(Starring Three Witches, also kings, daggers, crowns, storms, dwarfs, cats, ghosts, spectres, apes, bandits, demons, forests, heirs, jesters, tortures, trolls, turntables, general rejoicing and drivers alarums.)　　The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin. Thunder rolled back and forth across the dark, rain-lashed hills.　The night was as black as the inside of a cat. It was the kind of night, you could believe, on which gods moved men as though they were pawns on the chessboard of fate. In the middle of this elemental storm a fire gleamed among 　

The Fifth StringThe Fifth StringBy John Philip Sousa1- Page 2-The Fifth StringIThe coming of Diotti to America had awakened more than usualinterest in the man and his work. His marvelous success as violinist in theleading capitals of Europe, together with many brilliant contributions tothe literature of his instrument, had long been favorably commented on by...　

On Books and the Housing of Themby William Ewart GladstoneIn the old age of his intellect (which atthis point seemed to taste a little ofdecrepitude), Strauss declared [1] that the doctrine ofimmortality has recently lost the assistanceof a passable argument, inasmuch as it hasbeen discovered that the stars are inhabited;for where, he asks, could room now be foundfor such a multitude of souls? Again, in viewof the current estimates of prospectivepopulation for this earth, some people have begun toentertain alarm for the probable condition of...　

The Moscow Census - From "What to do?"by Count Lyof N. TolstoiTranslated from the Russian by Isabel F. HapgoodTHOUGHTS EVOKED BY THE CENSUS OF MOSCOW. [1884-1885.]And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let himimpart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him dolikewiseLUKE iii. 10. 11.Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rustdoth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor...　

Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchiefby James Fenimore CoopoerCHAPTER I.Certain moral philosophers, with a due disdain of the flimsy foundationsof human pride, have shown that every man is equally descended from amillion of ancestors, within a given number of generations; therebydemonstrating that no prince exists who does not participate in theblood of some beggar, or any beggar who does not share in the bloodof princes. Although favored by a strictly vegetable descent myself, thelaws of nature have not permitted me to escape from the influence ofthis common rule. The earliest accounts I po　

The Queen of the Pirate Isleby Bret HarteI first knew her as the Queen of the Pirate Isle. To the best ofmy recollection she had no reasonable right to that title. She wasonly nine years old, inclined to plumpness and good humor,deprecated violence, and had never been to sea. Need it be addedthat she did NOT live in an island and that her name was Polly?Perhaps I ought to explain that she had already known otherexperiences of a purely imaginative character. Part of herexistence had been passed as a Beggar Child,solely indicated by ashawl tightly folded round her shoulders, and chills; as 　

The French Revolution, Volume 2The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 3by Hippolyte A. TaineTHE REVOLUTION. Volume II. THE JACOBIN CONQUEST.THE FRENCH REVOLUTION VOLUME II.THE JACOBIN CONQUEST.THE FRENCH REVOLUTION VOLUME II.BOOK FIRST. THE JACOBINS.CHAPTER I. The Establishment of the new political organ.I. The Revolutionary Party.II. The Jacobins.III. Jacobin Mentality.IV. What the Theory Promises.CHAPTER II. The Party....　

The Golden Fleeceby Julian HawthorneA RomanceCHAPTER I.The professor crossed one long, lean leg over the other, and punched down the ashes in his pipe-bowl with the square tip of his middle finger. The thermometer on the shady veranda marked eighty-seven degrees of heat, and nature wooed the soul to languor and revery; but nothing could abate the energy of this bony sage."They talk about their Atlantises,their submerged continents!" he exclaimed, with a sniff through his wide, hairy nostrils. "Why, Trednoke, do you realize that we are living literally at the bottom of a Mesozoicat any rate,　

