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The Deserter
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Deserter, by Richard Harding Davis This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Deserter
Author: Richard Harding Davis
Release Date: February 17, 2005 [EBook #15089]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE DESERTER
BY
RICHARD HARDING DAVIS
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
JOHN T. MCCUTCHEON
NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1918
INTRODUCTION
When Mr. Davis wrote the story of "The Deserter," he could not possibly have foreseen that it was to be his last story--the last of those short stories which gave him such eminence as a short-story writer.
He apparently was as rugged and as vigorous as ever.
And yet, had he sat down to write a story which he knew was to be his last, I do not think he could have written one more fittingly designed to be the capstone of his literary monument. The theme is one in which he has unconsciously mirrored his own ideals of honorable obligation, as well as one which presents a wholesome lesson to young soldiers who have taken an oath to do faithful service to a nation.
It is a story with a moral so subtly expressed that every soldier or sailor who reads it will think seriously of it if the temptation to such