



Produced by David Widger





THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL AND OTHER ESSAYS

By Ambrose Bierce

Edited by S. O. HOWES

Copyright 1909




A NOTE BY THE AUTHOR

IT WAS expected that this book would be included in my "Collected
Works" now in course of publication, but unforeseen delay in the date of
publication has made this impossible. The selection of its contents was
not made by me, but the choice has my approval and the publication my
authority.

AMBROSE BIERCE.

Washington, D. C. March 14. 1909.




PREFACE

THE note of prophecy! It sounds sharp and clear in many a vibrant line,
in many a sonorous sentence of the essays herein collected for the
first time. Written for various Californian journals and periodicals
and extending over a period of more than a quarter of a century, these
opinions and reflections express the refined judgment of one who has
seen, not as through a glass darkly, the trend of events. And having
seen the portentous effigy that we are making of the Liberty our fat