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The Magic Egg and Other Stories By: Frank Richard Stockton (1834-1902) |
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AND OTHER STORIES
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON
CONTENTS
THE MAGIC EGG
"HIS WIFE'S DECEASED SISTER"
THE WIDOW'S CRUISE
CAPTAIN ELI'S BEST EAR
LOVE BEFORE BREAKFAST
THE STAYING POWER OF SIR ROHAN
A PIECE OF RED CALICO
THE CHRISTMAS WRECK
MY WELL AND WHAT CAME OUT OF IT
MR. TOLMAN
MY UNWILLING NEIGHBOR
OUR ARCHERY CLUB
THE MAGIC EGG The pretty little theatre attached to the building of the Unicorn Club
had been hired for a certain January afternoon by Mr. Herbert Loring,
who wished to give therein a somewhat novel performance, to which he
had invited a small audience consisting entirely of friends and
acquaintances. Loring was a handsome fellow about thirty years old, who had travelled
far and studied much. He had recently made a long sojourn in the far
East, and his friends had been invited to the theatre to see some of
the wonderful things he had brought from that country of wonders. As
Loring was a club man, and belonged to a family of good social
standing, his circle of acquaintances was large, and in this circle a
good many unpleasant remarks had been made regarding the proposed
entertainment made, of course, by the people who had not been invited
to be present. Some of the gossip on the subject had reached Loring,
who did not hesitate to say that he could not talk to a crowd, and that
he did not care to show the curious things he had collected to people
who would not thoroughly appreciate them. He had been very particular
in regard to his invitations. At three o'clock on the appointed afternoon nearly all the people who
had been invited to the Unicorn Theatre were in their seats. No one
had stayed away except for some very good reason, for it was well known
that if Herbert Loring offered to show anything it was worth seeing. About forty people were present, who sat talking to one another, or
admiring the decoration of the theatre. As Loring stood upon the
stage where he was entirely alone, his exhibition requiring no
assistants he gazed through a loophole in the curtain upon a very
interesting array of faces. There were the faces of many men and women
of society, of students, of workers in various fields of thought, and
even of idlers in all fields of thought; but there was not one which
indicated a frivolous or listless disposition. The owners of those
faces had come to see something, and they wished to see it. For a quarter of an hour after the time announced for the opening of
the exhibition Loring peered through the hole in the curtain, and then,
although all the people he had expected had not arrived, he felt it
would not do for him to wait any longer. The audience was composed of
well bred and courteous men and women, but despite their polite
self restraint Loring could see that some of them were getting tired of
waiting. So, very reluctantly, and feeling that further delay was
impossible, he raised the curtain and came forward on the stage. Briefly he announced that the exhibition would open with some fireworks
he had brought from Corea. It was plain to see that the statement that
fireworks were about to be set off on a theatre stage, by an amateur,
had rather startled some of the audience, and Loring hastened to
explain that these were not real fireworks, but that they were
contrivances made of colored glass, which were illuminated by the
powerful lens of a lantern which was placed out of sight, and while the
apparent pyrotechnic display would resemble fireworks of strange and
grotesque designs, it would be absolutely without danger. He brought
out some little bunches of bits of colored glass, hung them at some
distance apart on a wire which was stretched across the stage just high
enough for him to reach it, and then lighted his lantern, which he
placed in one of the wings, lowered all the lights in the theatre, and
began his exhibition. As Loring turned his lantern on one of the clusters of glass lenses,
strips, and points, and, unseen himself, caused them to move by means
of long cords attached, the effects were beautiful and marvellous... Continue reading book >>
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Genres for this book |
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Fiction |
Literature |
Short stories |
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