Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 53802-h.htm or 53802-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53802/53802-h/53802-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53802/53802-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/drowsyjam00mitciala DROWSY * * * * * * BY THE SAME AUTHOR THE SUMMER SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY AT MT. DESERT THE ROMANCE OF THE MOON THE LAST AMERICAN "LIFE'S" FAIRY TALES AMOS JUDD THAT FIRST AFFAIR DR. THORNE'S IDEA THE PINES OF LORY THE VILLA CLAUDIA THE SILENT WAR PANDORA'S BOX * * * * * * [Illustration: "A FANTASTIC, SOLEMN REGION"--_Page 208_] DROWSY by JOHN AMES MITCHELL _Author of "The Last American," "Amos Judd," "Pines of Lory," "Pandora's Box," etc._ With Illustrations by Angus Macdonall and the Author [Illustration] New York Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers Copyright, 1917, by John Ames Mitchell All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages To the Reader This is not a fairy tale. The wonders of to-day, we are told by scientists, will be to-morrow the common things of daily life. Wireless telegraphy, it appears, is but the crude beginning to a deeper knowledge of the mysteries that surround us. Waves of thought, like waves of light, obedient to our will, may supplant the spoken word and the written message. And we learn that Space, the borderless abyss through which we move, is vibrant with electric life. But still unsolved is the mystery of the force that holds the moon, for instance, to its orbit around the earth. And it holds it with a mightier power than bars of steel. If it be true that the human voice goes out into space, on and forever, as other waves, why should not a lover on a nearby planet receive the message from an earthly maiden? If waves of thought keep pace with waves of light, the call of a human heart would surely reach him. This tale of Drowsy is the somewhat romantic narrative of a woman and a reckless lover. An unusual lover, to be sure, with a singular inheritance; but very human--and with a full equipment of human faults and virtues. While his achievements may seem to us incredible, the coming generation may regard them as commonplace events. It was Pliny, the elder, who said, "Indeed, what is there that does not appear marvelous when it comes to our knowledge for the first time?" So, if this story of Drowsy seems a fairy tale, let us remember that the Atlantic Cable would be a fairy tale to Columbus. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THEIR OWN AFFAIR 1 II. HOW THE ACQUAINTANCE BEGAN 19 III. UNCLE HECTOR'S VERDICT 33 IV. MATRIMONIAL 43