A WAIF OF THE PLAINSA WAIF OF THEPLAINSby Bret Harte1- Page 2-A WAIF OF THE PLAINSCHAPTER IA long level of dull gray that further away became a faint blue, withhere and there darker patches that looked like water. At times an openspace, blackened and burnt in an irregular circle, with a shred ofnewspaper, an old rag, or broken tin can lying in the ashes. Beyond thesealways a low dark line that seemed to sink into the ground at night, and...　

THE AMAZING INTERLUDETHE AMAZINGINTERLUDEby Mary Roberts Rinehart- Page 2-THE AMAZING INTERLUDECHAPTER IThe stage on which we play our little dramas of life and love has formost of us but one setting. It is furnished out with approximately the samethings. Characters come, move about and make their final exits throughlong-familiar doors. And the back drop remains approximately the samefrom beginning to end. Palace or hovel, forest or sea, it is the backgroundfor the moving figures of the play....　

　Winters on Ballybran were generally mild, so the fury of the first spring storms as they howled across the land was ever unexpected. This first one of the new season swept ferociously across the Milekey Ranges, bearing before its westward course the fleeing sleds of crystal singers like so much jetsam. Those laggard singers who had tarried too long at their claims were barely able to hold their bucking sleds on course as they bolted for the safety of the Heptite Guild plex.　Inside the gigantic Hangar, its baffles raised against the mach winds, ordered confusion reigned. Crystal singers lurched from their sleds, half deafened by windscream, exhausted by their turbulent flights. The Hangar c　

　　The drug-induced sleep wore off into nothingness, and the girl began the agonizing struggle back to consciousness. A dim and hazy light greeted her slowly opening eyes while a disgusting, putrid stench invaded her nostrils. She was nude, her bare back pressed flat against a damp, yellow, slime-coated wall. It was unreal, an impossibility, she tried to tell herself upon awakening. It had to be some kind of horrifying nightmare. Then suddenly, before she had a chance to fight the panic mushrooming inside her, the yellow slime on the floor rose and began working up the thighs of her defenseless body.　　Terrified beyond all reason, she began screaming screaming insanely as the abomination craw　

THE GIANTS AND THE HERD-BOY[12][12] From the Bukowniaer. Von Wliolocki.There was once upon a time a poor boy who had neither father normother. In order to gain a living he looked after the sheep of agreat Lord. Day and night he spent out in the open fields, andonly when it was very wet and stormy did he take refuge in alittle hut on the edge of a big forest. Now one night, when hewas sitting on the grass beside his flocks, he heard not very farfrom him the sound as of some one crying. He rose up andfollowed the direction of the noise. To his dismay andastonishment he found a Giant lying at the entrance of the wood;he was about to run off as fast as his legs could carry him, when...　

A. V. LaiderA. V. LaiderBy MAX BEERBOHM1- Page 2-A. V. LaiderI UNPACKED my things and went down to await luncheon.It was good to be here again in this little old sleepy hostel by the sea.Hostel I say, though it spelt itself without an "s" and even placed acircumflex above the "o." It made no other pretension. It was very cozyindeed.I had been here just a year before, in mid-February, after an attack ofinfluenza. And now I had returned, after an attack of influenza. Nothing...　

The Bab BalladsThe Bab BalladsW. S. Gilbert1- Page 2-The Bab BalladsBallad: Captain ReeceOf all the ships upon the blue, No ship contained a better crew Thanthat of worthy CAPTAIN REECE, Commanding of THEMANTELPIECE.He was adored by all his men, For worthy CAPTAIN REECE, R.N.,Did all that lay within him to Promote the comfort of his crew.If ever they were dull or sad, Their captain danced to them like mad,Or told, to make the time pass by, Droll legends of his infancy....　

THE HAUNTED HOTEL A Mystery of Modern VeniceTHE HAUNTEDHOTEL A Mystery ofModern Veniceby Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)(after the edition of Chatto & Windus, London, 1879)1- Page 2-THE HAUNTED HOTEL A Mystery of Modern VeniceCHAPTER IIn the year 1860, the reputation of Doctor Wybrow as a Londonphysician reached its highest point. It was reported on good authoritythat he was in receipt of one of the largest incomes derived from the...　

　　　　This story takes place in an America whose history is often similar to, but often quite different from our own. You should not assume that the portrayal in this book of a person who shares a name with a figure from American history is an accurate portrayal of that historical figure. In particular, you should be aware that William Henry Harrison, famed in our own history for having the briefest presidency and for his unforgettable election slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," was a somewhat nicer person than his counterpart in this book.　　My thanks to Carol Breakstone for American Indian lore; to Beth Meacham for Octagon Mound and Flint Ridge; to Wayne Williams for heroic patience; and to 　

　　　　The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples across its surface.Then the wind pushed the edges of the ripples until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until they became billows.The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the tops of houses.Some of them, indeed, rolled as high as the tops of tall trees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs between the great billows were like deep valleys.　　All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big ocean, which the mischievous wind caused without any good reason whatever, resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is liable to cut many queer pranks and do a lot of damage....　

　　The story is based on a screen treatment by K. McClory, J. Whittingham, and the author.　　1. "Take It Easy, Mr. Bond"　　It was one of those days when it seemed to James Bond that all life, as someone put it, was nothing but a heap of six to four against.　　To begin with he was ashamed of himself-a rare state of mind. He had a hangover, a bad one, with an aching head and stiff joints. When he coughed-smoking too much goes with drinking too much and doubles the hangover-a cloud of small luminous black spots swam across his vision like amoebae in pond water. The one drink too many signals itself unmistakably. His final whisky and soda in the luxurious flat in Park Lane had been no different fro　

THE LOVE OF ULRICH NEBENDAHLBy JEROME K. JEROMEPerhaps of all, it troubled most the Herr Pfarrer. Was he not thefather of the village? And as such did it not fall to him to see hischildren marry well and suitably? marry in any case. It was the dutyof every worthy citizen to keep alive throughout the ages the sacredhearth fire, to rear up sturdy lads and honest lassies that wouldserve God, and the Fatherland. A true son of Saxon soil was the HerrPastor Winckelmannkindly, simple, sentimental."Why, at your age, Ulrichat your age," repeated the Herr Pastor,setting down his beer and wiping with the back of his hand his largeuneven lips, "I was the father of a familytwo boys and a girl. You.