
PROLOGUE IN CHEER STREET, LONDON
FIRST CHAPTER MOTHER INDIA IS SAID TO BE QUIVERING WITH HATRED FOR HER WHITE CHILD, THE BRITISH FOUNDLING
SECOND CHAPTER THE BAFFLING INDIAN MYSTERY IS DISCUSSED BY FOUR MEN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRST TO SOLVE IT
THIRD CHAPTER ROUTLEDGE RELATES HOW A MASTER CAME DOWN FROM THE GOODLY MOUNTAINS TO FIND HIS CHELA IN THE BURNING PLAINS
FOURTH CHAPTER ROUTLEDGE CONTEMPLATES THE PAST, IN THE MIDST OF A SHADOW FORECAST BY LARGE EVENTS
FIFTH CHAPTER ROUTLEDGE STEPS OUT SPIRITEDLY IN THE FOG TO FIND HIS FRIENDS AND ENCOUNTERS THE HATE OF LONDON
SIXTH CHAPTER A GRIM AND TERRIBLE TRADITION IS TOUCHED UPON FOR THE RELATION IT BEARS TO THE TREACHERY IN INDIA
SEVENTH CHAPTER ROUTLEDGE BEGS FOR A STIMULANT—THE STUFF THAT SINGS IN THE VEINS OF KINGS
EIGHTH CHAPTER THE SUPERLATIVE WOMAN EMPTIES HER HEART OF ITS TREASURES FOR THE OUTCAST, AND THEY PART AT CHARING CROSS
NINTH CHAPTER MR. JASPER IS INFORMED THAT MOTHER INDIA CAUSED NAPOLEON’S DEFEAT, AND THAT FAMINES ARE NOT WITHOUT VIRTUE
In a winter‑lit London flat on Cheer Street, former war correspondent Jerry Cardinegh tends the fire while his daughter Noreen prepares for a visitor whose name reverberates through the memoirs of distant battlefields. The house is filled with the scent of whiskey, tobacco and the quiet hum of a life paused between the chaos of Asia and the calm of home. Their conversation drifts between fond recollections of past campaigns and the lingering ache of lost loves, setting a tone that is both intimate and slightly foreboding.
When the enigmatic Routledge finally arrives—a man who has woven himself into the fabric of wars across continents—his presence stirs both admiration and unease. Noreen’s eyes flash with a mixture of reverence and apprehension, hinting at secrets that tie her family to the far‑off theatres of conflict. As the evening deepens, the three characters find themselves caught in a delicate dance of memory, pride, and the unspoken cost of the stories they have lived.
Language
en
Duration
~8 hours (470K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
New York: A. L. Burt Company, 1910.
Credits
D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2024-04-05
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1878–1932
An American writer of adventure fiction who also worked as a newspaperman and war correspondent, bringing a reporter’s eye to stories of travel, conflict, and frontier life. Several of his works later reached the screen, including the novel behind Somewhere in Sonora.
View all books
by Will Levington Comfort

by Will Levington Comfort

by Will Levington Comfort

by Will Levington Comfort

by Will Levington Comfort

by Will Levington Comfort

by Will Levington Comfort, Zamin Ki Dost

by Will Levington Comfort