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 ANDERSENTHE BELLby Hans Christian AndersenIN the narrow streets of a large town people often heard in theevening, when the sun was setting, and his last rays gave a goldentint to the chimney-pots, a strange noise which resembled the sound ofa church bell; it only lasted an instant, for it was lost in thecontinual roar of traffic and hum of voices which rose from thetown. "The evening bell is ringing," people used to say; "the sun issetting!" Those who walked outside the town, where the houses were...　

Red Eveby H. Rider HaggardDEDICATIONDitchingham,May 27, 1911.My dear Jehu:For five long but not unhappy years, seated or journeying side byside, we have striven as Royal Commissioners to find a meanswhereby our coasts may be protected from "the outrageous flowingsurges of the sea" (I quote the jurists of centuries ago), theidle swamps turned to fertility and the barren hills clothed withforest; also, with small success, how "foreshore" may be best...　

_New England Reformers__A Lecture read before the Society in Amory Hall,__on Sunday, 3 March, 1844_Whoever has had opportunity of acquaintance with society in NewEngland, during the last twenty-five years, with those middle andwith those leading sections that may constitute any justrepresentation of the character and aim of the community, will havebeen struck with the great activity of thought and experimenting.His attention must be commanded by the signs that the Church, orreligious party, is falling from the church nominal, and is appearing...　

Mark Twain, A Biography, 1900-1907By Albert Bigelow PaineVOLUME III, Part 1: 1900-1907CCXIITHE RETURN OF THE CONQUERORIt would be hard to exaggerate the stir which the newspapers and thepublic generally made over the homecoming of Mark Twain. He had leftAmerica, staggering under heavy obligation and set out on a pilgrimage ofredemption. At the moment when this Mecca, was in view a great sorrowhad befallen him and, stirred a world-wide and soul-deep tide of humansympathy. Then there had followed such ovation as has seldom beenconferred upon a private citizen, and now approaching old age, st　

Tales for Fifteen: or, Imagination and Heartby James Fenimore Cooper (writing under thepseudonym of "Jane Morgan")NEW-YORKC. WILEY, 3 WALL STREETJ. Seymour, printer1823Southern District of New-York ss.BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirteenth day ofJune, in the forty-seventh year of the Independenceof the United States of America, Charles Wiley, ofthe said District, hath deposited in this office thetitle of a Book, the right whereof he claims asproprietor, in the words and figures following, towit:"Tales for Fifteen; or Imagination and Heart....　

Adventureby Jack LondonCHAPTER ISOMETHING TO BE DONEHe was a very sick white man. He rode pick-a-back on a woolly- headed, black-skinned savage, the lobes of whose ears had been pierced and stretched until one had torn out, while the other carried a circular block of carved wood three inches in diameter. The torn ear had been pierced again, but this time not so ambitiously, for the hole accommodated no more than a short clay pipe. The man-horse was greasy and dirty, and naked save for an exceedingly narrow and dirty loin-cloth; but the white man clung to him closely and desperately. At tim　

The Iceberg ExpressThe Iceberg Expressby David Cory1- Page 2-The Iceberg ExpressThe Magic CombOne bright morning in August little Mary Louise put on her hat andwent trudging across the meadow to the beach.It was the first time she had been trusted out alone since the family hadmoved to the seashore for the summer; for Mary Louise was a little girl,nothing about her was large, except her round gray eyes....　

Lady Baltimoreby Owen WisterToS. Weir MitchellWith the Affection and Memories of All My LifeTo the ReaderYou know the great text in Burns, I am sure, where he wishes he could see himself as others see him. Well, here lies the hitch in many a work of art: if its makerpoet, painter, or novelistcould but have become its audience too, for a single day, before he launched it irrevocably upon the uncertain ocean of publicity, how much better his boat would often sail! How many little touches to the rigging he would give, how many little drops of oil to the engines here and there, the need of which 　

Is Shakespeare Dead?by Mark TwainFROM MY AUTOBIOGRAPHYCHAPTER IScattered here and there through the stacks of unpublished manuscript which constitute this formidable Autobiography and Diary of mine, certain chapters will in some distant future be found which deal with "Claimants"claimants historically notorious: Satan, Claimant; the Golden Calf, Claimant; the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, Claimant; Louis XVII., Claimant; William Shakespeare, Claimant; Arthur Orton, Claimant; Mary Baker G. Eddy, Claimantand the rest of them. Eminent Claimants, successful Claimants, defeated Claimants, royal Cl　

SHERLOCK HOMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NORWOOD BUILDERby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NORWOOD BUILDER"From the point of view of the criminal" said Mr. Sherlock Holmes,"London has become a singularly uninteresting city since the deathof the late lamented Professor Moriarty.""I can hardly think that you would find many decent citizens toagree with you," I answered."Well, well, I must not be selfish," said he, with a smile, as bepushed back his chair from the breakfast-table. "The community is...　

Ivanoffby Anton CheckovA PLAYCHARACTERSNICHOLAS IVANOFF, perpetual member of the Council of PeasantAffairsANNA, his wife. Nee Sarah AbramsonMATTHEW SHABELSKI, a count, uncle of IvanoffPAUL LEBEDIEFF, President of the Board of the ZemstvoZINAIDA, his wifeSASHA, their daughter, twenty years oldLVOFF, a young government doctorMARTHA BABAKINA, a young widow, owner of an estate and daughterof a rich merchantKOSICH, an excisemanMICHAEL BORKIN, a distant relative of Ivanoff, and manager of hisestateAVDOTIA NAZAROVNA, an old woman...　

CAMILLUS445?-365 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenAMONG the many remarkable things that are related of FuriusCamillus, it seems singular and strange above all, that he, whocontinually was in the highest commands, and obtained the greatestsuccesses, was five times chosen dictator, triumphed four times, andwas styled a second founder of Rome, yet never was so much as onceconsul. The reason of which was the state and temper of the...　

Under Western Eyesby Joseph Conrad"I would take liberty from any handas a hungry man would snatch a piece of bread."Miss HALDINPART FIRSTTo begin with I wish to disclaim the possession of those highgifts of imagination and expression which would have enabled mypen to create for the reader the personality of the man whocalled himself, after the Russian custom, Cyril son ofIsidorKirylo Sidorovitch-Razumov,If I have ever had these gifts in any sort of living form theyhave been smothered out of existence a long time ago under a...　

The Man Betweenby Amelia E. BarrPART FIRSTO LOVE WILL VENTURE IN!THE MAN BETWEENCHAPTER ITHE thing that I know least about is my beginning. For it is possible to introduce Ethel Rawdon in so many picturesque ways that the choice is embarrassing, and forces me to the conclusion that the actual circumstances, though commonplace, may be the most suitable. Certainly the events that shape our lives are seldom ushered in with pomp or ceremony; they steal upon us unannounced, and begin their work without giving any premonition of their importance.Consequently Ethel had no idea when she returned home　

Studies of Lowellby William Dean HowellsI have already spoken of my earliest meetings with Lowell at Cambridgewhen I came to New England on a literary pilgrimage from the West in1860. I saw him more and more after I went to live in Cambridge in 1866;and I now wish to record what I knew of him during the years that passedbetween this date and that of his death. If the portrait I shall try topaint does not seem a faithful likeness to others who knew him, I shallonly claim that so he looked to me, at this moment and at that. If I donot keep myself quite out of the picture, what painter ever d