The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Napa Christchild; and Benicia's Letters, by
Charles A. Gunnison

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Title: A Napa Christchild; and Benicia's Letters

Author: Charles A. Gunnison

Release Date: July 1, 2006 [EBook #18725]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A NAPA CHRISTCHILD; AND ***

Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

A NAPA CHRISTCHILD.

--AND--

BENICIA'S LETTERS.

BY

CHARLES A. GUNNISON

PRESS OF
COMMERCIAL PUBLISHING COMPANY.

TO

THE MOTHER AND SISTERS

OF

EDOUARD STOLTERFOHT,

This Christmas book is offered, to keep in memory sunny winter
days, spent in Rostock, Hohen Niendorf bei Kroepelin, and Gross
Kussewitz, and with the added hope that Poppendorf bei Bentwish
will not forget that I wrote in the house-book--

You have a gentle cure for parting's pain;
It is your German word Aufwiederseh'n.

These are just old-fashioned Christmas tales, to be read before an
open fire, with a heart full of charity for me. There is no modern
realism in them, for every word is a lie, the telling of which has
given me the greatest pleasure. I have also stolen a quotation from
Hawthorne, which is the best thing in the book, and last I have had
the exquisite joy of bloodless murder in killing one of my people.
Thus, you see, I need your charity truly, for I have broken
deliberately, for your entertainment, Three out of a possible Ten.

CHARLES A. GUNNISON,
In the Embarcadero Rd.
Palo Alto, Santa Clara.
_Christmas, 1896._

[Illustration: Scroll]

A Napa Christchild.

I.

An evening sky, broken by wandering clouds, which hastening onward
tow