The Novels (Volume 12); The Wood Fire in No. 3 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1905 Excerpt: ... PART VIII IN WHICH MURPHY AND LONNEGAN INTRO' DUCE SOME MYSTERIOUS CHARACTERS HE Old Building was being treated to a sensation, the first of the winter, or rather the first of the spring, for the squatty Japanese bowl standing on top.of Mac's mantel was already filled with pussy-willows which the great man had himself picked on one of his strolls under the Palisades. Strange things were going on downstairs. Outside on the street curb stood a darkey in white cotton gloves, in the main door stood another, the two connected by a red carpet laid across the sidewalk; at the end of the dingy corridor stood a third, and inside the room on the right a fourth and fifth--all in white gloves and all bowing like salaaming Hindoos to a throng of people in smart toilettes. Woods was having a tea The portrait of Miss B. J.--in a leghorn hat and feathers, one hand on her chin, her pet dog in her lap--was finished, and the B. J.'s were assisting Woods's aunt and Woods in celebrating that historical event. The function being an exclusive one, all the details were perfect: there were innumerable candles sputtering away in improvised holders of twisted iron, china, and dingy brass, the grease running down the sides of their various ornaments; there were burning joss sticks; loose heaps of bric-a-brac which looked as if they had been thrown pell-mell together, but which it had taken Woods hours to group; there were combinations of partly screened lights falling on pots of roses; easels draped in stuffs; screens hung with Japanese and Chinese robes; divans covered with rugs and nested with green and yellow cushions; and last, but by no means least, there was the counterfeit presentment of the young girl who held court on the divan surrounded by an admiring group of admirers, so...