THE RIGHT OF WAY

CONTENTS

Volume 1.
I. THE WAY TO THE VERDICT
II. WHAT CAME OF THE TRIAL
III. AFTER FIVE YEARS
IV. CHARLEY MAKES A DISCOVERY
V. THE WOMAN IN HELIOTROPE
VI. THE WIND AND THE SHORN LAMB
VII. "PEACE, PEACE, AND THERE IS NO PEACE!"
VIII. THE COST OF THE ORNAMENT

Volume 2.
IX. OLD DEBTS FOR NEW
X. THE WAY IN AND THE WAY OUT
XI. THE RAISING OF THE CURTAIN
XII. THE COMING OF ROSALIE
XIII. HOW CHARLEY WENT ADVENTURING, AND WHAT HE FOUND
XIV. ROSALIE, CHARLEY, AND THE MAN THE WIDOW PLOMONDON JILTED
XV. THE MARK IN THE PAPER
XVI. MADAME DAUPHIN HAS A MISSION
XVII. THE TAILOR MAKES A MIDNIGHT FORAY
XVIII. THE STEALING OF THE CROSS

Volume 3.
XIX. THE SIGN FROM HEAVEN
XX. THE RETURN OF THE TAILOR
XXI. THE CURE HAS AN INSPIRATION
XXII. THE WOMAN WHO SAW
XXIII. THE WOMAN WHO DID NOT TELL
XXIV. THE SEIGNEUR TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME
XXV. THE COLONEL TELLS HIS STORY
XXVI. A SONG, A BOTTLE, AND A GHOST
XXVII. OUT ON THE OLD TRAIL
XXVIII. THE SEIGNEUR GIVES A WARNING

Volume 4.
XXIX. THE WILD RIDE
XXX. ROSALIE WARNS CHARLEY
XXXI. CHARLEY STANDS AT BAY
XXXII. JO PORTUGAIS TELLS A STORY
XXXIII. THE EDGE OF LIFE
XXXIV. IN AMBUSH
XXXV. THE COMING OF MAXIMILIAN COUR AND ANOTHER
XXXVI. BARRIERS SWEPT AWAY
XXXVII. THE CHALLENGE OF PAULETTE DUBOIS
XXXVIII. THE CURE AND THE SEIGNEUR VISIT THE TAILOR
XXXIX. THE SCARLET WOMAN
XL. AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING

Volume 5.
XLI. IT WAS MICHAELMAS DAY
XLII. A TRIAL AND A VERDICT
XLIII. JO PORTUGAIS TELLS A STORY
XLIV. "WHO WAS KATHLEEN?"
XLV. SIX MONTHS GO BY
XLVI. THE FORGOTTEN MAN
XLVII. ONE WAS TAKEN AND THE OTHER LEFT
XLVIII. "WHERE THE TREE OF LIFE IS BLOOMING--"
XLIX. THE OPEN GATE

Volume 6.
L. THE PASSION PLAY AT CHAUDIERE
LI. FACE TO FACE
LII. THE COMING OF BILLY
LIII. THE SEIGNEUR AND THE CURE HAVE A SUSPICION
LIV. M. ROSSIGNOL SLIPS THE LEASH
LV. ROSALIE PLAYS A PART
LVI. MRS. FLYNN SPEAKS
LVII. A BURNING FIERY FURNACE
LVIII. WITH HIS BACK TO THE WALL
LIX. IN WHICH CHARLEY MEETS A STRANGER
LX. THE HAND AT THE DOOR
LXI. THE CURE SPEAKS

EPILOGUE




INTRODUCTION

In a book called 'The House of Harper', published in this year, 1912,
there are two letters of mine, concerning 'The Right of Way', written
to Henry M. Alden, editor of Harper's Magazine. To my mind those letters
should never have been published. They were purely personal. They were
intended for one man's eyes only, and he was not merely an editor but a
beloved and admired personal friend. Only to him and to W. E. Henley, as
editors, could I ever have emptied out my heart and brain; and, as may
be seen by these two letters, one written from London and the other from
a place near Southampton, I uncovered all my feelings, my hopes and my
ambitions concerning The Right of Way. Had I been asked permission to
publish them I should not have granted it. I may wear my heart upon my
sleeve for my friend, but not for the universe.

The most scathing thing ever said in literature was said by Robert
Buchanan on Dante Gabriel Rossetti's verses--"He has wheeled his nuptial
bed into the street." Looking at these letters I have a great shrinking,
for they were meant only for the eyes of an aged man for whom I cared
enough to let him see behind the curtain. But since they have been
printed, and without a "by your leave," I will use one or two passages
in them to show in what mood, under what pressure of impulse, under what
mental and, maybe, spiritual hypnotism it was written. I first planned
it as a story of twenty-five thousand words, even as 'Valmond' was
planned as a story of five thousand words, and 'A Ladder of Swords' as
a story of twenty thousand words; but I had not written three chapters
before I saw what the destiny of the tale was to be. I had gone to
Quebec to start the thing in the atmosphere where Charley Steele
belonged, and there it was borne in upon me that it must be a
three-decker novel, not a novelette. I telegraphed to Harper & Brothers
to ask them whether it would suit them just as well if I made it into a
long novel. They telegraphed their assent at once; so I went on. At that
time Mr. F. N. Doubleday was a sort of director of Harper's firm.