Stories by Foreign Authors

A storm on the dangerous waters near Panama leaves a vital lighthouse without a keeper, and the consul must find a replacement at once. Into this urgent search comes Skavinski, an elderly Polish veteran with a soldier's bearing, a face etched by hardship, and a life marked by honors, exile, and restless labor. His quiet dignity wins him the post, and the lighthouse's renewed beam becomes a hard-won refuge for a man who has spent decades chasing rest and never finding it. In the tower's calm, meditative solitude, Skavinski settles into a happiness he has never known: watching ships and steamers, feeding sea-mews, gathering shells, and learning to love the barren island for the wide tropical beauty it opens onto. Yet his deepest ties remain with his lost homeland. When a package of Polish books arrives, the language of his youth awakens buried memory, and Mickiewicz's poetry carries him back across the ocean in a flood of grief, joy, and longing. The volume also includes a brief comic-romantic episode in which Mr. Liakos arranges a courtship for the anxious Mr. Plateas, blending suspense, awkwardness, and gentle humor. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.