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. A...　

The Man of the Forestby Zane GreyCHAPTER IAt sunset hour the forest was still, lonely, sweet with tangof fir and spruce, blazing in gold and red and green; andthe man who glided on under the great trees seemed to blendwith the colors and, disappearing, to have become a part ofthe wild woodland.Old Baldy, highest of the White Mountains, stood up roundand bare, rimmed bright gold in the last glow of the settingsun. Then, as the fire dropped behind the domed peak, achange, a cold and darkening blight, passed down the blackspear-pointed slopes over all that mountain world....　

400 BCAPHORISMSby Hippocratestranslated by Francis AdamsAPHORISMSSECTION ILife is short, and Art long; the crisis fleeting; experienceperilous, and decision difficult. The physician must not only beprepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient,the attendants, and externals cooperate.2. In disorders of the bowels and vomitings, occurringspontaneously, if the matters purged be such as ought to be purged,...　

Riders of the Purple Sageby Zane GreyCHAPTER I. LASSITERA sharp clip-crop of iron-shod hoofs deadened and died away, and clouds of yellow dust drifted from under the cottonwoods out over the sage.Jane Withersteen gazed down the wide purple slope with dreamy and troubled eyes. A rider had just left her and it was his message that held her thoughtful and almost sad, awaiting the churchmen who were coming to resent and attack her right to befriend a Gentile.She wondered if the unrest and strife that had lately come to the little village of Cottonwoods was to involve her. And then she sighed, rem　

Within the Lawby Marvin DanaFrom the play of Bayard VeillerCONTENTS.CHAPTERI. The Panel of LightII. A Cheerful ProdigalIII. Only Three YearsIV. Kisses and KleptomaniaV. The Victim of the LawVI. InfernoVII. Within the LawVIII. A Tip from HeadquartersX. A Legal DocumentX. Marked MoneyXI. The ThiefXII. A Bridegroom SpurnedXIII. The Advent of GriggsXIV. A Wedding AnnouncementXV. Aftermath of TragedyXVI. Burke PlotsXVII. Outside the LawXVIII. The Noiseless DeathXIX. Within the Toils...　

The Hand of Ethelbertaby Thomas HardyPREFACEThis somewhat frivolous narrative was produced as an interludebetween stories of a more sober design, and it was given the sub-title of a comedy to indicatethough not quite accuratelythe aimof the performance. A high degree of probability was not attemptedin the arrangement of the incidents, and there was expected of thereader a certain lightness of mood, which should inform him with agood-natured willingness to accept the production in the spirit inwhich it was offered. The characters themselves, however, were...　

Returning Homeby Anthony TrollopeIt is generally supposed that people who live at home,gooddomestic people, who love tea and their arm-chairs, and who keep theparlour hearth-rug ever warm,it is generally supposed that theseare the people who value home the most, and best appreciate all thecomforts of that cherished institution. I am inclined to doubtthis. It is, I think, to those who live farthest away from home, tothose who find the greatest difficulty in visiting home, that theword conveys the sweetest idea. In some distant parts of the worldit may be that an Englishman acknowledges his 　

To be Read at Duskby Charles DickensOne, two, three, four, five. There were five of them.Five couriers, sitting on a bench outside the convent on the summitof the Great St. Bernard in Switzerland, looking at the remoteheights, stained by the setting sun as if a mighty quantity of redwine had been broached upon the mountain top, and had not yet hadtime to sink into the snow.This is not my simile. It was made for the occasion by thestoutest courier, who was a German. None of the others took anymore notice of it than they took of me, sitting on another bench on...　

Four Short Playsby John GalsworthyCONTENTS:HALL-MARKEDDEFEATTHE SUNPUNCH AND GOHALL-MARKEDA SATIRIC TRIFLECHARACTERSHERSELF.LADY ELLA.THE SQUIRE.THE MAID.MAUD.THE RECTOR.THE DOCTOR.THE CABMAN.HANNIBAL and EDWARDHALL-MARKEDThe scene is the sitting-room and verandah of HER bungalow.The room is pleasant, and along the back, where the verandahruns, it seems all window, both French and casement. There is adoor right and a door left. The day is bright; the time...　

Part 8My poor afflicted governess was now as much concerned asI, and a great deal more truly penitent, though she had noprospect of being brought to trial and sentence. Not but thatshe deserved it as much as I, and so she said herself; but shehad not done anything herself for many years, other thanreceiving what I and others stole, and encouraging us to stealit. But she cried, and took on like a distracted body, wringingher hands, and crying out that she was undone, that shebelieved there was a curse from heaven upon her, that sheshould be damned, that she had been the destruction of all he　

BOOK II: OF THEIR SLAVES, AND OF THEIR MARRIAGESTHEY do not make slaves of prisoners of war, except those that aretaken in battle; nor of the sons of their slaves, nor of those ofother nations: the slaves among them are only such as arecondemned to that state of life for the commission of some crime,or, which is more common, such as their merchants find condemnedto die in those parts to which they trade, whom they sometimesredeem at low rates; and in other places have them for nothing.They are kept at perpetual labor, and are always chained, but with...　

The Light Princessby George MacDonald1. What! No Children?Once upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date,there lived a king and queen who had no children.And the king said to himself, "All the queens of my acquaintancehave children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve;and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mindto be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a goodpatient queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. Butthe queen pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one...　

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 th　

The Vicar of Toursby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo David, Sculptor:The permanence of the work on which I inscribe your nametwice made illustrious in this centuryis very problematical;whereas you have graven mine in bronze which survives nationsif only in their coins. The day may come when numismatists,discovering amid the ashes of Paris existences perpetuated byyou, will wonder at the number of heads crowned in youratelier and endeavour to find in them new dynasties....　

LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP and Other Early Worksalso spelledLOVE AND FREINDSHIPA collection of juvenile writingsCONTENTSLove and FreindshipLesley CastleThe History of EnglandCollection of LettersScraps*LOVE AND FREINDSHIPTO MADAME LA COMTESSE DE FEUILLIDE THIS NOVEL IS INSCRIBED BY HER OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT THE AUTHOR."Deceived in Freindship and Betrayed in Love."LETTER the FIRST From ISABEL to LAURAHow often, in answer to my repeated intreaties that you would give my Daughter a regular detail of the Misfortunes and Adventures of your Life, have you said "No, my freind never will I comply with your　

The Iron Puddlerby James J. DavisMY LIFE IN THE ROLLING MILLS AND WHAT CAME OF ITIntroduction by JOSEPH G. CANNONThe man whose life story is here presented between book covers is at the time of writing only forty-eight years old. When I met him many years ago he was a young man full of enthusiasm. I remember saying to him then, "With your enthusiasm and the sparkle which you have in your eyes I am sure you will make good."Why should so young a man, one so recently elevated to official prominence, write his memoirs? That question will occur to those who do not know Jim Davis. His elevation to