sister’s first marriage was kept a secret from me during all these years? Why even my chum in college, my fellow soldier in camp,...

“It is I, papa,” said Wynnette, in a cheerful voice, and with a bright smile, that at once dispelled the squire’s fears for his wife, which had been aroused by the summons.

“I thought that you were the loveliest, yet the most morbid, woman, upon one point, on the face of the earth. Often when I looked at you and saw you preoccupied and very sorrowf...

“I have had a long interview this morning with my invalid wife. There has been a full explanation between us; but the excitement of such a conversation has exhausted her, and nu...

It was the habit of the guests to collect in family or social groups in the several compartments of this saloon, where each circle could enjoy some privacy apart from the strang...

The recovery of Elfrida Force was very rapid. When she awoke from sleep on the morning after her interview with her husband, she felt so free from pain and weariness, so refresh...

“I wish with all my heart and soul that our meeting had been earlier! It would then have saved much misunderstanding and suffering,” said Gen. Anglesea, with a deep sigh, as he...

“It’s a habit he gibs hisse’f, ole mist’ess! Nuffin’ ’tall but a cussed, infunally habit he gibs hisse’f! And he ought to be broke ob it, if it breaks his neck! He to hab de dar...