The Stolen White Elephantby Mark Twain[Left out of A Tramp Abroad, because it was feared that some of theparticulars had been exaggerated, and that others were not true. Beforethese suspicions had been proven groundless, the book had gone to press.M.T.]The following curious history was related to me by a chance railwayacquaintance. He was a gentleman more than seventy years of age, and histhoroughly good and gentle face and earnest and sincere manner imprintedthe unmistakable stamp of truth upon every statement which fell from hislips. He said:...
The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 2by Charles Dudley WarnerCONTENTS:SAUNTERINGSMISAPPREHENSIONS CORRECTEDI should not like to ask an indulgent and idle public to saunter about with me under a misapprehension. It would be more agreeable to invite it to go nowhere than somewhere; for almost every one has been somewhere, and has written about it. The only compromise I can suggest is, that we shall go somewhere, and not learn anything about it. The instinct of the public against any thing like information in a volume of this kind is perfectly justifiable; and the reader wil
THE FORTY THIEVESIN a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one namedCassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to arich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintainhis wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboringforest and selling it in the town. One day, when AliBaba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback,coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He wasafraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree forsafety. When they came up to him and dismounted, hecounted forty of them. They unbridled their horses and...
Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, V12by Louis Antoine Fauvelet de BourrienneHis Private SecretaryEdited by R. W. PhippsColonel, Late Royal Artillery1891CONTENTS:CHAPTER XXVIII. to CHAPTER XXXVI. 1813-1814CHAPTER XXVIII.1813.Riots in Hamburg and LubeckAttempted suicide of M. KonningEvacuation of HamburgDissatisfaction at the conduct of General St.CyrThe Cabinets of Vienna and the TuileriesFirst appearance ofthe CossacksColonel Tettenborn invited to occupy HamburgCordialreception of the RussiansDepredationsLevies of troops...
The Man Who Was Afraidby Maxim GorkyTranslated by Herman BernsteinINTRODUCTORY NOTE.OUT of the darkest depths of life, where vice and crime and misery abound, comes the Byron of the twentieth century, the poet of the vagabond and the proletariat, Maxim Gorky. Not like the beggar, humbly imploring for a crust in the name of the Lord, nor like the jeweller displaying his precious stones to dazzle and tempt the eye, he comes to the world,nay, in accents of Tyrtaeus this commoner of Nizhni Novgorod spurs on his troops of freedom-loving heroes to conquer, as it were, the placid, self- satisfied li
The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. StevensonWilliam Ernest Henley and Robert Louis StevensonHenley is best known for this quote from Invictus:"I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul."INVICTUSOut of the night that covers me,Black as the pit from pole to pole,I think whatever gods may befor my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the years...
The Land of Footprintsby Stewart Edward WhiteI. ON BOOKS OF ADVENTUREBooks of sporting, travel, and adventure in countries little known to the average reader naturally fall in two classes-neither, with a very few exceptions, of great value. One class is perhaps the logical result of the other.Of the first type is the book that is written to make the most of far travels, to extract from adventure the last thrill, to impress the awestricken reader with a full sense of the danger and hardship the writer has undergone. Thus, if the latter takes out quite an ordinary routine permit to go into cert
Styleby Walter RaleighStyle, the Latin name for an iron pen, has come to designate the art that handles, with ever fresh vitality and wary alacrity, the fluid elements of speech. By a figure, obvious enough, which yet might serve for an epitome of literary method, the most rigid and simplest of instruments has lent its name to the subtlest and most flexible of arts. Thence the application of the word has been extended to arts other than literature, to the whole range of the activities of man. The fact that we use the word "style" in speaking of architecture and sculpture, painting and musi
Adventure VThe Musgrave RitualAn anomaly which often struck me in the character ofmy friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in hismethods of thought he was the neatest and mostmethodical of mankind, and although also he affected acertain quiet primness of dress, he was none the lessin his personal habits one of the most untidy men thatever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. Not that Iam in the least conventional in that respect myself.The rough-and-tumble work in Afghanistan, coming onthe top of a natural Bohemianism of disposition, has...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENA CHEERFUL TEMPERby Hans Christian AndersenFROM my father I received the best inheritance, namely a "goodtemper." "And who was my father?" That has nothing to do with the goodtemper; but I will say he was lively, good-looking round, and fat;he was both in appearance and character a complete contradiction tohis profession. "And pray what was his profession and his standingin respectable society?" Well, perhaps, if in the beginning of a...
THE GRATEFUL BEASTS[11][11] From the Hungarian. Kletke.There was once upon a time a man and woman who had threefine-looking sons, but they were so poor that they had hardlyenough food for themselves, let alone their children. So thesons determined to set out into the world and to try their luck.Before starting their mother gave them each a loaf of bread andher blessing, and having taken a tender farewell of her and theirfather the three set forth on their travels.The youngest of the three brothers, whose name was Ferko, was abeautiful youth, with a splendid figure, blue eyes, fair hair,...
BROWN OF CALAVERASA subdued tone of conversation, and the absence of cigar smoke andboot heels at the windows of the Wingdam stagecoach, made itevident that one of the inside passengers was a woman. Adisposition on the part of loungers at the stations to congregatebefore the window, and some concern in regard to the appearance ofcoats, hats, and collars, further indicated that she was lovely.All of which Mr. Jack Hamlin, on the box seat, noted with the smileof cynical philosophy. Not that he depreciated the sex, but thathe recognized therein a deceitful element, the pursuit of which...
400 BCINSTRUMENTS OF REDUCTIONby Hippocratestranslated by Francis AdamsPart 1With regard to the construction of bones, the bones and joints ofthe fingers are simple, the bones of the hand and foot are numerous,and articulated in various ways; the uppermost are the largest; theheel consists of one bone which is seen to project outward, and theback tendons are attached to it. The leg consists of twobones, unitedtogether above and below, but slightly separated in the middle; the...
SOUTH SEA TALESSOUTH SEA TALESby Jack London1- Page 2-SOUTH SEA TALESTHE HOUSE OF MAPUHIDespite the heavy clumsiness of her lines, the Aorai handled easily inthe light breeze, and her captain ran her well in before he hove to justoutside the suck of the surf. The atoll of Hikueru lay low on the water, acircle of pounded coral sand a hundred yards wide, twenty miles in...
ACRES OF DIAMONDSBY RUSSELL H. CONWELLFOUNDER OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITYPHILADELPHIAHIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTSBY ROBERT SHACKLETONWith an Autobiographical NoteACRES OF DIAMONDSCONTENTSACRES OF DIAMONDSHIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTSI. THE STORY OF THE SWORDII. THE BEGINNING AT OLD LEXINGTONIII. STORY OF THE FIFTY-SEVEN CENTSIV. HIS POWER AS ORATOR AND PREACHERV. GIFT FOR INSPIRING OTHERSVI. MILLIONS OF HEARERSVII. HOW A UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDEDVIII. HIS SPLENDID EFFICIENCYIX. THE STORY OF ``ACRES OF DIAMONDS'FIFTY YEARS ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM...
On The Firing Lineby Anna Chapin Ray and Hamilton Brock FullerCHAPTER ONESix feet one in his stockings, broad-shouldered and without an ounce of extra flesh, Harvard Weldon suddenly halted before one of a line of deck chairs."I usually get what I want, Miss Dent," he observed suggestively."You are more fortunate than most people." Her answering tone was dry.Most men would have been baffled by her apparent indifference. Not so was Weldon. Secure in the possession of a good tailor and an equally good digestion, he was willing to await the leisurely course of events....