Compare E.W. Hornung - The Unbidden Guest: "It was time for him to say the difficult thing which had occurred to him...."

Ernest William Hornung was born in Middlesbrough, England on 7th June 1866, the third son and youngest of eight children. Although spending most of his life in England and France he spent two years in Australia from 1884 and that experience was to colour and influence much of his written works. His most famous character A. J. Raffles, 'the gentleman thief', was published first in Cassell's Magazine during 1898 and was to make him famous across the world as the new century dawned. Hornung also wrote several stage plays and was a gifted poet. Spending time with the troops in WWI he published Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front during 1919, a detailed account of his time there. This was especially close to his heart as his son, and only child, was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres on 6th July 1915. Ernest William Hornung died in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, in the south of France on 22nd March 1921. Index of Contents CHAPTER I - THE GIRL FROM HOME CHAPTER II - A BAD BEGINNING CHAPTER III - AU REVOIR CHAPTER IV - A MATTER OF TWENTY POUNDS CHAPTER V - A WATCH AND A PIPE CHAPTER VI - THE WAYS OF SOCIETY CHAPTER VII - MOONLIGHT SPORT CHAPTER VIII - THE SAVING OF ARABELLA CHAPTER IX - FACE TO FACE CHAPTER X - THE THINNING OF THE ICE CHAPTER XI - A CHRISTMAS OFFERING CHAPTER XII - "THE SONG OF MIRIAM" CHAPTER XIII - ON THE VERANDAH CHAPTER XIV - A BOLT FROM THE BLUE CHAPTER XV - A DAY OF RECKONING CHAPTER XVI - A MAN'. RESOLVE CHAPTER XVII - THE TWO MIRIAMS CHAPTER XVIII - THE WAY OF ALL FLESH CHAPTER XIX - TO THE TUNE OF RAIN CHAPTER XX - THE LAST ENCOUNTER CHAPTER XXI - "FOR THIS CAUSE" E.W. HORNUNG - A SHORT BIOGRAPHY E.W. HORNUNG - A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY