Nothing but a mass of typewriting, except the later notebooks of Mina and Seward and myself, and Van Helsing's memorandumWe could hardly ask any one, even did we wish to, to accept these as proofs of so wild a storyVan Helsing summed it all up as he said, with our boy on his knee "We want no proofsWe ask none to believe us! This boy will some day know what a brave and gallant woman his mother isAlready he knows her sweetness and loving careLater on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sakeHarriet Beecher Stowe was the daughter of a famous American divine, DrLyman Beecher, and born of good New England stock, at Litchfield, Conn James Russell Lowell, speaking of another of her stories, The Minister?s Wooing, said that no writer of her time had ?by birth, breeding, and natural capacity,? the opportunity to know New England so well as she didThis is important, because it was distinctly the moral impulse generated in New England that set going the slave?s liberation movement, of which the most powerful tract was a novel, and that novel Uncle Tom?s Cabin Her father?s preaching, and his prayers for the slaves, had a determining influence over MrsStowe as a girl; and then, in 1832, the family moved south to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was within easy reach of the slave states, and gained her intimate knowledge of the life she was to describeShe married there Professor Stowe, of Lane College, in 1836?an eventful year, when his house was often in danger from its association with the ?underground railway? that helped the slaves to escape northA few years later her husband had become professor at Andover, Mass and the slave movement had reached a further crisis, when she began the story that was to move every country in Europe and give her international and world-wide fame The following summary by Nassau WSenior sketches its contemporary effect:? ?Uncle Tom?s Cabin came out as a sort of feuilleton in the National Era, a Washington paperThe death of Uncle Tom was the first portion published, indeed the first that was writtenIt appeared in the summer of 1851, and excited so much attention that MrsStowe added a biginning and middle to her end, by composing and printing from week to week the story as we now have it, until it was concluded in March 1852It was soon after reprinted at Boston in two volumesBy the end of November 1852, 150,000 copies had been sold in AmericaThe first London edition was published in May 1852, and was not large, for the European popularity of a picture of negro life was doubtedBut in the following September, the London publishers furnished to one house ten thousand copies per day for some four weeksWe cannot follow it beyond 1852, but at that time more than a million of copies had been sold in England; probably ten times as many as have been sold of any other work, except the Bible and Prayer-book As for France, Uncle Tom fairly covered for a time the shop-windows of the boulevards, and one publisher alone, Eustace Barba, sent out five editions in different formsBefore the end of 1852, indeed, the story had been translated, to quote Senior again, into ?Italian, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Flemish, German, Polish, and MagyarThere were two Dutch translations and twelve German ones, and the Italian translation enjoyed the honour of the Pope?s prohibitionIt had been dramatised, too, in twenty different forms, and acted in every capital in Europe, and in the free States of America We might add also to Senior?s strictly contemporary list?Welsh, Armenian, Illyrian, Finnish, modern Greek, and Portuguese versionsGeorge Sand contributed an appreciation to one of the French versions, in which she said MrsStowe had ?genius, not literary, but as humanity needed it? the genius of goodnessStowe died on July 1, 1896, at Hartford, Conn Chapter 1 In Which the Reader Is Introduced to a Man of Humanity Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the town of P??, in KentuckyThere were no servants present, and the gentlemen, with chairs closely approaching, seemed to be discussing some subject with great earnestness For convenience sake, we have said, hitherto, two gentlemenOne of the parties, however, when critically examined, did not seem, strictly speaking, to come under the speciesHe was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the worldHe was much over-dressed, in a gaudy vest of many colors, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gayly with yellow spots, and arranged with a flaunting tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the shop man

