From Jest to Earnest

From Jest to Earnest

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Title: From Jest to Earnest
Author: E. P. Roe
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6102] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on November 6,
2002]
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM JEST
TO EARNEST ***

This eBook was created by Charles Aldarondo

The Works of E. P. ROE
FROM JEST TO EARNEST

DEDICATION.

This book is dedicated in fraternal affection to the friend of my youth
and maturer years--the REV. A. MOSS MERWIN, who, with every
avenue of earthly ambition open to him at home, and with every motive
urged upon him to remain at home, has been for years, and is now, a
faithful missionary in a foreign land.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
. A PRACTICAL JOKE
CHAPTER II
. THE VICTIM
CHAPTER III
. PUZZLED AND INTERESTED
CHAPTER IV
. A LITTLE PAGAN
CHAPTER V
. PLAIN TALK
CHAPTER VI
. A SLEIGH-RIDE AND SOMETHING MORE

CHAPTER VII
. ANOTHER SPELL THAN BEAUTY'S
CHAPTER VIII
. FINDING ONE'S LEVEL
CHAPTER IX
. "THE OTHER SET"
CHAPTER X
. HUMAN NATURE
CHAPTER XI
. A POSSIBLE TRAGEDY
CHAPTER XII
. MISS MARSDEN ASKS SOMBRE QUESTIONS
CHAPTER XIII
. A LOVER QUENCHED
CHAPTER XIV
. LOTTIE A MYSTERIOUS PROBLEM
CHAPTER XV
. HEMSTEAD SEES "OUR SET"
CHAPTER XVI
. HOW WOMAN MAKES OR MARS
CHAPTER XVII
. MIDNIGHT VIGILS
CHAPTER XVIII
. HEMSTEAD'S HEAVY GUN AND ITS RECOIL
CHAPTER XIX
. THE PREACHER TAUGHT BY THE PAGAN
CHAPTER XX
. THE DAWNING LIGHT
CHAPTER XXI
. MISUNDERSTOOD
CHAPTER XXII
. "YOU MUST WAIT AND SEE"
CHAPTER XXIII
. A RATIONALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL

CHAPTER XXIV
. THE TERROR OF A GREAT FEAR
CHAPTER XXV
. A TRUE KNIGHT
CHAPTER XXVI
. ON A CRUMBLING ICE-FLOE
CHAPTER XXVII
. THE MEETING AND GREETING
CHAPTER XXVIII
. THE TRIAL OF LOVE
CHAPTER XXIX
. HEMSTEAD'S ADVICE, AND LOTTIE'S COLORS
CHAPTER XXX
. AROUND THE YULE-LOG
CHAPTER XXXI
. UNDER THE MISTLETOE
CHAPTER XXXII
. THE CHRISTMAS SUNDAY
CHAPTER XXXIII
. THE END OF THE "JEST"
CHAPTER XXXIV
. LOYAL
CHAPTER XXXV
. MR. DIMMERLY CONCLUDES TO "MEDDLE"
CHAPTER XXXVI
. A NIGHT IN THE SNOW
CHAPTER XXXVII
. IN EARNEST

FROM JEST TO EARNEST.

CHAPTER I
.
A PRACTICAL JOKE.

On a cloudy December morning a gentleman, two ladies, and a boy
stepped down from the express train at a station just above the
Highlands on the Hudson. A double sleigh, overflowing with luxurious
robes, stood near, and a portly coachman with difficulty restrained his
spirited horses while the little party arranged themselves for a winter
ride. Both the ladies were young, and the gentleman's anxious and
almost tender solicitude for one of them seemed hardly warranted by
her blooming cheeks and sprightly movements. A close observer might
soon suspect that his assiduous attentions were caused by a malady of
his own rather than by indisposition on her part.
The other young lady received but scant politeness, though seemingly
in greater need of it. But the words of Scripture applied to her beautiful
companion, "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have
more abundance." She had been surfeited all her life with attention, and
though she would certainly have felt its absence, as she would the loss
of wealth, life-long familiarity with both led her to place no special
value upon them.
Therefore during the half-hour's ride her spirits rose with the rapid
motion, and even the leaden sky and winter's bleakness could not
prevent the shifting landscape from being a source of pleasure to her
city eyes, while the devotion of her admirer or lover was received as a
matter of course.
The frosty air brought color