The Project Gutenberg eBook of The shotgun princess
    
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 shotgun princess

Author: William Merriam Rouse

Release date: August 5, 2023 [eBook #71349]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: Street & Smith Corporation, 1926

Credits: Roger Frank and Sue Clark


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHOTGUN PRINCESS ***


[Illustration]




                          THE SHOTGUN PRINCESS

                        By William Merriam Rouse
                          Tale of Bildad Road


A double-barreled, muzzle-loading shotgun rested upon two wooden pegs
which protruded front the neatly whitewashed plaster of the kitchen
wall. Both barrels were loaded with ample charges of buckshot, and two
percussion caps gleamed with sinister brightness under the ornate
hammers. Dark and menacing, the shotgun lay blackly along that
immaculate wall, and by its presence prevented Doris Wilkins from
getting married.

With that fearsome weapon, capable at close range of blowing a hole
through the side of a house, Orla Wilkins guarded his sister from all
young men who approached with serious intentions. Wilkins was large and
smiling, one of those doughy men who lump out their clothes in the wrong
places. He was able to hold his own in a fight with most of the stalwart
sons of the Bildad Road neighborhood; but he was also much opposed to
exertion, and it was far less trouble to point a shotgun than it was to
swing a fist.

Wilkins had said, with his china-doll smile, that he would rather do
manslaughter than lose a good housekeeper. Bildad Road believed him; at
least sufficiently so that no man had yet been found who was willing to
put the matter to the final test. Everybody knew that for the
thirty-seven years of his life Orla had been nourished upon the famous
Wilkins apple pie, first by his mother and then by his sister, and
everybody realized that for a man who thought as much of his stomach as
Orla Wilkins did, this was a life-and-death issue. He was the kind of
brother-in-law no man would want.

Doris was something like the fresh apple pie that she made--young and
sweet, tender and delicious. She was spiced with twinkles in her brown
eyes and curls in her brown hair; where her colossal brother was pudgy,
she was small and delicately curved and swift moving.

Some of the girls of Bildad Road would have treated such a brother to
crockery or stovewood over the head, but Doris was as amiable as
sunshine. Wilkins, knowing when he was well off, provided her with the
best from the general store at the Corners, and until the coming of
Johnny Trumbull she bowed cheerfully to fate; content to be the shotgun
princess of Bildad, cherished and guarded for the sake of her delectable
cooking.

On a snapping cold night in December this Johnny Trumbull sat in the
Wilkins’ kitchen and meditated upon the Wilkins’ shotgun. By actual
measurements he was a rather small man; something like fifty pounds
lighter than Orla Wilkins and half a foot shorter. But Trumbull did not
give the impression of being inferior in size, and it was only when he
stood side by side with a genuine Bildad Roader that his stature was
noticeably under the neighborhood average. His eye gleamed steadily,
like a blue beacon, and he moved with a careless ease that was pleasant
to watch. Doris was watching him now; her brother was, too, with a pale
smile and a warning in his dull gaze.

Trumbull did not need to study the face of Orla Wilkins to know
approximately what was going on behind it; he had been obliged to see
that piecrust-colored countenance every time he came for the purpose of
getting better acquainted with Doris, and he understood the feelings of
Wilkins only too well. Wilkins never left his sister alone for a moment
with any man under seventy-five.

Johnny Trumbull had come to the neighborhood a month before, and since
he had got acquainted with Doris he had never been able to find her
alone; whenever he went to the house, Orla Wilkins opened the door and
settled himself in a creaking armchair. To-night there were little
sparks in the eyes of Trumbull; he felt reasonably sure that the dimple
would not appear so often in the cheek of Doris unless she were glad to
see him, and he decided to find out just how much of Wilkins was
reputation.

“Miss Wilkins,” began Trumbull after a considerable lull in the
conversation, “do you care if I call you ‘Doris?’”

