{"product_id":"2940013232259","title":"Before the Dawn","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER                                   PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     I. A Woman in Brown                     3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    II. A Man's Mother                      16\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   III. The Mosaic Club                     25\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    IV. The Secretary Moves                 40\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     V. An Elusive Face                     52\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    VI. The Pursuit of a Woman              71\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   VII. The Cottage in the Side Street      83\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  VIII. The Pall of Winter                  97\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    IX. Robert and Lucia                   117\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     X. Feeding the Hungry                 131\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XI. Mr. Sefton Makes a Confidence      137\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XII. A Flight by Two                    150\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XIII. Lucia's Farewell                   162\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XIV. Prescott's Ordeal                  170\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XV. The Great Rivals                   181\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XVI. The Great Revival                  193\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XVII. The Wilderness                     204\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e XVIII. Day in the Wilderness              206\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XIX. Night in the Wilderness            223\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XX. The Secretary Looks On             236\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXI. A Delicate Situation               248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXII. The Lone Sentinel                  264\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e XXIII. Out of the Forest                  269\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXIV. The Despatch Bearer                280\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXV. The Mountain General               292\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXVI. Calypso                            300\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e XXVII. The Secretary and the Lady         323\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXXVIII. The Way Out                        334\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXIX. The Fall of Richmond               346\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXX. The Telegraph Station              360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXXI. The Coin of Gold                   370\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBEFORE THE DAWN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA WOMAN IN BROWN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA tall, well-favoured youth, coming from the farther South, boarded the\u003cbr\u003etrain for Richmond one raw, gusty morning. He carried his left arm\u003cbr\u003estiffly, his face was thin and brown, and his dingy uniform had holes in\u003cbr\u003eit, some made by bullets; but his air and manner were happy, as if,\u003cbr\u003eescaped from danger and hardships, he rode on his way to pleasure and\u003cbr\u003eease.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe sat for a time gazing out of the window at the gray, wintry landscape\u003cbr\u003ethat fled past, and then, having a youthful zest for new things, looked\u003cbr\u003eat those who traveled with him in the car. The company seemed to him, on\u003cbr\u003ethe whole, to lack novelty and interest, being composed of farmers going\u003cbr\u003eto the capital of the Confederacy to sell food; wounded soldiers like\u003cbr\u003ehimself, bound for the same place in search of cure; and one woman who\u003cbr\u003esat in a corner alone, neither speaking nor spoken to, her whole aspect\u003cbr\u003erepelling any rash advance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrescott always had a keen eye for woman and beauty, and owing to his\u003cbr\u003elong absence in armies, where both these desirable objects were scarce,\u003cbr\u003ehis vision had become acute; but he judged that this lone type of her\u003cbr\u003esex had no special charm. Tall she certainly was, and her figure might\u003cbr\u003ebe good, but no one with a fair face and taste would dress as plainly as\u003cbr\u003eshe, nor wrap herself so completely in a long, brown cloak that he could\u003cbr\u003enot even tell the colour of her eyes. Beautiful women, as he knew them,\u003cbr\u003ealways had a touch of coquetry, and never hid their charms wholly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrescott's attention wandered again to the landscape rushing past, but\u003cbr\u003efinding little of splendour or beauty, it came back, by and by, to the\u003cbr\u003elone woman. He wondered why she was going to Richmond and what was her\u003cbr\u003ename. She, too, was now staring out of the window, and the long cloak\u003cbr\u003ehiding her seemed so shapeless that he concluded her figure must be bad.\u003cbr\u003eHis interest declined at once, but rose again with her silence and\u003cbr\u003eevident desire to be left alone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs they were approaching Richmond a sudden jar of the train threw a\u003cbr\u003esmall package from her lap to the floor. Prescott sprang forward, picked\u003cbr\u003eit up and handed it to her. She received it with a curt \"Thanks,\" and\u003cbr\u003ethe noise of the train was so great that Prescott could tell nothing\u003cbr\u003eabout the quality of her voice. It might or might not be musical, but in\u003cbr\u003eany event she was not polite and showed no gratitude. If he had thought\u003cbr\u003eto use the incident as an opening for conversation, he dismissed the\u003cbr\u003eidea, as she turned her face back to the window at once and resumed her\u003cbr\u003estudy of the gray fields.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Probably old and plain,\" was Prescott's thought, and then he forgot her\u003cbr\u003ein the approach to Richmond, the town where much of his youth had been\u003cbr\u003espent. The absence of his mother from the capital was the only regret in\u003cbr\u003ethis happy homecoming, but he had received a letter from her assuring\u003cbr\u003ehim of her arrival in the city in a day or two.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145609363696,"sku":"2940013232259","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013232259_p0.jpg?v=1763578688","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013232259","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}