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Solidity
Programming
Essentials
Second Edition

A guide to building smart contracts and tokens using

the widely used Solidity language

Ritesh Modi

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI
Solidity Programming Essentials
Second Edition
Copyright © 2022 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher,
except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty,
either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors,
will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by
this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies
and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing
cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Associate Group Product Manager: Richa Tripathi
Publishing Product Manager: Gebin George
Senior Editor: Rohit Singh
Content Development Editor: Kinnari Chohan
Technical Editor: Maran Fernandes
Copy Editor: Safis Editing
Project Coordinator: Manisha Singh
Proofreader: Safis Editing
Indexer: Subalakshmi Govindan
Production Designer: Shankar Kalbhor
Marketing Coordinator: Sonakshi Bubbar
First published: April 2018
Second edition: May 2022
Production reference: 1200522
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham
B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-80323-118-1
www.packt.com
 Contributors
About the author
Ritesh Modi is a technologist with more than 18 years of experience. He holds a master's
degree in science in AI/ML from LJMU. He has been recognized as a Microsoft Regional
Director for his contributions to building tech communities, products, and services. He
has published more than 10 tech books in the past and is a cloud architect, speaker, and
leader who is popular for his contributions to data centers, Azure, Kubernetes, blockchain,
cognitive services, DevOps, AI, and automation.

"I want to thank the people who have been close to me and supported me,
especially my wife, Sangeeta, my daughter, Avni, and my parents."
About the reviewer
Kevin Bluer is a lead blockchain engineer at ConsenSys, focusing on open source
development tooling such as Truffle and Ganache. Before Web3, he had over 15 years
of experience in software development, working with companies across the industrial
spectrum, including Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and Viacom. He is also an experienced
trainer and mentor, having worked with thousands of developers around the globe. Kevin
is also an active investor, photographer, and runner.
 Table of Contents
Preface

Part 1: The Fundamentals of Solidity and

Ethereum
1
An Introduction to Blockchain, Ethereum, and Smart
Contracts
Technical requirements 4 Mining nodes 17
What is a blockchain? 5 Ethereum validators 17

The need for blockchain 6 Ethereum accounts 17

Understanding cryptography 7 Externally owned accounts 17
Hashing7 Contract accounts 18
Digital signatures 8 Ether, gas, and transactions 18
Reviewing blockchain and Ethereum
architecture9 Blocks23
Relationship between blocks 10 An end-to-end transaction 25
How transactions and blocks are Smart contract 26
related to each other 12 Writing smart contracts 26
Consensus13 The internals of smart contract
Proof of work 13 deployment32
Proof of stake 16 Summary33
Ethereum nodes 16 Questions33
EVM16 Further reading 33
vi Table of Contents

2
Installing Ethereum and Solidity
Technical requirements 36 Creating a private network 42
Ethereum networks 36 Installing Ganache 46
Main network 37 Installing the Solidity compiler 50
Test network 37 Installing the web3 framework 51
Private network 38
Installing and using MetaMask 52
Consortium network 38
Summary59
Installing and configuring Geth 38 Questions59
Installing Geth on macOS 39 Further reading 59
Installing Geth on Windows 39

3
Introducing Solidity
Technical requirements 62 Storage and memory data
The Ethereum Virtual Machine 62 locations79
Understanding Solidity and Rule one 79
Solidity files 63 Rule two 79
Rule three 80
Pragma63
Rule four 80
Comments64
Rule five 80
Importing Solidity code 65
Rule six 82
Contracts66
Rule seven 83
The structure of a contract 67 Rule eight 84
State variables 69
Using literals 85
Structure70
Modifiers 71 Understanding integers 86
Events73 Understanding Boolean 87
Enumeration74 The byte data type 88
Functions74 Understanding arrays 90
Exploring data types in Solidity 76 Fixed arrays 91
Dynamic arrays 91
Value types 76
Special arrays 93
Reference types 77
Array properties 95
 Table of Contents vii

Knowing more about the Working with mappings 100

structure of an array 95 Summary104
Enumerations97 Questions105
Understanding the address Further reading 105
data type 99

