The Project Gutenberg EBook of Where the Blue Begins, by Christopher Morley

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Title: Where the Blue Begins

Author: Christopher Morley

Posting Date: September 17, 2008 [EBook #1402]
Release Date: July, 1998

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHERE THE BLUE BEGINS ***

Produced by Dianne Bean

WHERE THE BLUE BEGINS

by Christopher Morley

TO FELIX and TOTO

"I am not free-- And it may be
Life is too tight around my shins;
For, unlike you,
I can't break through
A truant where the blue begins.

"Out of the very element
Of bondage, that here holds me pent,
I'll make my furious sonnet:
I'll turn my noose
To tightrope use
And madly dance upon it.

"So I will take
My leash, and make
A wilder and more subtle fleeing
And I shall be
More escapading and more free
Than you have ever dreamed of being!"

CHAPTER ONE

Gissing lived alone (except for his Japanese butler) in a little
house in the country, in that woodland suburb region called the Canine
Estates. He lived comfortably and thoughtfully, as bachelors often do.
He came of a respectable family, who had always conducted themselves
calmly and without too much argument. They had bequeathed him just
enough income to live on cheerfully, without display but without having
to do addition and subtraction at the end of the month and then tear up
the paper lest Fuji (the butler) should see it.

It was strange, since Gissing was so pleasantly situated in life, that
he got into these curious adventures that I have to relate. I do not
attempt to explain it.

He had no responsibilities, not even a motor car, for his tastes were
surprisingly simple. If he happened to be spending an evening at the
country club, and a rainstorm came down, he did not worry about getting
home. He would sit by the fire and chuckle to see the married members
creep away one by one. He would get out his pipe and sleep that night
at the