The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Prelude to Adventure, by Hugh Walpole

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Title: The Prelude to Adventure

Author: Hugh Walpole

Release Date: August 20, 2006 [EBook #19085]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRELUDE TO ADVENTURE ***

Produced by Andrew Hodson

Transcriber's Note: Errors found: A name is sometimes spelt 'Med. Tetloe' and
sometimes 'Med-Tetloe' & Cleopatre maybe wrong. So that just 7 bit text
is used the accented & ligatured words are repeated here with numbers
for codepages 437 & 850: Acute e 130 e: blase, chasmed, Cleopatre, elite
& unperturbed i with 2 (or 3) dots 139 i: dais & dais ea ligature 145
ae: mediaeval u with 2 dots 129 ue: Duerer's 'The Hound of Heaven' poem, The
letter to father and separate 'All things betray Thee Who betrayest Me.'
quote are in a smaller font.

THE PRELUDE TO ADVENTURE

BY HUGH WALPOLE AUTHOR OF "MR. PERRIN AND MR. TRAILL"

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED, ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

_New Edition September_,1919

TO MY FRIEND R. A. STREATFIELD

CONTENTS

CHAP.
I. LAST CHAPTER

II. BUNNING

III. THE BODY COMES TO TOWN

IV. MARGARET CRAVEN

V. STONE ALTARS

VI. THE WATCHERS

VII. TERROR

VIII. REVELATION OF BUNNING (I)

IX. REVELATION OF BUNNING (II)

X. CRAVEN

XI. FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

XII. LOVE TO THE "VALSE TRISTE"

XIII. MRS. CRAVEN

XIV. GOD

XV. PRELUDE TO A JOURNEY

XVI. OLVA AND MARGARET

XVII. FIRST CHAPTER

Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat--and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet--
All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.

The Hound of Heaven.

16 HALLAM STREET,
_October_ 11, 1911.

CHAPTER I

LAST CHAPTER

1

"There _is_ a God after all." That was the immense convi