Think of him as the forgotten brother of Mark Twain. Both had similar lives, were good friends, and lived in San Francisco around the same time. Ambrose Bierce, however, followed a different path than Twain. While both had comparable humor and were equals in their genius, Bierce clearly was the better when it came to wit. Public figures quaked in fear of his satirical pen, and newspapers sales soared when he was published. Over the years, many of his jabs at the establishment appeared in local newspapers and were later collected into The Devil's Dictionary, a "cynical" book which instantly became one of the defining works of Bierce's life. There is another tale, however, which seems to reflect some of his opinion on life: Beyond the Wall.
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The story, written in the first person, begins by mentioning a character by the name of Mohun Dampier, who the narrator is to meet for the first time in many years. He proceeds to describe the man as he remembers him to be; a strong, scholarly young man who was kind and successful but never really had to work a day in his life. In the days since his youth, the narrator reports, correspondence between himself and his old friends never seems to last.
Unfortunately for our storyteller, Mohun has changed some in the time that passed, and is no longer the good-looking gentleman that he was. Weak, thin and extremely pale, he nevertheless welcomes the narrator into his home, offering him a cigar and a place by the fire. The two engage in small talk for awhile until, out of nowhere, a faint tapping can be heard coming from the wall directly behind our narrator. Thinking it odd, he rises to leave, but is stopped by Dampier, who dismisses the sound and tries to change the topic. Nevertheless, after the noise is repeated and the topic cannot be avoided any longer, Mohun begins the story which can possibly explain the tapping.
In short, Dampier's tale is of a practically non-existent love affair between himself and the girl next door.
