Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) _By the same Author_: THE EARLY HISTORY OF JACOB STAHL A CANDIDATE FOR TRUTH THE INVISIBLE TRUTH THE HAMPDENSHIRE WONDER GOSLINGS: A WORLD OF WOMEN THE HOUSE IN DEMETRIUS ROAD THESE LYNNEKERS HOUSEMATES NINETEEN IMPRESSIONS GOD’S COUNTERPOINT THE JERVAISE COMEDY AN IMPERFECT MOTHER REVOLUTION _With Kenneth Richmond_: W. E. FORD: A BIOGRAPHY _Printed in Great Britain._ SIGNS & WONDERS BY J. D. BERESFORD G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS NEW YORK ... MCMXXI TO WALTER DE LA MARE “_Hath serving nature, bidden of the gods, Thick-screened Man’s narrow sky, And hung these Stygian veils of fog To hide his dingied sty?-- The gods who yet, at mortal birth, Bequeathed him fantasy?_” ‘FOG’ by WALTER DE LA MARE CONTENTS PAGE PROLOGUE: THE APPEARANCE OF MAN 8 SIGNS AND WONDERS 12 THE CAGE 16 ENLARGEMENT 20 THE PERFECT SMILE 26 THE HIDDEN BEAST 34 THE BARRAGE 38 THE INTROVERT 44 THE BARRIER 50 THE CONVERT 54 A NEGLIGIBLE EXPERIMENT 68 THE MIRACLE 74 YOUNG STRICKLAND’S CAREER 80 A DIFFERENCE OF TEMPERAMENT 86 REFERENCE WANTED 92 AS THE CROW FLIES 96 THE NIGHT OF CREATION 102 PROLOGUE THE APPEARANCE OF MAN: _A PLAY OUT OF TIME & SPACE_. _When the curtain rises, two men and a woman are discovered talking before an illimitable background._ FIRST MAN [_shaking hands with the man and the woman_] Well! Who’d have thought of meeting you here! WOMAN. Or you, as far as that goes. We thought you were living in Putney. FIRST MAN. So I am. It just happened that I’d run over this morning. [_Enter R. a nebula, spinning slowly. It passes majestically across the background as the scene proceeds._] SECOND MAN. The world’s a very small place. FIRST MAN. Ah! You’re right, it is. WOMAN. And how’s the family? FIRST MAN. Capital, thanks. Yours well, too, I hope? WOMAN. All except Johnnie. [_Enter R. a group of prehistoric animals; a few brontosauri, titanotheres, mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, and so on._] FIRST MAN. What’s wrong with him? WOMAN. He was bit by a dog. Nasty place he’s got. FIRST MAN. Did you have it cauterised? They’re nasty things, dog-bites. WOMAN. Oh, yes, we had it cauterised, you may be sure. SECOND MAN [_reflectively_] Dangerous things, dogs. FIRST MAN. If they’re not properly looked after, they are. Now I’ve got a little dog....