CHAPTER VI. 



FICTION, EARLY AND LATE. 



THERE lies before me a roll containing certain 

 newspaper extracts pasted on paper and sewed 

 together. They are cuttings from the North- 

 Wilts Herald, and contain a romance, entitled 

 " A Strange Story," written ''expressly" for 

 that paper, and signed " Geoffrey." That 

 Geoffrey let us reveal a long-buried secret 

 was none other than Richard Jefferies him- 

 self. The " Strange Story " was published on 

 June 30, 1866. It is blood-curdling; it is, 

 in foct, the work of a boy. Between July 21 

 and August 4 of the same year, a second tale 

 appeared by the same author; it is called 

 " Henrique Beaumont." There is a murder 

 in it, and, of course, a murderer. Lightning 

 sign of Heaven's wrath reveals that the 



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