Memoirs of the Comtesse du Barry With Minute Details of Her Entire Career as Favorite of Louis XV"Written by Herself"by Baron Etienne Leon Lamothe-LangonTABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER ILetter from LebelVisit from LebelNothing conclusiveAnother visit from LebelInvitation to sup with the kingInstructions of the comte Jean to the comtesseCHAPTER IIA slight prefaceArrival at VersaillesPortrait of the kingThe duc de RichelieuThe marquis de ChauvelinThe duc de la Vauguyon-Supper with the kingThe first nightThe following dayThe curiosity of comte JeanPresents from the kingHow disposed of...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BOTTLE NECKby Hans Christian AndersenCLOSE to the corner of a street, among other abodes of poverty,stood an exceedingly tall, narrow house, which had been so knockedabout by time that it seemed out of joint in every direction. Thishouse was inhabited by poor people, but the deepest poverty wasapparent in the garret lodging in the gable. In front of the littlewindow, an old bent bird-cage hung in the sunshine, which had not evena proper water-glass, but instead of it the broken neck of a bottle,...　

The Amateur Cracksmanby E. W. HornungTO A. C. D. THIS FORM OF FLATTERYTHE AMATEUR CRACKSMANTHE IDES OF MARCHIIt was half-past twelve when I returned to the Albany as a last desperate resort. The scene of my disaster was much as I had left it. The baccarat-counters still strewed the table, with the empty glasses and the loaded ash-trays. A window had been opened to let the smoke out, and was letting in the fog instead. Raffles himself had merely discarded his dining jacket for one of his innumerable blazers. Yet he arched his eyebrows as though I had dragged him from his bed....　

The Life of Flavius Josephusby Flavius JosephusTranslated by William Whiston1. The family from which I am derived is not an ignoble one, buthath descended all along from the priests; and as nobility amongseveral people is of a different origin, so with us to be of thesacerdotal dignity, is an indication of the splendor of a family.Now, I am not only sprung from a sacerdotal family in general,but from the first of the twenty-four (1) courses; and as amongus there is not only a considerable difference between one familyof each course and another, I am of the chief family of that...　

The Sorrows of Young Wertherby J.W. von GoetheTranslated by Thomas Carlyle and R.D. BoylanPREFACEI have carefully collected whatever I have been able to learn ofthe story of poor Werther, and here present it to you, knowingthat you will thank me for it. To his spirit and character youcannot refuse your admiration and love: to his fate you will notdeny your tears.And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he enduredonce, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book bethy friend, if, owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou...　

THE MONKEY AND THE JELLY-FISHChildren must often have wondered why jelly-fishes have noshells, like so many of the creatures that are washed up everyday on the beach. In old times this was not so; the jelly-fishhad as hard a shell as any of them, but he lost it through hisown fault, as may be seen in this story.The sea-queen Otohime, whom you read of in the story ofUraschimatoro, grew suddenly very ill. The swiftest messengerswere sent hurrying to fetch the best doctors from every countryunder the sea, but it was all of no use; the queen grew rapidlyworse instead of better. Everyone had al　

The Nabobby Alphonse DaudetTranslated by W. BlaydesINTRODUCTIONDaudet once remarked that England was the last of foreign countries to welcome his novels, and that he was surprised at the fact, since for him, as for the typical Englishman, the intimacy of home life had great significance. However long he may have taken to win Anglo-Saxon hearts, there is no question that he finally won them more completely than any other contemporary French novelist was able to do, and that when but a few years since the news came that death had released him from his sufferings, thousands of men and women, bot　

DEAD SOULSPART ICHAPTER ITo the door of an inn in the provincial town of N. there drew up a smart britchkaa light spring-carriage of the sort affected by bachelors, retired lieutenant-colonels, staff-captains, land-owners possessed of about a hundred souls, and, in short, all persons who rank as gentlemen of the intermediate category. In the britchka was seated such a gentlemana man who, though not handsome, was not ill-favoured, not over-fat, and not over-thin. Also, though not over-elderly, he was not over-young. His arrival produced no stir in the town, and was accompanied by no particular