2602 The Great Tradition and other stories, by Katharine Fullerton Gerould (read 2 May 1994) When browsing at random at the Briar Cliff College library I noted in the Nov. 25, 1938, issue of The Commonweal an article on Edith Wharton by Agnes Repplier containing this sentence: "Katharine Fullerton Gerould began her career with a short story called 'Vain Oblations' which was so relentlessly tragic that nobody wants to remember it, and nobody can possibly forget." This intrigued me and I found this book at the Morningside College library. It was published in 1915 and then sold for $1.35. It contains sight short stories (but not Vain Oblations--that story can be found on page 759 of The Bedside Book of Famous American Stories, edited by Angus Burrell and Bennett A. Cerf, and published in 1936 by Random House). Most of them are dire, but one, "The Miracle," ends happily with a stepmother becoming attached to her 5-year-old stepson after her own baby dies at birth. I don't think Gerould is a great writer, but I would read more by her if I had the chance. ( )