Excerpt from Boots at the Holly Tree Inn Seen a good deal? Why of course he had. I should say so, he could assure me, if I only knew about a twentieth part of what had come in his way. Why, it would be easier for him, he expected, to tell what he hadn't seen than what he had. Ah! A deal, it would. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

While staying at the Holly-Tree Inn on Christmas Eve, a traveler is entertained with a story by Boots, an employee at the inn.

In this short story by Charles Dickens, a group of travelers stranded at the Holly Tree Inn share tales of their pasts. Dickens weaves together several different narratives in this charming and humorous holiday tale. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Hunted Down And Other Stories Table Of Contents HUNTED DOWN THE BOOTS AT THE HOLLY-TREE INN HOLIDAY ROMANCE

The first of three Holly Trees opened in Chicago in June 1872, and Gollin says that "over the next few years dozens of other Holly Trees opened in other cities, many of them after consultation with Annie." An 1874 New York Times article refers to a "Holly-Tree Coffee-house Movement." The name was a tribute to Charles Dickens. It echoed the title of a Charles Dickens story, "The Boots at the Holly Tree Inn." The story merely names the inn in passing; the 1855 issue of Household Words was entitled The Holly Tree Inn and was a collection of pieces and stories about the fictitious inn. Gollin notes that Fields heard Dickens read the story on an 1867 visit to Boston, and Fields was touched by the "cheerful Christmas story about warm relationships that cross class divisions." The name was also a reference to "the beneficent holly tree at [Dickens'] graveside.