John Meade Falkner (1858 – 1932)
Born
in
Manningford
Bruce,
Wiltshire,
England.
He
attended
Marlborough
College,
then
Hertford
College
at
Oxford
University.
He
wrote
The
Lost
Stradivarius
(1895),
Moonfleet
(1898),
The
Nebuly
Coat
(1903).
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Moonfleet
by
John
M.
Falkner
The
village
of
Moonfleet
lies
half
a
mile
from
the
sea
on
the
right
or
west
bank
of
the
Fleet
stream.
I
shall
first
speak
of
one
evening
in
the
fall
of
the
year
1757.
It
must
have
been
late
in
October,
though
I
have
forgotten
the
exact
date,
and I
sat
in
the
little
front
parlour
reading
after
tea.
My
aunt
had
few
books;
a
Bible,
a
Common
Prayer,
and
some
volumes
of
sermons
are
all
that
I can
recollect
now;
but
the
Reverend
Mr
Glennie,
who
taught
us
village
children,
had
lent
me a
story-hook,
full
of
interest
and
adventure,
called
the
Arabian
Nights
Entertainment.
At
last
the
light
began
to
fail,
and I
was
nothing
loth
to
leave
off
reading
for
several
reasons;
as,
first
the
parlour
was a
chilly
room
with
horse-hair
chairs
and
sofa,
and
only
a
coloured-paper
screen
in
the
grate,
for
my
aunt
did
not
allow
a
fire
till
the
first
of
November;
second,
there
was a
rank
smell
of
molten
tallow
in
the
house,
for
my
aunt
was
dipping
winter
candles
on
frames
in
the
back
kitchen;
third,
I had
reached
a
part
in
the
Arabian
Nights
which
tightened
my
breath
and
made
me
wish
to
leave
off
reading
for
very
anxiousness
of
expectation.
It
was
that
point
in
the
story
of
the
"Wonderful
Lamp",
where
the
false
uncle
lets
fall
a
stone
that
seals
the
mouth
of
the
underground
chamber;
and
immures
the
boy,
Aladdin,
in
the
darkness,
because
he
would
not
give
up
the
lamp
till
he
stood
safe
on
the
surface
again.
This
scene
reminded
me of
one
of
those
dreadful
nightmares,
where
we
dream
we
are
shut
in a
line
room,
the
walls
of
which
are
closing
in
upon
us,
and
so
impressed
me
that
the
memory
of it
served
as a
warning
in an
adventure
that
befell
me
later
on.
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