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Italics have been transcribed using _underscores_, small capitals as ALL
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corrections can be found at the end of the document.




THE MYSTERY OF CHOICE


BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS

AUTHOR OF THE KING IN YELLOW, THE RED REPUBLIC, A KING AND A FEW DUKES,
THE MAKER OF MOONS, ETC.


NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1897




COPYRIGHT, 1897,
BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS.




_DEDICATION._


 _There is a maid, demure as she is wise,
  With all of April in her winsome eyes,
  And to my tales she listens pensively,
  With slender fingers clasped about her knee,
  Watching the sparrows on the balcony._

   _Shy eyes that, lifted up to me,
    Free all my heart of vanity;
    Clear eyes, that speak all silently,
    Sweet as the silence of a nunnery--
    Read, for I write my rede for you alone,
    Here where the city's mighty monotone
    Deepens the silence to a symphony--
    Silence of Saints, and Seers, and Sorcery._

 _Arms and the Man! A noble theme, I ween!
  Alas! I can not sing of these, Eileen--
  Only of maids and men and meadow-grass,
  Of sea and fields and woodlands, where I pass;
  Nothing but these I know, Eileen, alas!_

   _Clear eyes that, lifted up to me,
    Free all my soul from vanity;
    Gray eyes, that speak all wistfully--
    Nothing but these I know, alas!_

                                       _R. W. C._

 _April, 1896._




INTRODUCTION.


 _I._

 _Where two fair paths, deep flowered
                        And leaf-embowered,
  Creep East and West across a World concealed,
  Which shall he take who journeys far afield?_

 _II._

 _Canst thou then say, "I go,"
                        Or "I forego"?
  What turns thee East or West, as thistles blow?
  Is fair more fair than fair--and dost thou know?_

 _III._

 _Turn to the West, unblessed
                        And uncaressed;
  Turn to the East, and, seated at the Feast
  Thou shalt find Life, or Death from Life released._

 _IV._

 _And thou who lovest best
                        A maid dark-tressed,
  And passest others by with careless eye,
  Canst thou tell why thou choosest? Tell, then; why?_

  _V._

 _So when thy kiss is given
                        Or half-forgiven,
  Why should she tremble, with her face flame-hot,
  Or laugh and whisper, "Love, I tremble not"?_

 _VI._

 _Or when thy hand may catch
                        A half-drawn latch,
  What draws thee from the door, to turn and pass
  Through streets unknown, dim, still, and choked with grass?_

 _VII._

 _What! Canst thou not foresee
                        The Mystery?
  Heed! For a Voice commands thy every deed!
  And it hath sounded. And thou needs must heed!_

                                       _R. W. C._

 _1896._




CONTENTS.


                               PAGE

  THE PURPLE EMPEROR              1

  POMPE FUNEBRE                  39

  THE MESSENGER                  47

  THE WHITE SHADOW              109

  PASSEUR                       175

  THE KEY TO GRIEF              185

  A MATTER OF INTEREST          213

  ENVOI                         283




THE PURPLE EMPEROR.




THE PURPLE EMPEROR.

  Un souvenir heureux est peut-etre, sur terre,
    Plus vrai que le bonheur.

                                        A. DE MUSSET.


I.

The Purple Emperor watched me in silence. I cast again, spinning out
six feet more of waterproof silk, and, as the line hissed through the
air far across the pool, I saw my three flies fall on the water like
drifting thistledown. The Purple Emperor sneered.

"You see," he said, "I am right. There is not a trout in Brittany that
will rise to a tailed fly."

"They do in America," I replied.

"Zut! for America!" observed the Purple Emperor.

"And trout take a tailed fly in England," I insisted sharply.

"Now do I care what things or people do in England?" demanded the
Purple Emperor.

"You don't care for anything except yourself and your wriggling
caterpillars," I said, more annoyed than I had yet been.

The Purple Emperor sniffed. His broad, hairless, sunburnt features bore
that obstinate expression which always irritated me. Perhaps the manner
in which he wore his hat intensified the irritation, for the flapping
brim rested on both ears,