A Brave Coward And Other Stories

Presented is a collection of short stories ranging in topic from the struggles of childhood to adventure and danger in the jungles of darkest Africa. Leading off is a tale of a vagabond who helps an old college “friend” protect an elderly banker from Italian revolutionaries whose money the old man squandered in disreputable investments. Complicating matters is the fact the two men are in love with the crooked financier’s daughter. Next a traveler meets a “reformed” criminal during a train ride and is regaled by exploits from the man’s checkered past. The crook has changed his ways---or has he? A trio of stories from Stephen Crane explores the tribulations of the younger set. First a carnival barker falls in love with a beautiful girl working the midway---unfortunately she is his boss’s daughter. Next little Jimmie Trescott decides to change Sunday schools and in the third the same lad is chosen to test the mettle of the “new boy” in town. John Fleming Wilson’s first tale explains how a girl was ostracized because she wore a green sweater. His next two stories show that boy getting girl is not always an easy task. Then Edgar Rice Burroughs takes the reader to darkest Africa where Tarzan has been captured by cannibals and is about to be burned at the stake! In his story O. Henry shows that love can happen even on the seamy side of town. Next a fast driving chauffeur fulfills a promise made to his grandmother. Following that are three tales of unconventional romance and a final story describing how a woman used common sense to solve the problems of her fellow villagers.