The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharos, The Egyptian, by Guy Newell Boothby

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Title: Pharos, The Egyptian
A Romance

Author: Guy Newell Boothby

Release Date: September 3, 2010 [EBook #33610]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN

_A ROMANCE_

BY GUY BOOTHBY

AUTHOR OF DOCTOR NIKOLA, THE LUST OF HATE,
THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL, ETC.

NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1899

Copyright, 1898, 1899,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

_All rights reserved._

PHAROS, THE EGYPTIAN.

PREFACE.

BEING A LETTER FROM SIR WILLIAM BETFORD, OF BAMPTON ST. MARY, IN
DORSETSHIRE, TO GEORGE TREVELYAN, OF LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, LONDON.

"My dear Trevelyan: Never in my life have I been placed in such an
awkward, not to say invidious, position. I am, as you know, a plain man,
fond of a plain life and plain speaking, and yet I am about to imperil
that reputation by communicating to you what I fancy you will consider
the most extraordinary and unbelievable intelligence you have ever
received in your life. For my own part I do not know what to think. I
have puzzled over the matter until I am not in a position to judge
fairly. You must, therefore, weigh the evidence, first for us both. For
pity's sake, however, do not decide hastily. _In dubiis benigniora
semper sunt praeferenda_, as they used to say in our school days, must be
our motto, and by it we must abide at any hazards. As far as I can see,
we are confronted with one of the saddest and at the same time one of
the most inexplicable cases ever yet recorded on paper. Reduced to its
proper factors it stands as follows: Either Forrester has gone mad and
dreamed it all, or he is sane and has suffered as few others have done
in this world. In either case