"There was once upon a time a man of half-measures, whose brain was filled with dreams for his own glory, and he possessed a woman of flesh and blood, who loved him, and would have turned the dreams into realities. But _because_ he was happy with her, and because her hair was black and her eyes were green, and her flesh like alabaster, he said to himself, 'This is a fiend and a vampire. Nothing human can be so delectable.' So he ran a stake through her body, and buried her at the cross-roads. Then he found life an emptiness, and went down into nothingness and was forgotten--" "Oh, hush, Sage!" said the Damsel, trembling; "I wish to hear no more. Come, shave off your beard, and put on a velvet doublet, and return with me to the Court. See, life is short, and I am fair." And the Sage suddenly felt he had found the philosopher's stone, and knew the secret he had come into the wilds to find. So he went back to his cave, and shaved his beard, and donned a velvet doublet, long since lain by in lavender. And he took the Damsel by the hand, and they gladly ran down the hill. And the zephyrs whispered, and the day dawned, and all the world smiled young--and gay. * * * * * _Remember the tangible now._ "_Sic transit gloria mundi!_" * * * * * BY MRS. HUMPHRY WARD LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated by HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50. This is Mrs. Humphry Ward's latest novel. It has been hailed as undoubtedly her best, while Julie Le Breton, the heroine, has been called "the most appealing type of heroine in English fiction." "A story that must be read."--_New York Sun._ "Vividly alive from the first line."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ "The most marvellous work of its wonderful author."--_New York World._ "Absolutely different from anything else that has ever appeared in fiction."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ "Love is not here the sentimental emotion of the ordinary novel or play, but the power that purges the weaknesses and vivifies the dormant nobilities of men and women."--_The Academy_, London, England. "Quite sure to be the most widely and most highly considered book of the year."--_Chicago Evening Post._ "The story is the combat between two powers of a brilliant woman's nature. Sometimes you are sure the lawless, the vagabond, and the intriguing side will win. But it doesn't...."--_Boston Transcript._ * * * * * HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers NEW YORK AND LONDON [symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt of the price._ * * * * * BY HENRY SETON MERRIMAN THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.