4
Global Variables and Functions
Technical requirements 108 The difference between tx.origin and
msg.sender 114
Variable scoping 108
Type conversion 109 Cryptographic global variables 115
Implicit conversion 110 Address global variables 116
Explicit conversion 110 Contract global variables 116
Block and transaction Recovering addresses using
global variables 112 ecrecover117
Transaction- and message-related Summary122
global variables 114 Questions123
Further reading 123

5
Expressions and Control Structures
Technical requirements 126 Understanding the
Understanding Solidity do...while loop 131
expressions126 Understanding breaks  134
Understanding the if and if... Understanding continue  135
else decision control 128 Understanding return  136
Exploring while loops 129 Summary137
Questions137
Further reading 137
viii Table of Contents

Part 2: Writing Robust Smart Contracts

6
Writing Smart Contracts
Technical requirements 142 Polymorphism156
Smart contracts 142 Function polymorphism 156
Writing a smart contract 143 Contract polymorphism 157

Creating contracts 144 Method overriding 158

Using the new keyword 144 Abstract contracts 159
Using the address of a contract 147
Interfaces160
Contract constructor 148 Advanced interfaces 162
Contract composition 150 Library164
Inheritance150 Importing a library 165
Single inheritance 150
Multilevel inheritance 152 Summary166
Hierarchical inheritance 152 Questions167
Multiple inheritance 153 Further reading 167
Encapsulation155

7
Solidity Functions, Modifiers, and Fallbacks
Technical requirements 170 The address call method 181
Function input and output 170 The address callcode method 185
The address delegatecall method 185
Modifiers 172
The address staticcall method 186
Visibility scope 175
View, constant, and pure The fallback and receive
functions176 functions187
Address-related functions 179 Summary191
The address send method 179 Questions191
The address transfer method 181 Further reading 192
 Table of Contents ix

8
Exceptions, Events, and Logging
Technical requirements 194 Try-catch in Solidity  209
Exception handling 194 Events and logging 214
Require197 Summary218
Assert  202 Questions219
Revert  204
Further reading 219

9
Basics of Truffle and Unit Testing
Technical requirements 222 Interactively working with
Application development life Truffle 232
cycle management 222 Summary234
Introducing Truffle 223 Questions235
Development with Truffle 225 Further reading 235
Testing with Truffle 230

10
Debugging Contracts
Technical requirements 238 Using a block explorer 244
Overview of debugging 238 Summary247
The Remix editor 238 Questions247
Using events 244 Further reading 247
x Table of Contents

Part 3: Advanced Smart Contracts

11
Assembly Programming
Technical requirements 252 Working with storage slots 261
An introduction to Solidity and Calling contract functions 263
its advantages 252 Determining contract
Getting started with Assembly addresses  265
programming253 Summary266
Scopes and blocks 256 Questions267
Returning values 257 Further reading 267
Working with memory slots 258

12
Upgradable Smart Contracts
Technical requirements 270 Implementing simple solutions
Learning what constitutes with inheritance 277
upgradability270 Implementing simple solutions
Understanding dependency with composition 281
injection272 Implementing advanced
Providing instance addresses during solutions using proxy contracts 285
contract deployment 273 Writing upgradable contracts
Providing instance addresses following with upgradable storage 290
contract deployment 274
Summary292
Reviewing problematic smart Questions292
contracts275 Further reading 292

13
Writing Secure Contracts
Technical requirements 294 Reentrancy attack 296
SafeMath and under/overflow The EtherPot contract 297
attacks294 The Hacker contract 299
 Table of Contents xi

Solutions to the reentrancy Summary305

problem300 Questions306
Security best practices 304 Further reading 306

14
Writing Token Contracts
Technical requirements 308 The ERC721 implementation 323
Introducing tokens 308 EIP223  330
ERC20 Tokens 309 ERC165334

ERC20 standard 310 Summary337

ERC20 functionality  310
Questions338
ERC20 events 312
Further reading 338
Non-fungible tokens 320
ERC721322

15
Solidity Design Patterns
Technical requirements 340 Data cohesion 349
Introducing entity modeling 340 Out-of-bounds nested structure 349
Static data within a nested structure 349
Ethereum storage 341
The nested structure will not change in
Data types in Ethereum 341
the near future 349
Understanding data modeling Containment relationship 349
in Solidity 343 Having few relationships 350
Nested versus reference fields 343
Performing data modeling
Exploring types of relationships346 using an example 350
One-to-one relationships 347 Structures350
One-to-many relationships 347 State variables 351
Many-to-many relationships 348 Adding Employees 351
Retrieving a single Employees record 352
Reviewing the rules for Updating Employees 352
embedding structures 348 Retrieving all Employees 353
xii Table of Contents

