Chapter I: Front Matter

THE EMPEROR OF ELAM
AND OTHER STORIES

OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

CONSTANTINOPLE OLD AND NEW
STAMBOUL NIGHTS
PERSIAN MINIATURES

THE
EMPEROR OF ELAM
AND OTHER STORIES

BY
H. G. DWIGHT

GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1920

_Copyright, 1908, 1920, by_
Doubleday, Page & Company

_All rights reserved, including that of translation into
foreign languages, including the Scandinavian_

COPYRIGHT, 1903, 1904, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY THE ASSOCIATED SUNDAY MAGAZINES
COPYRIGHT, 1904, 1905, BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY, AND
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY THE OUTLOOK COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1905, 1906, BY SMART SET COMPANY, INC.
COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY THE SUNSET MAGAZINE
COPYRIGHT, 1916, 1917, 1918, BY THE CENTURY COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY EDWARD J. O’BRIEN
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY, INC.

TO

J. R. M. TAYLOR
COLONEL, UNITED STATES ARMY,
HISTORIAN OF THE PHILIPPINES:

ARCH IRONIST,
EX-EDITOR OF “THE INFANTRY JOURNAL,”
LATE LIBRARIAN OF THE ARMY WAR COLLEGE, WASHINGTON,
SOMETIME MILITARY ATTACHÉ AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY, CONSTANTINOPLE,
MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI, INSTIGATOR
OF OR ACCOMPLICE IN TOO MANY OTHER ACTIVITIES HERE TO BE NAMED;
WHO YET FOUND TIME TO INVENT
ONE, NOR THE LEAST SEDUCTIVE, OF THE ENSUING FABLES,
AND WHO COURTEOUSLY PUT IN THE WAY OF HIS COLLABORATOR
TWO OF THE MOST EXASPERATING AND PROFITABLE EXPERIENCES
OF A CAREER BY NO MEANS BARREN OF SUCH ACCIDENTS:

WITH THE COMPLIMENTS
OF HIS OBLIGED AND ADMIRING FRIEND
THE AUTHOR.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Of the stories in this collection, three originally appeared in _The Century Magazine_ (“Like Michael,” copyright, 1916; “The Emperor of Elam,” copyright, 1917; “The Emerald of Tamerlane,” copyright, 1918), two each in _The Bookman_ (“Unto the Day,” copyright, 1904; “Studio Smoke,” copyright, 1905), in _Scribner’s Magazine_ (“The Bathers,” copyright, 1903; “Henrietta Stackpole _Rediviva_,” copyright, 1904), and in _The Smart Set_ (“Susannah and the Elder,” copyright, 1905; “The Undoing of Mrs. Derwall,” copyright, 1906), and one each in _The Associated Sunday Magazines_ (“Martha Waring’s Elopement,” copyright, 1904), in _The Outlook_ (“The Pagan,” copyright, 1905), in _Short Stories_ (“Castello Montughi,” copyright, 1908), and in _The Sunset Magazine_ (“The Bald Spot,” copyright, 1909).

It may be added that the names of three of these stories are not the ones first copyrighted and that at least two of them have been completely recast, while not one of them has been left untouched in its earliest state. The writer nevertheless takes this occasion to express to the editors and publishers of the above periodicals, as well as to Mr. W. J. O’Brien and to Messrs. Small, Maynard and Company--who made use of “The Emperor of Elam” in _The Best Short Stories of 1917_--his thanks both for their former hospitality and for their present courtesy in permitting him to reassemble his work. Nor would this small payment of indebtedness be complete without mention of Colonel J. R. M. Taylor, who wrote the first draft of “The Emerald of Tamerlane,” and who generously allows it to be reprinted over the signature of his collaborator.

CONTENTS

PAGE

_Dedication_ v

_Acknowledgment_ vii

Like Michael 3

Henrietta Stackpole _Rediviva_ 32

The Pagan 52

White Bombazine 82

Unto the Day 108

Mrs. Derwall and the Higher Life 131

The Bathers 151

Retarded Bombs 172

Susannah and the Elder 191

The Emerald of Tamerlane 221 _In collaboration with John Taylor_

Studio Smoke 252

Behind the Door 266

The Bald Spot 290

The Emperor of Elam 306

LIKE MICHAEL

THE EMPEROR OF ELAM AND OTHER STORIES

LIKE MICHAEL