{"product_id":"2940012226846","title":"The Trail of the Serpent","description":"This ebook edition has been proofed, corrected and compiled to be read with without errors!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTable of Contents\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I. THE RUINED TOWER AND ITS TENANT\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER II. THE FATAL BIRTHDAY FEÊTE\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER III. HORROR AND MYSTERY\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER IV. A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER V. THE APPARITION OF THE RUINED TOWER\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER VI. THE INMATE OF THE CAVE\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER VII. WHAT LADY VOLANTE SAW\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER VIII. WHAT THE FISHERMEN SAID THEY SAW\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER IX. MAD HAM\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER X. CONFLICTING TESTIMONY\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XI. THE THREE MYSTERIES\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XII. THE STRANGE LADY AT STONY FELLS.\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XIII. THE CAGED BEAUTY\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XIV. CASTLE BELLE ISLE\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XV. BERRY IRVINE'S DANGER\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XVI. DEMONDIKE GIVES UP THE SECRET\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XVII. THE MYSTERY DEEPENS\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XVIII. IN THE PALACE ZAVIESKI\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XIX. THE PERPLEXED COMMUNITY\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XX. VISIONS\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXI. FOUND\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXII. THE EARL AND COUNTESS AT HOME.\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXIII. THE MOST BRILLIANT MATCH OF THE SEASON\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXIV. IN THE CORRIDOR.\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXV. DRIVEN INTO DELIRIUM\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXVI. \"I WILL NOT LIVE WITH HIM\"\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXVII. THE BRIDE'S HATE\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXVIII. AT BELLE ISLE\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXIX. THE APPARITION IN THE PARK\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXX. THE WITCH AT WORK\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAn excerpt from the beginning of:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I \u003cbr\u003eTHE RUINED TOWER AND ITS TENANT\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere, above, around, below,\u003cbr\u003eOn mountain or in glen,\u003cbr\u003eNor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,\u003cbr\u003eNor aught of vegetative power,\u003cbr\u003eThe weary eye may ken;\u003cbr\u003eFor all is rock at random thrown,\u003cbr\u003eBlack waves, bare rocks and banks of stone.\u003cbr\u003e--SIR WALTER SCOTT.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy, what art thou,\u003cbr\u003eSo withered and so wild in thy attire,\u003cbr\u003eThat lookst not like th' inhabitants of earth,\u003cbr\u003eAnd yet are on't? Thou shouldst be woman,\u003cbr\u003eAnd yet thy beard forbids us to interpret\u003cbr\u003eThat thou art so.\u003cbr\u003e--SHAKESPEARE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSOME few years ago, in an ancient family of Cornwall, in England, a series of events occurred of a nature so extraordinary as to seem incredible had not their authenticity been positively proven in the courts of law.\u003cbr\u003eFor some time we hesitated to use in fiction these facts, which seemed too marvelous even for a romantic narrative; but now we have decided to give the strange history under the guise of the following story--reminding any critic who may think the incidents \"unreal,\" \"impossible,\" that Shakespeare himself has warned us to \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With caution judge of probability;\u003cbr\u003eThings deemed unnatural, even impossible,\u003cbr\u003eExperience oft hath proven to be true.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the wildest part of the coast of Cornwall there is a frightful ravine cloven down through the cliffs, several hundred feet in depth, near the sea, but gradually lessening toward the interior, until half a mile away it disappears on the down.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt high tide this ravine is filled with water to half its depth and length. At low tide it is dry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe chasm is called by the natives \"Demondike,\" and there is a local tradition that it was fashioned out of the solid rocks by imps of darkness in one night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut scientists hold that it was riven by some convulsion of nature in one moment.\u003cbr\u003eBoth science and tradition agree, however, that it had existed from a period to which the memory of man goes not back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis portion of the coast belonged to the vast landed estate of the Hawkes, Earls of Hawkewood, whose ancient seat was situated on the edge of a deep forest some three miles back of the sea.","brand":"Leila's Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47068485910768,"sku":"2940012226846","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012226846_p0.jpg?v=1763553820","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012226846","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}