Chapter I: Preface

The first seven stories in this volume have either locale or characters in common. The village called Fraternity is an actual one; and the surrounding countryside has a beauty which grows with long acquaintance. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the characters are--with one exception--fictitious. The exception is Mr. A. L. McCorrison, better known as Bert McCorrison, who introduced me to the trout brooks and the woodcock covers thereabouts. To him I here make affectionate acknowledgment for all that introduction has meant to me. He appears in some of the stories, under the name of Chet McAusland.

The third story in the book, “Old Tantrybogus,” is--so far as the dog is concerned--a true story. I never saw old Job, but Bert has told me many things about him, and his exploits are well attested. For the excessive length of this story, an ancient fondness for dogs is my only apology.

The last two stories in the Fraternity group, “Jeshurun Waxed Fat” and “Epitome,” together with the succeeding seven, are each less than four thousand words in length. These stories represent successive attempts to combine brevity with other and more elusive attributes.

It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that “The Field of Honor” and “The Unconquered” were written during the summer of 1918.

Two of the stories in this book have not been published in any magazine. The two are “Epitome” and the allegory, “A Dream.” In each case, the story has been rejected by numerous editors; the fact that the author has still a stubborn faith in them is his only excuse for including them in this volume.

B. A. W.

CONTENTS

PAGE

THRIFTY STOCK 1

THEY GRIND EXCEEDING SMALL 21

OLD TANTRYBOGUS 39

ONE CROWDED HOUR 74

MINE ENEMY’S DOG 113

“JESHURUN WAXED FAT” 145

EPITOME 158

A DREAM 169

HIS HONOR 185

THE COWARD 199

NOT A DRUM WAS HEARD 211

THE MAN WHO LOOKED LIKE EDISON 226

SUCCESS 239

SHEENER 254

THE FIELD OF HONOR 268

THE UNCONQUERED 293

THE RIGHT WHALE’S FLUKES 319

NOTE 346

THRIFTY STOCK AND OTHER STORIES

THRIFTY STOCK