The best short stories of 1920, and the yearbook of the American short story
General
The best short stories of 1920, and the yearbook of the American short story
American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories -- 20th century -- Bibliography; Short stories -- 20th century -- Indexes; Short stories, American
For a moment, the dummy-chucker's shoulders squared, as they had been
squared when the dinner jacket draped them. Then they sagged. He offered
no resistance when Bannon seized his collar. And Bannon, the valet, was
a smaller man than himself.
He cringed when the colored elevator-man sneered at him. He dodged when
little Bannon, in the mirrored vestibule raised a threatening hand. And
he shuffled as he turned toward Central Park.
But as he neared Columbus Circle, his gait quickened. At Finisterre
Joe's he'd get a drink. He tumbled in his pockets. Curse the luck! He'd
given every cent of his afternoon earnings to doormen and pages and
coat-room girls!
His pace slackened again as he turned down Broadway. His feet were
dragging as he reached the Concorde moving-picture theater. His hand,
sunk deep in his torn pocket, touched something. It was a tiny piece of
soap.
As the audience filed sadly out from the teary, gripping drama of "She
Loved And Lost," the dummy-chucker's hand went from his pocket to his
lips. He reeled, staggered, fell. His jaws moved savagely. Foam appeared
upon his lips. A fat woman shrank away from him, then leaned forward in
quick sympathy.
"He's gotta fit!" she cried.
"Ep'lepsy," said her companion pityingly.
FOOTNOTE:
[13] Copyright, 1920, by The International Magazine Company. Copyright,
1921, by Arthur Somers Roche.
BUTTERFLIES[14]
#By# ROSE SIDNEY
From _The Pictorial Review_
The wind rose in a sharp gust, rattling the insecure windows and sighing
forlornly about the corners of the house. The door unlatched itself,
swung inward hesitatingly, and hung wavering for a moment on its sagging
hinges. A formless cloud of gray fog blew into the warm, steamy room.
But whatever ghostly visitant had paused upon the threshold, he had
evidently decided not to enter, for the catch snapped shut with a quick,
passionate vigor. The echo of the slamming door rang eerily through the
house.
Mart Brenner's wife laid down the ladle with which she had been stirring
the contents of a pot that was simmering on the big, black stove, and
dragging her crippled foot behind her, she hobbled heavily to the door.
As she opened it a new horde of fog-wraiths blew in. The world was a
gray, wet blanket. Not a light from the village below pierced the mist,
and the lonely army of tall cedars on the black hill back of the house
was hidden completely.
"Who's there?" Mrs. Brenner hailed. But her voice fell flat and muffled.
Far off on the beach she could dimly hear the long wail of a fog-horn.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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