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Dragon's Blood
Dragon's Blood is a thrilling adventure novel written by Henry Milner Rideout. The story follows the journey of a young man named Denis Burke, who sets out to explore the remote and mysterious island of Whiddy off the coast of Ireland. Along the way, he encounters a cast of colorful characters, including a beautiful young woman named Eileen O'Connor, a wise old fisherman named Tim O'Leary, and a fierce dragon rumored to inhabit the island.As Denis delves deeper into the secrets of Whiddy, he discovers that the island holds many mysteries, including an ancient curse that has plagued the O'Connor family for generations. With the help of his new friends, Denis sets out to unravel the curse and uncover the truth about the dragon's blood that flows through the veins of the O'Connor clan.Filled with action, suspense, and romance, Dragon's Blood is a gripping tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end. With its vivid descriptions of the rugged Irish landscape and its richly drawn characters, this book is sure to delight fans of adventure fiction and historical romance alike.The man did not answer, or look up, or remove his varnished hat. Still downcast and hang-dog, he sidled along the verge of the shadow, snatched from the table the paper and a pencil, and choosing the darkest part of the wall, began to write. The lamp stood between him and the Heywood alone saw--and with a shock of amazement--that he did not print vertically as with a brush, but scrawled horizontally. He tossed back the paper, and dodged once more into the gloom.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
164 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
About the author
Henry Milner Rideout
33 books8 followersHenry Milner Rideout (1877-1927) was a native of Calais, Maine. Author of sixteen novels, twenty-three short stories and novellas, and a biographical memoir, he also was editor of one college textbook, as well as co-editor of three others. Many of his stories appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.
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March 6, 2018
Last year I read The Spinners' Book of Fiction and amused myself by making a list of the authors who contributed stories, planning to use that as a way to explore more of their work. One of my goals this year is to read the titles I chose to put on that list and decide if I want to read any others by these authors.
Dragon's Blood was the only title on Rideout's author page at Project Gutenberg, so if I want to read more of his work (and I do!) I will have to keep my eyes open and hopefully remember his name when it shows up again in my Book Universe.
This book deals with Shanghai in the mid- to late 1800's, when foreign interference was changing religious beliefs for some people, affecting commerce for others, and pretty much being a pain in the neck all around.
Our hero is on his way to a new job. We first meet him in Port Said:
"He cherished the thought that he, clerk at twenty-one, was now agent at twenty-two, and traveling toward a house with servants, off there beyond the turn of the Canal, beyond the curve of the globe. But for all this, Rudolph Hackh felt young, homesick, timid of the future, and already oppressed with the distance, the age, the manifold, placid mystery of China."
But is China truly placid for Rudolph or for any of the Europeans he meets when he arrives? There are only a few concerned with this story: the missionary and his wife, and the nurse who works with them at their hospital. A German man who is somewhat of an outsider because he married a Chinese woman. Two or three single men, and then, shockingly, the husband of the woman he had sort of fallen in love with on the ship. Does that mean she will show up too, just when he thought he would never see her again? Why didn't she tell him sooner that she was married?!
The man who becomes Rudolph's mentor and best friend is Heywood, a young Englishman who has been in the Orient for enough years to understand it as much as any foreigner could. Heywood was a great character. If this was a movie, I could see a young Bruce Willis playing him. He had that type of smart-alecky, happy-go-lucky facade hiding a serious interior, and was capable of handling every situation that came up, from the plague scare to the duel to the final conflict with the natives. He was The Hero, the kind of man Rudolph wants to be when he grows up.
This book was published in 1909. I had prepared myself for certain attitudes of the day towards the Chinese, but although there were comments here and there by certain characters, the overall tone of the book was respectful, even with some of the people involved expressing doubt that they should ever have had the audacity to be there trying to tell other people how to live. You very rarely see that happen in these older stories.
I was impressed with Rideout's ability to make me feel that I was right there in Shanghai alongside Rudolph. From the sights to the sounds and the smells, from the friendly people to the not-so-friendly, he brings the city completely to life in great style. I do hope Gutenberg adds more of his work soon! But I can always read this one again if they don't. Come to think if it, I plan to read Dragon's Blood again even if they do.
Dragon's Blood was the only title on Rideout's author page at Project Gutenberg, so if I want to read more of his work (and I do!) I will have to keep my eyes open and hopefully remember his name when it shows up again in my Book Universe.
This book deals with Shanghai in the mid- to late 1800's, when foreign interference was changing religious beliefs for some people, affecting commerce for others, and pretty much being a pain in the neck all around.
Our hero is on his way to a new job. We first meet him in Port Said:
"He cherished the thought that he, clerk at twenty-one, was now agent at twenty-two, and traveling toward a house with servants, off there beyond the turn of the Canal, beyond the curve of the globe. But for all this, Rudolph Hackh felt young, homesick, timid of the future, and already oppressed with the distance, the age, the manifold, placid mystery of China."
But is China truly placid for Rudolph or for any of the Europeans he meets when he arrives? There are only a few concerned with this story: the missionary and his wife, and the nurse who works with them at their hospital. A German man who is somewhat of an outsider because he married a Chinese woman. Two or three single men, and then, shockingly, the husband of the woman he had sort of fallen in love with on the ship. Does that mean she will show up too, just when he thought he would never see her again? Why didn't she tell him sooner that she was married?!
The man who becomes Rudolph's mentor and best friend is Heywood, a young Englishman who has been in the Orient for enough years to understand it as much as any foreigner could. Heywood was a great character. If this was a movie, I could see a young Bruce Willis playing him. He had that type of smart-alecky, happy-go-lucky facade hiding a serious interior, and was capable of handling every situation that came up, from the plague scare to the duel to the final conflict with the natives. He was The Hero, the kind of man Rudolph wants to be when he grows up.
This book was published in 1909. I had prepared myself for certain attitudes of the day towards the Chinese, but although there were comments here and there by certain characters, the overall tone of the book was respectful, even with some of the people involved expressing doubt that they should ever have had the audacity to be there trying to tell other people how to live. You very rarely see that happen in these older stories.
I was impressed with Rideout's ability to make me feel that I was right there in Shanghai alongside Rudolph. From the sights to the sounds and the smells, from the friendly people to the not-so-friendly, he brings the city completely to life in great style. I do hope Gutenberg adds more of his work soon! But I can always read this one again if they don't. Come to think if it, I plan to read Dragon's Blood again even if they do.
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