“Why----” She turned apple blossom pink, and the dimple twinkled at him
as she answered, in a low voice: “I don’t believe I care if you do.’’

A crease appeared straight up and down in the middle of the large brow
of Orla Wilkins. He shifted, his chair creaked, and two well-padded
hands took hold of the arms as though he might rise suddenly. Trumbull
looked at him and grinned; then he spoke to Doris again:

“Much obliged! So far we’ve talked mostly about the price of cordwood
and the weather. It’s going to help to call you Doris. Maybe you’d like
to go to the next dance at the Corners with me, Doris?”

Her lips parted, but it was the voice of Orla Wilkins that replied; a
voice as thick and heavy as molasses and as unpleasantly sticky:

“She don’t like to go to dances. Nor anything else that keeps her out
nights. Not with anybody!”

Doris said nothing. She looked down at the red-and-white checks of the
cloth upon the table beside which she sat; her fingers traced out the
design, but her eyes flashed once under long lashes at Johnny Trumbull
and gave him encouragement to go on.

“Well,” said Trumbull, “I don’t like Sunday-school picnics very much,
but anything would be nice with Doris. They’re going to have an indoor
picnic in the Grange. Hall, and maybe I can take her to that.”

“She don’t like picnics, neither,” Wilkins told him, with the crease in
his forehead growing deeper. “Nor coasting parties. Nor any doings that
take her out anywhere, any time. She’s a home body.”

“That’s nice,” said Trumbull, with a glance at Doris, “even if it is
hard on me. I take it you’re a home body, too, Wilkins.”

“I be!” replied Wilkins firmly. “And I calculate to be!”

Wilkins was trying to wear him out, of course, as he had worn out other
young men callers. The difference was that Trumbull sometimes wore rough
instead of ragged. He decided to force the situation to a break; and the
eyes of Doris did not seem to forbid him.




                                   II


I’ve always thought I’d like to marry a home body,” remarked Trumbull,
giving a hitch to his belt. “And I don’t mean you, Wilkins.”

What followed was a little startling. Orla Wilkins rose from his chair
with a quickness surprising in a man who looked so clumsy. He took down
the shotgun that Trumbull had observed and heard about and sat down
again with the barrels of the gun resting across his knees in the
general direction of Trumbull. The silent menace which that old
muzzle-loader had seemed to give off had not been imaginary.

“Doris don’t want to get married,” said Wilkins grimly. “Not to-night,
nor any time.”

Trumbull looked at the black muzzles, the big thumb of Wilkins as it
pulled back the hammers, and up into the man’s eyes. They were flat and
impenetrable, dulled by much eating. They might mean business, and they
might not. It is an uncomfortable feeling to have a double-barreled
shotgun, said to be loaded with buckshot, pointed at one’s middle.

“Let’s get down to brass tacks,” said Trumbull, with a slight growl in
his voice. “Just what for are you pointing that shooting iron at me?”

“Because I can set down to shoot,” Wilkins told him, without any change
of expression of tone. “If I was to lick you it would be a lot of work,
and most likely we’d bust some furniture.”

“Bah!” Trumbull barked a laugh. “You don’t think you can kill a man and
get away with it, do you? You’re a bluff!”

“This here is my house,” replied Wilkins heavily, “and if you was to
make a move I didn’t like, and I was to shoot you, it ain’t likely they
could prove anything except self-defense. Doris wouldn’t swear her own
brother into jail. A man has got an awful strong holt on the law when
he’s in his own house.”

Maybe he would shoot. Johnny Trumbull did not like the cloudiness of
that large face. He glanced at Doris and saw that she had gone pale; her
little fingers were white against the edge of the table. She ought to
know her brother better than anybody else.

“You won’t have to shoot me in self-defense,” returned Trumbull, and he
began deliberately to fill his pipe.

“Ain’t you going to get out?” asked Wilkins.

“No!” thundered Trumbull suddenly. “Shoot a helpless man if you want
to!”

