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He bowed his head.
It was not grief he felt, but a savage exultant joy. The world could have no more of her. She was his, in some inviolable, irrevocable way. He knew. He understood her now, clearly and completely.
His joy deepened to a passionless spiritual content; as if in the fulness of his knowledge he had embraced the immortal part of her.
Why had he not understood her long ago? She had never changed. As he had first seen her, playing cards with her father in the drawing-room at Coton Manor, as he had last seen her, pacing the deck of the Windward, intoxicated with her freedom, as he saw her now, bending her head over the plague-poisoned body of the coolie, she was the same tender, resolute, passionate Frida, who ruined her life and glorified it, laid it down and took it up again at her will. And as he saw—would always see her, in this new light of her death, she was smiling, as if she defied him to see anything pathetic in it.
She had loved the world, the mystic maddening beauty of it, the divine darkness and glory of it. She had taken to her heart the rapture and the pain of it. She had stretched out her hands to the unexplored, to the unchanged and changing, the many-faced, incomprehensible, finite, infinite Whole.
And she had flung it all up; for what?
For a 'rickshaw coolie's life?—Or for something—yet—beyond?
The following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan novels
S. R. CROCKETT'S NEW NOVEL
SANDY
By S. R. CROCKETT
Author of "Patsy," "The Stickit Minister," etc.
With frontispiece in colors by R. Pearson Lawrence; decorated Cloth, 12mo, $1.35 net; postpaid $1.47.
Up from his country home Sandy goes to London. And there he has his great adventure. What it is and the story of his success and of his love is told by Mr. Crockett in a fashion which will convince many people that this is quite the most satisfactory novel he has ever written. Full of the vigor of life, with a wit and humor that win the reader even as they won his associates, Sandy is a cheery kind of hero and the tale of his experiences of that inspiring type which fires men—and women, too—on to the accomplishment of big things. No less appealing a figure is V. V., the girl with whom Sandy falls in love and who long before the book's close becomes his life partner. Altogether "Sandy" thrills and exhilarates as does little of the present day fiction.
"There's always a good story in a Crockett novel, and has been ever since the days of 'The Stickit Minister.' Sandy is a typical new Scot, most modern and most masterful of all heroes in current fiction.... As winning a heroine as any one could desire is skillfully wrought into the warp and woof of Mr. Crockett's fabric of narrative. Popular favor is likely to score one for 'Sandy'."—Phila. North American.
NEW MACMILLAN FICTION
The Reconnaissance
By GORDON GARDINER
With frontispiece in colors by George Harper. Cloth, 12mo, $1.35 net.
Unusual both in thought and in character is this briskly moving story of adventure in which a young man ultimately finds himself. The action is vigorous and the tale of the youth's endeavors to overcome certain deep-rooted traits in his nature appealing. The novel is distinguished by the vivacity and crispness of the author's style. For the most part Mr. Gardiner reveals his theme and portrays his people through dialogue, thus imbuing his book with a liveliness and an alertness which the reader will find most pleasant. Opening on the veldt in Africa with a situation of striking power and originality, the scene, in the course of the plot, shifts to other lands, bringing in a variety of well-drawn and interesting men and women. Like A. E. W. Mason's "The Four Feathers," to which it bears a slight resemblance, "The Reconnaissance" is a story of courage, raising in perplexing fashion the question as to whether the winner of the Victoria Cross is a hero or a coward, and answering it in a way likely to be satisfactory to all.
JACK LONDON'S NEW NOVEL
The Valley of the Moon
Frontispiece in colors by George Harper. Decorated cover. $1.35 net.
"The most wholesome, the most interesting, the most acceptable book that Mr. London has written."—The Dial.
"Read 'The Valley of the Moon.' Once begin it and you can't let it alone until you have finished it.... 'The Valley of the Moon' is that kind of a book."—Pittsburgh Post.
"A ripping yarn ... goes rushing along ... a human document of real value."—Boston Globe.
"As winning, as genuine an idyl of love, of mutual trust and happiness, of but a single united aim in life as one can desire. American to the core; picturesque, wholesome, romantic, practical."—N. Y. Tribune.
"Unlike any book of his we have met before ... extremely pleasant and genial ... holds the reader's attention to the end."—N. Y. Sun.
"A fine, worthy book, indeed; too popular, perhaps, but the finest Mr. London has done."—Michigan Churchman.
"Jack London's good story.... A delightful picture of California life ... such a lovable pair.... The story is an excellent one for grouchy persons. It ought to cure them."—Brooklyn Eagle.
Short Stories
By JACK LONDON
Cloth, 12 mo.
This volume representing the maturer work of Mr. London has that compelling style, that skill in character portrayal and in the construction of unusual plot which since he first began to write fiction have always marked him apart from the rank and file of novelists. No writer to-day is more praised than Mr. London for the color of his stories, for the fertility of his imagination, for the strength of his prose, for the way in which he makes his people live. His versatility, for he can turn out a bit of grim tragedy or a tale brimming with humor with equal facility, makes him everybody's author. The present book is a collection of particularly human stories based on a variety of emotions and worked out with consummate mastery of his art.
NEW MACMILLAN FICTION
The Treasure
By KATHLEEN NORRIS
Author of "Mother," "The Rich Mrs. Burgoyne," etc.
With illustrations. Decorated cloth, 12mo. $1.00 net.
Stories of the home circle Mrs. Norris has made peculiarly her own. Whether the scene be laid in the parlor or the kitchen, whether the character be mistress or maid, she writes with an understanding and sympathy which compel admiration. In the present novel Mrs. Norris chronicles the experiences of one family in trying to solve the servant problem! What they do, with the results, not only provide reading that is amusing but will be found by many who look beneath the surface, highly suggestive and significant. As in all of Mrs. Norris's work, the atmosphere of the home has been wonderfully caught; throughout are those intimate little touches which make the incidents described seem almost a part of the reader's own life, so close to reality, so near to the everyday happenings of everybody does Mrs. Norris bring them.
Grannie
By MRS. GEORGE WEMYSS
Cloth 12mo. $1.35 net.
Delightful in its characterization and redolent with fragrant charm Grannie stands apart from all other recent novels. As a truly beautiful picture of home-life, of the sweetness and significance of age, of the sympathies and understanding between the older generation and the younger, Mrs. Wemyss' new novel will appeal to all readers who hold the word "Grannie" sacred with their childhood and its memories.
"The picture it gives is sweet and wholesome, and most pleasing."—N. Y. Times.
"... A charming story of an old lady and her happy family of grandchildren."—Boston Globe.
OTHER NEW MACMILLAN FICTION
A Stepdaughter of the Prairie
By MARGARET LYNN
A glowing western romance. $1.25 net.
Stories of Red Hanrahan
By WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Curious and attractive Irish romance. $1.25 net.
The Secret Book
By EDMUND LESTER PEARSON
A fascinating panorama of library life. $1.25 net.
The Strength of the Strong
By JACK LONDON
A new book in this popular author's best style. $1.25 net.
Faith Tresilion
By EDEN PHILLPOTTS
A stirring novel of Cornish life. $1.35 net.
A Lad of Kent
By HERBERT HARRISON
A bright novel of humor and adventure. $1.35 net.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York
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