"You must not walk hereThe dogs are too fierce And then he added, with what he evidently meant for grim pleasantry--for he looked round to catch the approving smile of the rest--"And you may have enough of such matters before you go to sleep The only stop he would make was a moment's pause to light his lamps When it grew dark there seemed to be some excitement amongst the passengers, and they kept speaking to him, one after the other, as though urging him to further speedHe lashed the horses unmercifully with his long whip, and with wild cries of encouragement urged them on to further exertionsThen through the darkness I could see a sort of patch of grey light ahead of us, as though there were a cleft in the hillsThe excitement of the passengers grew greaterThe crazy coach rocked on its great leather springs, and swayed like a boat tossed on a stormy seaThe road grew more level, and we appeared to fly alongThen the mountains seemed to come nearer to us on each side and to frown down upon usWe were entering on the Borgo PassOne by one several of the passengers offered me gifts, which they pressed upon me with an earnestness which would take no denialThese were certainly of an odd and varied kind, but each was given in simple good faith, with a kindly word, and a blessing, and that same strange mixture of fear-meaning movements which I had seen outside the hotel at Bistritz--the sign of the cross and the guard against the evil eyeThen, as we flew along, the driver leaned forward, and on each side the passengers, craning over the edge of the coach, peered eagerly into the darknessIt was evident that something very exciting was either happening or expected, but though I asked each passenger, no one would give me the slightest explanationThis state of excitement kept on for some little timeAnd at last we saw before us the Pass opening out on the eastern sideThere were dark, rolling clouds overhead, and in the air the heavy, oppressive sense of thunderIt seemed as though the mountain range had separated two atmospheres, and that now we had got into the thunderous oneI was now myself looking out for the conveyance which was to take me to the CountEach moment I expected to see the glare of lamps through the blackness, but all was darkThe only light was the flickering rays of our own lamps, in which the steam from our hard-driven horses rose in a white cloudWe could see now the sandy road lying white before us, but there was on it no sign of a vehicleThe passengers drew back with a sigh of gladness, which seemed to mock my own disappointmentI was already thinking what I had best do, when the driver, looking at his watch, said to the others something which I could hardly hear, it was spoken so quietly and in so low a tone, I thought it was "An hour less than the time Then turning to me, he spoke in German worse than my own "There is no carriage hereThe Herr is not expected after allHe will now come on to Bukovina, and return tomorrow or the next day, better the next day Whilst he was speaking the horses began to neigh and snort and plunge wildly, so that the driver had to hold them upThen, amongst a chorus of screams from the peasants and a universal crossing of themselves, a caleche, with four horses, drove up behind us, overtook us, and drew up beside the coachI could see from the flash of our lamps as the rays fell on them, that the horses were coal-black and splendid animalsThey were driven by a tall man, with a long brown beard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from usI could only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red in the lamplight, as he turned to us He said to the driver, "You are early tonight, my friend The man stammered in reply, "The English Herr was in a hurry To which the stranger replied, "That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to BukovinaYou cannot deceive me, my friendI know too much, and my horses are shop swift

Our evening was a very, very happy one "So here we are, installed in this beautiful old house, and from both my bedroom and the drawing room I can see the great elms of the cathedral close, with their great black stems standing out against the old yellow stone of the cathedral, and I can hear the rooks overhead cawing and cawing and chattering and chattering and gossiping all day, after the manner of rooks--and humansI am busy, I need not tell you, arranging things and housekeepingHawkins are busy all day, for now that Jonathan is a partner, MrHawkins wants to tell him all about the clients "How is your dear mother getting on? I wish I could run up to town for a day or two to see you, dear, but I dare not go yet, with so much on my shoulders, and Jonathan wants looking after stillHe is beginning to put some flesh on his bones again, but he was terribly weakened by the long illnessEven now he sometimes starts out of his sleep in a sudden way and awakes all trembling until I can coax him back to his usual placidityHowever, thank God, these occasions grow less frequent as the days go on, and they will in time pass away altogether, I trustAnd now I have told you my news, let me ask yoursWhen are you to be married, and where, and who is to perform the ceremony, and what are you to wear, and is it to be a public or private wedding? Tell me all about it, dear, tell me all about everything, for there is nothing which interests you which will not be dear to meJonathan asks me to send his 'respectful duty', but I do not think that is good enough from the junior partner of the important firm Hawkins