There was dead silence for a while after that; broken at last by a faint
gasp of relief from Doris that nothing had happened. Wilkins sat
motionless and expressionless, and Trumbull puffed calmly at his pipe.

“The first time you make a motion toward me or my sister that gives me
an excuse,” announced Wilkins at length, “I’ll blow a hole in you that a
dog could jump through!”

“The first time I catch you without that gun you’ll have to fight,”
Trumbull replied. “I don’t care whether it tires you all out or not.”

“Don’t have any trouble with him, Johnny!” exclaimed Doris. “Last year
two husky fellows got between him and his gun, and he half killed them
before he threw them out!”

“I’ll take a chance if he’ll put up the gun,” returned Trumbull.

Wilkins grunted what might have been intended for a laugh of scorn; he
did not take the trouble to make answer to that offer. Trumbull smoked
and watched the shotgun and wondered just what he was going to do next.
He might have been allowed to come again if he had not brought on the
crisis to-night. Now he knew that he would have a great deal of
difficulty getting into the Wilkins’ home, once he had gone out. How
long could he sit here? And what good would it do him if he sat here
forever?




                                  III


Trumbull looked across the table at Doris. There was a warmth in her
eyes as they met his that communicated itself to his heart; she wanted
to save him from harm. He would have given a month’s wages to know how
much more than sympathy she felt for him. A lovely, rounded forearm was
lying upon the table, with fingers drumming against the cloth. A man
would be mad to let a shotgun stand between him and a girl like this!

Trumbull looked at the gun. It pointed toward his stomach, and he
experienced an inward shudder at the thought of what would happen if the
fingers of Orla Wilkins pressed a little harder against the triggers; or
just one of the triggers. Trumbull would not live to know anything about
the second barrel.

He began to get extremely angry and stubborn. No half-baked reflection
on the human race was going to drive him away from the girl he wanted to
marry without a fight! But how could a dead man fight? He was a good
deal more than half convinced that the first movement toward battle on
his part would fill his ears with the roar of doom.

Trumbull would not go, and he could not do anything else, except stay.
The possibilities of just staying grew upon him as a sunrise grows.
Suppose he were just to stay put where he was for an hour, twelve hours?
Wilkins would not dare to shoot him in cold blood; punishment would be
too nearly sure. Trumbull leaned back in his chair, tamped the tobacco
down in his pipe, and chuckled.

“Ain’t it about time you was going home?” asked Wilkins.

“I don’t intend to go home. Never! I like it too well where Doris is!”

Trumbull caught a gleam in the eye of the girl; the slit in the lower
part of Wilkins’ face tightened grimly.

“You’re going to pay for this!” he grunted. “Doris! It’s time for my
snack. Go get me some of them fresh doughnuts and cheese, and maybe a
little apple sauce and a pitcher of cider.”

Doris Wilkins made a movement to rise, and Trumbull stopped her with a
look; into that look he tried to throw all that was in his heart.

“Don’t feed the critter, Doris!” he said earnestly. “That is, if you’re
just a little bit on my side of this game; don’t feed him until he puts
down that gun and gives me a chance at him!”

“Doris!” bellowed Wilkins. “You get me that stuff to eat!”

“Don’t do it unless you want to see him drive me out!” exclaimed
Trumbull.

For a tense moment she seemed to hesitate; then Doris sank into her
chair with a toss of her head and a little spot of color in each cheek.
“It’s about time I had something to say for myself!” she cried. “I’ll
feed both of you when you promise not to quarrel any more!”

Johnny Trumbull grinned at his enemy. The face of Wilkins became
troubled. He leaned forward and spoke pleadingly to his sister.

“You know my stomach is used to having something every night just about
this time,” he said. “You never acted this way before.”

“Put up that gun, then, and be friends with Mr. Trumbull!”

