"The Portal of Dreams" by Charles Neville Buck. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
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Charles Neville Buck. The Portal of Dreams
The Portal of Dreams
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I
A VISION UPON A WARNING
A young woman was sitting before a counter, with her back to the street, trying on gloves
CHAPTER II
PURSUING A WILL-O'-THE-WISP
CHAPTER III
I EMBARK ON A FOOL'S ERRAND
CHAPTER IV
SOME PASSAGES FROM A DIARY
CHAPTER V
PREMONITIONS BECOME REALITIES
CHAPTER VI
THE END OF THE "WASTREL"
CHAPTER VII
IN STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES
CHAPTER VIII
NATURE INDULGES IN SATIRE
CHAPTER IX
A PORTRAIT AND A TEMPLE
CHAPTER X
I SEEK ORCHIDS
CHAPTER XI
I FIND MYSELF A DEMI-GOD
"Frances! Frances! Frances!" I declaimed with the deep profundity of a ritual
CHAPTER XII
PORT AND STARBOARD LIGHTS
CHAPTER XIII
ENTER THE INFANTRYMAN
CHAPTER XIV
THE "ASH-TRASH LADY"
CHAPTER XV
TWO DISCOVERIES
CHAPTER XVI
AN INTERVIEW AND A CRISIS
"You are a great traveler, aren't you, Mr. Deprayne?" she suggested when the silence had begun to be oppressive
CHAPTER XVII
WE GO TO THE MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER XVIII
A CHAT WITH A DICTATOR
CHAPTER XIX
A VOLLEY FROM THE LAUREL
CHAPTER XX
A CAVALCADE FROM THE LAUREL
CHAPTER XXI
I GO WALKING AND MEET ENEMIES
CHAPTER XXII
I FAIL TO RETURN HOME
CHAPTER XXIII
THE OFFER OF PAROLE
CHAPTER XXIV
MY DAY IN COURT
CHAPTER XXV
BEING LAUGHED AT
CHAPTER XXVI
HOW IT ENDED—AND BEGAN
Отрывок из книги
Charles Neville Buck
Published by Good Press, 2019
.....
And yet, just then I could not turn my head. My system involved leaving the winnings upon the table for three successive spins of the wheel. I had played a group of numbers in the black, cautiously avoiding the alluring perils of the greater odds, and twice my little pile of louis d'or had drawn in its prize money. On the third spin we stood to lose the entire amount of our augmented stake or see our pile swell commandingly. While I waited for the croupier to close the betting and touch the button, I twisted my head backward, to determine whose presence in the throng had so subtly announced itself to my consciousness. But the barrier of faces that pressed close against my chair cut off all who stood further back. The wheel raced; the ball danced madly about its rim; the crowd stood bating its breath; and the scattered piles of gold lay in doubt on the green baize diagram.
It was over. The croupier sang out the winning number, column and combinations. The rake was extended to push over to me a fairly imposing pile of French gold. I was conscious of coming in for more than my individual share of interest. Luck had been with me, and at Monte Carlo, the lucky man is the man of moment. But the sense of some personality above the many personalities was now borne in upon me with irritating force. I was impatient to rise and push back my chair and look about me, but as I attempted to do so, the men and women whose capital I had increased raised a chorus of remonstrance. I reluctantly resumed the place which I had been about to abdicate and once more laid out my stake. This time I pushed the entire pile out onto the green cloth in a pyramid on the black. I knew if I lost it they would willingly surrender my services. Even at that cost I wanted freedom.