Ownership in smart contracts 354 Transfer of the ownership of assets

Exploring ownership in Solidity 354 within a smart contract 364

Modifier 356 Stoppable/haltable smart

contract pattern 366
Establishing ownership of a
smart contract 357 Summary368
Multiownership359 Questions369
Transfer of ownership 361 Further reading 369
MultiSig contracts 363
Assessments
Index
Other Books You May Enjoy
 Preface
I am not sure when there was last so much of a discussion about a single technology
across governments, organizations, communities, and individuals. Blockchain is a
technology that is being discussed and debated at length across the world and in many
organizations, and with reason. Blockchain is not a technology that has a limited effect
on our lives. It has and will have widespread ramifications in our lives. The day is not far
off when blockchain will touch almost every aspect of our daily activities—paying bills,
making transactions with any organization, receiving a salary, verifying our identity,
receiving educational results, and so on. This is just the beginning, and we have just
started to understand the meaning of decentralization and its impact.
I have been working on blockchain for quite some time now and have been a
crypto-investor for a while. I am a technologist and am completely fascinated by
Bitcoin because of the architectural marvel it is. I have never come across such a
superior thought process and architecture that actually solves not only economic and
social problems but also some technically unsolved problems, such as Byzantine general
problems and fault tolerance. It solves the problem of distributed computing at large.
Ethereum is built in a similar fashion, and I was in awe when I first heard about and
experienced smart contracts. Smart contracts are one of the greatest innovations to deploy
decentralized applications on blockchain and extend it easily with custom logic, policies,
and rules.
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this book and sincerely hope that you also enjoy
reading about and implementing Solidity. I have brought in a lot of my Solidity experience
and try to make the most of it. I hope this book makes you a better Solidity developer and
a superior programmer.
Do let me know if there is anything I can do to make your experience better with this
book. I am all ears. Happy learning!
xiv Preface

Who this book is for

This book is primarily aimed at beginners who would like to get started with Solidity
programming to develop an Ethereum smart contract. No prior knowledge of the EVM is
required, but knowing the basics of any programming language will help you follow along.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to Blockchain, Ethereum, and Smart Contracts, takes you through
the fundamentals of blockchain, its terminology and jargon, its advantages, the problems
it's trying to solve, and its industry relevance. It will explain the important concepts
and architecture in detail. This chapter will also teach you about concepts specific to
Ethereum, such as externally owned accounts, contract accounts, and its currency in
terms of gas and Ether. Ethereum is heavily based on cryptography, so you'll also learn
about hash, encryption, and the usage of keys for creating transactions and accounts. How
transactions and accounts are created, how gas is paid for each transaction, the difference
between message calls and transactions, and the storage of code and state management
will be explained in detail.
Chapter 2, Installing Ethereum and Solidity, takes you through creating a private
blockchain using the Ethereum platform. It will provide step-by-step guidance for creating
a private chain. Another important tool in the Ethereum ecosystem is Ganache, which
is mainly used for development and testing purposes. This chapter will also show the
process of installing Ganache and using it for developing, testing, and deploying Solidity
contracts. You will also install MetaMask, which is a wallet and can interact with any kind
of Ethereum network. MetaMask is used to create new accounts, interact with contracts,
and use them. The mining of transactions will also be shown in this chapter. Remix is a
great tool for authoring Solidity contracts, shown toward the end of the chapter.
Chapter 3, Introducing Solidity, begins the Solidity journey. In this chapter, you'll learn
the basics of Solidity by understanding its different versions and how to use a version
using pragma. Another important aspect of this chapter is understanding the big picture
of authoring smart contracts. Smart contract layout will be discussed in depth using
important constructs such as state variables, functions, constant functions, events,
modifiers, fallbacks, enums, and structs. This chapter discusses and implements the most
important element of any programming language—data types and variables. Data types
can be simple or complex; there can be value and reference types and storage and memory
types—all these types of variables will also be shown using examples.
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
 By Christopher Morley

