PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
COPYRIGHT, 1914, 1915 AND 1916,
BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
[vii]
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I | Local Color | [11] |
| II | Field of Honor | [47] |
| III | The Smart Aleck | [91] |
| IV | Blacker than Sin | [129] |
| V | The Eyes of the World | [159] |
| VI | The Great Auk | [204] |
| VII | First Corinthians: Chap. XIII, v. 4 | [246] |
| VIII | Enter the Villain | [303] |
| IX | Persona au Gratin | [368] |
| X | Smooth Crossing | [408] |
[ix]
LOCAL COLOR
[11]
CHAPTER I
LOCAL COLOR
Felix Looms, the well-known author, disappeared—or, rather, he went away—on or about June fifteenth, four years ago. He told his friends, his landlady and his publisher—he had no immediate family—he felt run down and debilitated and he meant to go away for a good long stay. He might try the Orient; then again perhaps he would go to the South Seas. When he came back, which might be in a year or two years or even three, he expected to bring with him the material for a longer and better book than any he had written. Meantime he wanted to cut loose, as he put it, from everything. He intended, he said, to write no letters while he was gone and he expected to receive none.
He gave a power of attorney to a lawyer with whom he had occasional dealings, left in bank a modest balance to meet any small forgotten bills that might turn up after his departure, surrendered his bachelor apartments in the [12] Rubens Studio Building, paid off his housekeeper, said good-bye to a few persons, wrote explanatory notes to a few more; and then quietly—as he did everything in this life—he vanished.