Nada the Lilyby H. Rider HaggardDEDICATIONSompseu:For I will call you by the name that for fifty years has been honouredby every tribe between Zambesi and Cape Agulbas,I greet you!Sompseu, my father, I have written a book that tells of men andmatters of which you know the most of any who still look upon thelight; therefore, I set your name within that book and, such as it is,I offer it to you.If you knew not Chaka, you and he have seen the same suns shine, youknew his brother Panda and his captains, and perhaps even that very...　

Hunted Downby Charles DickensI.Most of us see some romances in life. In my capacity as ChiefManager of a Life Assurance Office, I think I have within the lastthirty years seen more romances than the generality of men, howeverunpromising the opportunity may, at first sight, seem.As I have retired, and live at my ease, I possess the means that Iused to want, of considering what I have seen, at leisure. Myexperiences have a more remarkable aspect, so reviewed, than theyhad when they were in progress. I have come home from the Play...　

THE FORGED COUPONPART FIRSTIFEDOR MIHAILOVICH SMOKOVNIKOV, the presi-dent of the local Income Tax Department, a manof unswerving honestyand proud of it, tooa gloomy Liberal, a free-thinker, and an enemyto every manifestation of religious feeling, whichhe thought a relic of superstition, came home fromhis office feeling very much annoyed. The Gov-ernor of the province had sent him an extraordi-narily stupid minute, almost assuming that hisdealings had been dishonest.Fedor Mihailovich felt embittered, and wroteat once a sharp answer. On his return home...　

Original Short Stories, Vol. 8.By Guy de MaupassantVOLUME VIII.CLOCHETTETHE KISSTHE LEGION OF HONORTHE TESTFOUND ON A DROWNED MANTHE ORPHANTHE BEGGARTHE RABBITHIS AVENGERMY UNCLE JULESTHE MODELA VAGABONDTHE FISHING HOLETHE SPASMIN THE WOODMARTINEALL OVERTHE PARROTA PIECE OF STRINGCLOCHETTEHow strange those old recollections are which haunt us, without our beingable to get rid of them.This one is so very old that I cannot understand how it has clung sovividly and tenaciously to my memory. Since then I have seen so many...　

Menexenusby PlatoTranslated by Benjamin JowettAPPENDIX I.It seems impossible to separate by any exact line the genuine writings ofPlato from the spurious. The only external evidence to them which is ofmuch value is that of Aristotle; for the Alexandrian catalogues of acentury later include manifest forgeries. Even the value of theAristotelian authority is a good deal impaired by the uncertaintyconcerning the date and authorship of the writings which are ascribed tohim. And several of the citations of Aristotle omit the name of Plato, and...　

Early Kings of Norwayby Thomas CarlyleThe Icelanders, in their long winter, had a great habit of writing; and were, and still are, excellent in penmanship, says Dahlmann. It is to this fact, that any little history there is of the Norse Kings and their old tragedies, crimes and heroisms, is almost all due. The Icelanders, it seems, not only made beautiful letters on their paper or parchment, but were laudably observant and desirous of accuracy; and have left us such a collection of narratives (_Sagas_, literally "Says") as, for quantity and quality, is unexampled among rude nations. Snorro　

The Price She Paidby David Graham PhillipsIHENRY GOWER was dead at sixty-onethe end of a lifelong fraud which never had been suspected, and never would be. With the world, with his acquaintances and neighbors, with his wife and son and daughter, he passed as a generous, warm-hearted, good-natured man, ready at all times to do anything to help anybody, incapable of envy or hatred or meanness. In fact, not once in all his days had he ever thought or done a single thing except for his own comfort. Like all intensely selfish people who are wise, he was cheerful and amiable, because that was th　

What Diantha Didby Charlotte Perkins GilmanCHAPTER I.HANDICAPPEDOne may use the Old Man of the Sea,For a partner or patron,But helpless and hapless is heWho is ridden, inextricably,By a fond old mer-matron.The Warden house was more impressive in appearance than its neighbors.It had "grounds," instead of a yard or garden; it had wide pillaredporches and "galleries," showing southern antecedents; moreover, it hada cupola, giving date to the building, and proof of the continuingambitions of the builders.The stately mansion was covered with heavy flowering vines, also with...　

The VillageAfter hoeing, or perhaps reading and writing, in the forenoon, Iusually bathed again in the pond, swimming across one of its covesfor a stint, and washed the dust of labor from my person, orsmoothed out the last wrinkle which study had made, and for theafternoon was absolutely free. Every day or two I strolled to thevillage to hear some of the gossip which is incessantly going onthere, circulating either from mouth to mouth, or from newspaper tonewspaper, and which, taken in homoeopathic doses, was really as...　

POST-MORTEM POETRY [1]In Philadelphia they have a custom which it would be pleasantto see adopted throughout the land. It is that of appending topublished death-notices a little verse or two of comforting poetry.Any one who is in the habit of reading the daily PhiladelphiaLEDGER must frequently be touched by these plaintive tributesto extinguished worth. In Philadelphia, the departure of a childis a circumstance which is not more surely followed by a burialthan by the accustomed solacing poesy in the PUBLIC LEDGER.In that city death loses half its terror because the knowledge...　

AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONSby Adam Smith1776INTRODUCTION AND PLAN OF THE WORKTHE annual labour of every nation is the fund whichoriginally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniencesof life which it annually consumes, and which consist alwayseither in the immediate produce of that labour, or in what ispurchased with that produce from other nations.According therefore as this produce, or what is purchasedwith it, bears a greater or smaller proportion to the number of...　

The Red Sealby Natalie Sumner LincolnCHAPTER IIN THE POLICE COURTTe Assistant District Attorney glanced down at the papers in his hand and then up at the well-dressed, stockily built man occupying the witness stand. His manner was conciliatory."According to your testimony, Mr. Clymer, the prisoner, John Sylvester, was honest and reliable, and faithfully performed his duties as confidential clerk," he stated. "Just when was Sylvester in your employ?""Sylvester was never in my employ," corrected Benjamin Augustus Clymer. The president of the Metropolis Trust Company was noted for his precis　

A Mountain WomanA Mountain WomanBy Elia Wilkinson PeattieTo My best Friend, and kindest Critic, My Husband.1- Page 2-A Mountain WomanIF Leroy Brainard had not had such a respect for literature, he wouldhave written a book.As it was, he played at being an architect and succeeded in being acharming fellow. My sister Jessica never lost an opportunity of laughing athis endeavors as an architect....　

Life Is A Dreamby Pedro Calderon de la BarcaTranslated by Edward FitzgeraldINTRODUCTORY NOTEPedro Calderon de la Barca was born in Madrid, January 17, 1600, ofgood family. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Madrid and atthe University of Salamanca; and a doubtful tradition says that hebegan to write plays at the age of thirteen. His literary activity wasinterrupted for ten years, 1625-1635, by military service in Italy andthe Low Countries, and again for a year or more in Catalonia. In 1637he became a Knight of the Order of Santiago, and in 1651 he entered...　

David Hume1742OF ESSAY WRITINGThe elegant part of mankind, who are not immersed in theanimal life, but employ themselves in the operations of the mind,may be divided into the and . The learned...　

The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprenticesby Charles DickensCHAPTER IIn the autumn month of September, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven,wherein these presents bear date, two idle apprentices, exhaustedby the long, hot summer, and the long, hot work it had brought withit, ran away from their employer. They were bound to a highlymeritorious lady (named Literature), of fair credit and repute,though, it must be acknowledged, not quite so highly esteemed inthe City as she might be. This is the more remarkable, as there is...