Transcriber's Note: Typo "gantlet" was replaced with "gauntlet" but all other spelling was retained as it appeared in the original text. "HE WAS A NOTICEABLY HANDSOME FIGURE AS HE SAT ALONE IN THE BOX" [See p. 31 THE LIGHT OF THE STAR A Novel BY HAMLIN GARLAND AUTHOR OF "HESPER" "THE CAPTAIN OF THE GRAY-HORSE TROOP" ETC. ETC. NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS :: MCMIV THE LIGHT OF THE STAR Published May, 1904. THE LIGHT OF THE STAR I FTER the appointment with Miss Merival reached him (through the hand of her manager), young Douglass grew feverishly impatient of the long days which lay between. Waiting became a species of heroism. Each morning he reread his manuscript and each evening found him at the theatre, partly to while away the time, but mainly in order that he might catch some clew to the real woman behind the shining mask. His brain was filled with the light of the star—her radiance dazzled him.