Stories by American Authors, Volume 3

In Short

This third volume of Stories by American Authors gathers five distinct mid-to-late nineteenth-century tales exploring the hidden mechanisms of human connection, delusion, and tragedy. The collection ranges from a scientist eavesdropping on private theatrical boxes to a penniless artist in Paris who sees sainthood in a fallen woman. It moves from a disastrous oath between two ambitious friends to a satirical farce about an Indian chief navigating New York high society, culminating in a harrowing, true-to-life recount of a brutal island murder. These narratives endure through their sharp psychological observation and structural variety.

The Story

The volume opens with Lucretia P. Hale's "The Spider's Eye," in which an inquisitive theatregoer discovers a unique acoustic anomaly within a auditorium's layout. Sitting at the precise focal point of all sound, he is able to hear every whispered secret from the audience. His fascination quickly turns to obsession when he listens to a famous opera singer. While the crowd is mesmerized by her radiant voice, the narrator alone hears the tragic truth behind her performance: her mind is trapped in a darkened bedroom where her young child lies dangerously ill, crying out for water. Touched by her hidden agony, the narrator attempts to seek her out later, but ultimately retreats, haunted by the burden of uninvited intimacy.

Frances Hodgson Burnett shifts the scene to France in "A Story of the Latin Quarter." A fragile, impoverished American painter works tirelessly in his drafty attic room, nearing the end of his life. He engages Natalie, a weary model hardened by the bohemian life of Paris, to sit for a portrait. When he reveals the finished canvas, Natalie reacts with fierce indignation: he has painted her not as the cynical model known to the quarter, but with the radiant face of a pure, noble saint. Driven by the painter's quiet conviction that this ideal is her true self, Natalie stays by his side through a bitter winter night to nurse him as he dies, watching the dying embers of the hearth fade just as his breath leaves him.

Tension takes a different form in a tale of male friendship and betrayal. Two young men, the dreamy Silverthorn and the pragmatic Vibbard, form a pact to share all their future financial gains equally so Silverthorn can pursue his inventions. As years pass, Vibbard amasses a fortune while Silverthorn remains impoverished. When Vibbard visits Silverthorn's rustic retreat, he discovers that Silverthorn has secretly won the heart of Ida Winwood, the woman Vibbard secretly adores. Overcome by a blinding paroxysm of grief and jealousy, Vibbard clutches his cane, tears open his collar, and vanishes into the darkness, abandoning both his love and his old companion.

A lighter tone emerges in a satire of high-society philanthropy. Ogla-Moga, a Native American chief, arrives in New York under the wing of well-meaning but utterly clueless social reformers. Mistaking private residences for public halls, wandering into wrong drawing rooms, and sleeping through lectures on transcendental philosophy, Ogla-Moga unwittingly exposes the ridiculous pretensiousness of his hostesses.

The volume closes with Celia Thaxter's stark, unsparing narrative of the 1873 Smutty-Nose Island murders. On a isolated island off the New Hampshire coast, three Norwegian women are left alone while their husbands are away fishing. A former beneficiary of their kindness, Louis Wagner, rowed across the icy waters at night to rob them, brutally murdering two of the women while the third, Maren, barely escapes into the freezing snow. The story concludes with the heartbreaking return of the husbands to their ruined home.

How It Unfolds

A secret focus is found An observant theatre attendee discovers that a particular seat allows him to overhear every quiet voice across the entire auditorium, turning the audience into an unintended stage.

A mother’s silent heartbreak While singing a triumphant opera role to a cheering crowd, a prima donna’s mind remains locked on her dying child, her internal distress captured only by the narrator's secret listening post.

An ideal painted on canvas A dying American artist in Paris paints a hardened street model with the face of a saint, igniting her anger before she realizes he truly sees her hidden goodness.

The cold hearth at dawn Natalie nurses the painter through a freezing winter night, watching the last ember of coal die out in the stove at the exact moment his life slips peacefully away.

A pact between opposites Silverthorn and Vibbard agree to pool their future earnings, but as Vibbard prospers, Silverthorn remains penniless and dependent on his friend's eventual generosity.

A discovery in the dark Vibbard travels to meet Silverthorn, only to spy him holding hands with Ida, the woman Vibbard loves, prompting a desperate emotional breakdown in the orchard.

An unintended guest A confused Native American chief, brought to New York by naive socialites, wanders into the wrong drawing room and falls asleep in an armchair meant for a celebrated Italian musician.

A lecture stained with blood A well-meaning reformer reads an overly idealized paper on Indian virtues, completely oblivious to the chaos and misunderstandings occurring right outside her door.