CONTENTS

The Perfect Reader 1

The Autogenesis of a Poet 5
The Old Reliable 19
In Memoriam, Francis Barton Gummere 23
Adventures at Lunch Time 30
Secret Transactions of the Three Hours for Lunch Club 36
Initiation 42
Creed of the Three Hours for Lunch Club 47
A Preface to the Profession of Journalism 51
Fulton Street, and Walt Whitman 57
McSorley's 63
A Portrait 69
Going to Philadelphia 73
Our Tricolour Tie 86
The Club of Abandoned Husbands 95
West Broadway 100
The Rudeness of Poets 106
1100 Words 110
Some Inns 115
The Club in Hoboken 124
The Club at Its Worst 129
A Suburban Sentimentalist 133
Gissing 138
A Dialogue 143
At the Gasthof zum Ochsen 147
Mr. Conrad's New Preface 151
The Little House 155
Tadpoles 158
Magic in Salamis 162
Consider the Commuter 167
The Permanence of Poetry 178
Books of the Sea 182
Fallacious Meditations on Criticism 192
Letting Out the Furnace 202
By the Fireplace 206
A City Note-Book 210
Thoughts in the Subway 229
Dempsey vs. Carpentier 234
A Letter to a Sea Captain 239

PIPEFULS
 By Christopher Morley
Illustrated By Walter Jack Duncan

CONTENTS

PAGE
Preface vii
On Making Friends 3
Thoughts on Cider 10
One-Night Stands 18
The Owl Train 25
Safety Pins 29
Confessions of a “Colyumist” 34
Moving 42
Surf Fishing 48
“Idolatry” 52
The First Commencement Address 60
The Downfall of George Snipe 63
Meditations of a Bookseller 66
If Buying a Meal Were Like Buying
71
a House
Adventures in High Finance 74
On Visiting Bookshops 78
A Discovery 83
 Silas Orrin Howes 91
Joyce Kilmer 97
Tales of Two
109
Cities
I. Philadelphia:
An Early Train
Ridge Avenue
The University and the Urchin
Pine Street
Pershing in Philadelphia
Fall Fever
Two Days Before Christmas
In West Philadelphia
Horace Traubel
II. New York: 163
The Anatomy of Manhattan
Vesey Street
Brooklyn Bridge
Three Hours for Lunch
Passage from Some Memoirs
First Lessons in Clowning
House Hunting
Long Island Revisited
On Being in a Hurry
Confessions of a Human Globule
Notes on a Fifth Avenue Bus
Sunday Morning
Venison Pasty
Grand Avenue, Brooklyn
On Waiting for the Curtain to Go
236
Up
 Musings of John Mistletoe 240
The World's Most Famous Oration 242
On Laziness 244
Teaching the Prince to Take Notes 249
A City Notebook 253
On Going to Bed 270

SONGS FOR A LITTLE HOUSE

 By Christopher Morley

CONTENTS

SONGS FOR A LITTLE HOUSE

BAYBERRYCANDLES
SECRET LAUGHTER
A CHARM FOR OUR NEW FIREPLACE
SIX WEEKS OLD
THE YOUNG MOTHER
PETER PAN
THE 5:42
READING ALOUD
THE MOON-SHEEP
MAR QUONG, CHINESE LAUNDRYMAN
THE MILKMAN
IN HONOUR OF TAFFY TOPAZ
THE CEDAR CHEST
O PRAISE ME NOT THE COUNTRY
ANIMAL CRACKERS
THE WAKEFUL HUSBAND
LIGHT VERSE
FULL MOON
MY WIFE
WASHING THE DISHES
THE FURNACE
THE CHURCH OF UNBENT KNEES
THE NEW ALTMAN BUILDING
THE MADONNA OF THE CURB
MY PIPE
TO A GRANDMOTHER

A HANDFUL OF SONNETS
I
II
PEDOMETER
ARS DURA
O. HENRY—APOTHECARY
FOR THE CENTENARY OF KEATS'S SONNET (1816)
TWO O'CLOCK
THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER
THE WEDDED LOVER
TO YOU, REMEMBERING THE PAST
THE LAST SONNET

