A Long-lost Relative:—This may be taken from a real or an imaginary circumstance. Tell of the first news that the relative is coming. Where has he (or she) been during the past years? Speak of the period before the relative arrives: the conjectures as to his appearance; the preparations made; the conversation regarding him. Tell of his arrival. Is his appearance such as has been expected? Describe him rather fully. What does he say and do? Does he make himself agreeable? Are his ideas in any way peculiar? Do the neighbors like him? Give some of the incidents of his visit. Tell about his departure. Are the family glad or sorry to have him go? What is said about him after he has gone? What has been heard of him since?
COLLATERAL READINGS
| Suburban Sketches | William Dean Howells |
| A Boy's Town | " " " |
| The Rise of Silas Lapham | " " " |
| The Minister's Charge | " " " |
| Their Wedding Journey | " " " |
| The Lady of the Aroostook | " " " |
| Venetian Life | " " " |
| Italian Journeys | " " " |
| The Mouse Trap (a play) | " " " |
| Evening Dress (a play) | " " " |
| The Register (a play) | " " " |
| The Elevator (a play) | " " " |
| Unexpected Guests (a play) | " " " |
| The Albany Depot (a play) | " " " |
| Literary Friends and Acquaintances | " " " |
| Their California Uncle | Bret Harte |
| A Lodging for the Night | R.L. Stevenson |
| Kidnapped | " " |
| Ebb Tide | " " |
| Enoch Arden | Alfred Tennyson |
| Rip Van Winkle | Washington Irving |
| Wakefield | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Two Years before the Mast | R.H. Dana |
| Out of Gloucester | J.B. Connolly |
| Jean Valjean (from Les Misérables) | Victor Hugo (Ed. S.E. Wiltse) |
| Historic Towns of New England (Cambridge) | L.P. Powell (Ed.) |
| Old Cambridge | T.W. Higginson |
| American Authors at Home, pp. 193-211 | J.L. and J.B. Gilder |
| American Authors and their Homes, pp. 99-110 | F.W. Halsey |
| American Writers of To-day, pp. 43-68 | H.C. Vedder |
Bookman, 17:342 (Portrait); 35:114, April, 1912; Current Literature, 42:49, January, 1907 (Portrait).
THE WILD RIDE
LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY
I hear in my heart, I hear in its ominous pulses
All day, on the road, the hoofs of invisible horses,
All night, from their stalls, the importunate pawing and neighing.
Let cowards and laggards fall back! but alert to the saddle,
Weather-worn and abreast, go men of our galloping legion,
With a stirrup-cup each to the lily of women that loves him.
The trail is through dolour and dread, over crags and morasses;
There are shapes by the way, there are things that appal or entice us:
What odds? We are Knights of the Grail, we are vowed to the riding.