THE DESERTER

BY

RICHARD HARDING DAVIS

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

BY

JOHN T. MCCUTCHEON

NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1918




INTRODUCTION


When Mr. Davis wrote the story of "The Deserter," he could not
possibly have foreseen that it was to be his last story--the last
of those short stories which gave him such eminence as a
short-story writer.

He apparently was as rugged and as vigorous as ever.

And yet, had he sat down to write a story which he knew was to be
his last, I do not think he could have written one more fittingly
designed to be the capstone of his literary monument. The theme is