Prudence Palfrey, a Novel (Paperback)

General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1889 Original Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin Subjects: Fiction / General Fiction / Literary History / General Literary Criticism / General Literary Criticism / American / General Religion / Clergy Travel / United States / Northeast / New England Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: IV. Dragons. WHEN Prudence was turning seventeen, -- that is to say, nearly three years before that afternoon in May when she is introduced to the reader, -- John Dent had come to River- mouth. He had recently graduated, with not too many honors, and was taking a breathing- spell previous to setting out on his adventures in the world; for he had his dragons to overcome and his spurs to win, like any young knight in a legend. Poverty and Inexperience, among the rest, are very formidable dragons. They slay more young men every year than are ever heard of. The stripling knight, with his valise neatly packed by the tearful baroness, his mother, sallies forth in a spick-and- span new armor from the paternal castle, -- and, snap that is the last of him. Now and then one comes back with gold-pieces and decorations, but, ah for the numbers that go down before the walls of great towns like New York and Boston and Chicago John Dent's family had formerly lived in Rivermouth, where he had lost his mother ill infancy. At this time his father was associated in the proprietorship of the brewery, from which he subsequently withdrew to engage in some Western railroad enterprise. When Mr. Benjamin Dent moved to Illinois, John was a mere child; he had not been in Rivermouth since; his vacations had been passed with his father, and he had only the vaguest memory of his chi...