Oliver Wendell Holmesby William Dean HowellsElsewhere we literary folk are apt to be such a common lot, withtendencies here and there to be a shabby lot; we arrive from all sorts ofunexpected holes and corners of the earth, remote, obscure; and at thebest we do so often come up out of the ground; but at Boston we were ofascertained and noted origin, and good part of us dropped from the skies.Instead of holding horses before the doors of theatres; or capping versesat the plough-tail; or tramping over Europe with nothing but a flute inthe pocket; or walking up to the metropolis with no luggage
The Voice of the Cityby O HenryTHE VOICE OF THE CITYTwenty-five years ago the school children usedto chant their lessons. The manner of their deliverywas a singsong recitative between the utterance of anEpiscopal minister and the drone of a tired sawmill.I mean no disrespect. We must have lumber andsawdust.I remember one beautiful and instructive littlelyric that emanated from the physiology class. Themost striking line of it was this:"The shin-bone is the long-est bone in the hu-manbod-y."...
The Autobiography of a QuackS. Weir Mitchell, MD, LLDTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A QUACKANDTHE CASE OF GEORGE DEDLOWBYS. WEIR MITCHELL, M.D.,LL.D. HARVARD AND EDINBURGHCONTENTSTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A QUACKTHE CASE OF GEORGE DEDLOWINTRODUCTIONBoth of the tales in this little volume appeared originally in the ``Atlantic Monthly' as anonymous contributions. I owe to the present owners of that journal permission to use them. ``The Autobiography of a Quack ' has been recast with large additions.``The Case of George Dedlow' was not written with any intention that it should appear in print. I lent the ma
The Boy CaptivesAn Incident of the Indian War of 1695by John Greenleaf WhittierTHE township of Haverhill, even as late as the close of theseventeenth century, was a frontier settlement, occupying anadvanced position in the great wilderness, which, unbroken by theclearing of a white man, extended from the Merrimac River to theFrench villages on the St. Francois. A tract of twelve miles on theriver and three or four northwardly was occupied by scatteredsettlers, while in the centre of the town a compact village hadgrown up. In the immediate vicinity there were but few Indians,...
The Pharisee And The Publicanby John BunyanTwo men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican, standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke, xviii. 10-13.In the beginning of this chapter you read of the reason of the parable
The Man Who Knew Too Muchby Gilbert K. ChestertonCONTENTSTHE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH:I. THE FACE IN THE TARGETII. THE VANISHING PRINCEIII. THE SOUL OF THE SCHOOLBOYIV. THE BOTTOMLESS WELLV. THE FAD OF THE FISHERMANVI. THE HOLE IN THE WALLVII. THE TEMPLE OF SILENCEVIII. THE VENGEANCE OF THE STATUETHE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHI. THE FACE IN THE TARGETHarold March, the rising reviewer and social critic, was walking vigorously across a great tableland of moors and commons, the horizon of which was fringed with the far-off woods of the famous estate of Torwood Park. He was a good-looking young man in t
LAHOMALAHOMAby John Breckenridge Ellis1- Page 2-LAHOMACHAPTER ITHE TOUCH OF A CHILD"I have given my word of honormy sacred oathnot to betray what Ihave discovered here."At these words from the prisoner, a shout arose in which oaths andmocking laughter mingled like the growling and snapping of hunger-...
ELECBOOK CLASSICSPride andPrejudiceJane Austen- Page 2-ELECBOOK CLASSICSebc0017. Jane Austen: Pride and PrejudiceThis file is free for individual use only. It must not be altered or resold.Organisations wishing to use it must first obtain a licence.Low cost licenses are available. Contact us through our web site(C) The Electric Book Co 1998The Electric Book Company Ltd...
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....
James Nasmyth: Engineer, An Autobiography.Edited by Samuel SmilesPREFACEI have had much pleasure in editing the following Memoir of my friend Mr. Nasmyth. Some twenty years since (in April 1863), when I applied to him for information respecting his mechanical inventions, he replied: "My life presents no striking or remarkable incidents, and would, I fear, prove but a tame narrative. The sphere to which my endeavours have been confined has been of a comparatively quiet order; but, vanity apart, I hope I have been able to leave a few marks of my existence behind me in the shape of useful con
THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN MEDICINETHE EVOLUTION OFMODERN MEDICINEA SERIES OF LECTURES DELIVERED AT YALEUNIVERSITY ON THE SILLIMAN FOUNDATION IN APRIL, 1913by WILLIAM OSLER1- Page 2-THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN MEDICINETHE SILLIMAN FOUNDATIONIN the year 1883 a legacy of eighty thousand dollars was left to thePresident and Fellows of Yale College in the city of New Haven, to be...
THE LIFE AND PERAMBULATIONS OF A MOUSE (1783-1784)THE LIFE ANDPERAMBULATIONS OFA MOUSE(1783-1784)by Dorothy Kilner1- Page 2-THE LIFE AND PERAMBULATIONS OF A MOUSE (1783-1784)INTRODUCTIONDuring a remarkably severe winter, when a prodigious fall of snowconfined everybody to their habitations, who were happy enough to have...
The Scouts of the Valleyby Joseph A. AltshelerCHAPTER ITHE LONE CANOEA light canoe of bark, containing a single human figure, moved swiftly up one of the twin streams that form the Ohio. The water, clear and deep, coming through rocky soil, babbled gently at the edges, where it lapped the land, but in the center the full current flowed steadily and without noise.The thin shadows of early dusk were falling, casting a pallid tint over the world, a tint touched here and there with living fire from the sun, which was gone, though leaving burning embers behind. One glowing shaft, piercing straig
THE BLACK THIEFAND KNIGHT OF THE GLEN.IN times of yore there was a King and a Queen in the south ofIreland who had three sons, all beautiful children; but theQueen, their mother, sickened unto death when they were yet veryyoung, which caused great grief throughout the Court, particularlyto the King, her husband, who could in no wise be comforted.Seeing that death was drawing near her, she called the King to herand spoke as follows:`I am now going to leave you, and as you are young and inyour prime, of course after my death you will marry again. Now...
American Literary Centersby William Dean HowellsOne of the facts which we Americans have a difficulty in making clear toa rather inattentive world outside is that, while we have apparently aliterature of our own, we have no literary centre. We have so muchliterature that from time to time it seems even to us we must have aliterary centre. We say to ourselves, with a good deal of logic, Wherethere is so much smoke there must be some fire, or at least a fireplace.But it is just here that, misled by tradition, and even by history, wedeceive ourselves. Really, we have no fireplace for such fir
THE INDISCRETION OF ELSBETHThe American paused. He had evidently lost his way. For the lasthalf hour he had been wandering in a medieval town, in a profoundmedieval dream. Only a few days had elapsed since he had left thesteamship that carried him hither; and the accents of his owntongue, the idioms of his own people, and the sympathetic communityof New World tastes and expressions still filled his mind until hewoke up, or rather, as it seemed to him, was falling asleep in thepast of this Old World town which had once held his ancestors....