Short stories

Somerset Maugham

W. SOM ER SET

MAUG HAM

SIXTY-FIVE

SHORT STORIES

Heinemann/Octopus

This edition first published in Great Britain in 1976 by William Heinemann Limited

and

Octopus Books Limited

Michelin House

81 Fulham Road

London SW3 6RB

ISBN 0 905712 69 2

Reprinted 1988

Compilation copyright © 1976 by Gordon Stanley Blair,

Kenneth Marr–Johnson, Alan Frank Searle as Executors of the Estate of W. Somerset Maugham

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

William Clowes Limited, Beccles and London

CONTENTS

Rain / 13

The Fall of Edward Barnard / 40

Honolulu / 62

The Ant and the Grasshopper / 78

The Pool / 81

Mackintosh / 106

The Three Fat Women of Antibes / 128

The Facts of Life / 138

Gigolo and Gigolette / 151

The Voice of the Turtle / 163

The Unconquered / 174

The Escape / 192

Mr Know-All / 195

The Romantic Young Lady / 200

A Man From Glasgow / 207

Before the Party / 214

The Vessel of Wrath / 231

Louise / 256

The Promise / 261

The Yellow Streak / 266

The Force of Circumstance / 284

Flotsam and Jetsam / 301

The Alien Corn / 317

The Creative Impulse / 342

Virtue / 365

The Closed Shop / 389

The Dream / 395

The Colonel’s Lady / 398

Miss King / 410

The Hairless Mexican / 432

The Traitor / 456

His Excellency / 479

Mr Harrington’s Washing / 500

Lord Mountdrago / 525

Sanatorium / 541

The Social Sense / 557

The Verger / 563

The Taipan / 568

The Consul / 573

A Friend in Need / 577

The Round Dozen / 581

The Human Element / 599

Jane / 622

Footprints in the Jungle / 639

The Door of Opportunity / 659

The Book-Bag / 681

French Joe / 705

The Four Dutchmen / 708

The Back of Beyond / 713

P. & O. / 734

Episode / 755

The Kite / 769

A Woman of Fifty / 785

The Lotus Eater / 797