TO
J. R. M. TAYLOR
COLONEL, UNITED STATES ARMY,
HISTORIAN OF THE PHILIPPINES:
ARCH IRONIST,
EX-EDITOR OF “THE INFANTRY JOURNAL,”
LATE LIBRARIAN OF THE ARMY WAR COLLEGE, WASHINGTON,
SOMETIME MILITARY ATTACHÉ AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY, CONSTANTINOPLE,
MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI,
INSTIGATOR OF OR ACCOMPLICE IN TOO MANY OTHER ACTIVITIES HERE TO BE NAMED;
WHO YET FOUND TIME TO INVENT ONE, NOR THE LEAST SEDUCTIVE, OF THE ENSUING FABLES, AND WHO COURTEOUSLY PUT IN THE WAY OF HIS COLLABORATOR TWO OF THE MOST EXASPERATING AND PROFITABLE EXPERIENCES OF A CAREER BY NO MEANS BARREN OF SUCH ACCIDENTS:
WITH THE COMPLIMENTS
OF HIS OBLIGED AND ADMIRING FRIEND
THE AUTHOR.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Of the stories in this collection, three originally appeared in The Century Magazine (“Like Michael,” copyright, 1916; “The Emperor of Elam,” copyright, 1917; “The Emerald of Tamerlane,” copyright, 1918), two each in The Bookman (“Unto the Day,” copyright, 1904; “Studio Smoke,” copyright, 1905), in Scribner’s Magazine (“The Bathers,” copyright, 1903; “Henrietta Stackpole Rediviva,” copyright, 1904), and in The Smart Set (“Susannah and the Elder,” copyright, 1905; “The Undoing of Mrs. Derwall,” copyright, 1906), and one each in The Associated Sunday Magazines (“Martha Waring’s Elopement,” copyright, 1904), in The Outlook (“The Pagan,” copyright, 1905), in Short Stories (“Castello Montughi,” copyright, 1908), and in The Sunset Magazine (“The Bald Spot,” copyright, 1909).
It may be added that the names of three of these stories are not the ones first copyrighted and that at least two of them have been completely recast, while not one of them has been left untouched in its earliest state. The writer nevertheless takes this occasion to express to the editors and publishers of the above periodicals, as well as to Mr. W. J. O’Brien and to Messrs. Small, Maynard and Company—who made use of “The Emperor of Elam” in The Best Short Stories of 1917—his thanks both for their former hospitality and for their present courtesy in permitting him to reassemble his work. Nor would this small payment of indebtedness be complete without mention of Colonel J. R. M. Taylor, who wrote the first draft of “The Emerald of Tamerlane,” and who generously allows it to be reprinted over the signature of his collaborator.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| Dedication | [v] |
| Acknowledgment | [vii] |
| Like Michael | [3] |
| Henrietta Stackpole Rediviva | [32] |
| The Pagan | [52] |
| White Bombazine | [82] |
| Unto the Day | [108] |
| Mrs. Derwall and the Higher Life | [131] |
| The Bathers | [151] |
| Retarded Bombs | [172] |
| Susannah and the Elder | [191] |
| The Emerald of Tamerlane | [221] |
| In collaboration with John Taylor | |
| Studio Smoke | [252] |
| Behind the Door | [266] |
| The Bald Spot | [290] |
| The Emperor of Elam | [306] |
LIKE MICHAEL
THE EMPEROR OF ELAM AND OTHER STORIES