By Meredith Nicholson
A HOOSIER CHRONICLE. With illustrations. THE SIEGE OF THE SEVEN SUITORS. With illustrations. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY Boston and New York
A HOOSIER CHRONICLE
"Dreams books, are each a world and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good; Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness will grow"
Wordsworth in Personal Talk
[Illustration: SYLVIA AND PROFESSOR KELTON]
A HOOSIER CHRONICLE
MEREDITH NICHOLSON
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY F.C. YOHN
BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge
_Published March 1912_
TO
EVANS WOOLLEN, ESQ.
The wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand which perishes in the twisting; that the State must follow and not lead the character and progress of the citizen; the strongest usurper is quickly got rid of; and they only who build on Ideas, build for eternity; and that the form of government which prevails is the expression of what cultivation exists in the population which permits it. The law is only a memorandum. We are superstitious, and esteem the statute somewhat; so much life as it has in the character of living men is its force.
EMERSON: _Politics_.
CONTENTS
I. My LADY OF THE CONSTELLATIONS 1 II. SYLVIA GOES VISITING 20 III. A SMALL DINNER AT MRS. OWEN'S 39 IV. WE LEARN MORE OF SYLVIA 62 V. INTRODUCING MR. DANIEL HARWOOD 79 VI. HOME LIFE OF HOOSIER STATESMEN 89 VII. SYLVIA AT LAKE WAUPEGAN 113 VIII. SILK STOCKINGS AND BLUE OVERALLS 136 IX. DANIEL HARWOOD RECEIVES AN OFFER 152 X. IN THE BOORDMAN BUILDING 168 XI. THE MAP ABOVE BASSETT'S DESK 193 XII. BLURRED WINDOWS 212 XIII. THE WAYS OF MARIAN 225 XIV. THE PASSING OF ANDREW KELTON 246 XV. A SURPRISE AT THE COUNTRY CLUB 257 XVI. "STOP, LOOK, LISTEN" 271 XVII. A STROLL ACROSS THE CAMPUS 288 XVIII. THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD 297 XIX. THE THUNDER OF THE CAPTAINS 321 XX. INTERVIEWS IN TWO KEYS 350 XXI. A SHORT HORSE SOON CURRIED 374 XXII. THE GRAY SISTERHOOD 393 XXIII. A HOUSE-BOAT ON THE KANKAKEE 403 XXIV. A WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY BALL 418 XXV. THE LADY OF THE DAGUERREOTYPE 439 XXVI. APRIL VISTAS 460 XXVII. HEAT LIGHTNING 474 XXVIII. A CHEERFUL BRINGER OF BAD TIDINGS 497 XXIX. A SONG AND A FALLING STAR 511 XXX. THE KING HATH SUMMONED HIS PARLIAMENT 534 XXXI. SYLVIA ASKS QUESTIONS 542 XXXII. "MY BEAUTIFUL ONE" 560 XXXIII. THE MAN OF SHADOWS 570 XXXIV. WE GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING 591 A POSTSCRIPT BY THE CHRONICLER 602
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Hoosier Chronicle by Meredith Nicholson
- 2: Professor Kelton had few callers
- 3: Whom Professor Kelton darkly called Philistines
- 4: Sang cheerily through the Hoosier wilderness
- 5: The finding of Professor Kelton proves to be
- 6: Affection for Professor Kelton steadily increased
- 7: Replied Professor Kelton quietly
- 8: Madison needs no praise from me
- 9: As she neared home Sylvia met her friend Dr
- 10: Professor Kelton was unwontedly preoccupied to night
- 11: On the few railway journeys Sylvia remembered
- 12: Said Sylvia a little plaintively
- 13: Sylvia had not the faintest notion of what proxy meant
- 14: Jackson Owen was at this time sixty years old
- 15: My name is Sylvia Sylvia Garrison
- 16: Marian took charge of the conversation
- 17: Marian conducted herself with the most mature air
- 18: The superintendent looked the sorrels over carefully
- 19: Though she had known Andrew Kelton all his life
- 20: Sassafras tea and a circus every spring
- 21: Owen was looking at her fixedly
- 22: She followed Sylvia to her room
- 23: The admiral and Professor Kelton sat at Mrs
- 24: I gave up when they beat Tilden out of the presidency
- 25: And Bassett is a man of surprising tastes
- 26: Wouldn't know any if it weren't for the dippers