Extremely disheartened by it all, MrsFang could not get the Hsiis' second daughter off her mindHung-chien, however, was quite unperturbed Now that fighting had broken out, MrFang, a prominent squire in the village, was in charge of local security mattersRemembering the "January 38 39 28th Incident"20 when the district had not suffered enemy bombing, the in habitants of the district assumed that this too was nothing important and were not particularly alarmed After he had been home for a week, Fang Hung-chien felt as if he had not left home at all; his four years abroad were like water running over a lotus leaf leaving no trace behindThe people he met after his return were the same ones of four years ago, still doing and saying what they had done and said four years agoThere was not even one person among all his acquaint ances who had died offOnly his wet nurse, who always used to say she would wait till he got married and had a son, then come look after him, was now ill and bedriddenAs far as he was concerned, he had not missed the village during those four years at allNot a single tear or sigh could the village fetch from the wandering son upon his return On the sixth day after the outbreak of the xvar, when Japanese planes bombed for the first time and destroyed the train station, everyone at last realized that the war had really reached them and many fled with their fami lies to the countrysideLater, the planes kept coming in much the same man ner as the peerless beauty whose "one glance could conquer a city and whose second glance could vanquish an empireChou wired Hung-chien urging him to come to Shanghai as soon as possible before all communications were suspended and he himself was stranded at home Feeling that under the circumstances his son should leave home and look for job possibilities, Mr What happened during the next four months, from the retreat from Shanghai to the fall of Nanking, should be recorded in history, as Friedrich von Logau22 put it, with a bayonet dipped in the ink of fresh blood upon the paper made from the skin of the enemy Despondently, Fang Hung-chien read dozens of newspapers and listened to just as many radio broadcasts dailyExhausted hope, as though sifting sand for gold, tried to find some crack in the news in which to revive itselfHis brother P'eng-t'u and he guessed that their house had already been destroyed and didn't know what had happened to their family At the end of the lunar year, they finally heard some news of themFang's friends and relatives in Shanghai contributed money to help them get out and rented a house for them in the foreign concessions The family re united amidst much weepingFang and Feng-i were clamoring to buy shoes and socksWhile en route in a small boat, they met two deserting sol diersFang's wallet; and as they were about to make off, they forced both father and son to take off their wool socks and cotton shoes and exchange them for their own stinking cotton socks and tattered canvas shoesThe whole Fang family had traveled on empty-handedOnly a sum of two or three thousand dollars in paper currency sewn in MrsFang's padded cotton jacket had gone undetected by the two soldiersThe businessmen living in Shanghai who were from the same village, having long respected MrFang's reputation, gave him a considerable sum of money so that once again he was able to maintain a household Seeing how crowded it was in the small house, Hung-chien decided to stay on at the Chous, dropping in on his parents every second or third day to pay his respectsEvery time he went home he heard them talk about all the frightening and amusing experiences they had had during their escapeTheir narrative and descriptive skills seemed to improve with each retelling, while Hung-chien's attention and sympathy decreased slightly after each hearingFang had rejected the offers of Japanese collaborators in his home district, he could no longer return home; yet the government had given him no recognition, making him feel that, while he loved his country, his country did not love himHe felt the same resentment as a young widow who, despite maintaining a chaste widowhood, finds no favor with her parents-in-law Hung-chien was very bored at the Golden Touch Bank, and since there were few opportunities in Shanghai, he considered going into the unoccupied in terior23 as soon as he had a chance The lunar New Year arrivedThe well-to-do in the concessions of Shang hai felt that they had suffered enough alarm for their countrySince the country hadn't fallen, they found no need to play the part of survivors, and once again started up the usual bustle and activities of the New shop Year

