[CHAPTER I. HER CHILDHOOD]
[CHAPTER II. CHILD-LIFE, PAGAN FREE]
[CHAPTER III. DANGEROUS DAYS]
[CHAPTER IV. AN OPENING CLOVER-BLOOM]
[CHAPTER V. HER FIRST PERIL]
[CHAPTER VI. HER FIRST IDEAL]
[CHAPTER VII. ROSE MEETS DR. THATCHER]
[CHAPTER VIII. LEAVING HOME]
[CHAPTER IX. ROSE ENTERS MADISON]
[CHAPTER X. QUIET YEARS OF GROWTH]
[CHAPTER XI. STUDY OF THE STARS]
[CHAPTER XII. THE GATES OPEN WIDE]
[CHAPTER XIII. THE WOMAN'S PART]
[CHAPTER XIV. AGAIN THE QUESTION OF HOME-LEAVING]
[CHAPTER XV. CHICAGO]
[CHAPTER XVI. HER FIRST CONQUEST]
[CHAPTER XVII. HER FIRST DINNER OUT]
[CHAPTER XVIII. MASON TALKS ON MARRIAGE]
[CHAPTER XIX. ROSE SITS IN THE BLAZE OF A THOUSAND EYES]
[CHAPTER XX. ROSE SETS FACE TOWARD THE OPEN ROAD]
[CHAPTER XXI. MASON TALKS AGAIN]
[CHAPTER XXII. SOCIAL QUESTIONS]
[CHAPTER XXIII. A STORM AND A HELMSMAN]
[CHAPTER XXIV. MASON TAKES A VACATION]
[CHAPTER XXV. ROSE RECEIVES A LETTER]
[CHAPTER XXVI. MASON AS A LOVER]
[CONCLUSION]
ROSE OF DUTCHER'S COOLLY
CHAPTER I
HER CHILDHOOD
Rose was an unaccountable child from the start. She learned to speak early and while she did not use "baby-talk" she had strange words of her own. She called hard money "tow" and a picture "tac," names which had nothing to do with onomatop[oe]ia though it seemed so in some cases. Bread and milk she called "plop."
She began to read of her own accord when four years old, picking out the letters from the advertisements of the newspapers, and running to her mother at the sink or bread-board to learn what each word meant. Her demand for stories grew to be a burden. She was insatiate, nothing but sleep subdued her eager brain.
As she grew older she read and re-read her picture books when alone, but when older people were talking she listened as attentively as if she understood every word. She had the power of amusing herself and visited very little with other children. It was deeply moving to see her with her poor playthings out under the poplar tree, talking to herself, arranging and rearranging her chairs and tables, the sunlight flecking her hair, and the birds singing overhead.
She seemed only a larger sort of insect, and her prattle mixed easily with the chirp of crickets and the rustle of leaves.