¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡The spring rains had softened the ground, so Dunk had no trouble digging the grave. He chose a spot on the western slope of a low hill, for the old man had always loved to watch the sunset. "Another day done," he would sigh, "and who knows what the morrow will bring us, eh, Dunk?"¡¡Well, one morrow had brought rains that soaked them to the bones, and the one after had brought wet gusty winds, and the next a chill. By the fourth day the old man was too weak to ride. And now he was gone. Only a few days past, he had been singing as they rode, the old song about going to Gulltown to see a fai¡¡

Dreams and AwakeningsWHY IS IT forbidden to write down specific knowledge of the magics? Perhaps because we all fear that such knowledge would fall into the hands of one not worthy to use it. Certainly there has always been a system of apprenticeship to ensure that specific knowledge of magic is passed only to those trained and judged worthy of such knowledge. While this seems a laudable attempt to protect us from unworthy practitioners of arcane lore, it ignores the fact that the magics are not derived from this specific knowledge. The predilection for a certain type of magic is eithe¡¡

Cressyby Bret HarteCHAPTER I.As the master of the Indian Spring school emerged from the pinewoods into the little clearing before the schoolhouse, he stoppedwhistling, put his hat less jauntily on his head, threw away somewild flowers he had gathered on his way, and otherwise assumed thesevere demeanor of his profession and his mature agewhich was atleast twenty. Not that he usually felt this an assumption; it wasa firm conviction of his serious nature that he impressed others,as he did himself, with the blended austerity and ennui of deep and...¡¡

Historical Lecturers and Essaysby Charles KingsleyContents:The First Discovery of AmericaCyrus, Servant of the LordAncient CivilisationRondeletVesaliusParacelsusBuchananTHE FIRST DISCOVERY OF AMERICALet me begin this lecture {1} with a scene in the North Atlantic 863years since."Bjarne Grimolfson was blown with his ship into the Irish Ocean; andthere came worms and the ship began to sink under them. They had a...¡¡

Marieby H. Rider HaggardAN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE ALLAN QUATERMAINDEDICATIONDitchingham, 1912.My dear Sir Henry,Nearly thirty-seven years have gone by, more than a generation, sincefirst we saw the shores of Southern Africa rising from the sea. Sincethen how much has happened: the Annexation of the Transvaal, the ZuluWar, the first Boer War, the discovery of the Rand, the taking ofRhodesia, the second Boer War, and many other matters which in thesequick-moving times are now reckoned as ancient history....¡¡

The Call of the Canyonby Zane GreyCHAPTER IWhat subtle strange message had come to her out of the West? Carley Burch laid the letter in her lap and gazed dreamily through the window.It was a day typical of early April in New York, rather cold and gray, with steely sunlight. Spring breathed in the air, but the women passing along Fifty-seventh Street wore furs and wraps. She heard the distant clatter of an L train and then the hum of a motor car. A hurdy-gurdy jarred into the interval of quiet."Glenn has been gone over a year," she mused, "three months over a year and of all his strange letter¡¡

The Legacy of Cainby Wilkie CollinsToMRS. HENRY POWELL BARTLEY:Permit me to add your name to my name, in publishing this novel.The pen which has written my books cannot be more agreeablyemployed than in acknowledging what I owe to the pen which hasskillfully and patiently helped me, by copying my manuscripts forthe printer.WILKIE COLLINS.Wimpole Street, 6th December, 1888.THE LEGACY OF CAIN.First Period: 1858-1859.EVENTS IN THE PRISON, RELATED BY THE GOVERNOR.CHAPTER I.THE GOVERNOR EXPLAINS.AT the request of a person who has claims on me that I must not...¡¡

Ernest HemingwayWith a variety of themes and moods, dynamic action scenes andunexpectedlya rich and ribald sense of humor, ISLANDS IN THE STREAM tells a story closely resembling Hemingway¡¦s life.¡@Thomas Hudson is ¡§a good painter.¡¨ His solitary life of artistic self-discipline on the lush Caribbean island of Bimini is interrupted by a visit from his three lively sons. In a thrilling descriptive scene, David, the middle boy, shows his courage when attacked by a shark and his endurance while fighting a thousand-pound swordfish. It is an initiation into manhood.¡@Years later, Hudson is in Cuba mou¡¡

ALEXANDER356-323 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenIT being my purpose to write the lives of Alexander the king, and of Caesar, by whom Pompey was destroyed, the multitude of their great actions affords so large a field that I were to blame if I should not by way of apology forewarn my reader that I have chosen rather to epitomize the most celebrated parts of their story, than to insist at large on every particular circumstance of it. It must be borne in mind that my design is not to write histories, but lives. And the most glorious exploits do not alw¡¡

400 BCTHE LAWby Hippocratestranslated by Francis AdamsMedicine is of all the Arts the most noble; but, not withstanding,owing to the ignorance of those who practice it, and of those who,inconsiderately, form a judgment of them, it is at present farbehind all the other arts. Their mistake appears to me to ariseprincipally from this, that in the cities there is no punishmentconnected with the practice of medicine (and with it alone) except...¡¡

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE HAPPY FAMILYby Hans Christian AndersenTHE largest green leaf in this country is certainly theburdock-leaf. If you hold it in front of you, it is large enough foran apron; and if you hold it over your head, it is almost as good asan umbrella, it is so wonderfully large. A burdock never growsalone; where it grows, there are many more, and it is a splendidsight; and all this splendor is good for snails. The great whitesnails, which grand people in olden times used to have made into...¡¡

The Canadian Dominiona Chronicle of our Northern Neighborby Oscar D. SkeltonPREFACEThe history of Canada since the close of the French regime falls into three clearly marked half centuries. The first fifty years after the Peace of Paris determined that Canada was to maintain a separate existence under the British flag and was not to become a fourteenth colony or be merged with the United States. The second fifty years brought the winning of self-government and the achievement of Confederation. The third fifty years witnessed the expansion of the Dominion from sea to sea and the endeavor to ma¡¡

East Lynneby Mrs. Henry WoodCHAPTER I.THE LADY ISABEL.In an easy-chair of the spacious and handsome library of his town- house, sat William, Earl of Mount Severn. His hair was gray, the smoothness of his expansive brow was defaced by premature wrinkles, and his once attractive face bore the pale, unmistakable look of dissipation. One of his feet was cased in folds of linen, as it rested on the soft velvet ottoman, speaking of gout as plainly as any foot ever spoke yet. It would seemto look at the man as he sat there that he had grown old before his time. And so he had. His years were barely n¡¡

The Professor at the Breakfast Tableby Oliver Wendell HolmesPREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.The reader of to-day will not forget, I trust, that it is nearly aquarter of a century since these papers were written. Statementswhich were true then are not necessarily true now. Thus, the speedof the trotting horse has been so much developed that the record ofthe year when the fastest time to that date was given must be veryconsiderably altered, as may be seen by referring to a note on page49 of the "Autocrat." No doubt many other statements and opinions...¡¡

Poor Miss Finchby Wilkie CollinsTO MRS. ELLIOT,(OF THE DEANERY, BRISTOL).WILL YOU honor me by accepting the Dedication of this book, inremembrance of an uninterrupted friendship of many years?More than one charming blind girl, in fiction and in the drama, haspreceded "Poor Miss Finch." But, so far as I know, blindness in thesecases has been always exhibited, more or less exclusively, from the idealand the sentimental point of view. The attempt here made is to appeal toan interest of another kind, by exhibiting blindness as it really is. Ihave carefully gathered the information necessary to th¡¡

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¡¡