Bressant By: Julian Hawthorne (1846-1934)
First Page: Note: Images of the original pages are available through Making of America Collection, University of Michigan Libraries. See http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/ BRESSANT A Novel by JULIAN HAWTHORNE 1873 CONTENTS. I. HOW PROFESSOR VALEYON LOSES HIS HANDKERCHIEF II. SIGNS OF A THUNDER SHOWER III. SOPHIE AND CORNELIA ENTER INTO A COVENANT IV. A BUSINESS TRANSACTION V. BRESSANT PICKS A TEA ROSE VI. CORNELIA BEGINS TO UNDO A KNOT VII. PROFESSOR VALEYON MAKES A CALL VIII. GREAT EXPECTATIONS IX. THE DAGUERREOTYPE X. ONLY FOR TO NIGHT! XI. EVERY LITTLE COUNTS XII. DOLLY ACTS AN IMPORTANT PART XIII. A KEEPSAKE XIV. NURSING XV. AN UNTIMELY REMINISCENCE XVI. PARTING AN ANCHOR XVII. SOPHIE'S CONFESSION XVIII. A FLANK MOVEMENT XIX. AN INTERMISSION XX. BRESSANT CONFIDES A SECRET TO THE FOUNTAIN XXI. PUTTING ON THE ARMOR XXII. LOCKED UP XXIII. ARMED NEUTRALITY XXIV. A BIT OF INSPIRATION XXV. ANOTHER INTERMISSION XXVI. BRESSANT TAKES A VACATION XXVII. FACT AND FANCY XXVIII. A DISAPPOINTMENT XXIX. FOUND XXX. LOST XXXI. MOTHER AND SON XXXII. WHERE TWO ROADS MEET XXXIII. TILL THE ELEVENTH HOUR XXXIV. THE HOUR AND THE MAN CHAPTER I. HOW PROFESSOR VALEYON LOSES HIS HANDKERCHIEF. One warm afternoon in June the warmest of the season thus far Professor Valeyon sat, smoking a black clay pipe, upon the broad balcony, which extended all across the back of his house, and overlooked three acres of garden, inclosed by a solid stone wall. All the doors in the house were open, and most of the windows, so that any one passing in the road might have looked up through the gabled porch and the passage way, which divided the house, so to speak, into two parts, and seen the professor's brown linen legs, and slippers down at the heel, projecting into view beyond the framework of the balcony door. Indeed for the professor was an elderly man, and, in many respects, a creature of habit precisely this same phenomenon could have been observed on any fine afternoon during the summer, even to the exact amount of brown linen leg visible. Why the old gentleman's chair should always have been so placed as to allow a view of so much of his anatomy and no more is a question of too subtle and abstruse conditions to be solved here. One reason doubtless lay in the fact that, by craning forward over his knees, he could see down the passage way, through the porch, and across the grass plot which intervened between the house and the fence, to the road, thus commanding all approaches from that direction, while his outlook on either side, and in front, remained as good as from any other position whatsoever. To be sure, the result would have been more easily accomplished had the chair been moved two feet farther forward, but that would have made the professor too much a public spectacle, and, although by no means backward in appearing, at the fitting time, before his fellow men, he enjoyed and required a certain amount of privacy. Moreover, it was not toward the road that Professor Valeyon's eyes were most often turned. They generally wandered southward, over the ample garden, and across the long, winding valley, to the range of rough backed hills, which abruptly invaded the farther horizon. It was a sufficiently varied and vigorous prospect, and one which years had endeared to the old gentleman, as if it were the features of a friend. Especially was he fond of looking at a certain open space, near the summit of a high, wooded hill, directly opposite. It was like an oasis among a desert of trees. Had it become overgrown, or had the surrounding timber been cut away, the professor would have taken it much to heart... Continue reading book >>

Bressant By: Julian Hawthorne (1846-1934)

First Page:

Note: Images of the original pages are available through Making of America Collection, University of Michigan Libraries. See http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/

BRESSANT

A Novel

JULIAN HAWTHORNE

1873

CONTENTS.

I. HOW PROFESSOR VALEYON LOSES HIS HANDKERCHIEF

II. SIGNS OF A THUNDER SHOWER

III. SOPHIE AND CORNELIA ENTER INTO A COVENANT

IV. A BUSINESS TRANSACTION

V. BRESSANT PICKS A TEA ROSE

VI. CORNELIA BEGINS TO UNDO A KNOT

VII. PROFESSOR VALEYON MAKES A CALL

VIII. GREAT EXPECTATIONS

IX. THE DAGUERREOTYPE

X. ONLY FOR TO NIGHT!

XI. EVERY LITTLE COUNTS

XII. DOLLY ACTS AN IMPORTANT PART

XIII. A KEEPSAKE

XIV. NURSING

XV. AN UNTIMELY REMINISCENCE

XVI. PARTING AN ANCHOR

XVII. SOPHIE'S CONFESSION

XVIII. A FLANK MOVEMENT

XIX. AN INTERMISSION

XX. BRESSANT CONFIDES A SECRET TO THE FOUNTAIN

XXI. PUTTING ON THE ARMOR

XXII. LOCKED UP

XXIII. ARMED NEUTRALITY

XXIV. A BIT OF INSPIRATION

XXV. ANOTHER INTERMISSION

XXVI. BRESSANT TAKES A VACATION

XXVII. FACT AND FANCY

XXVIII. A DISAPPOINTMENT

XXIX. FOUND

XXX. LOST

XXXI. MOTHER AND SON

XXXII. WHERE TWO ROADS MEET

XXXIII. TILL THE ELEVENTH HOUR

XXXIV. THE HOUR AND THE MAN

CHAPTER I.

HOW PROFESSOR VALEYON LOSES HIS HANDKERCHIEF.

One warm afternoon in June the warmest of the season thus far Professor Valeyon sat, smoking a black clay pipe, upon the broad balcony, which extended all across the back of his house, and overlooked three acres of garden, inclosed by a solid stone wall. All the doors in the house were open, and most of the windows, so that any one passing in the road might have looked up through the gabled porch and the passage way, which divided the house, so to speak, into two parts, and seen the professor's brown linen legs, and slippers down at the heel, projecting into view beyond the framework of the balcony door. Indeed for the professor was an elderly man, and, in many respects, a creature of habit precisely this same phenomenon could have been observed on any fine afternoon during the summer, even to the exact amount of brown linen leg visible.

Why the old gentleman's chair should always have been so placed as to allow a view of so much of his anatomy and no more is a question of too subtle and abstruse conditions to be solved here. One reason doubtless lay in the fact that, by craning forward over his knees, he could see down the passage way, through the porch, and across the grass plot which intervened between the house and the fence, to the road, thus commanding all approaches from that direction, while his outlook on either side, and in front, remained as good as from any other position whatsoever. To be sure, the result would have been more easily accomplished had the chair been moved two feet farther forward, but that would have made the professor too much a public spectacle, and, although by no means backward in appearing, at the fitting time, before his fellow men, he enjoyed and required a certain amount of privacy.

Moreover, it was not toward the road that Professor Valeyon's eyes were most often turned. They generally wandered southward, over the ample garden, and across the long, winding valley, to the range of rough backed hills, which abruptly invaded the farther horizon. It was a sufficiently varied and vigorous prospect, and one which years had endeared to the old gentleman, as if it were the features of a friend. Especially was he fond of looking at a certain open space, near the summit of a high, wooded hill, directly opposite. It was like an oasis among a desert of trees. Had it become overgrown, or had the surrounding timber been cut away, the professor would have taken it much to heart... Continue reading book >>

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