The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pit, by Frank Norris

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Title: The Pit

Author: Frank Norris

Posting Date: January 26, 2009 [EBook #4382]
Release Date: August, 2003
First Posted: January 20, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIT ***

Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines.

THE PIT

A STORY OF CHICAGO

By

FRANK NORRIS

NEW YORK

1903

Dedicated to My Brother

Charles Tolman Norris

In memory of certain lamentable tales of the round (dining-room) table
heroes; of the epic of the pewter platoons, and the romance-cycle of
"Gaston Le Fox," which we invented, maintained, and found marvellous at
a time when we both were boys.

Principal Characters in the Novel

CURTIS JADWIN, capitalist and speculator.
SHELDON CORTHELL, an artist.
LANDRY COURT, broker's clerk.
SAMUEL GRETRY, a broker.
CHARLES CRESSLER, a dealer in grain.
MRS. CRESSLER, his wife.
LAURA DEARBORN, protege of Mrs. Cressler.
PAGE DEARBORN, her sister.
MRS. EMILY WESSELS, aunt of Laura and Page.

The Trilogy of The Epic of the Wheat includes the following novels:

THE OCTOPUS, a Story of California.
THE PIT, a Story of Chicago.
THE WOLF, a Story of Europe.

These novels, while forming a series, will be in no way connected with
each other save only in their relation to (1) the production, (2) the
distribution, (3) the consumption of American wheat. When complete,
they will form the story of a crop of wheat from the time of its sowing
as seed in California to the time of its consumption as bread in a
village of Western Europe.

The first novel, "The Octopus," deals with the war between the wheat
grower and the Railroad Trust; the second, "The Pit," is the fictitious
narrative of a "deal" in the Chicago wheat pit; while the third, "The
Wolf," will probably have for its pivotal episode the relieving of a
famine in an Old World community.

The author's most sincere thanks for assistance rendered in the
preparation of the following novel are due to Mr. G. D. Moulson of New
York, whose unwearied patience and untiring kindn