SMOKING FLAX BY HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES _SECOND EDITION_ F. TENNYSON NEELY PUBLISHER LONDON NEW YORK =Neely’s Prismatic Library.= =GILT TOP, 50 CENTS.= “I know of nothing in the book line that equals Neely’s Prismatic Library for elegance and careful selection. It sets a pace that others will not easily equal and none surpass.”--E. A. ROBINSON. _SOUR SAINTS AND SWEET SINNERS._ _By Carlos Martyn._ _SEVEN SMILES AND A FEW FIBS._ _By Thomas J. Vivian. With full-page illustrations by well-known artists._ _A MODERN PROMETHEUS._ _By E. Phillips Oppenheim._ _THE SHACKLES OF FATE._ _By Max Nordau._ _A BACHELOR OF PARIS._ _By John W. Harding. With over 50 illustrations by William Hofacher._ _MONTRESOR. By Loota._ _REVERIES OF A SPINSTER._ _By Helen Davies._ _THE ART MELODIOUS._ _By Louis Lombard._ _THE HONOR OF A PRINCESS._ _By F. Kimball Scribner._ _OBSERVATIONS OF A BACHELOR._ _By Louis Lombard._ _KINGS IN ADVERSITY._ _By E. S. Van Zile._ _NOBLE BLOOD AND A WEST POINT PARALLEL. By Captain King._ _TRUMPETER FRED._ _By Captain King. Illustrated._ _ FATHER STAFFORD. By Anthony Hope._ _THE KING IN YELLOW._ _By R. W. Chambers._ _IN THE QUARTER. By R. W. Chambers._ _A PROFESSIONAL LOVER. By Gyp._ _BIJOU’S COURTSHIPS._ _By Gyp. Illustrated._ _A CONSPIRACY OF THE CARBONARI._ _By Louise Muhlbach._ _SOAP BUBBLES. By Dr. Max Nordau._ F. TENNYSON NEELY, PUBLISHER, NEW YORK, LONDON. _Copyrighted in the United States and Great Britain in MDCCCXCVII by F. Tennyson Neely._ _All rights reserved._ TO MY MOTHER AND THE SOUTH INTRODUCTION. “Smoking Flax” is a story of the South written by a young Kentucky woman. Undoubtedly in the South its advent will be saluted with enthusiastic bravos. What will be the nature of its reception in the North it is hazardous to predict. One thing, however, can be confidently prophesied for it everywhere--consideration. This the subject and manner of its treatment assures. The methods of Judge Lynch viewed from most standpoints are, without extenuation, evil; from a few aspects they may appear to be perhaps not wholly without justification. Miss Rives, through the medium of romance, presents the question as seen from many sides, and then leaves to the reader the responsibility of determining “what is truth,” though where her own sympathies lie she does not leave much in doubt.