A child shall lead them : $b The house that Jack built; and Another Moses
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2025-12-03 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77390 |
Description
Granada in Flammen by Ludwig Huna is a moral religious novel written in the late 19th century. It presents a didactic domestic drama centered on miserly publican John Drinkrow and his sons—calculating Tom and wayward Ratcliffe—whose paths are shaped by greed, drink, and crime until a small child’s simple faith begins to call one of them back to repentance. The opening of the story sets the scene in a London suburb, where John’s hoarded wealth and hard heart poison his home. After Ratcliffe drunkenly asks for money, his father drives him out; a later plea to Tom is coldly rebuffed, and Ratcliffe returns to his wife Nancy and their little daughter Maida with growing desperation. A burglary at the public house while John is away leaves a thief injured and fleeing—strongly suggesting Ratcliffe’s involvement—and he soon grows weak, coughing blood and turning sullen as a guilty secret gnaws at him. The kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Curr, challenges the father and supports the young couple, even as John dismisses her and marries the practical, plain-spoken Mrs. Moo. Nancy’s priest-uncle in Devon takes in the ailing Ratcliffe; Maida later joins them and, with a bedtime prayer—“Jesus loves you, dadda”—softens her father’s heart, prompting him to read his late mother’s Bible and confess his crime to Nancy. At Ratcliffe’s request, a telegram summons John, and the scene shifts back to the public house as the miser receives the message while Tom urges him not to go. (This is an automatically generated summary.)