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  RUTH HALL:

  A
  DOMESTIC TALE
  OF
  THE PRESENT TIME.

  BY
  FANNY FERN.

  NEW YORK:
  PUBLISHED BY MASON BROTHERS.
  1855.




  ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854,

  BY MASON BROTHERS,

  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District
  of New York.


  STEREOTYPED BY
  THOMAS B. SMITH,
  216 William St., N. Y.

  PRINTED BY
  JOHN A. GRAY,
  95 & 97 Cliff St.




PREFACE.

TO THE READER.


I present you with my first continuous story. I do not dignify it by the
name of "A novel." I am aware that it is entirely at variance with all
set rules for novel-writing. There is no intricate plot; there are no
startling developments, no hair-breadth escapes. I have compressed into
one volume what I might have expanded into two or three. I have avoided
long introductions and descriptions, and have entered unceremoniously
and unannounced, into people's houses, without stopping to ring the
bell. Whether you will fancy this primitive mode of calling, whether you
will like the company to which it introduces you, or--whether you will
like the book at all, I cannot tell. Still, I cherish the hope that,
somewhere in the length and breadth of the land, it may fan into a
flame, in some tried heart, the fading embers of hope, well-nigh
extinguished by wintry fortune and summer friends.

  FANNY FERN.




CONTENTS.


                      CHAPTER I.
  THE EVE BEFORE THE BRIDAL--RUTH'S LITTLE ROOM--A RETROSPECTIVE
      REVERIE                                                     15

                      CHAPTER II.
  THE WEDDING--A GLIMPSE OF THE CHARACTER OF RUTH'S BROTHER
      HYACINTH                                                    23

                      CHAPTER III.
  THE NEW HOME--SOLILOQUY OF THE MOTHER-IN-LAW                    25

                      CHAPTER IV.
  THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE MOTHER-IN-LAW                      28

                      CHAPTER V.
  RUTH'S REFLECTIONS ON THE INTERVIEW                             32

                      CHAPTER VI.
  A BIT OF FAMILY HISTORY                                         34

                      CHAPTER VII.
  THE FIRST-BORN                                                  39

                      CHAPTER VIII.
  THE NURSE                                                       41

                      CHAPTER IX.
  FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS OF THE MOTHER-IN-LAW'S CHARACTER           44

                      CHAPTER X.
  RUTH'S COUNTRY HOME                                             47

                      CHAPTER XI.
  RUTH AND DAISY                                                  50

                      CHAPTER XII.
  THE OLD FOLKS FOLLOW THE YOUNG COUPLE--AN ENTERTAINING
      DIALOGUE                                                    52

                      CHAPTER XIII.
  THE OLD LADY'S SURREPTITIOUS VISIT TO RUTH'S, AND HER
      ENCOUNTER WITH DINAH                                        55

                      CHAPTER XIV.
  THE OLD LADY SEARCHES THE HOUSE--WHAT SHE FINDS                 59

                      CHAPTER XV.
  THE OLD DOCTOR MEDDLES WITH HARRY'S FARMING ARRANGEMENTS        63

                      CHAPTER XVI.
  LITTLE DAISY'S REVERIE--HER STRANGE PLAYFELLOW                  65

                      CHAPTER XVII.
  "PAT" MUTINIES                                                  67

                      CHAPTER XVIII.
  A GROWL FROM THE OLD LADY                                       69

                      CHAPTER XIX.
  DAISY'S GLEE AT THE FIRST SLEIGH-RIDE                           72

                      CHAPTER XX.
  DAISY'S ILLNESS--THE OLD DOCTOR REFUSES TO COME                 74

                      CHAPTER XXI.
  DINAH'S WARNING--HARRY GOES AGAIN FOR THE DOCTOR                78

                      CHAPTER XXII.
  THE OLD DOCTOR ARRIVES TOO LATE                                 81

                      CHAPTER XXIII.
  "THE GLEN" DESERTED--THE OLD DOCTOR'S AND HIS WIFE'S VERSION
      OF THE CAUSE OF DAISY'S DEATH--MRS. JONES GIVES HER
      OPINION                                                     85

                      CHAPTER XXIV.
  ANNIVERSARY OF DAISY'S DEATH--RUTH'S REVERIE--LITTLE KATY'S
      REQUEST                                                     90

                      CHAPTER XXV.
  HOTEL LIFE--A NEW FRIEND                                        93


                      CHAPTER XXVI.
  THE FALL OF THE LEAF--HARRY'S ILLNESS--THE LONELY WATCHER       97


                      CHAPTER XXVII.
  ARRIVAL OF THE OLD DOCTOR AND HIS WIFE                         102

                      CHAPTER XXVIII.
  THE OLD DOCTOR'S ANNOUNCEMENT--HARRY'S DEATH                   105

                      CHAPTER XXIX.
  HYACINTH'S SENSIBILITIES SHOCKED                               110

                      CHAPTER XXX.
  MISS SKINLIN                                                   114

                      CHAPTER XXXI.
  HARRY'S FUNERAL                                                120

                      CHAPTER XXXII.
  A SERVANT'S DEVOTION                                           123

                      CHAPTER XXXIII.
  BICKERINGS OF THE FATHER AND FATHER-IN-LAW--DISPUTE ABOUT THE
      SUPPORT OF THE CHILDREN                                    125

                      CHAPTER XXXIV.
  RUTH RECEIVES A VISIT FROM HER FATHER--HE INSISTS ON HER
      GIVING UP HER CHILDREN TO THE OLD DOCTOR--RUTH'S REFUSAL   128

                      CHAPTER XXXV.
  THE OLD LADY, ENRAGED, PROPOSES A COMPROMISE--MR. ELLET IS
      FORCED TO ACCEDE                                           132

                      CHAPTER XXXVI.
  RUTH'S NEW LODGINGS