The Dead Alive

The Dead Alive" is told in the first person by an English attorney, Mr Lefrank. He has just been advised by his doctor that he is headed for a complete breakdown from the strain of over work and needs a long rest away from his current environment. At first he dismisses the advice but after suffering severe confusions while in court he comes to realize he does need a rest. He has a distant relative in America, in New York State, whom he has never met but who has told him he is welcome at his farm. The first idea of this little story was suggested to the author by a printed account of a trial which actually took place, early in the present century, in the United States... It may not be amiss to add, for the benefit of incredulous readers, that all the ''improbable events'' in the story are matters of fact, taken from the printed narrative. Anything which ''looks like truth'' is, in nine cases out of ten, the invention of the author. "