1. Page scan source: Google Books https://books.google.com/books/about/ The_Gates_of_Dawn.html?id=fkGaAAAAIAAJ (University Of California, Santa Cruz) 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. THE GATES OF DAWN BY FERGUS HUME. "The red light flames in the eastern skies, The dew lies heavy on lea and lawn, Grief with her anguish of midnight flies, And Joy comes up thro' the Gates of Dawn." LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY _LIMITED_, St. Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. 1894. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The Pleasures of the Road. II. Palmistry. III. Tithonus. IV. The Peacock in Jackdaw's Feathers. V. Tinker Tim. VI. The First Letter to a London Friend. VII. Diana of Farbis. VIII. The Recluse. IX. Village Gossip. X. Parson Jarner. XI. Farbis Court. XII. The Portrait in the Gallery. XIII. Under the Greenwood Tree. XIV. Dan's Secret. XV. Retrospection. XVI. Afternoon Tea. XVII. The Second Letter to a London Friend. XVIII. An Elizabethan Ancestor. XIX. The Pale Ladye. XX. In the Oak Parlour. XXI. The Days pass by. XXII. A Dreamer of Dreams. XXIII. Parson Jarner is astonished. XXIV. A Woman scorned. XXV. Jealousy. XXVI. Cupid in Arcady. XXVII. The Third Letter to a London Friend. XXVIII. Fire and Flame. XXIX. The Gipsy's Prophecy. XXX. The Final Letter to a London Friend. THE GATES OF DAWN. CHAPTER I. THE PLEASURES OF THE ROAD. The caravan rolled slowly along the dusty road with creakings and groanings and jingling of horse-bells. It was painted a dark-green colour, with white-curtained windows picked out in rose pink, and bright red shafts and wheels. The corrugated iron roof showed no signs of exposure to wind, rain, or sun, while the brasswork on door and harness glittered like fine gold. Evidently it was quite new, and this was its first journey into rural England. The sleek black animal that drew the gaily tinted structure picked his steps leisurely; his driver strolled alongside with sauntering step and whistling lip. A complacent fox-terrier followed at his master's heels with an observant eye for stray rabbits. Man, and horse, and dog, and house on wheels looked fitter for play than for work. There was something exasperating in their idle looks and lazy meanderings. A holiday company in holiday humour.