The Drawing Of The Three (the Dark Tower, Book 2)

    STEPHEN KING THE DARK TOWER II THE DRAWING OF THE THREE   Illustrated by Phil Hale       PLUME Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand   Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England Published by Plume, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Originally published in a limited edition by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc., West Kingston, Rhode Island. First Plume Printing, March, 1989 5 7 9 11 13 12 10 8 6   Copyright © Stephen King, 1987 Illustrations copyright © Phil Hale, 1987 All rights reserved   REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA   LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:   King, Stephen. The drawing of the three.   (The Dark tower; 2) I. Title. II. Series: King, Stephen. Dark tower; 2.. PS3561.I483D74 1989 813'.54 88-28018 ISBN 0-452-27961-5   Printed in the United States of America   Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.   BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT QUANTITY DISCOUNTS WHEN USED TO PROMOTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. FOR INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE TO PREMIUM MARKETING DIVISION, PENGUIN PUTNAM INC., 375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014.                                           To Don Grant, who's taken a chance on thesenovels, one by one.       CONTENTS     ARGUMENT   prologue: the sailor   THE PRISONER 1 • THE DOOR 2 • EDDIE DEAN 3 • CONTACT AND LANDING 4 • THE TOWER 5 • SHOWDOWN AND SHOOT-OUT   SHUFFLE   THE LADY OF SHADOWS 1 • DETTA AND ODETTA 2 • RINGING THE CHANGES 3 • ODETTA ON THE OTHER SIDE 4 • DETTA ON THE OTHER SIDE   RESHUFFLE   THE PUSHER 1 • BITTER MEDICINE 2 • THE HONEYPOT 3 • ROLAND TAKES HIS MEDICINE 4 • THE DRAWING   FINAL SHUFFLE   AFTERWORD   ILLUSTRATIONS   DID-A-CHICK   ROLAND   ON THE BEACH   SOUVENIR   WAITING FORROLAND   DETTA   WAITNG FOR THE PUSHER   NOTHING BUT THE HILT   JACK MORT   THE GUNSLINGER     ARGUMENT   The Drawing of the Threeis the second volume of a long tale calledThe Dark Tower, a tale inspired by and to some degree dependent upon Robert Browning's narrative poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" (which in its turn owes a debt toKing Lear). The first volume,The Gunslinger, tells how Roland, the last gunslinger of a world which has "moved on," finally catches up with the man in black ... a sorcerer he has chased for a very long time—justhow long we do not yet know. The man in black turns out to be a fellow named Walter, who falsely claimed the friendship of Roland's father in those days before the world moved on. Roland's goal is not this half-human creature but the Dark Tower; the man in black—and, more specifically, what the man in blackknows— is his first step on his road to that mysterious place. Who, exactly, is Roland? What was his world like before it "moved on?