It did people good to buy of her.
THE
UNKNOWN QUANTITY
A Book of Romance
And Some Half-Told Tales
by
HENRY VAN DYKE
"Let X represent the unknown quantity."
Legendre's Algebra
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1921
Copyright, 1912, by Charles Scribner's Sons
Published October, 1912. Reprinted October, December,
1912; July, 1916; May, 1918; March, 1919;
December, 1919; July, 1921.
Leather Edition, September, 1913; May, 1916;
February, 1917; June, 1920; May, 1921.
Dedicated
IN THANKFULNESS
TO THE MEMORY OF
DEAR DAUGHTER DOROTHEA
RAY OF LIGHT
SONG OF JOY
HEART OF LOVE
1888-1912
DOROTHEA
A deeper blue in sky and sea,
And ever, as the summer goes,
A deeper loss in losing thee!
Of hermit-thrush from lonely tree;
And deeper grows the sense of gain
My life has found in having thee.
A deeper joy in all I see;
And ever deeper in my breast
A silver song that comes from thee.
H. v. D.
Mount Desert,
August 1, 1912.
PREFACE
There is a chain of little lakes—a necklace of lost jewels—lying inthe forest that clothes the blue Laurentian Mountains in the Provinceof Quebec.
Each of these hidden lakes has its own character and therefore its owncharm. One is bright and friendly, with wooded hills around it, andsilver beaches, and red berries of the rowan-tree fringing the shores.Another is sombre and lonely, set in a circle of dark firs andlarches, with sighing, trembling reeds along the bank. Another is onlya round bowl of crystal water, the colour of an aquamarine,transparent and joyful as the sudden smile on the face o