The Hundred, and Other Stories

In Short

Gertrude Hall Brownell’s 1898 collection gathers five detailed portraits of human vulnerability, tracking characters as they reach for beauty, independence, or affection only to be reshaped by circumstance. Across festive city houses, quiet country lanes, and Italian pensions, servants, students, and runaway musicians confront the gap between their romantic expectations and their actual lives. Marked by precise observation and a sharp eye for social atmosphere, these stories have endured for their unpretentious sympathy, catching men and women at the precise moment their private illusions yield to hard, clarifying truths.

The Story

The book opens with "The Hundred," where a servant named Sally takes a poor little girl, Tibbie, on a secret Christmas Eve excursion through a brightly lit city on a streetcar. Their destination is a grand house where Sally’s mistress, Mrs. Darling, has left her household behind to go out for the evening. Sally sneaks Tibbie inside to show her a magnificent room filled with a hundred elaborate dolls dressed in colorful silk, plaid, and ribboned costumes. The children play a game of choosing and distributing the dolls until an accident shatters one of the figures, throwing the domestic staff into panic. As Mrs. Bonnet, the mistress’s maid, frets over the broken doll and threatens dismissal, the kindly cook, Mrs. MacGrath, steps in to comfort the crying child, promising that whatever trouble follows will pass by morning.

In "The Passing of Spring," a young student becomes hopelessly distracted by the light, the street shops, and the mere sight of women’s hair as spring arrives. Neglecting his studies to pursue a girl whose hair catches the light under a straw brim, he fails his examinations miserably. Facing the anger of his father, he pawns his watch, studs, and cigarette case, carrying his ruined wrapped belongings home. Wandering out into the open fields at night, he sinks into the grass, nursing his disappointment until he falls asleep under the stars. He awakens near dawn with an aching head, realizing that time will blur his heartbreak and that a sorrow, once recognized as temporary, has already begun to fade.

"Paula in Italy" follows a delicate young woman who travels to Florence with her elderly, protective relative Veronika, hoping to find health and romance in the Italian sun. Paula falls under the spell of the city and becomes fascinated by a handsome young Italian musician she passes on the stairs. Soon, however, her physical weakness confines her to her room, where she sits on the balcony in her furs, watching the hills and throwing silver to a beggar-woman. As her illness deepens and the musician’s music fails to sound, Paula sinks into depression, weeping over her Italian primer and realizing she may never recover.

In "Dorastus," a widowed mother named Emmie tries to rebuild her quiet domestic life after an unhappy first marriage. Her son, Dorastus, inherits his dead father’s passion for the violin, secretly playing the long-stored instrument in his attic bedroom before running away to pursue a musical career in the city. Determined to take care of himself, he leaves a letter forbidding her to seek him out. Months later, Emmie tracks him to a dingy boardinghouse, where she finds his scarred wooden violin case in a corner and learns from the landlady that her proud, scornful boy has been playing in the streets, stubbornly refusing neighborly meals while dreaming of fame.

"Chloe, Chloris, and Cytherea" shifts to a summer countryside, where Chloris returns home after fleeing the pain of seeing her companion, Damon, entranced by a stylish newcomer named Cytherea. Attending a local party, Chloris plays a dreamy waltz on the piano with one hand while the simple revelers dance. Later, supporting a humbled Damon as they stagger home across a dim stubble-field, Chloris comes to a quiet, philosophical acceptance of the grand, absurd chain of human envy and affection.

How It Unfolds

A secret Christmas adventure Sally takes little Tibbie on a thrilling streetcar ride across the city, promising a treat that turns out to be a room filled with a hundred dressed dolls. They sit on the floor playing a game of choosing the figures until a doll breaks, bringing the maid, the cook, and the threat of lost jobs crashing down around them.

The distraction of spring A young man loses his academic focus, wandering past shop windows and following the sight of female hair through the city streets. He fails his examinations, pawns his personal belongings, and spends a night in an open field, coming to terms with his self-inflicted failure under the starlight.

The fading dream of Florence Paula arrives in Italy bursting with romantic anticipation, eager to live and love while her companion Veronika looks on with anxiety. Illness soon traps Paula indoors, where she sits wrapped in furs on a balcony, watching for a handsome musician who ultimately fails to play.

The prodigal's violin Emmie is awakened in the night by the faint sound of a hidden Amati violin played by her young son, Dorastus. The boy runs away to make his own fortune in the city, leaving his mother to eventually discover him living in a dreary rooming house, stubbornly playing for pennies on street corners.

