Colonel Carter of Cartersville

Publisher Marketing: THE dinner was at the colonel's--an old-fashioned, partly furnished, two-story house nearly a century old which crouches down behind a larger and more modern dwelling fronting on Bedford Place within a stone's throw of the tall clock tower of Jefferson Market. The street entrance to this curious abode is marked by a swinging wooden gate opening into a narrow tunnel which dodges under the front house. It is an uncanny sort of passageway, mouldy and wet from a long-neglected leak overhead, and is lighted at night by a rusty lantern with dingy glass sides. On sunny days this gruesome tunnel frames from the street a delightful picture of a bit of the yard beyond, with the quaint colonial door and its three steps let down in a welcoming way. Its retired location and shabby entrance brought it quite within the colonel's income, and as the rent was not payable in advance, and the landlord patient, he had surrounded himself not only with all the comforts but with many of the luxuries of a more pretentious home. In this he was assisted by his negro servant Chad, --an abbreviation of Nebuchadnezzar, --who was chambermaid, cook, butler, body-servant, and boots, and who by his marvelous tales of the magnificence of "de old fambly place in Caartersville" had established a credit among the shopkeepers on the avenue which would have been denied a much more solvent customer. Contributor Bio:  Smith, Francis Hopkinson An American author, story-teller, illustrator, and engineer, Francis Hopkinson Smith was the descendant of Francis Hopkinson, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence. The foundation of the Statue of Liberty is amongst his greatest achievements as an engineer. Earning fame as an illustrator and painter, he started his literary career in his fifties and published the famous series of Colonel Carter novels. Contributor Bio:  Kemble, E W Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) is better known by the pen name Mark Twain. He was born in Florida, Missouri and grew up along the Mississippi Valley. Although he left school at the age of 12, when his father died, he was eventually awarded honorary degrees from Yale University, the University of Missouri, and Oxford University. His career encompassed such varied occupations as printer, miner, Mississippi riverboat pilot, journalist, travel writer, novelist, and publisher. His vivid imagination, keen sense of humor, and sharp wit resulted in some of the most beloved classics of American literature. His novels include such favorites as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.