A FOOL THERE WAS

“A Fool there was and he made his prayer—
(Even as you and I.)
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair—
( We called her the woman who did not care)
But the fool he called her his lady fair—
(Even as you and I.)"

CONTENTS:

· CHAPTER ONE. OF CERTAIN PEOPLE.

· CHAPTER TWO. OF CERTAIN OTHER PEOPLE.

· CHAPTER THREE. TWO BOYS AND A GIRL.

· CHAPTER FOUR. THE CHILD AND THE STRANGER.

· CHAPTER FIVE. AS TIME PASSES.

· CHAPTER SIX. AN ACCIDENT.

· CHAPTER SEVEN. AN INCIDENT.

· CHAPTER EIGHT. OF CERTAIN GOINGS.

· CHAPTER NINE. OF CERTAIN OTHER GOINGS.

· CHAPTER TEN. TWO BOYS AND A DOCTOR.

· CHAPTER ELEVEN. A PROPOSAL.

· CHAPTER TWELVE. A FOREIGN MISSION

· CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE GOING.

· CHAPTER FOURTEEN. YOUNG PARMALEE—AND THE WOMAN.

· CHAPTER FIFTEEN. A WARNING.

· CHAPTER SIXTEEN. THE BEGINNING.

· CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. IN THE NIGHT.

· CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. WHITE ROSES.

· CHAPTER NINETEEN. SHADOWS.

· CHAPTER TWENTY. A FAIRY STORY.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. A LETTER.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO. AGAIN THE FAIRY STORY.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE. AID.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR. RESCUE.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE. THE RETURN.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX. THE RED ROSE.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN. THE RED ROAD.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT. THE BATTLE.

· CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE. DEFEAT.

· CHAPTER THIRTY. AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE. THAT WHICH MEN SAID.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO. IN THE GARDEN.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE. TEMPTATION.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR. THE SHROUD OF A SOUL.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE. THE THING THAT WAS A MAN.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX. AGAIN THE BATTLE.

· CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN. THE PITY OF IT ALL.

an excerpt from CHAPTER ONE - OF CERTAIN PEOPLE:

To begin a story of this kind at the beginning is hard; for when the beginning may have been, no man knows. Perhaps it was a hundred years ago—perhaps a thousand—perhaps ten thousand; and it may well be, yet longer ago, even, than that. Yet it can be told that John Schuyler came from a long line of clean-bodied, clean-souled, clear-eyed, clear-headed ancestors; and from these he had inherited cleanness of body and of soul, clearness of eye and of head. They had given him all that lay in their power to give, had these honest, impassive Dutchmen and—women—these broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped English; they had amalgamated for him their virtues, and they had eradicated for him their vices; they had cultivated for him those things of theirs that it were well to cultivate; and they had plucked ruthlessly from the gardens of heredity the weeds and tares that might have grown to check his growth. And, doing this, they had died, one after another, knowing not what they had done—knowing not why they had done it—knowing not what the result would be—doing that which they did because it was in them to do it; and for no other reason save that. For so it is of this world.

First, then, it is for you to know these things that I have told. Secondly, it is for you to realize that there are things in this world of which we know but little; that there are other things of which we may sometime learn; that there are infinitely more things that not even the wisest of us may ever begin to understand. God chooses to tell us nothing of that which comes after; and of that which comes therein He lets us learn just enough that we may know how much more there is....