Chapter I: Book V: Crookback

I. THE SHRILL TRUMPET 217

II. THE BATTLE OF SHOREBY 224

III. THE BATTLE OF SHOREBY (_concluded_) 231

IV. THE SACK OF SHOREBY 236

V. NIGHT IN THE WOODS: ALICIA RISINGHAM 246

VI. NIGHT IN THE WOODS (_concluded_): DICK AND JOAN 254

VII. DICK'S REVENGE 264

VIII. CONCLUSION 268

MARKHEIM 273

THE BLACK ARROW

A TALE OF THE TWO ROSES

_CRITIC ON THE HEARTH_

_No one but myself knows what I have suffered, nor what my books have gained, by your unsleeping watchfulness and admirable pertinacity. And now here is a volume that goes into the world and lacks your_ imprimatur: _a strange thing in our joint lives; and the reason of it stranger still! I have watched with interest, with pain, and at length with amusement, your unavailing attempts to peruse "The Black Arrow"; and I think I should lack humour indeed, if I let the occasion slip and did not place your name in the fly-leaf of the only book of mine that you have never read--and never will read._

_That others may display more constancy is still my hope. The tale was written years ago for a particular audience and (I may say) in rivalry with a particular author; I think I should do well to name him--Mr. Alfred R. Phillips. It was not without its reward at the time. I could not, indeed, displace Mr. Phillips from his well-won priority; but in the eyes of readers who thought less than nothing of "Treasure Island," "The Black Arrow" was supposed to mark a clear advance. Those who read volumes and those who read story papers belong to different worlds. The verdict on "Treasure Island" was reversed in the other court: I wonder, will it be the same with its successor?_

_R. L. S._

_Saranac Lake,
April 8, 1888._

PROLOGUE

JOHN AMEND-ALL

THE BLACK ARROW

A TALE OF THE TWO ROSES