The Marrow of Tradition

Produced by Suzanne Shell, Bill Walker and PG Distributed Proofreaders
by Charles W. Chestnutt 1901
I. At Break of Day II. The Christening Party III. The Editor at Work IV. Theodore Felix V. A Journey Southward VI. Janet VII. The Operation VIII. The Campaign drags IX. A White Man's Nigger X. Delamere Plays a Trump XI. The Baby and the Bird XII. Another Southern Product XIII. The Cakewalk XIV. The Maunderings of Old Mrs. Ochiltree XV. Mrs. Carteret Seeks an Explanation XVI. Ellis Takes a Trick XVII. The Social Aspirations of Captain McBane XVIII. Sandy Sees His Own Ha'nt XIX. A Midnight Walk XX. A Shocking Crime XXI. The Necessity of an Example XXII. How Not to Prevent a Lynching XXIII. Belleview XXIV. Two Southern Gentlemen XXV. The Honor of a Family XXVI. The Discomfort of Ellis XXVII. The Vagaries of the Higher Law XXVIII. In Season and Out XXIX. Mutterings of the Storm XXX. The Missing Papers XXXI. The Shadow of a Dream XXXII. The Storm breaks XXXIII. Into the Lion's Jaws XXXIV. The Valley of the Shadow XXXV. Mine Enemy, O Mine Enemy! XXXVI. Fiat Justitia XXXVII. The Sisters
The Marrow of Tradition
I like you and your book, ingenious Hone! In whose capacious all-embracing leaves The very marrow of tradition's shown.
—CHARLES LAMB To the Editor of the Every-Day Book
Stay here beside her, major. I shall not he needed for an hour yet. Meanwhile I'll go downstairs and snatch a bit of sleep, or talk to old Jane.
The night was hot and sultry. Though the windows of the chamber were wide open, and the muslin curtains looped back, not a breath of air was stirring. Only the shrill chirp of the cicada and the muffled croaking of the frogs in some distant marsh broke the night silence. The heavy scent of magnolias, overpowering even the strong smell of drugs in the sickroom, suggested death and funeral wreaths, sorrow and tears, the long home, the last sleep. The major shivered with apprehension as the slender hand which he held in his own contracted nervously and in a spasm of pain clutched his fingers with a viselike grip.