Welcome back everyone to one thousand one classic short stories and tales.

This is your host and storyteller, John Haggardorn.

It's great to have you with us today.

One of the best surprises or good finds that I've made in literature and short stories is finding Frank Stockton's stories. He wasn't that well known, but he offers a great storytelling style and always brings a subtle element of surprise into his stories.

He's a great writer, and we've done a number of his pieces. So search for Frank Stockton,

and you'll enjoy everything that he does. I know I have. This is a great story. It's called

Love Before Breakfast. Hope you enjoy it.

I was still a young man when I came into the possession of an excellent estate.

This consisted of a large country house surrounded by lawns, groves, and gardens, and situated not far from the

flourishing little town of Boynton. Being an orphan with no brothers or sisters, I set up here a

bachelor's hall, in which, for two years, I lived with great satisfaction and comfort, improving my

grounds and furnishing my house.

When I had made all the improvements which were really needed, and feeling that I now had a

most delightful home to come back to, I thought it would be an excellent thing to take a trip

to Europe, give my mind a run in fresh fields, and pick up a lot of bric-a-brac and ideas

for the adornment and advantage of my house

and mind. It was the custom of the residence in my neighborhood who owned houses and traveled in

the summer to let their houses during their absence. My business agent and myself agreed that this

would be an excellent thing for me to do.

If the house were led to a suitable family, it would yield me a considerable income,

and the place would not present on my return that air of retroaggression and desolation,

which I might expect if it were left unoccupied and in charge of a caretaker.

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