The Indian's Hand
by Lorimer Stoddard · English · Gutenberg #23178 · 35,877 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Indian's Hand
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: The Indian's Hand
Author: Lorimer Stoddard
Release date: October 24, 2007 [eBook #23178]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23178
Credits: Produced by David Widger
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INDIAN'S HAND ***
Produced by David Widger
THE INDIAN'S HAND
By Lorimer Stoddard
Copyright, 1892, by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
The men had driven away. Their carts and horses disappeared behind the
roll of the low hills. They appeared now and then, like boats on the
crest of a wave, further each time. And their laughter and singing and
shouts grew fainter as the bushes hid them from sight.
The women and children remained, with two old men to protect them. They
might have gone too, the hunters said. "What harm could come in the
broad daylight?--the bears and panthers were far away. They'd be back by
night, with only two carts to fill."
Then Jim, the crack shot of the settlement, said, "We'll drive home the
bears in the carts."
The children shouted and danced as they thought of the sport to come, of
the hunters' return with their game, of the bonfires they always built.
One pale woman clung to her husband's arm. "But the Indians!" she said.
That made the men all laugh. "Indians!" they cried; "why, there've been
none here for twenty years! We drove them away, down there"--pointing
across the plain--"to a hotter place than this, where the sand burns
their feet and they ride for days for water."
The pale woman murmured, "Ah, but they returned."
"Yes," cried her big husband, whose brown beard covered his chest, "and
burned two cabins. Small harm they did, the curs!"
"Hush," said the pale woman, pressing her husband's arm; and the men
around were quiet, pretending to fix their saddles, as they glanced at
another woman, dressed in black, who turned and went into her house.
"I forgot her boy," said the bearded man, as he gravely picked up his
gun.
They started off in the morning cool, toward the mountains where the
trees grew. And the long shadows lessened as the sun crept up the sky.
The woman in black stood silent by her door. No one bade her good-by.
The other women went back to their houses to work. The children played
in the dust; clouds rose as they shouted and ran. A day's freedom lay
before them.
But the woman in black still stood by her door, like a spectre in the
sunshine, her thin hands clasped together as she gazed away over the
plain toward Mexico.
Her face was parched and drawn, as if the sun from the sand had burned
into the bone. Her eyes alone seemed to live; they were hard and bright.
Her house was a little away from the rest, on the crest of a hill facing
the desert plain.
She had heard the words of the bearded man: "Small harm the Indians
did." Had he forgotten her boy? How could he forget, while she was there
to remind them of the dead? Near her house was a small rock roughly
marked. The rude letters "Will, gone, '69," she had cut on it with
her own hands. It marked the last place where her boy had played. She
remembered how she went away softly--so he should not cry to follow
her--without a word, without a kiss.
Here her hands beat the side of the house.
"Oh, to have that kiss now and die!" But she had gone, unthinking, up
the road where the pale woman lived, then a rosy-cheeked happy bride,
not a widow like herself. They laughed and discussed the newcomers at
the settlement. It was a holiday, for the men were away over the hills,
cutting down trees to build their houses with.
As they talked there idly, they heard what they thought was the shrill
bark of dogs running up the hill. Startled, they went to the window.
Round the curve of the road came horses wildly galloping, and upon their
backs--Here the pale woman shrieked and fled. They were Indians, beating
their horses with their bare legs, their black hair streaming in the
wind.
Like a flash, she had bolted the door and barred the shutters as they
galloped up. She turned then. Through the open back door she saw the
women run screaming up the hill, their children in their arms.
Their children! Where was hers? She stopped as if turned to stone, then
undid the door.
They dragged her out by the wrists, by the hair. She fought with them
stronger than ten men. But there were twenty; she was alone. The little
street was empty. They strangled her, beat down her face, dragged her
upon a horse, and, with her crosswise on the saddle, galloped up and
down, as they fired the cabins and the sheds. Her hands were shackled,
and her eyes blind with blood, but she thought only of her child. "Where
could he be?"
There were gunshots. Down the hills like mad came the white men for
their wives and children.
Then the Indians turned back toward the plain. They rode past her house.
There, where she had left him, stood the child, dazed with surprise. She
held out her arms tied together and called to him to come.
"Fool! fool!" Here the woman in black struck her temples with her hands.
"Fool!" Why had she not galloped by and never noticed him?
But she begged, caught at the horse's head, struggled to get to him; and
the Indian stopped for a moment in his flight and caught up the child
and went on.
Then the thought came to her of the end of that ride--what was to
come--after. And she tried to drop the boy, to let him slide gently to
the ground; but the Indian held them fast.
Behind, nearer, came the following men, louder the guns. The horse she
was on snorted, staggered under the weight of the three, and as they
reached the plain the child was torn from her, she was pushed away. But
she rose and staggered after them amid the blinding dust. They must take
her too. Sobbing, she called to them as she stumbled on. Many times she
fell. Then she could go no more.
