A LIKELY STORY
BY
WILLIAM DE MORGAN
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1911
All rights reserved
DEDICATED TO
THE SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRER
CONTENTS
A good deal about a box of matches. Concerning a marriedcouple, whom anyone would have thought quarrelsome, tolisten to them. Of the difficulty with which the ladyhousekept, and how her husband was no help at all. Butthey went to the Old Water Colour. How Sairah onlyjust wiped gently over a tacky picture, and Mr. Aiken saidGod and Devil. Of the plural number. Of a very prettygirl, but dressy, and her soldier lover, and how Mrs. Aikenwas proper. Of her mystical utterance about the younglady. How Mr. Aiken sought for an explanation fromSairah, and created a situation. How his wife went to herAunt Priscilla, at Athabasca Villa, and cried herself tosleep
How a little old gentleman was left alone in a Library, in frontof the picture Sairah had only just wiped gently. How hewoke up from a dream, which went on. The loquacity ofa picture, and how he pointed out to it its unreality. TheArtist's name. There was plenty of time to hear more.The exact date of Antiquity. The Rational way ofaccounting for it
The Picture's tale. It was so well painted—that was why itcould hear four hundred years ago. How its painterhungered and thirsted for its original, and vice versa. Howold January hid in a spy-hole, to watch May, and saw itall. Of Pope Innocent's penetration. Of certain bells,unwelcome ones. How two innamorati tried to part withouta kiss, and failed. Nevertheless assassins stopped it whenit had only just begun. But Giacinto got at January'sthroat. How the picture was framed, and hung where Maycould only see it by twisting. Of the dungeon below her,where Giacinto might be. How January dug at May witha walking-staff. How the picture was in abeyance, butloved a firefly; then was interred in furniture, and threecenturies slipped by. How it sold for six fifty, and wassent to London to a picture-restorer, which is how it comesinto the tale. How Mr. Pelly woke up
A Retrospective Chapter. How Fortune's Toy and the Sport ofCircumstances fell in love with one of his Nurses. Prosecomposition. Lady Upwell's majesty, and the Queen's.No engagement. The African War, and JustifiableFratricide. Cain. Madeline's big dog Cæsar. Cats. Ormuzdand Ahriman. A handy little Veldt. Madeline's Japanesekimono. A discussion of the nature of Dreams. Nevermind Athenæus. Look at the Prophet Daniel. SirStopleigh's great-aunt Dorothea's twins. The CirculatingLibrary and the potted shrimps. How Madeline read themanuscript in bed, and took care not to set fire to thecurtains
Mr. Aiken's sequel. Pimlico Studios. Mr. Hughes's Idea.Aspects of Nature. Mr. Hughes's foot. What hadMr. Aiken been at. Not Fanny Smith. It was Sairah!!Who misunderstood and turned vermilion? Her malice.The Regent's Canal. Mr. Aiken's advice from his friends.Woman and her sex. How Mr. Hughes visited Mr. Aikenone eve