
By Bret Harte
AT THE MISSION OF SAN CARMEL
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
A BLUE GRASS PENELOPE
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
The story opens on a stark stretch of California coastline in the summer of 1838, where the endless, wind‑scoured hills melt into a gray, fog‑filled sea. A lone trading vessel drifts toward an unseen shore, its crew whispering through the mist as they grapple with a puzzling disappearance and the eerie silence of the Mission’s distant bells. The narrative captures the raw, almost primal atmosphere of a frontier landscape where nature’s monotony is broken only by the uneasy creak of oars and the faint, ghostly hail of a captain’s call.
Through crisp, descriptive prose the listener is drawn into the tension of men navigating an unseen world, their words hinted at by the fog and their doubts echoing across the sand. As the morning light threatens to lift the shroud, the characters must decide whether to press on into uncertainty or retreat, setting the stage for a tale of survival, mystery, and the harsh beauty of an untamed California coast.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (251K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Donald Lainson and David Widger
Release date
May 18, 2006
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1836–1902
Best remembered for vivid tales of miners, gamblers, and frontier towns, this pioneering American writer helped turn California Gold Rush life into enduring fiction. His stories mixed local color, humor, and sentiment in a way that shaped popular ideas of the American West.
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by Bret Harte

by Bret Harte

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by Bret Harte

by Bret Harte