That was all. Her story ended there, with the thundering of horses'
hoofs and the taste of dust in her mouth. They found her there
unconscious. Her friends tended her. When she came back to life she
asked no questions but left her neighbor's house and came to her door,
where she was standing now, and gazed away over the sand where _he_ had
gone, down toward Mexico.
The years went by, and she was still alone in the house where _two_
should have been. And now far off she saw the dust blowing in a long,
rolling, pinkish line. But the dust blew so often, and nothing came of
it--not even the Indians.
The boy she knew was dead, but they--his murderers--remained, somewhere.
If she could have one now in her power!
The woman in black pondered, as she had so many times, how she should
torture him. No pain could be too horrible. She looked at the fire in
the stove, and piled on the logs--the logs that were brought with such
trouble from the mountains where the trees grew. She could not make it
hot enough. She dropped on her knees and watched the iron grow red. And
the letters of the maker's name stamped on it grew distinct, and the
word "Congress," half defaced, and the figures "64." Ah, those letters!
she could have kissed the spot, for her child had touched it Charmed by
the glow, when left alone, he laid his baby hand flat on it, and burned
deep into the palm were those letters, "S S, 64."
She would know him among a million by that mark.
But he was dead. The Indians remained.
The woman in black stood up. Why should she not go to them? There were
pools in the plain where she could drink. That would be enough.
The men were away; the women were at work. Who could stop her?
She put on her bonnet and started off down the hill through the green
bushes. The air was still crisp, though the sun was hot.
The desert must have an end. She would keep on to Mexico. She walked
quickly, and her dress grew gray with dust, and the air scorching, as
she reached the plain. But she kept on, and only looked back once at the
house on the hill, and at the window where the pale woman sat.
The dust choked her, and she stumbled, and the sole of one shoe came
half off, and slapped, and banged, and delayed her as she walked. She
tore it off and went on, but the sand cut and burned her so that she sat
down and wept, and wanted to go back for her other pair, the ones she
wore on Sundays. The hill, though, looked so distant that she wearily
got up and went on, on, till she could go no more, and crept under the
shadow of a rock. There was no water near. Her throat was parched, and
her temples beat wildly. She must go back and start again, strengthened,
fortified. She would start tomorrow, or at night, when the cool would
let her get too far to return.
By slow degrees she dragged herself up the hill. The pale woman came
out of her house, and nodded, but the woman in black did not smile in
return. She closed her door, and went up to her bed, and fell on it,
and slept, amid the buzzing of the flies and the fitful flapping of the
window-shade in the breeze.
The pale woman sighed and glanced across the plain. The roll of blowing
dust was larger, and more regular, and nearer. The woman shuddered as
she watched it creep slowly along behind the sand mounds. "It always
blows," she said to herself, "but not like that, so steadily, so even."
She strained her eyes, but there was only dust to be seen. Then she
thought of a telescope that belonged to the minister's wife, who came
from a seaport town, and ran to fetch it. The two women came out with
it together, the minister's wife laughing at her friend, she was such a
timid thing! But the pale woman was paler than ever, and trembled so she
could not steady it. The laughing one looked through it, and laughed no
more.
"I see a head over the mound there," she said.
The pale woman shrieked.
"They are miles away. We may have time."
"For what?"
"To get away."
"They may be friends--"
"They are Indians! White men would not live through that sand. We must
go to the woods. Help me. Warn the women. Gather the children. Come."
She rushed into her house. The other still stood and looked.
The dust cloud was a little nearer. In a moment all was wild confusion,
names were called, but not loudly, girls sobbed, some carried their
little treasures, mothers held their children. All gathered together,
hidden from the plain by a house.
The pale woman led out her father, then ran to her neighbor's door. She
opened it, and called clearly, but softly, "Mary, Mary." There was
no answer. The woman in black, on her bed, slept on. Her neighbor
hesitated, then hurried after the others, as they ran up the low hills
toward the mountains, where their men had gone.
The dust cloud grew nearer. Now and then a head could be seen. But all
was as still as the grave. The woman in black slept heavily and dreamed
that revenge had come at last--that in her hand she held an Indian's
head.
The window-shade flapped loudly, and she woke with an apprehension
crushing her. She went to the window and looked out. There was no
blowing dust upon the plains, and the street was empty. The doors of
the houses stood open; a shawl lay in the middle of the road. The woman
leaned out and looked toward the woods.
She saw on the crest of a hill the white skirts of the flying women, and
then, below, down the road, her ears sharpened, her heart tightening,
she heard the soft, regular thumping of horses' feet.
Then she _knew_.
She sat on the edge of the bed. This was what she had waited for! Was it
her turn now?--or theirs again?
She could kill _one_.
Where was her gun?
She had loaned it to the men.
But her axe--that was below.
As she started for it, there was a burst of war cries.
