Tales from a Rolltop Desk

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Tales from a Rolltop Desk (1921)
by Christopher Darlington Morley

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4314841Tales from a Rolltop Desk1921Christopher Darlington Morley

TALES FROM A
ROLLTOP DESK

CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

TALES FROM A
ROLLTOP DESK

BOOKS BY
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

Parnassus on Wheels
The Haunted bookshop
Shandygaff
Mince pie
Pipefuls
Kathleen
Tales From a Rolltop Desk
Songs for a Little House
The Rocking Horse
Hide and Seek
Travels in Philadelphia

Tales from a Rolltop Desk

TALES FROM A
ROLLTOP DESK

BY
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

FRONTISPIECE
BY
WALTER JACK DUNCAN

GARDEN CITY, N. Y., AND TORONTO
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1921

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

Copyright, 1918, by P. F. Collier and Son Company, The Crowell Publishing Company, and Smart Set Company, Inc.

Copyright, 1919, by The Metropolitan Publications, Inc.

Copyright, 1920, by New York Evening Post, Inc., and George H. Doran Company

Copyright, 1921, by George H. Doran Company, The Frank A. Munsey Company, and The Outlook Company

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The original responsibility for some of these stories—or at any rate the original copyright—was allotted as follows: "The Prize Package," Collier's Weekly (1918); "Urn Burial," Every Week (1918); "The Climacteric," The Smart Set (1918); "The Pert Little Hat," The Metropolitan (1919); "The Battle of Manila Envelopes," The Bookman (1920); "The Commutation Chophouse," The New York Evening Post (1920); "The Curious Case of Kenelm Digby," The Bookman (1921); "Gloria and the Garden of Sweden," Munsey's (1921); "Punch and Judy," The Outlook (1921).

All but one of these publications are still in existence. To their editors and owners the author expresses his indebtedness and his congratulation.

CONTENTS
		page
Dedication (not in original TOC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		v
The Prize Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		1
Advice to the Lovelorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		27
The Curious Case of Kenelm Digby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		58
Gloria and the Garden of Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		99
The Commutation Chophouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		126
The Pert Little Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		142
Urn Burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		158
The Battle of Manila Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		169
The Climacteric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		187
Punch and Judy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		198
Referred to the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		211

TALES FROM A
ROLLTOP DESK

THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS
GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1957, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 66 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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