SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY CYCLISTby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleFrom the years 1894 to 1901 inclusive, Mr. Sherlock Holmes was avery busy man. It is safe to say that there was no public case ofany difficulty in which he was not consulted during those eight years,and there were hundreds of private cases, some of them of the mostintricate and extraordinary character, in which he played aprominent part. Many startling successes and a few unavoidablefailures were the outcome of this long period of continuous work. As I...　

The Magic Skinby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageTo Monsieur Savary, Member of Le Academie des Sciences.ITHE TALISMANTowards the end of the month of October 1829 a young man entered thePalais-Royal just as the gaming-houses opened, agreeably to the lawwhich protects a passion by its very nature easily excisable. Hemounted the staircase of one of the gambling hells distinguished bythe number 36, without too much deliberation."Your hat, sir, if you please?" a thin, querulous voice called out. Alittle old man, crouching in the darkness behind a railing, suddenly...　

Mark Twain, A Biography, 1866-1875By Albert Bigelow PaineVOLUME I, Part 2: 1866-1875LIVTHE LECTURERIt was not easy to take up the daily struggle again, but it wasnecessary. [Clemens once declared he had been so blue at this periodthat one morning he put a loaded pistol to his head, but found he lackedcourage to pull the trigger.] Out of the ruck of possibilities (hisbrain always thronged with plans) he constructed three or four resolves.The chief of these was the trip around the world; but that lay monthsahead, and in the mean time ways and means must be provided. Another...　

THE FROZEN DEEPby Wilkie CollinsFirst SceneThe Ball-roomChapter 1.The date is between twenty and thirty years ago. The place is anEnglish sea-port. The time is night. And the business of themoment isdancing.The Mayor and Corporation of the town are giving a grand ball, incelebration of the departure of an Arctic expedition from theirport. The ships of the expedition are two in numberthe_Wanderer_ and the _Sea-mew_. They are to sail (in search of theNorthwest Passage) on the next day, with the morning tide.Honor to the Mayor and Corporation! It is a brilliant ball. The...　

POETICSby AristotleTranslated by S. H. ButcherPOETICS|1II PROPOSE to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds,noting the essential quality of each, to inquire into the structure ofthe plot as requisite to a good poem; into the number and nature ofthe parts of which a poem is composed; and similarly into whateverelse falls within the same inquiry. Following, then, the order ofnature, let us begin with the principles which come first....　

MARCUS BRUTUS85?-42 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenMARCUS Brutus was descended from that Junius Brutus to whom theancient Romans erected a statue of brass in the capitol among theimages of their kings with a drawn sword in his hand, in remembranceof his courage and resolution in expelling the Tarquins and destroyingthe monarchy. But that ancient Brutus was of a severe and inflexiblenature, like steel of too hard a temper, and having never had his...　

Faustby Johann W. GeotheTranslated by Anna Swanwick ( 1808 )Introductory NoteJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, the greatest of German men of letters, wasborn at Frankfort-on-the-Main, August 28, 1749. His father was a man ofmeans and position, and he personally supervised the early education of hisson. The young Goethe studied at the universities of Leipsig and Strasburg,and in 1772 entered upon the practise of law at Wetzlar. At the invitation ofKarl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, he went in 1775 to live in Weimar,...　

JESPER WHO HERDED THE HARESThere was once a king who ruled over a kingdom somewhere betweensunrise and sunset. It was as small as kingdoms usually were inold times, and when the king went up to the roof of his palaceand took a look round he could see to the ends of it in everydirection. But as it was all his own, he was very proud of it,and often wondered how it would get along without him. He hadonly one child, and that was a daughter, so he foresaw that shemust be provided with a husband who would be fit to be king afterhim. Where to find one rich enough and clever enough to be a...　

Father Damienby Robert Louis StevensonAN OPEN LETTER TO THE REVEREND DR. HYDE OF HONOLULUSYDNEY,FEBRUARY 25, 1890.Sir, - It may probably occur to you that we have met, and visited,and conversed; on my side, with interest. You may remember thatyou have done me several courtesies, for which I was prepared to begrateful. But there are duties which come before gratitude, andoffences which justly divide friends, far more acquaintances. Yourletter to the Reverend H. B. Gage is a document which, in my sight,if you had filled me with bread when I was starving, if you had sat...　

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTLike most other young matrons, Meg began her married life with the determination to be a model housekeeper. John should find home a paradise, he should always see a smiling face, should fare sumptuously every day, and never know the loss of a button. She brought so much love, energy, and cheerfulness to the work that she could not but succeed, in spite of some obstacles. Her paradise was not a tranquil one, for the little woman fussed, was over-anxious to please, and bustled about like a true Martha, cumbered with many cares. She was too tired, sometimes, even to smile, Jo　

The Cruise of the Jasper B.by Don MarquisTO ALL THE COPYREADERS ON ALL THE NEWSPAPERS OF AMERICACHAPTER IA BRIGHT BLADE LEAPS FROM A RUSTY SCABBARDOn an evening in April, 191-, Clement J. Cleggett walked sedatelyinto the news room of the New York Enterprise with a drab-coloredwalking-stick in his hand. He stood the cane in a corner,changed his sober street coat for a more sober office jacket,adjusted a green eyeshade below his primly brushed grayish hair,unostentatiously sat down at the copy desk, and unobtrusively...　

METEOROLOGYby Aristotletranslated by E. W. WebsterBook I1WE have already discussed the first causes of nature, and allnatural motion, also the stars ordered in the motion of the heavens,and the physical element-enumerating and specifying them and showinghow they change into one another-and becoming and perishing ingeneral. There remains for consideration a part of this inquiry...　

EPILOGUEMOONSTONE again, in the year 1909. The Metho-dists are giving an ice-cream sociable in the groveabout the new court-house. It is a warm summer night offull moon. The paper lanterns which hang among thetrees are foolish toys, only dimming, in little lurid circles,the great softness of the lunar light that floods the blueheavens and the high plateau. To the east the sand hillsshine white as of old, but the empire of the sand is grad-ually diminishing. The grass grows thicker over the dunes...　

410 BCTHE PHOENISSAEby Euripidestranslated by E. P. ColeridgeCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYJOCASTA, wife of OEDIPUSOLD SERVANT, an attendant of ANTIGONEANTIGONE, daughter Of OEDIPUSCHORUS OF PHOENICIAN MAIDENSPOLYNEICES, exiled son of OEDIPUSETEOCLES, now King of Thebes; son of OEDIPUSCREON, brother of JOCASTATEIRESIAS, a blind prophetMENOECEUS, son of CREONFIRST MESSENGERSECOND MESSENGER...　

75 ADANTONY83?-30 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenANTONYTHE grandfather of Antony was the famous pleader, whom Marius put to death for having taken part with Sylla. His father was Antony, surnamed of Crete, not very famous or distinguished in public life, but a worthy good man, and particularly remarkable for his liberality, as may appear from a single example. He was not very rich, and was for that reason checked in the exercise of his good nature by his wife. A friend that stood in need of money came to borrow of him. Money he had none, but he b　

THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF LORD MACAULAY.THEMISCELLANEOUSWRITINGS ANDSPEECHES OF LORDMACAULAY.VOLUME III.LORD MACAULAY.1- Page 2-THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF LORD MACAULAY.CONTENTS.CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA.Francis Atterbury. (December 1853)John Bunyan. (May 1854)...