THE WAR
IRONY
TO A FRENCH BABY
AFTER HEARING GERMAN MUSIC
IN MEMORY OF THE AMERICAN AVIATORS KILLED IN FRANCE
THE FLAGS ON FIFTH AVENUE
"THEY"
BALLAD OF FRENCH RIVERS
PEASANT AND KING
TILL TWISTON WENT
TO RUDYARD KIPLING
TO A U-BOAT
KITCHENER
MARCH 1915
DEAD SHIPS
ENGLAND, JULY 1913 (TO RUPERT BROOKE)
TO THE OXFORD MEN IN THE WAR
FOR THE PRESENT TIME
AMERICA, 1917
ON VIMY RIDGE

HAY FEVER, AND OTHER LITERARY POLLEN

HAY FEVER, IF RUDYARD KIPLING HAD IT
HAY FEVER, IF AMY LOWELL HAD IT
HAY FEVER, IF HILAIRE BELLOC HAD IT
HAY FEVER, IF EDGAR LEE MASTERS HAD IT
HYMN TO THE DAIRYMAIDS ON BEACON STREET
ON FIRST LOOKING INTO A SUBWAY EXCAVATION
BALLAD OF NEW AMSTERDAM
CASUALTY
AT THE WOMEN'S CLUBS
ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY COAL-BIN
MOONS WE SAW AT SEVENTEEN
AT THE DOG SHOW
THE OLD SWIMMER
TO ALL MY FRIENDS
A GRUB STREET RECESSIONAL

CHIMNEYSMOKE
 By Christopher Morley
CONTENTS

PAGE
TO THE LITTLE HOUSE 19
A GRACE BEFORE WRITING 20
DEDICATION FOR A FIREPLACE 21
TAKING TITLE 22
THE SECRET 25
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME 26
AT THE MERMAID CAFETERIA 28
OUR HOUSE 29
ON NAMING A HOUSE 31
A HALLOWE'EN MEMORY 32
REFUSING YOU IMMORTALITY 35
BAYBERRY CANDLES 36
SECRET LAUGHTER 37
SIX WEEKS OLD 38
A CHARM 41
MY PIPE 42
THE 5:42 44
PETER PAN 48
IN HONOR OF TAFFY TOPAZ 49
THE CEDAR CHEST 50
READING ALOUD 51
ANIMAL CRACKERS 52
THE MILKMAN 55
LIGHT VERSE 56
THE FURNACE 57
WASHING THE DISHES 58
THE CHURCH OF UNBENT KNEES 61
ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY COAL-BIN 62
THE OLD SWIMMER 66
THE MOON-SHEEP 70
SMELLS 71
SMELLS (JUNIOR) 72
MAR QUONG, CHINESE LAUNDRYMAN 75
THE FAT LITTLE PURSE 76
THE REFLECTION 80
THE BALLOON PEDDLER 82
LINES FOR AN ECCENTRIC'S BOOK PLATE 86
TO A POST-OFFICE INKWELL 89
THE CRIB 90
THE POET 94
TO A DISCARDED MIRROR 97
TO A CHILD 98
TO A VERY YOUNG GENTLEMAN 100
TO AN OLD-FASHIONED POET 104
BURNING LEAVES IN SPRING 105
BURNING LEAVES, NOVEMBER 106
A VALENTINE GAME 107
FOR A BIRTHDAY 108
KEATS 111
TO H. F. M., A SONNET IN SUNLIGHT 113
QUICKENING 114
AT A WINDOW SILL 115
THE RIVER OF LIGHT 116
OF HER GLORIOUS MADNESS 118
IN AN AUCTION ROOM 119
EPITAPH FOR A POET WHO WROTE NO POETRY 120
SONNET BY A GEOMETER 121
TO A VAUDEVILLE TERRIER 122
TO AN OLD FRIEND 125
TO A BURLESQUE SOUBRETTE 126
THOUGHTS WHILE PACKING A TRUNK 129
STREETS 130
TO THE ONLY BEGETTER 131
PEDOMETER 133
HOSTAGES 134
ARS DURA 137
O. HENRY—APOTHECARY 138
FOR THE CENTENARY OF KEATS'S SONNET 139
TWO O'CLOCK 140
THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 141
THE WEDDED LOVER 142
TO YOU, REMEMBERING THE PAST 143
CHARLES AND MARY 144
TO A GRANDMOTHER 145
DIARISTS 146
THE LAST SONNET 147
THE SAVAGE 148
ST. PAUL'S AND WOOLWORTH 149
ADVICE TO A CITY 150
THE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY 151
GREEN ESCAPE 153
VESPER SONG FOR COMMUTERS 157
THE ICE WAGON 158
AT A MOVIE THEATRE 161
SONNETS IN A LODGING HOUSE 163
THE MAN WITH THE HOE (PRESS) 167
DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE GOD? 168
RAPID TRANSIT 170
CAUGHT IN THE UNDERTOW 171
TO HIS BROWN-EYED MISTRESS 172
PEACE 173
SONG, IN DEPRECATION OF PULCHRITUDE 175
MOUNTED POLICE 176
TO HIS MISTRESS, DEPLORING THAT HE IS NOT
179
AN ELIZABETHAN GALAXY
THE INTRUDER 181
TIT FOR TAT 182
SONG FOR A LITTLE HOUSE 185
THE PLUMPUPPETS 186
DANDY DANDELION 190
THE HIGH CHAIR 192
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT 193
AUTUMN COLORS 197
THE LAST CRICKET 198
TO LOUISE 199
CHRISTMAS EVE 203
EPITAPH ON THE PROOFREADER OF THE
204
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
THE MUSIC BOX 205
TO LUATH 209
THOUGHTS ON REACHING LAND 212
A SYMPOSIUM 214
TO A TELEPHONE OPERATOR WHO HAS A BAD
218
COLD
NURSERY RHYMES FOR THE TENDER-HEARTED 219
THE TWINS 227
A PRINTER'S MADRIGAL 228
THE POET ON THE HEARTH 230
O PRAISE ME NOT THE COUNTRY 231
A STONE IN ST. PAUL'S GRAVEYARD 235
THE MADONNA OF THE CURB 236
THE ISLAND 240
SUNDAY NIGHT 242
ENGLAND, JULY, 1913 246
CASUALTY 250
A GRUB STREET RECESSIONAL 251
PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR A FUNERAL
253
SERVICE

