Last Words   By: Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

BY

STEPHEN CRANE

AUTHOR OF

"RED BADGE OF COURAGE," "ACTIVE SERVICE," "PICTURES OF WAR,"

"THE THIRD VIOLET," "THE OPEN BOAT,"

"WOUNDS IN THE RAIN," ETC.

London

DIGBY, LONG & CO.

18 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, E. C.

1902

CONTENTS

PAGE

THE RELUCTANT VOYAGERS 1

SPITZBERGEN TALES THE KICKING TWELFTH 35 THE UPTURNED FACE 52 THE SHRAPNEL OF THEIR FRIENDS 59 "AND IF HE WILLS, WE MUST DIE" 69

WYOMING VALLEY TALES THE SURRENDER OF FORTY FORT 81 "OL' BENNET" AND THE INDIANS 88 THE BATTLE OF FORTY FORT 99

LONDON IMPRESSIONS 110

NEW YORK SKETCHES GREAT GRIEF'S HOLIDAY DINNER 133 THE SILVER PAGEANT 145 A STREET SCENE 148 MINETTA LANE 154 ROOF GARDENS 166 IN THE BROADWAY CARS 173

THE ASSASSINS IN MODERN BATTLES 181

IRISH NOTES AN OLD MAN GOES WOOING 193 BALLYDEHOB 198 THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY 203 A FISHING VILLAGE 207

SULLIVAN COUNTY SKETCHES FOUR MEN IN A CAVE 217 THE MESMERIC MOUNTAIN 225

MISCELLANEOUS THE SQUIRE'S MADNESS 231 A DESERTION 245 HOW THE DONKEY LIFTED THE HILLS 252 A MAN BY THE NAME OF MUD 258 A POKER GAME 263 THE SNAKE 268 A SELF MADE MAN 273 A TALE OF MERE CHANCE 282 AT CLANCY'S WAKE 288 AN EPISODE OF WAR 294 THE VOICE OF THE MOUNTAIN 301 WHY DID THE YOUNG CLERK SWEAR? 306 THE VICTORY OF THE MOON 315

LAST WORDS

THE RELUCTANT VOYAGERS

CHAPTER I.

Two men sat by the sea waves.

"Well, I know I'm not handsome," said one gloomily. He was poking holes in the sand with a discontented cane.

The companion was watching the waves play. He seemed overcome with perspiring discomfort as a man who is resolved to set another man right.

Suddenly his mouth turned into a straight line. "To be sure you are not," he cried vehemently. "You look like thunder. I do not desire to be unpleasant, but I must assure you that your freckled skin continually reminds spectators of white wall paper with gilt roses on it. The top of your head looks like a little wooden plate. And your figure heavens!"

For a time they were silent. They stared at the waves that purred near their feet like sleepy sea kittens.

Finally the first man spoke.

"Well," said he, defiantly, "what of it?"

"What of it," exploded the other. "Why, it means that you'd look like blazes in a bathing suit."

They were again silent. The freckled man seemed ashamed. His tall companion glowered at the scenery.

"I am decided," said the freckled man suddenly. He got boldly up from the sand and strode away. The tall man followed, walking sarcastically and glaring down at the round, resolute figure before him.

A bath clerk was looking at the world with superior eyes through a hole in a board. To him the freckled man made application, waving his hands over his person in illustration of a snug fit. The bath clerk thought profoundly. Eventually, he handed out a blue bundle with an air of having phenomenally solved the freckled man's dimensions.

The latter resumed his resolute stride.

"See here," said the tall man, following him, "I bet you've got a regular toga, you know. That fellow couldn't tell "

"Yes, he could," interrupted the freckled man, "I saw correct mathematics in his eyes."