?Dar an?t no sayin?,? said Sam; ?gals is pecular; they never does nothin? ye thinks they will; mose gen?lly the contraryGals is nat?lly made contrary; and so, if you thinks they?ve gone one road, it is sartin you?d better go t? other, and then you?ll be sure to find ?emNow, my private ?pinion is, Lizy took der road; so I think we?d better take de straight one This profound generic view of the female sex did not seem to dispose Haley particularly to the straight road, and he announced decidedly that he should go the other, and asked Sam when they should come to it ?A little piece ahead,? said Sam, giving a wink to Andy with the eye which was on Andy?s side of the head; and he added, gravely, ?but I?ve studded on de matter, and I?m quite clar we ought not to go dat ar wayI nebber been over it no wayIt?s despit lonesome, and we might lose our way,?whar we?d come to, de Lord only knows ?Nevertheless,? said Haley, ?I shall go that way ?Now I think on ?t, I think I hearn ?em tell that dat ar road was all fenced up and down by der creek, and thar, an?t it, Andy?? Andy wasn?t certain; he?d only ?hearn tell? about that road, but never been over itIn short, he was strictly noncommittal Haley, accustomed to strike the balance of probabilities between lies of greater or lesser magnitude, thought that it lay in favor of the dirt road aforesaidThe mention of the thing he thought he perceived was involuntary on Sam?s part at first, and his confused attempts to dissuade him he set down to a desperate lying on second thoughts, as being unwilling to implicate Liza When, therefore, Sam indicated the road, Haley plunged briskly into it, followed by Sam and Andy Now, the road, in fact, was an old one, that had formerly been a thoroughfare to the river, but abandoned for many years after the laying of the new pikeIt was open for about an hour?s ride, and after that it was cut across by various farms and fencesSam knew this fact perfectly well,?indeed, the road had been so long closed up, that Andy had never heard of itHe therefore rode along with an air of dutiful submission, only groaning and vociferating occasionally that ?t was ?desp?t rough, and bad for Jerry?s foot ?Now, I jest give yer warning,? said Haley, ?I know yer; yer won?t get me to turn off this road, with all yer fussin??so you shet up!? ?Mas?r will go his own way!? said Sam, with rueful submission, at the same time winking most Portentously to Andy, whose delight was now very near the explosive point Sam was in wonderful spirits,?professed to keep a very brisk lookout,?at one time exclaiming that he saw ?a gal?s bonnet? on the top of some distant eminence, or calling to Andy ?if that thar wasn?t ?Lizy? down in the hollow;? always making these exclamations in some rough or craggy part of the road, where the sudden quickening of speed was a special inconvenience to all parties concerned, and thus keeping Haley in a state of constant commotion After riding about an hour in this way, the whole party made a precipitate and tumultuous descent into a barn-yard belonging to a large farming establishmentNot a soul was in sight, all the hands being employed in the fields; but, as the barn stood conspicuously and plainly square across the road, it was evident that their journey in that direction had reached a decided finale ?Wan?t dat ar what I telled Mas?r?? said Sam, with an air of injured innocence?How does strange gentleman spect to know more about a country dan de natives born and raised?? ?You rascal!? said Haley, ?you knew all about this ?Didn?t I tell yer I knowd, and yer wouldn?t believe me? I telled Mas?r ?t was all shet up, and fenced up, and I didn?t spect we could get through,?Andy heard me It was all too true to be disputed, and the unlucky man had to pocket his wrath with the best grace he was able, and all three faced to the right about, and took up their line of march for the highway In consequence of all the various delays, it was about three-quarters of an hour after Eliza had laid her child to sleep in the village tavern that the party came riding into the same placeEliza was standing by the window, looking out in another direction, when Sam?s quick eye caught a glimpse of herHaley and Andy were two yards behindAt this crisis, Sam contrived to have his hat blown off, and uttered a loud and characteristic ejaculation, which startled her at once; she drew suddenly back; the whole train swept by the window, round to the front door A thousand lives seemed to be concentrated in that one moment to ElizaHer room opened by a side door to the riverShe caught her child, and sprang down the steps towards itThe trader caught a full glimpse of her just as she was disappearing down the bank; and throwing himself from his horse, and calling loudly on Sam and Andy, he was after her like a hound after a deerIn that dizzy moment her feet to her scarce seemed to touch the ground, and a moment brought her to the water?s edgeRight on behind they came; and, nerved with strength such as God gives only to the desperate, with one wild cry and flying leap, she vaulted sheer over the turbid current by the shore, on to the raft of ice beyondIt was a desperate leap?impossible to anything but madness and despair; and Haley, Sam, and Andy, instinctively cried out, and lifted up their hands, as she did it The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked as her weight came on it, but she staid there not a momentWith wild cries and desperate energy she leaped to another and still another cake; stumbling?leaping?slipping?springing upwards again! Her shoes are gone?her stockings cut from her feet?while blood marked every step; but she saw nothing, felt nothing, till dimly, as in a dream, she saw the Ohio side, and a man helping her up the bank ?Yer a brave gal, now, whoever ye ar!? said the man, with an oath Eliza recognized the voice and face for a man who owned a farm not far from her old shop home