She ran down the narrow stairs, and took the axe from its place on the
wall.
They were passing her door. The room grew lighter. She turned. One stood
in the open doorway, black against the sunshine. She set her teeth hard,
hid the axe behind her skirts, watched him motionless.
He stretched out his hand clawlike, and laughed, his eyes gleaming, as
catlike he moved nearer, A terror seized her: with a hoarse cry, she
sprang up the stairs, flinging down a chair as he followed panting.
Quickly she climbed up the ladder to the loft, threw down the trapdoor,
fell on it, bolted it, waited. All was still. Outside she heard the
distant yells. She stooped noiselessly and put her ear upon the floor.
There was soft breathing underneath, and through a crack in the floor
she saw an eye peering up at her.
She stood a long time, motionless, axe in hand, ready.
Her back was to the bolt, but suddenly she _felt_ that there was
something there. She turned softly. A slim brown hand was almost through
a crevice in the floor.
She raised her axe. The slender fingers touched the bolt and gently drew
it back.
Then with the force of all her hatred fell the axe upon the wrist. The
hand sprang up at her. With a howl of agony the creature fell bumping
beneath.
Then all again was still.
Her face was wet and warm with the spattered blood.
Outside she heard the crackling of a burning house, then gunshots far
away, and distant shouts. On tiptoe she went to the garret window,
and peeped round its edge. Over the hills, quite near, she saw the
men returning. One house was blazing--the minister's. The Indians were
retreating. Near her door, grazing, stood a riderless horse. _She_ knew
its owner. As they rode past, they caught at it, but were stopped by
a shout from her door. An Indian rushed out, handsome, young, holding
aloft a bare right arm without a hand. In his language he shrieked to
them for revenge, pointing up with his red wrist to the attic where she
stood.
The eyes of the woman shot fire. She leaned far out and shook her fist
from the garret window.
"One Indian at least!"
She hurled the axe at them. It fell far short. They fired as they
passed, but none hit her. Nearer came the men.
The wounded man leaped to his horse and with a curse rode on. The woman
laughed as he passed beneath, then sat down in the dusky loft with a red
pool at her feet.
Shortly the men returned. Some went by down the hill, after the Indians.
Others put out the fire. All was confusion, bustle, shouts.
Then the women and the children came and added to the din, and the men
who had followed returned. But the woman in black sat alone in the loft,
till she heard the crowd at her door below, and the voice of the pale
woman say:
"Where is Mary?"
She rose and lifted the trap-door--it was unbolted--and went down.
The pale woman came to her, but she pushed her aside, and wiped her face
with her sleeve.
"Are they killed? any of them?" she said. Her friend answered, "No,
Mary, not one." "No harm this time," said the bearded man. "Except
my house, it is burned," said the minister's wife. "We'll soon have
another."
"I don't mean _you!_" cried the woman in black. "I mean them--red
devils. Have you got any?--killed any? _You_"--this to Jim, who never
missed a shot--"you"--this to the bearded man--"have _you_ killed any?"
And the men answered, "No."
And one man said, "Their horses were faster than ours."
"Not one!" The woman in black drew herself up proudly. "Yes, one; better
than killed. Wait." The women shrunk from her as she darted up the
stair. They looked at each other wonderingly. The woman returned with
something in her grasp. She flung it on the table. "It is an Indian's
hand. His arm will shrivel to the bone. They will leave him some day
to die in the sand." The women shuddered and drew back; the men crowded
round, but they did not touch the hand.
"Are you afraid?" said the woman in black. "Afraid of that thing!"
She bent back the fingers and looked in it with a smile of contempt. Her
face took an ashen hue: the hand struck the table edge and fell upon the
floor. She seemed to be trying to think for a second, then she gave one
awful cry, and leaned her face against the wall, with her hands hanging
at her side.
The pale woman tried to go to her, but her husband drew her back, and,
with a silent crowd around, slowly picked up the hand.
For a second he hesitated, then did as she had done, but gently. He bent
back the fingers of the severed hand and read its history written there,
"S S, 64," in white letters on the palm.
He remembered then how, twenty years ago, when she brought the child to
him, he had tied its little hand in cooling salve.
It was larger now.
The whisper went around, "It is her boy's hand," and they crept toward
the door.
The pale woman took a flower from her dress, one she had put there hours
before, and placed it in the brown fingers on the table and went out.
The woman did _not_ stir from the wall. "Leave the hand," she said.
"It is there," and the bearded man closed the door gently behind him.
The woman in black turned. Her hard eyes were dim now.. She took the
hand from the table and undid her dress and placed it in her breast, and
went to the window, and watched, far off, a cloud of dust made golden by
the sun, as it rolled away across the plain, down toward Mexico.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INDIAN'S HAND ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 41 Watchung Plaza #516,
Montclair NJ 07042, USA, +1 (862) 621-9288. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/23178