The Mask: A Story of Love and Adventure
by Arthur Hornblow (1865–1942)
- Free to read
- 4 hours to read
- 20 chapters
- Reading level: 6th grade
"The Mask: A Story of Love and Adventure" by Arthur Hornblow is a novel written in the early 20th century. This story revolves around Kenneth Traynor, a successful Wall Street promoter, who embarks on a perilous trip to South Africa to secure a valuable diamond, causing tension between him and his anxious wife, Helen. The narrative delves into themes of love, ambition, and the dangers associated with wealth, setting the stage for a captivating mix of romance and adventure. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to Kenneth and Helen Traynor during a breakfast fraught with tension as Kenneth prepares for a trip to South Africa to secure the ownership of a newly discovered diamond. Their conversation reveals Helen’s deep-rooted fears for Kenneth’s safety and their emotional connection, while his excitement about potential wealth contrasts with her anxiety. The atmosphere is further complicated by the presence of their enigmatic fencing master, Signor Keralio, who elicits Helen's disquiet. As the chapter unfolds, it becomes apparent that the high stakes of Kenneth’s journey to fetch the diamond will introduce both external threats and internal conflicts, setting the narrative into motion.
Read the opening
Chapter I
"There! What did I tell you? The news is out!"
With a muttered exclamation of annoyance, Kenneth Traynor put down his coffee cup with a crash and, leaning over the table, pointed out to his wife a despatch from London, given prominence in the morning paper, which ran as follows:
Advices from Cape Town report the finding on a farm near Fontein, a hundred miles north of here, of a diamond which in size is only second to the famous Koh-i-noor. The stone, which is in the shape of an egg with the top cut off, weighs 1,649 carats, and was discovered after blasting at the foot of some rocks on land adjacent to the tract owned by the Americo-African Mining Company of New York. It is understood that the American Company is negotiating for the property; some say the transfer has already been made. If this is true, the finding of this colossal stone means a windfall for the Yankee stockholders.
Keep reading The Mask: A Story of Love and Adventure →
Download for your e-reader
Files are provided by Project Gutenberg. On a Kindle, the simplest route is to send the EPUB with Amazon’s Send to Kindle. Downloaded copies don’t sync with your place on Classic Book Reader.
About this edition
This free edition of The Mask: A Story of Love and Adventure by Arthur Hornblow comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #20131, released 2006-12-18. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Romance, Adventure, Novels, American Literature.
Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).
