The Castle of Otrantoby Horace WalpolePREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.THE following work was found in the library of an ancient Catholic family in the north of England. It was printed at Naples, in the black letter, in the year 1529. How much sooner it was written does not appear. The principal incidents are such as were believed in the darkest ages of Christianity; but the language and conduct have nothing that savours of barbarism. The style is the purest Italian.If the story was written near the time when it is supposed to have happened, it must have been between 1095, the era of the first Crusade, and 1243, the date of the last, or not long afterwards. There is no other circum　

　On a ridge above Texas Flat upon a rock shaped like flame, a hand moved upon the lava. The hand moved and then was still. In all that vast beige-gray silence there was no other movement and no sound.　A buzzard swinging in lazy circles above the serrated ridge had glimpsed that moving hand. Swinging lower, he saw a man who lay among the rocks atop the ridge. He was a long-bodied man in worn boots and jeans, a man with wide shoulders and a lean tough face.　It was the face of a hunter but now of a man hunted. A man who lay with his rifle beside him and who wore a belted gun; but the man still lived and the buzzard could wait.　Below and stretching away from the very foot of the ridge to lose i　

An Open-Eyed ConspiracyAn Idyl of Saratogaby William Dean HowellsCHAPTER IThe day had been very hot under the tall trees which everywhereembower and stifle Saratoga, for they shut out the air as well asthe sun; and after tea (they still have an early dinner at all thehotels in Saratoga, and tea is the last meal of the day) I strolledover to the pretty Congress Park, in the hope of getting a breath ofcoolness there. Mrs. March preferred to take the chances on theverandah of our pleasant little hotel, where I left her with theother ladies, forty fanning like one, as they rocked to and frounder the roof lifted to the third story by those lofty shafts...　

A Waif of the Plainsby Bret HarteCHAPTER IA long level of dull gray that further away became a faint blue,with here and there darker patches that looked like water. Attimes an open space, blackened and burnt in an irregular circle,with a shred of newspaper, an old rag, or broken tin can lying inthe ashes. Beyond these always a low dark line that seemed to sinkinto the ground at night, and rose again in the morning with thefirst light, but never otherwise changed its height and distance.A sense of always moving with some indefinite purpose, but ofalways returning at night to the same placewith the samesurroundings, the same people, the same bedclothes, and the same...　

The Enchanted Island of Yewby L. Frank BaumContents1. Once On a Time2. The Enchanted Isle3. The Fairy Bower4. Prince Marvel5. The King of Thieves6. The Troubles of Nerle7. The Gray Men8. The Fool-Killer9. The Royal Dragon of Spor10. Prince Marvel Wins His Fight11. The Cunning of King Terribus12. The Gift of Beauty13. The Hidden Kingdom of Twi14. The Ki and The Ki-Ki15. The High Ki of Twi16. The Rebellion of The High Ki17. The Separation of The High Ki18. The Rescue of The High Ki19. The Reunion of The High Ki20. Kwytoffle, the Tyrant21. The Wonderful Book of Magic22. The Queen of Plenta23. The Red Rogue of Dawna...　

THE KREUTZER SONATA.CHAPTER I.Travellers left and entered our car at every stopping of thetrain. Three persons, however, remained, bound, like myself, forthe farthest station: a lady neither young nor pretty, smokingcigarettes, with a thin face, a cap on her head, and wearing asemi-masculine outer garment; then her companion, a veryloquacious gentleman of about forty years, with baggage entirelynew and arranged in an orderly manner; then a gentleman who heldhimself entirely aloof, short in stature, very nervous, ofuncertain age, with bright eyes, not pronounced in color, butextremely attractive,eyes that darted with rapidity from one...　

The History of John Bullby John ArbuthnotINTRODUCTION BY HENRY MORLEY.This is the book which fixed the name and character of John Bull on the English people. Though in one part of the story he is thin and long nosed, as a result of trouble, generally he is suggested to us as "ruddy and plump, with a pair of cheeks like a trumpeter," an honest tradesman, simple and straightforward, easily cheated; but when he takes his affairs into his own hands, acting with good plain sense, knowing very well what he wants done, and doing it.The book was begun in the year 1712, and published in four successive groups of chapters that dealt playfully, from the Tory point of view, with public affairs leading　

The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old Westby Emerson HoughCONTENTSI. THE FRONTIER IN HISTORYII. THE RANGEIII. THE CATTLE TRAILSIV. THE COWBOYV. THE MINESVI. PATHWAYS OF THE WESTVII. THE INDIAN WARSVIII. THE CATTLE KINGSIX. THE HOMESTEADERBIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTETHE PASSING OF THE FRONTIERChapter I. The Frontier In HistoryThe frontier! There is no word in the English language more stirring, more intimate, or more beloved. It has in it all the elan of the old French phrase, En avant! It carries all of the old Saxon command, Forward!! It means all that America ever meant. It means the old hope of a real personal liberty, and yet a real human advance in character and achievement. To a　

[Original Dedication of First Essay, Omitted in subsequent Editions,]To William Wilberforce, Esq., MPMY DEAR SIR In contemplating, the public characters of the day, no one among them appears to have more nearly adopted in practice the principles which this Essay develops than yourself. In all the most important questions which have come before the senate since you became a legislator, you have not allowed the mistaken considerations of sect or party to influence your decisions; so far as an unbiased judgement can be formed of them, they appear generally to have been dictated by comprehensive views of human nature, and impartiality to your fellow creatures. The dedication, therefore,　

The University of Hard Knocksby Ralph ParletteThe School That Completes Our Education"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son"Revelation 21:7."Sweet are the uses of adversity; Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head; And thus our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks Sermons in stones, and good in everything."ShakespeareWhy It Is PrintedMORE than a million people have sat in audiences in all parts of the United States and have listened to "The University of Hard Knocks." It has been delivered to date more than twenty-five hundred times upon lyceum courses, at 　

THE VITAL MESSAGETHE VITAL MESSAGEARTHUR CONAN DOYLE1- Page 2-THE VITAL MESSAGEPREFACEIn "The New Revelation" the first dawn of the coming change hasbeen described. In "The Vital Message" the sun has risen higher, and onesees more clearly and broadly what our new relations with the Unseenmay be. As I look into the future of the human race I am reminded of howonce, from amid the bleak chaos of rock and snow at the head of an Alpine...　

Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, V6by Louis Antoine Fauvelet de BourrienneHis Private SecretaryEdited by R. W. PhippsColonel, Late Royal Artillery1891CONTENTS:CHAPTER IX. to CHAPTER XVIII. 1802-1803CHAPTER IX.1802.Proverbial falsehood of bulletinsM. DoubletCreation of theLegion of HonourOpposition to it in the Council and otherauthorities of the StateThe partisans of an hereditary systemThe question of the Consulship for life.The historian of these times ought to put no faith in the bulletins,despatches, notes, and proclamations which have emanated from Bonaparte,or passed through his hands. For my part, I believe that the proverb,...