A summer reconciliation Chloris retreats to a quiet mountain village to nurse her wounded heart after Damon falls for the glamorous Cytherea. After playing for her rustic neighbors at a party, Chloris sits under the stars with Damon, guiding him home across the fields with a newly gained, humorous wisdom about love.

The People

• Sally: A lively, impulsive domestic servant who wants to give little Tibbie a magical Christmas experience. Her reckless generosity leads to the broken doll, but her resilient spirit accepts whatever trouble her employers might bring.
• Tibbie: An innocent, wide-eyed young girl who marvels at the city lights and streetcar rides. She is overwhelmed first by the joy of the hundred dolls and then by intense guilt when one of them is damaged.
• Mrs. Bonnet: Mrs. Darling's anxious, strict lady's-maid who values order, fears her mistress's sharp temper, and tries to keep the household staff in line when disaster strikes.
• Mrs. MacGrath: The warm-hearted, pragmatic cook whose broad humor and maternal kindness shield the crying child from the panicked staff, offering practical comfort and baked goods.
• The Student: An impressionable young scholar whose romantic whims lead him to abandon his studies. After failing his exams and pawning his belongings, he undergoes a painful but mature awakening lying out in the grass.
• Paula: A passionate, sickly young woman who travels to Florence seeking romance and vibrant life, only to be forced into quiet resignation as her physical strength ebbs away.
• Veronika: Paula’s older, devoted companion whose lack of Italian and deep practical concern make her distrust the foreign setting as she helplessly watches Paula's health decline.
• Emmie: A gentle, twice-married mother who longs for domestic peace, but finds herself haunted by her past when her son inherits his father's obsessive musical talent.
• Dorastus: Emmie’s proud, fierce young son who rejects charity and domestic comfort to run away to the city, determined to conquer the world with his father's old violin.
• Chloris: A observant, resilient young woman who retreats to the countryside after a romantic disappointment, eventually gaining the poise and empathy needed to comfort the man who overlooked her.
• Damon: A confused young man captivated by the shiny allure of Cytherea, who ultimately turns back to Chloris for steady comfort after his romantic illusions collapse.

In Its Own Voice

"The gas-globes at the ends of their jointed gold arms looked like splendid yellow pearls; on the dressing-table under them glittered a quantity of highly embossed silverware, out of all reasonable proportion with the little person owning it, who sat before the mirror beautifying her finger-nails while Mrs. Bonnet did her hair." — Mrs. Darling’s maid prepares her mistress for a Christmas Eve outing.

"He did not look up once at the stars, but lay sprawling with his forehead on his crossed arms, and let his heart torture itself at its own good leisure." — A failed student collapses in the summer grass after pawning his valuables.

"There was little to see, nothing that might not have belonged to any one in the wide world as well as to that boy; not one of these sordid appurtenances reminded her of him, except the music on the table--but any fiddler might have just such music." — Emmie surveys the cramped room where her runaway son has been living.

What It's Really About

These stories center on the painful, necessary collision between youthful romance and unyielding reality. Brownell explores how high expectations—whether a child's dream of a hundred perfect dolls, a student's idealization of spring love, or a sick girl's faith in the healing power of Italy—are inevitably tempered by life's quiet friction. Beneath the domestic comedy and narrative charm lies a persistent inquiry into pride, isolation, and dignity. The characters repeatedly seek refuge in fantasy or art, only to find that true maturity requires accepting loss, admitting weakness, and extending grace to themselves and the clumsy people around them.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate subtle late-nineteenth-century realist fiction will find much to admire in Brownell's sharp social observations and quiet emotional depth. Her prose captures delicate shifts of feeling with clear-eyed warmth, avoiding both heavy sentimentality and cynical mockery. The writing moves smoothly between light domestic comedy and quiet tragedy, offering vivid snapshots of period life—from the frantic energy of an old city streetcar to the dusty atmosphere of a third-rate boardinghouse.

The book asks for a reader's patience with its relaxed pace, occasional period phrasing, and traditional narrative structure. Yet these stories remain deeply human. The characters' struggles—navigating awkward romantic entanglements, dealing with disappointed expectations, and coping with family pride—feel entirely modern. It leaves behind the lingering sensation of having sat in a quiet room watching real people figure out how to live with their choices.