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THE
CLEVERDALE MYSTERY;
OR,
THE MACHINE AND ITS WHEELS.
_A STORY OF AMERICAN LIFE._
BY W. A. WILKINS, EDITOR OF "THE WHITEHALL (N. Y.) TIMES."
NEW YORK: FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT. 1882.
Copyright, 1882, By W. A. WILKINS. All rights reserved.
PREFACE.
In presenting this volume to the public, the author hopes to impart information to some; reflect their own character to others; possibly point a moral, and by the tale interest the reader.
The warp of the fabric is reality, the woof fiction, the coloring domestic.
Awaiting the verdict,
Respectfully, THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
PAGE CHAPTER I.--BEAUTIFUL LAKE GEORGE, 9
" II.--A QUARTETTE OF SCHEMERS, 18
" III.--TEMPEST-TOSSED LAKE GEORGE, 26
" IV.--THE BOSS AND HIS AIDS, 33
" V.--TO THE RESCUE, 44
" VI.--THE CAMP DINNER, 52
" VII.--THE CRUEL THUNDERBOLT, 58
" VIII.--AFFAIRS AT CLEVERDALE, 65
" IX.--THE CAUCUS, 72
" X.--THE CRUELTY OF AMBITION, 82
" XI.--THE CONVENTION, 90
" XII.--A WICKED SCHEME, 99
" XIII.--DALEY'S STRENGTH WANES, 108
" XIV.--THE ELECTION, 116
" XV.--GLOOMY FOREBODINGS, 125
" XVI.--PRINCE OF MANNIS MANOR, 134
" XVII.--SARGENT ENLISTED, 144
" XVIII.--GEORGE AND FANNIE ALDEN, 149
" XIX.--THE BURNING FACTORY, 155
" XX.--THE SECRET MARRIAGE, 164
" XXI.--SPOILS! SPOILS! 172
" XXII.--SAD FAREWELLS, 179
" XXIII.--EXILED FROM HOME AND FRIENDS, 186
" XXIV.--THE DISTRACTED WIFE, 198
" XXV.--THE CRUEL LETTER, 209
" XXVI.--A DIRTY JOB, 215
" XXVII.--CLEVERDALE'S SORROW, 223
" XXVIII.--AMONG THE HILLS OF COLORADO, 232
" XXIX.--POOR MARY HARRIS, 239
" XXX.--THE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, 247
" XXXI.--A REVELATION, 258
" XXXII.--THE WANDERER'S RETURN, 265
" XXXIII.--RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE, 274
" XXXIV.--THE CLEVERDALE MYSTERY, 277
" XXXV.--EPILOGUE--THE MACHINE AND ITS WHEELS, 285