HORACE CHASE
A Novel
by
CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON
AUTHOR OF "JUPITER LIGHTS" "EAST ANGELS" ETC.
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1894
Copyright, 1894, by HARPER & Brothers.
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All rights reserved.
HORACE CHASE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV
CHAPTER I
IN a mountain village of North Carolina, in the year 1873, the springhad opened with its accustomed beauty. But one day there came a purecold wind which swept through the high valley at tremendous speed fromdawn to midnight. People who never succumb to mere comfort did notrelight their fires. But to the Franklin family comfort was a goddess,they would never have thought of calling her "mere"; "delightful" wastheir word, and Ruth would probably have said "delicious." The fire inMrs. Franklin's parlor, therefore, having been piled with fresh logs attwo o'clock as an offering to this deity, was now, at four, sending outa ruddy glow. It was a fire which called forth Ruth's highestapprobation when she came in, followed by her dog, Petie Trone, Esq. Notthat Ruth had been facing the blast; she never went out from a sense ofduty, and for her there was no pleasure in doing battle with things thatwere disagreeable for the sake merely of conquering them. Ruth had comefrom her own room, where there was a fire also, but one not so generousas this, for here the old-fashioned hearth was broad and deep. The girlsat down on the rug before the blaze, and then, after a moment, shestretched herself out at full length there, with her head resting on herarm thrown back behind it.
"It's a pity, Ruth, that with all your little ways, you are not littleyourself," remarked Dolly Franklin, the elder sister. "Such a whalelikecreature sprawled on the floor isn't endearing; it looks like somethingout of Gulliver."
"It's always so," observed Mrs. Franklin, drowsily. "It's the oddestthing in the world—but people never will stay in character; they