A rattling romance, full of humor, dash and incident. The hero, "the O'Ruddy," is an inimitable Irish blade, witty, audacious and irresistible. Stephen Crane was at work on the ms. of this novel, of which he had completed the greater part when he died. He had talked the novel over very thoroughly with his friend Robert Barr, one of his last requests being that Barr should finish it.

The O'Ruddy is a satirical romance story by Robert Barr. Barr was a Scottish-Canadian short story writer and novelist. Excerpt: "But how was I to carve a friend out of this black Bristol at such short notice? My sense told me that friends could not be found in the road like pebbles, but some curious feeling kept me abroad, scanning by the light of the lanterns or the torches each face that passed me. A low dull roar came from the direction of the quay, and this was the noise of the sailor-men, being drunk. I knew that there would be none found there to suit my purpose, but my spirit led me to wander so that I could not have told why I went this way or that way."