ILLUSTRATIONS

This hearth was built for thy delight— Frontispiece

And by a friend's bright gift of wine,
23
I dedicate this house of mine
And of all man's felicities— 33
A little world he feels and sees:
39
His mother's arms, his mother's knees—
The 5:42 47
And Daddy once said he would like to be me
53
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!
But heavy feeding complicates
59
The task by soiling many plates
How ill avail, on such a frosty night 65
The old swimmer 69
But Katie, the cook, is more splendid than all— 73
Perhaps it's a ragged child crying 79
The Balloon Peddler 85
If you appreciate it more
87
Than I—why don't return it!
And then one night— 93
The human cadence and the subtle chime
95
Of little laughters—
What years of youthful ills and pangs and bumps— 103
A Birthday 109
You must be rigid servant of your art! 123
You came, and impudent and deuce-may-care
127
Danced where the gutter flamed with footlight fire
Hostages 135
My eyes still pine for the comely line
155
Of an outbound vessel's hull
A man ain't so secretive, never cares
165
What kind of private papers he leaves lay—
Mounted Police 177
Courtesy 183
The Plumpuppets 189
... It's hard to have to tell
195
How unresponsive I have found her
... When you see, this Great First Time,
201
Lit candles on a Christmas Tree!
The music box 207
Solugubrious 217
In the midnight, like yourself,
221
I explore the pantry shelf!
The Twins 227
O praise me not the country 233
The wail of sickly children— 239
Ah, does the butcher—heartless clown—
245
Beget that shadow on her brow?

TALES FROM A ROLLTOP

DESK
 By Christopher Morley
Illustrated By Walter Jack Duncan

CONTENTS

TALES FROM A ROLLTOP DESK

THE PRIZE PACKAGE
ADVICE TO TO LOVELORN
THE CURIOUS CASE OF KENELM DIGBY
GLORIA AND THE GARDEN OF SWEDEN
THE COMMUTATION CHOPHOUSE
THE PERT LITTLE HAT
URN BURIAL
THE BATTLE OF MANILA ENVELOPES
THE CLIMACTERIC
PUNCH AND JUDY
REFERRED TO THE AUTHOR
 *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDEX OF THE
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