The Project Gutenberg EBook of The "Genius", by Theodore Dreiser

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Title: The "Genius"

Author: Theodore Dreiser

Release Date: March 30, 2010 [EBook #31824]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE "GENIUS"

BY THEODORE DREISER

SISTER CARRIE

JENNIE GERHARDT

A TRAVELER AT FORTY

******

A TRILOGY OF DESIRE

1. THE FINANCIER

2. THE TITAN

3. * * * * * * * *

THE

"GENIUS"

BY

THEODORE DREISER

NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY

LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD

TORONTO: S. B. GUNDY MCMXV

1915.
By JOHN LANE COMPANY

Press of
J. J. Little & Ives Company
New York, U. S. A.

"Eugene Witla, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live
together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt
thou love her, comfort her, honour her, and keep her in sickness and in
health; and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye
both shall live?"

"I will."

BOOK I
------
YOUTH

THE "GENIUS"

CHAPTER I

This story has its beginnings in the town of Alexandria, Illinois,
between 1884 and 1889, at the time when the place had a population of
somewhere near ten thousand. There was about it just enough of the air
of a city to relieve it of the sense of rural life. It had one
street-car line, a theatre,--or rather, an opera house, so-called (why
no one might say, for no opera was ever performed there)--two railroads,
with their stations, and a business district, composed of four brisk
sides to a public square. In the square were the county court-house and
four newspapers. These two morning and two evening papers made the
population fairly aware of the fact that life was full of issues, local
and national, and that there were many interesting and varied things to
do. On the edge of town, several lakes and a pretty stream--perhaps
Alexandria's most pleasant feature