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
Character set encoding: iso-8859-1
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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 only view that the reader of this book will get; for it is the author's intention profoundly to respect the select seclusion of the occupants.
Now, the west side of the block was in all respects, exactly opposite to the east side. The houses were built of bricks, dingy with the whirling dust of twenty years. Two of the three stories swarmed with women and children, always visible at