Works by Arlo Bates
- Written by Arlo Bates
Published December, 1887
Nantucket sleeps under a haze of history, a place of cobblestone lanes and widow’s walks where time seems to have stopped. But beneath this quaint veneer lies a pastime of “virile and barbaric delight.” Join an expedition led by a garrulous old captain, mummified by salt air and full of tall tales, as we venture past the breakers for a day of sharking. This 1899 sketch captures the violent struggle with the “blue-dog,” where the thrill of danger wakes the savage in even the most civilized soul.
- Written by Arlo Bates
Published October, 1886
On a gray November day along Harpswell Neck, a singular procession emerges from the hemlocks. Six fish-wives bear the rough coffin of Hannah Stover, for the men of the village have refused to touch it. But at the churchyard gate, a sullen wall of fishermen waits to block their path. They claim the dead woman was a witch who belongs in the rocky “Devil’s Den,” not consecrated ground. As the mob’s fury rises, Mercy Stover must find the courage to defy her neighbors or watch her stepmother’s remains desecrated by the very people she once nursed.
© 2026 All Rights Reserved.