There was a quality in the voice of Doris Wilkins which was final.
Trumbull guessed that her brother had never heard it before, for now his
lower jaw sagged a trifle as he stared at her. His finger did not waver
upon the trigger of the shotgun, but small beads of perspiration showed
upon his forehead, and the end of a pale tongue ran around his lips. He
was touched in his weakest spot.

“Trumbull,” he said huskily, “there’s trouble here, and I want you
should go. I’ll----I’ll even pay you to go!”

“Money couldn’t hire me to leave!” Trumbull chuckled.

Wilkins rediscovered his courage. He swept them both with a baleful
look. “All right! I’ll starve to-night, but when I settle with you,
Trumbull, it’s going to be terrible!”

Trumbull drew inspiration from his success. He turned carefully so that
his movement might not be misinterpreted and smiled at Doris. “If you
handed me a doughnut and a piece of cheese I guess I could eat without
getting shot.”

The small feet of Doris tripped into the pantry, and a moment later
Trumbull was munching slowly before the yearning gaze of Wilkins. He ate
his doughnut to the last crumb.

“That’s another debt you’ve got to pay!” muttered Wilkins.




                                   IV


Two hours passed; three, four. Midnight struck. Still the two men sat
facing each other. Trumbull’s occasional baiting of Wilkins lost its
flavor; the head of Doris sank slowly to the table after many false
starts, and she slept there.

Trumbull had made himself as comfortable as possible by sliding down in
his chair. Wilkins remained very nearly motionless, with the gun across
his knees and his eyes brooding. There was no doubt that his suffering
for food was genuine; he had trained his stomach to expect a gorging at
regular and frequent intervals.

Trumbull dozed at intervals and then jerked himself awake. Time and
again through the night he saw the gaze of Wilkins travel longingly in
the direction of the pantry. Trumbull began to wonder why he did not
drop the gun and fight it out instead of suffering. There must be some
reason--was it possible that he was so lazy he would rather starve than
exert himself?

Morning came and found them like this--Wilkins a trifle gray around the
mouth, Trumbull slumped down in his chair, and Doris asleep. The lamps
grew sickly in the light of a bright winter day; the big wooden clock on
the mantel ticked monotonously. The fire had long since gone out, and it
was cold in the room. Trumbull straightened up and stretched, bringing
an answering movement from Wilkins.

“Doris!” said Trumbull. “I hate to wake you up, but I’m afraid you’ll
catch cold if you don’t build a fire. Orla won’t build it for you, and I
can’t!”

Doris lifted her head, sleepy and smiling as she saw Trumbull and
remembered. She rubbed her eyes and made a dash for the mirror over the
kitchen sink.

“My goodness!” she exclaimed, as she turned from a brief patting and
rearranging of her brown hair. “I always get up and build the fire, so
Orla won’t have to dress in the cold.”

“Huh!” Trumbull looked with fresh disfavor upon the man he had decided
to have for his brother-in-law. “Unless Orla starves himself to death
and ends it that way, he’s going to get up and build fires after this!”

“Ain’t you two going to give me any breakfast?” demanded Wilkins.

“Nope!” replied Trumbull cheerfully. “You’re never going to eat again
unless you put up that gun and act decent.”

“Then, by the great Jehoshaphat, I’ll starve!” flared Wilkins. “If I
don’t get the best of you now, Doris’ll be fool enough to marry you, and
I might as well be dead, anyway, as to have a hired housekeeper that
can’t cook fit for the hogs! Either I’ll get rid of you, or I’ll starve
to death right where I be!”

“What do you want for breakfast, Johnny--I mean Mr. Trumbull?” asked
Doris; Trumbull’s heart thrilled.

“Taking orders from him!” barked her brother. “If I get drove too far,
I’ll shoot anyway!”

“Ham and eggs and strong coffee,” replied Trumbull, with a watchful eye
upon Wilkins. “You’ll have to hand me mine on a plate, for with him as
hungry as he is right now I wouldn’t call it safe for me to move over to
the table.”

