The Cleverdale Mystery; or, The Machine and Its Wheels: A Story of American Life Read online

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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