218

XVI. _OUR WEDDING DAY_ 229

XVII. _THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW_ 231

XVIII. _A PAIR OF MYTHS_ 233

XIX. _THE LAST OF HIS RACE_ 247

XX. _THE TWO GEORGES_ 249

XXI. _MASONRY_ 260

XXII. _POLLOCK'S EUTHANASIA_ 262

XXIII. _SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART DURING THE
FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY_ 264

XXIV. _THE ENROBING OF LIBERTY_ 276

XXV. _A CAKE OF SOAP_ 279

XXVI. _THE SUMMERFIELD CASE_ 280

XXVII. _THE AVITOR_ 291

XXVIII. _LOST AND FOUND_ 293

[Decoration]

CAXTON'S BOOK.

I.

_THE CASE OF SUMMERFIELD._

The following manuscript was found among the effects of the late
Leonidas Parker, in relation to one Gregory Summerfield, or, as he was
called at the time those singular events first attracted public notice,
"The Man with a Secret." Parker was an eminent lawyer, a man of firm
will, fond of dabbling in the occult sciences, but never allowing this
tendency to interfere with the earnest practice of his profession. This
astounding narrative is prefaced by the annexed clipping from the
"Auburn Messenger" of November 1, 1870:

A few days since, we called public attention to the singular
conduct of James G. Wilkins, justice of the peace for the "Cape
Horn" district, in this county, in discharging without trial a
man named Parker, who was, as we still think, seriously
implicated in the mysterious death of an old man named
Summerfield, who, our readers will probably remember, met so
tragical an end on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, in
the month of October last. We have now to record another bold
outrage on public justice, in connection with the same affair.
The grand jury of Placer County has just adjourned, without
finding any bill against the person named above. Not only did
they refuse to find a true bill, or to make any presentment, but
they went one step further toward the exoneration of the
offender: they specially _ignored_ the indictment which our
distri