A quiet haven broken A peaceful Norwegian immigrant family on the lonely Isles of Shoals is shattered when a desperate, quietly lurking fisherman invades their home in the middle of the night.

A harrowing escape in the snow Maren barricades herself against the killer, urging her companion to flee, before escaping out a window into the bitter winter night as her loved ones are murdered.

The tragic return The fishermen return from the mainland on a bright morning expecting warm welcomes, only to discover the horrific scene written in blood across the snow.

The People

The Theatregoer An inquisitive listener fascinated by acoustics. He seeks to understand others from a distance, but his secret knowledge leaves him isolated when he realizes that real human connection requires mutual understanding rather than passive observation.

The Prima Donna A brilliant opera singer who delivers a breathtaking public performance while her heart is consumed by grief for her sick child. Her distress is entirely hidden from the admiring crowd, save for one hidden listener.

The American Painter A quiet, devout, and physically fragile artist living in the Latin Quarter of Paris. He seeks to capture spiritual truth through his art, refusing to see people as the world judges them. He dies content, having finished his masterwork.

Natalie A hardened Parisian model used to the cynical gaze of local artists. She is deeply shaken when the American painter portrays her as a saint, a transformation that awakens her buried capacity for tenderness and self-sacrifice.

Silverthorn A gentle, impractical inventor who relies entirely on his friend's financial success to build a future. He wins the affection of Ida, unaware of the bitter heartbreak it causes his benefactor.

Vibbard A stern, practical businessman who conceals a deep capacity for devotion. Though he successfully builds wealth, his world collapses when he realizes the woman he loves belongs to his best friend.

Ogla-Moga A confused Native American chief brought to New York by wealthy reformers. Unbothered by their high-minded philosophy, he navigates their drawing rooms in search of basic comfort and a square meal.

Maren Hontvet A resilient Norwegian immigrant living on Smutty-Nose Island. When her home is attacked at night, she fights with desperate courage to protect her family before escaping into the freezing dark.

Louis Wagner A dark, lurking fisherman driven by greed. Having accepted charity from the Hontvet family in the past, he ruthlessly turns on them in the dead of night.

In Its Own Voice

"The lowest sob of a dying heroine, in her very last agony, is heard as plainly by the occupant of the back seat of the amphitheatre, as are the thundering denunciations of the tragic actor in the wildest of gladiatorial scenes."

An observer contemplates the strange, hyper-tuned acoustics of an empty theatre house before the audience arrives.

"It is my face," she said, pointing to it, "but you have made it what I am not! It is the face of a good woman--of a woman who might be a saint! Does not that mock me?"

Natalie reacts with sudden, defensive anger upon seeing her finished portrait in the young artist's studio.

"I haf talked to him by de hour, and he hass not interroopted me vonce... ven I haf looked at him I haf found dat he wass asleep."

A misplaced reformer describes his earnest attempts to instruct an unimpressed guest on abstract philosophy.

What It's Really About

The collection centers on the tragic distance between how human beings perceive one another and what lies beneath the surface. In every narrative, characters act based on misinterpretations or incomplete visions of the people around them. Hale's narrator can hear a mother's private grief but cannot offer comfort; Burnett's model is redeemed because a painter refuses to accept her surface cynicism; Vibbard's hidden romanticism destroys his peace when he discovers he has misread his friend's romance.

Beyond personal relationships, the volume explores the folly of abstract idealism. Whether it is wealthy urbanites attempting to fit a confused visitor into their social theories, or a desperate fisherman driven to unthinkable brutality, the stories repeatedly contrast high-minded romantic assumptions with the cold, unyielding realities of human nature.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers who enjoy varied storytelling styles and deep psychological character portraits. It balances quiet domestic tragedy with lively period satire and dark, gripping realism. The prose moves naturally from the romantic atmosphere of nineteenth-century Paris to the stark, windswept rocks of New England's coastline, providing a vivid window into the literary sensibilities of late-nineteenth-century America.

Reading the collection requires some patience with mid-Victorian literary conventions. Certain entries feature heavy-handed phonetic accents—such as the awkward German-dialect dialogue used for comedic effect in the social satire—and the pacing reflects the measured, descriptive style of monthly literary magazines of the era. The final entry, based on a historical crime, contains scenes of sudden violence and grief that stand in sharp contrast to the surrounding fiction.

What remains long after reading is the collection's emotional honesty. It captures the quiet dignity of a dying artist, the sudden ruin of a quiet household, and the fragile nature of human promises with enduring clarity.