LUCIAN THE DREAMER _This is the Story_ This is the study of an artistic temperament in a generation not so far removed from our own as the hurried events of the last two decades would make it appear--the generation which fought in the Boer War. Mr. Fletcher has told us the life story of a boy, a “thinker” rather than a “doer”--Lucian the Dreamer. We follow with great interest his many love affairs while under the care of his uncle and aunt in the country. We enjoy with him the simple rustic beauties of Wellsby, and from the moment he arrives at the little village station until that final tragic scene in the dry-bed of a South African river we are held as in a vice. /* _Also by J. S. Fletcher_ THE DIAMONDS THE KANG-HE VASE THE TIME-WORN TOWN THE GOLDEN VENTURE THE MILL OF MANY WINDOWS THE CARTWRIGHT GARDENS MURDER THE RAVENS WOOD MYSTERY AND OTHER STORIES */ /* LUCIAN THE DREAMER _by_ J. S. FLETCHER Author of “The Cartwright Gardens Murder,” “The Kang-He Vase,” etc. [Illustration: colophon] LONDON 48 PALL MALL W. COLLINS SONS & CO LTD GLASGOW SYDNEY AUCKLAND Copyright _Printed in Great Britain._ */ /* TO SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE IN SOME SLIGHT RECOGNITION OF A KINDLY SERVICE KINDLY RENDERED */ CHAPTER I