Keynotes By George Egerton Boston: Roberts Brothers London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane, Vigo St. 1894 _Copyright, 1893_, BY ROBERTS BROTHERS. University Press: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. TO KNUT HAMSUN, _In memory of a day when the west wind and the rainbow met._ 1892-1893. * * * * * "_Fancies are toys of the brain, to write them down is to destroy them--as fancies! and yet_--" "_I gave him such a pretty toy to play with, and he is breaking it up. When I say: 'You are very naughty, Biff; if you break it I shall whip you!' he only says_: "'_But I must, Mumsey, I must!_'" FRAGMENT OF A LETTER, 1893. CONTENTS. A CROSS LINE NOW SPRING HAS COME THE SPELL OF THE WHITE ELF A LITTLE GRAY GLOVE AN EMPTY FRAME UNDER NORTHERN SKY:-- I. HOW MARIE LARSEN EXORCISED A DEMON II. A SHADOW'S SLANT III. AN EBB TIDE KEYNOTES. A CROSS LINE. The rather flat notes of a man's voice float out into the clear air, singing the refrain of a popular music-hall ditty. There is something incongruous between the melody and the surroundings. It seems profane, indelicate, to bring this slangy, vulgar tune, and with it the mental picture of footlight flare and fantastic dance, into the lovely freshness of this perfect spring day.