Lord Percy's Dream

Charles Montgomery Skinner (August 4, 1844 - June 30, 1928) was an American writer who published myths and legends collection books. His dream was to make American folklore heritage more glorious. Skinner’s writings were wide ranging. His career in literature and journalism included editorship of the Brooklyn Eagle. His study of the paper’s famed Walt Whitman appeared in the Atlantic Monthly.  He also commented on turn-of-the-century America’s turbulent economy in Workers and the Trusts and American Communes.

This short piece of prose represents a bright example of Skinner's writing style — laconic and clear. This story, as many others by Skinner, is set in the time when America was young and was fighting for freedom and indepence. The central figure of the story is a British man who comes to America being on a mission and that man has a dream — to die here...