



Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Suzanne Shell, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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          [Illustration: "THAT OF A HAND HOLDING A BOTTLE"]


                            ONE OF MY SONS



                                  BY

                         ANNA KATHARINE GREEN

                        (MRS. CHARLES ROHLFS)

      AUTHOR OF "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "HAND AND RING,"
      "MARKED 'PERSONAL,'" "THAT AFFAIR NEXT DOOR," ETC.




                            [Illustration]




                         G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

                         NEW YORK AND LONDON

                       THE KNICKERBOCKER PRESS

                                 1901



                           COPYRIGHT, 1901

                                  BY

                        ANNA KATHARINE ROHLFS

       *       *       *       *       *




CONTENTS


BOOK I

THE SHADOW


                                                     PAGE

I.--THE CHILD, AND WHAT SHE LED ME INTO                1

II.--THE YOUNG DOCTOR AND THE OLD                      6

III.--WHAT A DOOR HID                                 21

IV.--"HE DRANK IT ALONE"                              32

V.--HOPE                                              38

VI.--A HAPPY INSPIRATION                              50

VII.--THE ELDERLY GENTLEMAN BY THE NEWEL-POST         54

VIII.--THE MAN BEHIND THE SCREEN                      71

IX.--THE CLOCK THAT HAD RUN DOWN                      88

X.--THE PENCIL                                        96

XI.--SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT                        101

XII.--GOSSIP                                         104

XIII.--INDICATIONS                                   110

XIV.--A SUDDEN TURN                                  127

XV.--THE MISSING POCKET                              139

XVI.--IN THE PARLOUR AT MRS. PENRHYN'S               147


BOOK II

THE MAN


                                                    PAGE

XVII.--THE MONOGRAM                                  157

XVIII.--THE PHIAL                                    176

XIX.--I MAKE MY FIRST MOVE                           187

XX.--THE LITTLE HOUSE IN NEW JERSEY                  192

XXI.--MILLE-FLEURS                                   201

XXII.--A DISAGREEABLE HOUR WITH A DISAGREEABLE MAN   212

XXIII.--IN MY OFFICE                                 224

XXIV.--AN OLD CATASTROPHE IS RECALLED                239

XXV.--A SUMMONS                                      255

XXVI.--FERRY LIGHTS                                  262

XXVII.--RAIN                                         272

XXVIII.--BY THE LIGHT OF A GUTTERING CANDLE          282

XXIX.--THE QUIET HOUR                                313

XXX.--AN UNEXPECTED ALLY                             320

XXXI.--SWEETWATER HAS AN IDEA                        327

XXXII.--WITH THE SHADE DOWN                          336

XXXIII.--IN WHICH WE CAN PARDON MR. GRYCE HIS
            UNFORTUNATE ILLNESS                      344

XXXIV.--"IT WAS THE SHOCK!"                          352

XXXV.--ROSES                                         363

       *       *       *       *       *




ILLUSTRATIONS

                                                            PAGE

"_That of a hand holding a bottle_"                    Frontispiece

"_One hand was pressed against his heart_"                     4

"_Crouched against the farther wall, with
wide-extended eyes fixed full upon
us_"                                                          30

"_I saw her wild figure jump out and
plunge away in the direction of the
river_"                                                      186

"_In two minutes I was under that open
window_"                                                     276

"_She glided into our presence in one rapturous
whirl_"                                                      296

       *       *       *       *       *




ONE OF MY SONS


BOOK I

THE SHADOW

I

THE CHILD, AND WHAT SHE LED ME INTO


I was walking at a rapid pace up the avenue one raw, fall evening,
when somewhere near the corner of Fifty----Street I was brought to a
sudden stand-still by the sound of a child's voice accosting me from
the stoop of one of the handsome houses I was then passing.

"O sir!" it cried, "please come in. Please come to grandpa. He's sick
and wants you."

Surprised, for I knew no one on the block, I glanced up and saw
bending from the open doorway the trembling figure of a little girl,
with a wealth of curly hair blowing about her sweet, excited face.

"You have made a mistake,"