Produced by Bethanne M. Simms and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect spellings, contractions and discrepancies have been retained. [Illustration: LOST AGAIN P. 136] TALES OF FANTASY AND FACT By BRANDER MATTHEWS NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1896 BOOKS BY BRANDER MATTHEWS. THE THEATRES OF PARIS. FRENCH DRAMATISTS OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE LAST MEETING, a Story. A SECRET OF THE SEA, and Other Stories. PEN AND INK: Essays on Subjects of More or Less Importance. A FAMILY TREE, and Other Stories. WITH MY FRIENDS: Tales Told in Partnership. A TALE OF TWENTY-FIVE HOURS. TOM PAULDING, a Story for Boys. IN THE VESTIBULE LIMITED, a Story. AMERICANISMS AND BRITICISMS, with Other Essays on Other Isms. THE STORY OF A STORY, and Other Stories. THE DECISION OF THE COURT, a Comedy. STUDIES OF THE STAGE. THIS PICTURE AND THAT, a Comedy. VIGNETTES OF MANHATTAN. THE ROYAL MARINE, an Idyl of Narragansett. BOOK-BINDINGS, Old and New; Notes of a Book-Lover. HIS FATHER'S SON, a Novel of New York. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. TALES OF FANTASY AND FACT. ASPECTS OF FICTION, and Other Ventures in Criticism. (In Press.) Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS. _All rights reserved._ TO THE MEMORY OF MY FRIEND H. C. BUNNER CONTENTS Page A PRIMER OF IMAGINARY GEOGRAPHY 3 THE KINETOSCOPE OF TIME 27 THE DREAM-GOWN OF THE JAPANESE AMBASSADOR 57 THE RIVAL GHOSTS 93 SIXTEEN YEARS WITHOUT A BIRTHDAY 131 THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE 143 A CONFIDENTIAL POSTSCRIPT 207 A PRIMER OF IMAGINARY GEOGRAPHY "Ship ahoy!" There was an answer from our bark--for such it seemed to me by this time--but I could not make out the words. "Where do you hail from?" was the next question. I strained my ears to catch the response, being naturally anxious to know whence I had come. "From the City of Destruction!" was what I thought I heard; and I confess that it surprised me not a little. "Where are you bound?" was asked in turn. Again I listened with intensest interest, and again did the reply astonish me greatly. "Ultima Thule!" was the answer from our boat, and the voice of the man who answered was deep and melancholy. Then I knew that I had set out strange countries for to see, and that I was all unequipped for so distant a voyage. Thule I knew, or at least I had heard of the king who reigned there once and who cast his goblet into the sea. But Ultima Thule! was not that beyond the uttermost borders of the earth? "Any passengers?" was the next query, and I noted that the voice came now from the left and was almost abreast of us.