'The Long Run' is a romance-adventure novel penned by Edith Wharton. The story begins by introducing us to the narrator, who accidentally met his old friend Halston Merrick at a dinner party in New York after a 12-year absence. Merrick and the narrator were at Harvard together and shared similar interests and ideals. After college, Merrick had a promising start in life, spending time at Oxford, working as a private secretary for the Ambassador in England, and running for political office. He also published a book on Municipal Government. However, after his father died, he took over the family's Iron Foundry business in Yonkers and stayed there for a few years before the narrator lost touch with him.