Chapter I: Front Matter

By Meredith Nicholson

A HOOSIER CHRONICLE. With illustrations.
THE SIEGE OF THE SEVEN SUITORS. With illustrations.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Boston and New York

A HOOSIER CHRONICLE

"Dreams books, are each a world and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good;
Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
Our pastime and our happiness will grow"

Wordsworth
in
Personal Talk

A HOOSIER CHRONICLE

MEREDITH NICHOLSON

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY F.C. YOHN

BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge

_Published March 1912_

TO

EVANS WOOLLEN, ESQ.

The wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand which perishes in the twisting; that the State must follow and not lead the character and progress of the citizen; the strongest usurper is quickly got rid of; and they only who build on Ideas, build for eternity; and that the form of government which prevails is the expression of what cultivation exists in the population which permits it. The law is only a memorandum. We are superstitious, and esteem the statute somewhat; so much life as it has in the character of living men is its force.

EMERSON: _Politics_.

CONTENTS

I. My LADY OF THE CONSTELLATIONS 1
II. SYLVIA GOES VISITING 20
III. A SMALL DINNER AT MRS. OWEN'S 39
IV. WE LEARN MORE OF SYLVIA 62
V. INTRODUCING MR. DANIEL HARWOOD 79
VI. HOME LIFE OF HOOSIER STATESMEN 89
VII. SYLVIA AT LAKE WAUPEGAN 113
VIII. SILK STOCKINGS AND BLUE OVERALLS 136
IX. DANIEL HARWOOD RECEIVES AN OFFER 152
X. IN THE BOORDMAN BUILDING 168
XI. THE MAP ABOVE BASSETT'S DESK 193
XII. BLURRED WINDOWS 212
XIII. THE WAYS OF MARIAN 225
XIV. THE PASSING OF ANDREW KELTON 246
XV. A SURPRISE AT THE COUNTRY CLUB 257
XVI. "STOP, LOOK, LISTEN" 271
XVII. A STROLL ACROSS THE CAMPUS 288
XVIII. THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD 297
XIX. THE THUNDER OF THE CAPTAINS 321
XX. INTERVIEWS IN TWO KEYS 350
XXI. A SHORT HORSE SOON CURRIED 374
XXII. THE GRAY SISTERHOOD 393
XXIII. A HOUSE-BOAT ON THE KANKAKEE 403
XXIV. A WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY BALL 418
XXV. THE LADY OF THE DAGUERREOTYPE 439
XXVI. APRIL VISTAS 460
XXVII. HEAT LIGHTNING 474
XXVIII. A CHEERFUL BRINGER OF BAD TIDINGS 497
XXIX. A SONG AND A FALLING STAR 511
XXX. THE KING HATH SUMMONED HIS PARLIAMENT 534
XXXI. SYLVIA ASKS QUESTIONS 542
XXXII. "MY BEAUTIFUL ONE" 560
XXXIII. THE MAN OF SHADOWS 570
XXXIV. WE GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING 591
A POSTSCRIPT BY THE CHRONICLER 602

ILLUSTRATIONS

SYLVIA AND PROFESSOR KELTON _Frontispiece_ WHOEVER WROTE THAT LETTER WAS TROUBLED ABOUT SYLVIA 284 A SUDDEN FIERCE ANGER BURNED IN HER HEART 458 SYLVIA MUST KNOW JUST WHAT WE KNOW 556

_From drawings by F.C. Yohn_

A HOOSIER CHRONICLE