The Hermit and the Wild Woman

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories, by Edith Wharton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories Author: Edith Wharton Posting Date: August 11, 2009 [EBook #4533] Release Date: October, 2003 First Posted: February 4, 2002 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERMIT AND WILD WOMAN *** Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. THE HERMIT AND THE WILD WOMAN AND OTHER STORIES BY EDITH WHARTON NEW YORK MCMVIII TABLE OF CONTENTS I The Hermit and the Wild Woman II The Last Asset III In Trust IV The Pretext V The Verdict VI The Pot-Boiler VII The Best Man THE HERMIT AND THE WILD WOMAN I THE Hermit lived in a cave in the hollow of a hill. Below him was a glen, with a stream in a coppice of oaks and alders, and on the farther side of the valley, half a day's journey distant, another hill, steep and bristling, which raised aloft a little walled town with Ghibelline swallow-tails notched against the sky. When the Hermit was a lad, and lived in the town, the crenellations of the walls had been square-topped, and a Guelf lord had flown his standard from the keep.