The Works of Edgar Allan PoeVolume 1 of the Raven EditionIN FIVE VOLUMESVOLUME I ContentsEdgar Allan Poe, An AppreciationLife of Poe, by James Russell LowellDeath of Poe, by N. P. WillisThe Unparalled Adventures of One Hans PfallThe Gold BugFour Beasts in OneThe Murders in the Rue MorgueThe Mystery of Marie Rog阾The Balloon HoaxMS. Found in a BottleThe Oval PortraitEDGAR ALLAN POEAN APPRECIATIONCaught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful DisasterFollowed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden boreTill the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden boreOf "nevernever more!"THIS stanza from "The Raven" was recommended by James Russell Lowell...　

ELECBOOK CLASSICSSilas MarnerGeorge Eliot- Page 2-ELECBOOK CLASSICSebc0024. George Eliot: Silas MarnerThis file is free for individual use only. It must not be altered or resold.Organisations wishing to use it must first obtain a licence.Low cost licenses are available. Contact us through our web site(C) The Electric Book Co 1998The Electric Book Company Ltd20 Cambridge Drive, London SE12 8AJ, UK+44 (0)181 488 3872 www.elecbook- Page 3-3...　

The Village Rectorby Honore de BalzacKatharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Helene.The tiniest boat is not launched upon the sea without theprotection of some living emblem or revered name, placed upon itby the mariners. In accordance with this time-honored custom,Madame, I pray you to be the protectress of this book now launchedupon our literary ocean; and may the Imperial name which theChurch has canonized and your devotion has doubly sanctified forme guard it from perils.De Balzac.THE VILLAGE RECTORITHE SAUVIATSIn the lower town of Limoges, at the corner of the rue de la Vieille-Poste and the rue de la Cite might have been seen, a generation ago,...　

A Journey in Other Worldsby J. J. AstorA ROMANCE OF THE FUTUREBY JOHN JACOB ASTORPREFACE.The protracted struggle between science and the classics appearsto be drawing to a close, with victory about to perch on thebanner of science, as a perusal of almost any university orcollege catalogue shows. While a limited knowledge of both Greekand Latin is important for the correct use of our own language,the amount till recently required, in my judgment, has beenabsurdly out of proportion to the intrinsic value of thesebranches, or perhaps more correctly roots, of study. Theclassics have been thoroughly and painfully threshed out, and itseems impossible that anything new can be unearthed. We may.　

　　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 Women of the French SalonsBy Amelia Gere MasonPREFACEIt has been a labor of love with many distinguished Frenchmen to recall the memories of the women who have made their society so illustrious, and to retouch with sympathetic insight the features which time was beginning to dim. One naturally hesitates to enter a field that has been gleaned so carefully, and with such brilliant results, by men like Cousin, Sainte-Beuve, Goncourt, and others of lesser note. But the social life of the two centuries in which women played so important a role in France is always full of human interest from whatever point of view one may regard it. If there is not a great deal to be said that is new, old 　

Over the Teacupsby Oliver W. HolmesPREFACE.The kind way in which this series of papers has been received hasbeen a pleasure greater than I dared to anticipate. I felt that Iwas a late comer in the midst of a crowd of ardent and eagercandidates for public attention, that I had already had my day, andthat if, like the unfortunate Frenchman we used read about, I had"come again," I ought not to surprised if I received the welcome of"Monsieur Tonson."It has not proved so. My old readers have come forward in thepleasantest possible way and assured me that they were glad to see meagain. There is no need, therefore, of apologies or explanations. I...　

CranfordCranford1- Page 2-CranfordCHAPTER I - OUR SOCIETYIN the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all theholders of houses above a certain rent are women. If a married couplecome to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman disappears; he iseither fairly frightened to death by being the only man in the Cranfordevening parties, or he is accounted for by being with his regiment, hisship, or closely engaged in business all the week in the great...　

　BY THE TIME they have finished this book, many readers will be uneasy, frightened, perhaps even horrified. Once entertained, however, they will be tempted to dismiss Night Chills as quickly as they might a novel about demonic possession or reincarnation. Although this story is intended primarily to be a "good read," I cannot stress strongly enough that the basic subject matter is more than merely a fantasy of mine; it is a reality and already a major influence on all our lives.　Subliminal and subaudial advertising, carefully planned manipulation of our subconscious minds, became a serious threat to individual privacy and freedom at least as long ago as 1957. In that year Mr. James Vicary g　

　　His mind absorbed the scene before him, so quiet and calm and . . . normal. It was the life he had always wanted, a gathering of family and friends-he knew that they were just that, though the only one he recognized was his dear mother.　　This was the way it was supposed to be. The warmth and the love, the laughter and the quiet times. This was how he had always dreamed it would be, how he had always prayed it would be. The warm, inviting smiles. The pleasant conversation. The gentle pats on shoulders.　　But most of all there was the smile of his beloved mother, so happy now, no more a slave. When she looked at him, he saw all of that and more, saw how proud she was of him, how joyful her l　

The Life of Charlotte Bronte - Volume 1by Elizabeth Claghorn GaskellCHAPTER IThe Leeds and Skipton railway runs along a deep valley of the Aire; a slow and sluggish stream, compared to the neighbouring river of Wharfe. Keighley station is on this line of railway, about a quarter of a mile from the town of the same name. The number of inhabitants and the importance of Keighley have been very greatly increased during the last twenty years, owing to the rapidly extended market for worsted manufactures, a branch of industry that mainly employs the factory population of this part of Yorkshire, which has Bradford for its centre and metropolis.Keighley is in process of transformation from a popu　

Masterman Readyby Captain Marryat( Frederick Marryat )Chapter IIt was in the month of October, 18, that the Pacific, a large ship, was running before a heavy gale of wind in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean. She had but little sail, for the wind was so strong, that the canvas would have been split into pieces by the furious blasts before which she was driven through the waves, which were very high, and following her almost as fast as she darted through their boiling waters; sometimes heaving up her stern and sinking her bows down so deep into the hollow of the sea, that it appeared as if she would have dived down underneath the waves; but she was a fine vessel, and the captain was a go