- 27: Politeness certainly demanded that Sylvia should answer
- 28: Said Professor Kelton when they were alone
- 29: But you tried other places besides Adams
- 30: Kelton rose and paced the floor
- 31: Edna ran off without giving me any hint of what was coming
- 32: Edna had a different mind altogether
- 33: Though I never saw where Hallie proved it
- 34: Owen with her correspondence and accounts
- 35: Kelton lingered to smoke a cigar in the open
- 36: Harwood is to appear frequently in this chronicle
- 37: His personal peculiarities had greatly Interested Harwood
- 38: He scrutinized Harwood carefully for a moment
- 39: Of the law firm of Wright and Fitch
- 40: The editorial staff had not been disturbed
- 41: Fraserville boasted two other newspapers
- 42: Married only child of Blackford F
- 43: Mort rather retains his heat
- 44: But Bassett began to talk on his own initiative of the town
- 45: That Bassett had abruptly switched the subject
- 46: These are first editions of American authors
- 47: Then Bassett remarked carelessly
- 48: I've tried to paint the real Bassett
- 49: As my farm borders Lake Waupegan
- 50: These lights marked the farthest bounds of Lake Waupegan
- 51: Bassett the gravest apprehensions
- 52: There were dances at the casino
- 53: And he was coming direct to Waupegan for a long stay
- 54: Bassett had never seemed friendlier
- 55: Bassett was speaking defensively of Marian
- 56: As Sylvia knew nothing of George Eliot
- 57: A breeze blowing across the cornfield swept over them
- 58: Bassett says you're going to college this fall to Wellesley
- 59: Thatcher had built an expensive house
- 60: And he had abandoned hope of learning anything of Thatcher
- 61: Replied the young fellow from the workbench
- 62: Thatcher nodded and thanked him
- 63: Dad says my lungs have been their main asset
- 64: Thatcher was known as a wealthy sport
- 65: Bassett is an interesting man all right enough
- 66: Dating from the Fraserville visit
- 67: I'm holding Waupegan in reserve for my old age
- 68: It's in a warehouse in Fraserville
- 69: A copy of Darlington's 'Narrative
- 70: Fitch had shown an interest in Harwood
- 71: Fitch dropped his feet from the desk
- 72: This was seeing Fitch in a new aspect
- 73: Throughout the summer Harwood hardly saw Bassett
- 74: Bassett called Dan into his office
- 75: Write a vigorous editorial for the 'Courier
- 76: Dan had no acquaintance with Atwill
- 77: But Bassett interested him more and more as a character
- 78: The Boss in the Boordman Building
- 79: Sylvia rose as Harwood appeared at the parlor door
- 80: And he found this encounter with Sylvia wholly agreeable
- 81: I suppose Yale is a good place
- 82: I don't believe I know any Harwoods here
- 83: Allen Thatcher exasperated Harwood
- 84: Harwood was unfeignedly surprised at this
- 85: Replied the Honorable Isaac Pettit impressively
- 86: The workmen showed a great fondness for Allen
- 87: The fact that Morton Bassett of Fraserville had
- 88: Bassett has made that possible
- 89: But before he could speak Thatcher laughed
- 90: Thatcher did not heed this mild rebuke
- 91: If Thatcher meditated a break with Bassett
- 92: Against her own slight receipts at the college post office
- 93: Owen when she asked for news of Sylvia
- 94: I was at Waupegan three summers ago at Mrs
- 95: Bassett is ambitious for her children
- 96: A subject that had begun to interest Sylvia
- 97: A drollery of the Hoosier constitution still tolerated
- 98: Bassett was pleased with Dan's choice of a stenographer
- 99: Scorning the doctors of Fraserville
- 100: Bassett was beyond Harwood's reach
- 101: Observed Allen when Marian had fluttered into the elevator
- 102: And Harwood raged in his helplessness
- 103: The police watch Lueders carefully
- 104: But where's Morton Bassett in all this
- 105: Allen was twisting his gloves nervously
- 106: Harwood struck his hands together sharply