While the savory odors of ham and coffee filled the kitchen, the eyes of
Orla Wilkins grew more deepset and glaring. Yet he held out, even when
Trumbull ate slowly and heartily before his famished gaze.

When Trumbull had drunk his last cup of coffee, and Wilkins still sat
with his finger on a trigger of the shotgun, the situation began to look
serious. Wilkins might be as pig-headed as he was hungry; and he was
becoming more dangerous each minute. Trumbull saw Doris regard her
brother with a worried look, and he knew that something must be done to
break the deadlock. He resolved to take one last desperate chance,
pinning his faith entirely upon the weakness of Orla Wilkins.




                                   V


“Doris,” Trumbull said, “I know you must be tired, but we’ve got to get
this finished. I wish you’d make me a pie out of the best apples you’ve
got in the cellar. A kind of extra-special pie, with lots of cinnamon
and sugar and juice and a flaky crust with just a touch of light brown
here and there. A pie that’ll make a man’s mouth water as far as he can
see and smell it.”

“Oh!” She stared at him, and then she laughed. “All right! I’ll bake a
pie that would take first prize at the county fair.”

Doris Wilkins kept her promise. The pie that she set on the table an
hour later was a masterpiece of pie making. Fresh from the oven, it gave
off sweet and spicy odors which floated upon the air of the kitchen and
fairly thickened it with temptation. Through holes in the top one could
see hints of the interior lusciousness. Doris touched the crust with a
fork, and it broke in little flakes that would melt in a man’s mouth.

Orla Wilkins could get to that pie and still keep his man covered, but
he could not feed himself without putting the shotgun down. He seemed to
realize that Johnny Trumbull was a very swift-moving man and that
relaxation for an instant would mean that Trumbull would have his grip
upon the gun.

Wilkins leaned forward, trying to look at the pie and Trumbull at the
same time. A little moisture appeared at one corner of his mouth; his
fat chin trembled. His face was ravaged by hate and hunger. Twice he
started to get up, only to think better of it; once he lifted the
shotgun slightly and his finger curled more firmly around the trigger.

That was a bad moment for Johnny Trumbull. He knew it might easily be
that he had pressed Wilkins to the brink of murder; he knew that the man
was made savage by a sleepless night of hunger, fearful of the loss of
his lifelong comfort, and fairly venomous against the stranger who had
come crashing in to take the heart of Doris.

For just that moment the situation hung on the edge of tragedy; with
Doris standing breathless and white and Trumbull staring, dry-mouthed,
into the eyes of Wilkins. Then, suddenly, Orla Wilkins let forth an
incoherent cry of suffering and defeat and flung himself in the
direction of the pie. The shotgun slid harmlessly to the floor. Trumbull
seized it and threw it out of doors into the snow. Then he whirled to
face Wilkins.

Wilkins had broken the pie into two pieces, and at that instant he stood
with his face half buried in one of them. Trumbull swung the table out
of the way and stripped off his coat.

“Now!” he cried. “Stand up and fight like a man!”

The jaws of Orla Wilkins ceased to work. His eyes met Trumbull’s over a
piece of pie crust; they shifted and flickered, and he swallowed
hastily.

“I don’t know as you and me need to have any trouble!” he mumbled. “Not
if you’ll let her cook for me once in a while. I dunno but maybe you
could both live here, if you wanted to.”

The arms of Johnny Trumbull dropped to his sides. Was this the
two-hundred-pound terror who had thrashed two husky men single-handed
and thrown them out only the year before?

“What’s the matter with him?” asked Trumbull, turning to Doris.

“It’s you--Johnny!” whispered Doris, with pink and lovely cheeks.
“You’ve got more nerve than he has! And, anyway, he can’t fight on an
empty stomach. I knew that.”

[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the March 15, 1926 issue of
the Top-Notch Magazine.]




*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHOTGUN PRINCESS ***


    

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 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. 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.