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Rainbow's End

by Rex Beach (1877–1949)

  • Free to read
  • 7 hours to read
  • 30 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Rainbow's End" by Rex Beach is a novel likely written in the early 20th century. The narrative immerses readers in the lush landscape of Cuba, where the lives of the Varona family unfold against a backdrop of political turmoil, lost treasures, and shifting social dynamics. The main characters include Don Esteban Varona, a wealthy planter grappling with personal tragedy and hidden wealth, his stepmother Dona Isabel, whose greed leads her down a dark path, and Sebastian, the loyal slave whose past connects deeply with the family's secrets. The opening of "Rainbow's End" presents a vivid description of the idyllic Yumuri Valley, setting a scene of beauty that contrasts sharply with the unfolding drama of the Varona family. After the sudden death of his wife, Dona Rosa, Don Esteban grapples with grief while maintaining the enigmatic allure of a hidden treasure associated with his family's legacy. As Esteban's children, Esteban Jr. and Rosa, begin to grow up amid the tumult, tensions develop with his new wife, Dona Isabel, whose obsession with wealth clouds her judgment. Meanwhile, Sebastian, the slave, carries the knowledge of the treasure, setting in motion a series of events that intertwine loyalty, betrayal, and a quest for fortune against the rich backdrop of Cuba's historical landscape.

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  • Cuba · History · Revolution, 1895-1898

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Chapter I

THE VALLEY OF DELIGHT

In all probability your first view of the valley of the Yumuri will be from the Hermitage of Montserrate, for it is there that the cocheros drive you. Up the winding road they take you, with the bay at your back and the gorge at your right, to the crest of a narrow ridge where the chapel stands. Once there, you overlook the fairest sight in all Christendom—"the loveliest valley in the world," as Humboldt called it—for the Yumuri nestles right at your feet, a vale of pure delight, a glimpse of Paradise that bewilders the eye and fills the soul with ecstasy.

It is larger than it seems at first sight; through it meanders the river, coiling and uncoiling, hidden here and there by jungle growths, and seeking final outlet through a cleft in the wall not unlike a crack in the side of a painted bowl. The place seems to have been fashioned as a dwelling for dryads and hamadryads, for nixies and pixies, and all the fabled spirits of forest and stream. Fairy hands tinted its steep slopes and carpeted its level floor with the richest of green brocades. Nowhere is there a clash of color; nowhere does a naked hillside or monstrous jut of rock obtrude to mar its placid beauty; nowhere can you see a crude, disfiguring mark of man's handiwork—there are only fields, and bowers, with an occasional thatched roof faded gray by the sun.

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Contents

Show all 30 chapters
  1. Chapter I
  2. Chapter II
  3. Chapter III: "The O'reilly"
  4. Chapter IV
  5. Chapter V
  6. Chapter VI
  7. Chapter VII
  8. Chapter VIII
  9. Chapter IX
  10. Chapter X
  11. Chapter XI
  12. Chapter XII
  13. Chapter XIII
  14. Chapter XIV
  15. Chapter XV
  16. Chapter XVI
  17. Chapter XVII
  18. Chapter XVIII
  19. Chapter XIX
  20. Chapter XX
  21. Chapter XXI
  22. Chapter XXII
  23. Chapter XXIII
  24. Chapter XXIV
  25. Chapter XXV
  26. Chapter XXVI
  27. Chapter XXVII
  28. Chapter XXVIII
  29. Chapter XXIX
  30. Chapter XXX

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About this edition

This free edition of Rainbow's End by Rex Beach comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #5086, released 2004-02-01. 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: Historical Novels, Novels.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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