- 107: That led Bassett into politics
- 108: He said Kelton wrote a good deal on astronomical subjects
- 109: Andrew Kelton was a man and a good one
- 110: I suppose Dan began and then hesitated
- 111: He had talked to Harwood a good deal about Marian
- 112: Pettit took charge of the situation
- 113: Continued to exchange commonplaces with Thatcher and Pettit
- 114: Owen is going to have her at Waupegan this summer
- 115: Harwood and Allen Thatcher were the only young men she knew
- 116: But Marian was undeniably a provoking young person
- 117: Harwood entered and found Bassett with his hat on
- 118: He handed the message to Bassett
- 119: If Thatcher and Bassett get to fighting
- 120: At the bank Akins gave them the directors' room
- 121: Edna Kelton was a little headstrong
- 122: But we don't want Sylvia to suffer
- 123: But Fitch had not known the contents of the letter
- 124: There's something about a campus
- 125: Or mayhap those lads wear a Fiji pin on their waistcoats
- 126: But there's no such thing as an individualist
- 127: The remembrance of Bassett had turned her thoughts to Marian
- 128: I guess Sylvia can tell you a good many things
- 129: He had been known as a Bassett man
- 130: Else how had Harwood asked at once
- 131: Where Bassett joined them shortly
- 132: Bassett and Marian have been telling me
- 133: Said Bassett when he and Harwood were alone
- 134: Thatcher is not a foe to be despised
- 135: Thatcher against the Courier Publishing Company
- 136: Harwood would have been sensible of it
- 137: In any view Bassett was preferable to Thatcher
- 138: Bassett inspected Sylvia's diploma
- 139: In keeping with his forecast to Harwood
- 140: Thatcher had treated Pettit generously
- 141: Seated majestically with the Fraser County delegation
- 142: Harwood would be a delegate to the convention
- 143: Harwood sat immediately under them
- 144: He was unacquainted with the gentleman from Pulaski
- 145: Like the mysterious person from Pulaski
- 146: Harwood communicated itself to the delegates
- 147: This was Bassett's defiance Bassett
- 148: He was quite as rich as Bassett
- 149: Which Bassett read without emotion
- 150: Bassett remained in bed the day following the convention
- 151: Which is that Thatcher is out of it altogether
- 152: The culmination of all his offenses
- 153: Aunt Sally and Thatcher are friends
- 154: Professor Kelton was one of Aunt Sally's oldest friends
- 155: She put it flatly What if Harwood should marry Sylvia
- 156: They were so good to me that summer at Waupegan
- 157: That I have declined one or two college positions
- 158: That you are going to make yourself uncomfortable
- 159: It seemed that the Thatcher incident was not only funny
- 160: Bassett was restored to tranquillity
- 161: Bassett raised her eyes to Sylvia
- 162: That manicure girl is a circus
- 163: Allen viewed the whole matter with a kind of detachment
- 164: Thatcher and I have agreed to disagree
- 165: I'm not afraid of Edward Thatcher
- 166: I've been watching you ever since you married Hallie
- 167: You can print all the politics you want
- 168: I'll speak to Atwill about his horse news
- 169: Sylvia declined his offer and smiled
- 170: Now Allen approves of me I like Allen
- 171: A member of the gray sisterhood of American nuns
- 172: As Harwood had been from the first
- 173: Or whether Bassett deserved the credit
- 174: And he went directly to the Boordman Building
- 175: The office in the Boordman Building remained the same
- 176: Thatcher was far from being a saint
- 177: It occurred to Harwood that this big
- 178: She wanted the little girl baptized
- 179: Owen suggested the Bosworth house
- 180: The Lion and Daniel was the tag affixed to this cartoon
- 181: Morton Bassett was the person most observed of all observers
- 182: To justify the presence of the senior Thatcher
- 183: A messenger brought Sylvia a question from Mrs
