Round the Block

Round the Block

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Title: Round the Block
Author: John Bell Bouton
Release Date: May 3, 2004 [eBook #12243]
Language: English
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ROUND THE BLOCK
An American Novel
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
by
JOHN BELL BOUTON
1864

[Illustration: MRS. SLAPMAN AT HOME--(Book First, Chap. IX.)]

CONTENTS.
BOOK FIRST.
NEW YEAR'S DAY.
I. THE BLOCK. II. THREE BACHELORS. III. PEEPS. IV. QUIGG.
V. PLEASURE AS BUSINESS. VI. SOMETHING HIDDEN. VII.
THE BOY BOG. VIII. MALTBOY'S TWENTIETH AFFAIR. IX.
MRS. SLAPMAN AT HOME. X. INFIRMITIES OF GENIUS.
BOOK SECOND.
POLISHING.
I. THE ENIGMA. II. A DELICATE PROPOSITION. III. AN
AUXILIARY OF MODERN CIVILIZATION. IV. MISS PILLBODY.
V. A FRIEND IN NEED. VI. BRANCHING OUT. VII. THE LITTLE
PUPIL.
BOOK THIRD.

TRAIL OF THE SERPENT.
I. "ONE--TWO--THREE--FOUR." II. THE FALLING BOARD. III.
SNEAKING JUSTIFIED. IV. UP IN THE AIR. V. TONGUES OF
FIRE.
BOOK FOURTH.
CHILDREN OF THE WORLD.
I. MENDERT VAN QUINTEM AND SON. II. BUYING GOOD
BEHAVIOR. III. THE YOUNG MONSTER. IV. WESLEY TIFFINS.
V. THE PANORAMA OF AFRICA.
BOOK FIFTH.
MANOEUVRES.
I. STOLEN--MORE THAN A PURSE. II. CONSOLATIONS OF
HIGH ART. III. LOVING AFAR OFF. IV. LEGERDEMAIN.
BOOK SIXTH.
MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT.
I. THE UNKNOWN HAND. II. IN VAIN--IN VAIN. III. THE
CLASHING ORBS. IV. A VISION OP HORRORS. V. WHAT THE
MORNING BROUGHT.
BOOK SEVENTH.
JOURNEYINGS AGAINST FATE.
I. PEA-SHOOTING AS A SCIENCE. II. BY STEAM. III.
PIGWORTH, J.P. IV. STOOP. V. AN AUDIENCE ANALYZED. VI.
HUMORS OF THE MANY-HEADED. VII. SCENES NOT IN THE
BILLS.
BOOK EIGHTH.

A DRAMATIC INTERLUDE.
I. THE OVERTURE. II. CURTAIN UP. III. ACT SECOND. IV. HOW
THE PLAY ENDED.
BOOK NINTH.
THE INQUEST.
I. CORONER AND JURY. II. STATEMENT OF THE PRISONER. III.
JUSTICE GOES TO DINNER. IV. LIGHT IN THE PRISON. V. THE
SORROW OF WHITE HAIRS. VI. WHAT PAPER, TYPES, AND
INK CAN DO. VII. PET AS A WITNESS. VIII. THE BENEFICENCE
OF FIRE BELLS. IX. AN OLD MAN'S OFFERING.
BOOK TENTH.
DONE ON BOTH SIDES.
I. A FISHER OF MEN. II. PLAYING WITH THE LINE. III.
PULLING IN. IV. THE FIRST OF MAY. V. DEMOLITION OF
CERTAIN AIR CASTLES. VI. MR. WHEDELL'S CREDIT
ORS IN CONVENTION ASSEMBLED. VII. DEUS EX MACHINA.
BOOK ELEVENTH.
DISCOVERIES.
I. THE OLD HOUSE REVISITED. II. A POSTHUMOUS SECRET.
III. OVERTOP FINDS A SENSIBLE WOMAN. IV. INNOCENCE
ON A SLIPPERY ROAD. V. BOG'S OPEN SESAME. VI. TRACKED.
VII. FOUND AND LOST.
BOOK TWELFTH.
SPECULATIONS--PECUNIARY AND MATRIMONIAL.
I. THE "COSMOPOLITAN WINDOW FASTENER." II.

MIDDLE-AGED CUPID. III. SLAPMAN vs. SLAPMAN. IV. HOW
OVERTOP SEALED A CONTRACT IN A WAY UNKNOWN TO
CHITTY. V. A RETURNED CALIFORNIAN. VI. REVELATIONS
OF A LAUGH.
BOOK THIRTEENTH.
THE STRANGE LADY.
I. A STORY OP THE PAST. II. POSSIBLE LOVE. III. UNCLE AND
NIECE.
BOOK FOURTEENTH.
HAPPY DAYS.
I. OWNERS OF THE BEAUTIFUL. II. THE LAST OF A MYSTERY.
III. LOVE CROWNED. IV. FIVE YEARS.

BOOK FIRST.
NEW YEAR'S DAY
CHAPTER I.
THE BLOCK.
On the east side of the block were four brownstone houses, wide, tall,
and roomy. Seen from the street, they had the appearance of not being
inhabited. In the upper stories, all the curtains or blinds were closely
drawn. In the lower story, the heavy lace that hung in carefully careless
folds on each side of the window, seemed never to have been disturbed
since it left the upholsterer's hands. Whatever life and motion there
might have been in the basement, were sheltered from observation by
conical firs or square-clipped box borders, set out on strictly
geometrical principles in each of the four front yards. The doors were
ponderous and tight fitting, as if they were never meant to be opened;

and the vivid polish of their surfaces showed no trace of human
handling. No marks of feet could be detected on the smooth, heavy
flagstones which led up from the sidewalk, or on the great steps flanked
by massive balustrades. The four mansions, in their new, lofty, and
apparently tenantless state, looked, like the occasional residences of
people for some purpose of ceremony, rather than the dear homes of the
small, loving, domestic circles that really lived there.
Such was the outer view of the east side of the block, and it is the