_PREFACE_ 3 _IN MEMORIAM_ 5 I. _THE CASE OF SUMMERFIELD_ 13 II. _THE MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE_ 34 III. _THE DESERTED SCHOOLHOUSE_ 37 IV. _FOR AN ALBUM_ 50 V. _PHASES IN THE LIFE OF JOHN POLLEXFEN_ 52 VI. _THE LOVE-KNOT_ 94 VII. _THE AZTEC PRINCESS_ 95 VIII. _THE MOTHER'S EPISTLE_ 154 IX. _LEGENDS OF LAKE BIGLER_ 156 X. _ROSENTHAL'S ELAINE_ 171 XI. _THE TELESCOPIC EYE_ 174 XII. _THE EMERALD ISLE_ 190 XIII. _THE EARTH'S HOT CENTER_ 199 XIV. _WILDEY'S DREAM_ 212 XV. _WHITHERWARD_ 218 XVI. _OUR WEDDING DAY_ 229 XVII. _THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW_ 231 XVIII. _A PAIR OF MYTHS_ 233 XIX. _THE LAST OF HIS RACE_ 247 XX. _THE TWO GEORGES_ 249 XXI. _MASONRY_ 260 XXII. _POLLOCK'S EUTHANASIA_ 262 XXIII. _SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY_ 264 XXIV. _THE ENROBING OF LIBERTY_ 276 XXV. _A CAKE OF SOAP_ 279 XXVI. _THE SUMMERFIELD CASE_ 280 XXVII. _THE AVITOR_ 291 XXVIII. _LOST AND FOUND_ 293 [Decoration] CAXTON'S BOOK. I. _THE CASE OF SUMMERFIELD._ The following manuscript was found among the effects of the late Leonidas Parker, in relation to one Gregory Summerfield, or, as he was called at the time those singular events first attracted public notice, "The Man with a Secret." Parker was an eminent lawyer, a man of firm will, fond of dabbling in the occult sciences, but never allowing this tendency to interfere with the earnest practice of his profession. This astounding narrative is prefaced by the annexed clipping from the "Auburn Messenger" of November 1, 1870: