Of the sketches contained in this volume, fourteen have appeared in the
following periodicals: The New Statesman, The Saturday
Review, The Nation, and The Cornhill Magazine.
CONTENTS
I. HOW I FOUND MY TITLE
II. THE OLD MAN'S DELUSION
III. AS A TREE FALLS
IV. BLOOD: A STORY OF TWO BROTHERS
V. A STORY OF LONG DESCENT
VI. A SECOND STORY OF TWO BROTHERS
VII. A THIRD STORY OF TWO BROTHERS
VIII. THE TWO WHITE HOUSES: A MEMORY
IX. DANDY: A STORY OF A DOG
X. THE SAMPHIRE GATHERER
XI. A SURREY VILLAGE
XII. A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE
XIII. HER OWN VILLAGE
XIV. APPLE BLOSSOMS AND A LOST VILLAGE
XV. THE VANISHING CURTSEY
XVI. LITTLE GIRLS I HAVE MET
XVII. MILLICENT AND ANOTHER
XVIII. FRECKLES
XIX. ON CROMER BEACH
XX. DIMPLES
XXI. WILD FLOWERS AND LITTLE GIRLS
XXII. A LITTLE GIRL LOST
XXIII. A SPRAY OF SOUTHERNWOOD
XXIV. IN PORCHESTER CHURCHYARD
XXV. HOMELESS
XXVI. THE STORY OF A SKULL
XXVII. A STORY OF A WALNUT
XXVIII. A STORY OF A JACKDAW
XXIX. A WONDERFUL STORY OF A MACKEREL
XXX. STRANGERS YET
XXXI. THE RETURN OF THE CHIFF-CHAFF
XXXII. A WASP AT TABLE
XXXIII. WASPS AND MEN
XXXIV. IN CHITTERNE CHURCHYARD
XXXV. A HAUNTER OF CHURCHYARDS
XXXVI. THE DEAD AND THE LIVING
XXXVII. A STORY OF THREE POEMS
A TRAVELLER IN LITTLE THINGS
I
HOW I FOUND MY TITLE
It is surely a rare experience for an unclassified man, past middle
age, to hear himself accurately and aptly described for the first time
in his life by a perfect stranger! This thing happened to me at
Bristol, some time ago, in the way I am about to relate. I slept at a
Commercial Hotel, and early next morning was joined in the big empty
coffee-room, smelling of stale tobacco, by an intensely respectable-
looking old gentleman, whose hair was of silvery whiteness, and who
wore gold-rimmed spectacles and a heavy gold watch-chain with many
seals attached thereto; whose linen was of the finest, and whose outer
garments, including the trousers, were of the newest and blackest
broadcloth. A glossier and at the same time a more venerable-looking
"commercial" I had never seen in the west country, nor anywhere in the
three kingdoms. He could not have improved his appearance if he had
been on his way to attend the funeral of a millionaire. But with all
his superior look he was quite affable, and talked fluently and
instructively on a variety of themes, including trade, politics, and
religion. Perceiving that he had taken me for what I was not - one of
the army in which he served, but of inferior rank - I listened
respectfully as became me. Finally he led the talk to the subject of
agriculture, and the condition and prospects of farming in England.
Here I perceived that he was on wholly unfamiliar ground, and in return
for the valuable information he had given me on other and more
important subjects, I proceeded to enlighten him.
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