The Dust Flower

Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved as printed in the original book except as indicated in the text by a dashed line under the change. Hover the mouse over the word and the original text will appear . A list of these changes can be found here. Missing/extra quote marks were silently corrected, however, punctuation has not been changed to comply with modern standards. Inconsistency in hyphenation and accented words has also been retained. Two deviations in paragraph-ending punctuation in the original book should be noted: on Page 14, the paragraph beginning, “Within, a toy entry led....” and on Page 42, “There was that about him....” Both paragraphs end with a comma and have been retained, although throughout the book a colon was used to end these types of paragraphs in which dialogue immediately followed. Illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in the middle of a paragraph. THE DUST FLOWER Books By BASIL KING The Dust Flower The Empty Sack Going West The City of Comrades Abraham’s Bosom The Lifted Veil The Side of the Angels The Letter of the Contract The Way Home The Wild Olive The Inner Shrine The Street Called Straight Let No Man Put Asunder In the Garden of Charity The Steps of Honor The High Heart HARPER & BROTHERS Established 1817 THEN SLOWLY, SLOWLY LETTY SANK ON HER KNEES, BOWING HER HEAD ON THE HANDS WHICH DREW HER CLOSER. [ See p. 350 ] The DUST FLOWER By BASIL KING Author of “THE EMPTY SACK” “THE INNER SHRINE” ETC. With Illustrations by HIBBARD V. B. KLINE Publishers Harper & Brothers New York and London MCMXXII THE DUST FLOWER Copyright, 1922 Harper & Brothers Printed in the U. S. A. First Edition H-W ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Then Slowly, Slowly Letty Sank on Her Knees, Bowing Her head on the Hands Which Drew Her Closer Frontispiece By the Time He Had Finished, His Heart Was a Little Eased and Some of Her Tenderness Began to Flow Toward Him Facing page 68 The Prince’s First Words Were Also a Distraction from Terrors, and Enchantments Which Made Her Feel Faint Facing page 230 “But By and By I Creeps Out and Down the Steps, and There ’E was, All ’Uddled Every Wye” Facing page 328 THE DUST FLOWER 3 THE DUST FLOWER It is not often that you see a man tear his hair,…