[Illustration: "We have met"] THE PURPLE HEIGHTS By MARIE CONWAY OEMLER Author of "Slippy McGee." "A Woman Named Smith," etc. NEW YORK 1920 _To_ JOHN NORTON OEMLER FROM THE LADY HIS SON USED TO CALL "MRS. DADDY" CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE RED ADMIRAL II THE PROMISE III AT GRIPS WITH LIFE IV THE SOUL OF BLACK FOLKS V THE PURPLE HEIGHTS VI GOOD MORNING, GOOD LUCK! VII WHERE THE ROAD DIVIDED VIII CINDERELLA IX PRICE-TAGS X THE DEAR DAM-FOOL XI HIS GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE XII "NOT BY BREAD ALONE" XIII THE BRIGHT SHADOW XIV SWAN FEATHERS XV "I, TOO, IN ARCADIA" XVI THE OTHER MAN XVII THE GUTTER-CANDLE XVIII KISMET! XIX THE POWER XX AND THE GLORY CHARACTERS PETER CHAMPNEYS: _Of Riverton, South Carolina, and Paris, France_. MARIA CHAMPNEYS: _His Mother_. CHADWICK CHAMPNEYS: _The God in the Machine_. EMMA CAMPBELL: _A Colored Woman_. ANNE CHAMPNEYS, NÉE NANCY SIMMS: _Cinderella_. MRS. JOHN HEMINGWAY: _Peter's First Teacher_. JOHN HEMINGWAY: _An American_. JASON VANDERVELDE: _An Attorney at Law_. MRS. JASON VANDERVELDE: _Anne's Mentor_. MRS. MacGREGOR: _A Disciple of Hannah More_. GLENN MITCHELL: _A Bright Shadow_. BERKELEY HAYDEN: _The Other Man_. GRACIE: _A Gutter-Candle_. DENISE: _A Perfume_. THE QUARTIER LATIN. RIVERTON, SOUTH CAROLINA. THE CAROLINA COLORED FOLKS. MARTIN LUTHER: _A Gray Cat_. SATAN: _A Black Cat_. THE RED ADMIRAL: _A Fairy_. THE PURPLE HEIGHTS CHAPTER I THE RED ADMIRAL