_Robert Louis Stevenson_ The Lantern Bearers 408 _Felix Timmermans_ Kermis Morning 414 _Grace E. Polk_ The Forger 422 _John Galsworthy_ Quality 427 Selected Bibliography of Sketches 435 CHAPTER XII STORIES 436 _H. C. Bunner_ A Sisterly Scheme 439 _Francis Buzzell_ Lonely Places 450 _Guy de Maupassant_ Two Friends 467 _Willa Cather_ The Sculptor’s Funeral 475 Selected Bibliography of Short Stories 494 THE ART OF NARRATION CHAPTER I _Expository Narrative_ Expository narrative tells a story not primarily for the sake of the story, but for the sake of the information conveyed to the reader. It is really narration turned to serve the purposes of exposition. It is particularly useful in explaining a process, the work of any particular trade or profession, or the details of existence in any time or place. The chronological order carries the reader along without difficulty, and the fact that the account deals with a specific example makes it more interesting than a generalized explanation could be. In using this method, it is necessary to choose a subject in which the succession of events is of genuine importance. Explanation of a condition or situation does not have movement enough, and a process which is largely hidden from sight or which is too complicated to be readily followed lacks the necessary story element. It is best, therefore, to choose a subject in which one may discern a clear march of events, preferably with an unmistakable beginning and end, such as the first step in the treatment of raw material and the completion of the finished article, or, in another case, the morning and the evening of a single day. Having chosen such a subject, fix upon one occasion which is both typical and interesting, and begin at the beginning of the story, leaving necessary explanations to be brought in later. A particularly interesting incident may be related as happening on this imaginary occasion, or the thread of the narrative may break off to permit a slight digression, as in “A Day in an Oxford College” when the anecdote of the two brothers is inserted, not as having happened on the particular day whose events are being recounted, but as being true of the time of day which the narrative has reached.