The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Unknown Quantity, by Henry van Dyke

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Title: The Unknown Quantity
A Book of Romance and Some Half-Told Tales

Author: Henry van Dyke

Release Date: December 7, 2009 [EBook #30622]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: It did people good to buy of her.]

THE

UNKNOWN QUANTITY

A Book of Romance

And Some Half-Told Tales

_by_

HENRY VAN DYKE

_"Let X represent the unknown quantity."_

_Legendre's Algebra_

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

1921

_Copyright, 1912, by Charles Scribner's Sons_

_Published October, 1912. Reprinted October, December,
1912; July, 1916; May, 1918; March, 1919;
December, 1919; July, 1921._

_Leather Edition, September, 1913; May, 1916;
February, 1917; June, 1920; May, 1921._

* * * * *

Dedicated

IN THANKFULNESS
TO THE MEMORY OF

DEAR DAUGHTER DOROTHEA

RAY OF LIGHT
SONG OF JOY
HEART OF LOVE

1888-1912

* * * * *

DOROTHEA

_A deeper crimson in the rose,
A deeper blue in sky and sea,
And ever, as the summer goes,
A deeper loss in losing thee!_

_A deeper music in the strain
Of hermit-thrush from lonely tree;
And deeper grows the sense of gain
My life has found in having thee._

_A deeper love, a deeper rest,
A deeper joy in all I see;
And ever deeper in my breast
A silver song that comes from thee._

_H. v. D._

MOUNT DESERT,

_August 1, 1912_.

PREFACE

Th