- 184: Harwood assuming that I did use him
- 185: It's nearly time for the cotillion
- 186: And followed more slowly with Harwood
- 187: It was two o'clock when Harwood
- 188: But begged Harwood to take Sylvia home at once
- 189: Bassett had deceived him and was trying to use him
- 190: Thatcher in the convention illustrates what I mean
- 191: Sylvia Sylvia never heard her name drawled as Mrs
- 192: Coming downtown about once a month
- 193: I can't make you throw your kodak away
- 194: I've warned Morton to let Edward Thatcher alone
- 195: All the textbooks make it so hard and it really isn't
- 196: Bassett was a complex character
- 197: I promoted the canneries scheme and I was responsible for it
- 198: The Colonel inspected the room
- 199: Thatcher has developed into a shrewd and hard fighter
- 200: Disclosing the Honorable Isaac Pettit
- 201: But if you had to make a choice between Thatcher and Bassett
- 202: I've undertaken to probe clear into the mire
- 203: Amused himself by telegraphing to Marian daily
- 204: The newly affixed labels announced peach
- 205: A white woman can't learn to cook the way darkies do
- 206: She cheerfully agreed to give Blackford two hours a day
- 207: We've got to keep Blackford in hand
- 208: Bassett was reduced to despair
- 209: Blackford was in his room studying
- 210: Bassett the fact that you went for Marian
- 211: Sylvia answered over her shoulder
- 212: You'll have Blackford and the nurse down here in a minute
- 213: Miss Garrison has gone to bring Marian home
- 214: Bassett read of the smash in the papers
- 215: But that he should marry Marian Marian
- 216: Thatcher admired her for remaining in exile
- 217: Bassett and tell him I want to marry Marian
- 218: Aroused Dan's ire against Thatcher
- 219: And Harwood took the afternoon train for Waupegan
- 220: He had a proposition to make in that Canneries case
- 221: As Harwood greeted her and Sylvia on her veranda
- 222: Blackford came here for his lessons this morning
- 223: Thatcher is preparing a poisoned arrow for Bassett
- 224: Dan paddled steadily with a skilled
- 225: Men and women were finding out the joy of striving together
- 226: Morton Bassett still roused his curiosity and interest
- 227: Only the lights of the sailboat were visible now
- 228: And Sylvia turned round and knelt
- 229: Marian threw down her paddle angrily
- 230: This particular convocation of the Hoosier lawmakers
- 231: Ridgefield to the remote arm of the Chesapeake
- 232: Nor were any possible successors to Ridgefield mentioned
- 233: Owen's the place sought oftenest by Sylvia
- 234: Thatcher strode to the door and went out
- 235: Much as he had told it that night on the Kankakee
- 236: But has Thatcher found the trout
- 237: But as Thatcher and Bassett versus the People
- 238: Owen received them in her office
- 239: Fitch passed it on to his client I never knew
- 240: And her surprise was increased when Harwood
- 241: Wished to see Harwood to learn when
- 242: We've always used purple copying ribbons
- 243: And tell me whether you have any knowledge
- 244: He was not afraid of Morton Bassett now
- 245: Now that Harwood was fully armed to protect her
- 246: Without rising Bassett bade him wait outside
- 247: My father's illness was prolonged
- 248: Thatcher knows much of this story
- 249: You have offered me reparation
- 250: And tried to train him in your cowardly shadow ways
- 251: It's begun to get on my nerves
- 252: He was still writing when Harwood entered
- 253: Waiting for the convening of the caucus
- 254: Harwood had to put a new downspout on the kitchen
- 255: Ramsay won't break the apostolic succession
- 256: He had not meant to dwell upon Bassett
- 257: Wandless had already stepped forward to give her in marriage
- 258: I found it pleasant to watch the Harwoods
- 259: And E lizabeth I loved the way she drawled the name
