PREFACE TOTHE CHARLES DICKENS EDITIONI REMARKED in the original Preface to this Book, that I did notfind it easy to get sufficiently far away from it, in the firstsensations of having finished it, to refer to it with the composurewhich this formal heading would seem to require. My interest in itwas so recent and strong, and my mind was so divided betweenpleasure and regret - pleasure in the achievement of a long design,regret in the separation from many companions - that I was indanger of wearying the reader with personal confidences and private...　

THE INNOCENCE OF FATHER BROWNby G. K. ChestertonContentsThe Blue CrossThe Secret GardenThe Queer FeetThe Flying StarsThe Invisible ManThe Honour of Israel GowThe Wrong ShapeThe Sins of Prince SaradineThe Hammer of GodThe Eye of ApolloThe Sign of the Broken SwordThe Three Tools of DeathThe Blue Cross...　

THE IMITATION OF CHRISTTHE IMITATION OFCHRISTby Thomas a KempisTranslated by Rev. William Benham1- Page 2-THE IMITATION OF CHRISTINTRODUCTORY NOTEThe treatise "Of the Imitation of Christ" appears to have beenoriginally written in Latin early in the fifteenth century. Its exact dateand its authorship are still a matter of debate. Manuscripts of the Latin...　

The Three Taverns A Book of Poems By Edwin Arlington RobinsonThe Three TavernsA Book of Poems By Edwin Arlington RobinsonEdwin Arlington Robinson1- Page 2-The Three Taverns A Book of Poems By Edwin Arlington RobinsonThe Valley of the ShadowThere were faces to remember in the Valley of the Shadow, There werefaces unregarded, there were faces to forget; There were fires of grief andfear that are a few forgotten ashes, There were sparks of recognition that...　

Ernest HemingwayIt was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. The two waiters inside the cafe knew that the old man was a little drunk, and while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying, so they kept watch on him."Last week he tried to commit suicide," one waiter 　

Whirligigsby O HenryTHE WORLD AND THE DOORA favourite dodge to get your story read by thepublic is to assert that it is true, and then add that Truthis stranger than Fiction. I do not know if the yarn Iam anxious for you to read is true; but the Spanish purserof the fruit steamer El Carrero swore to me by the shrineof Santa Guadalupe that he had the facts from the U. S.vice-consul at La Paz - a person who could not possiblyhave been cognizant of half of them.As for the adage quoted above, I take pleasure in punc-...　

THE DOOR IN THE WALLIOne confidential evening, not three months ago, Lionel Wallace toldme this story of the Door in the Wall. And at the time I thoughtthat so far as he was concerned it was a true story.He told it me with such a direct simplicity of conviction thatI could not do otherwise than believe in him. But in the morning,in my own flat, I woke to a different atmosphere, and as I lay inbed and recalled the things he had told me, stripped of the glamourof his earnest slow voice, denuded of the focussed shaded tablelight, the shadowy atmosphere that wrapped about him and the...　

History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 18by Thomas CarlyleBOOK XVIII.SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT.1757-1759.Chapter I.THE CAMPAIGN OPENS.Seldom was there seen such a combination against any man as this against Friedrich, after his Saxon performances in 1756. The extent of his sin, which is now ascertained to have been what we saw, was at that time considered to transcend all computation, and to mark him out for partition, for suppression and enchainment, as the general enemy of mankind. "Partition him, cut him down," said the Great Powers to one another; and are busy, as never before, in r　

Billy and the Big Stickby Richard Harding DavisHad the Wilmot Electric Light people remained content only to makelight, had they not, as a by-product, attempted to make money, theyneed not have left Hayti.When they flooded with radiance the unpaved streets of Port-au-Prince no one, except the police, who complained that the lightskept them awake, made objection; but when for this illumination theWilmot Company demanded payment, every one up to President HamilearPoussevain was surprised and grieved. So grieved was President Ham,as he was lovingly designated, that he withdrew the Wilmot...　

Biographical Study of A. W. Kinglakeby Rev. W. TcikwellPREFACEIT is just eleven years since Kinglake passed away, and his life has not yet been separately memorialized. A few years more, and the personal side of him would be irrecoverable, though by personality, no less than by authorship, he made his contemporary mark. When a tomb has been closed for centuries, the effaced lineaments of its tenant can be re-coloured only by the idealizing hand of genius, as Scott drew Claverhouse, and Carlyle drew Cromwell. But, to the biographer of the lately dead, men have a right to say, as Sau　

A LOST OPPORTUNITY."Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brothersin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" . . . ."So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if yefrom your hearts forgive not every one his brother theirtrespasses."ST. MATTHEW xviii., 21-35.In a certain village there lived a peasant by the name of IvanScherbakoff. He was prosperous, strong, and vigorous, and wasconsidered the hardest worker in the whole village. He had threesons, who supported themselves by their own labor. The eldest...　

CYMBELINECYMBELINEWilliam Shakespeare16091- Page 2-CYMBELINEDramatis PersonaeCYMBELINE, King of Britain CLOTEN, son to the Queen by aformer husband POSTHUMUS LEONATUS, a gentleman, husband toImogen BELARIUS, a banished lord, disguised under the name of MorganGUIDERIUS and ARVIRAGUS, sons to Cymbeline, disguised underthe names of POLYDORE and CADWAL, supposed sons to Belarius...　

Letters to His Son, 1748by Lord ChesterfieldLETTERS TO HIS SONBy the EARL OF CHESTERFIELDon the Fine Art of becoming aMAN OF THE WORLDand aGENTLEMANLETTER XXIVJanuary 2, O. S. 1748.DEAR BOY: I am edified with the allotment of your time at Leipsig; which is so well employed from morning till night, that a fool would say you had none left for yourself; whereas, I am sure you have sense enough to know, that such a right use of your time is having it all to yourself; nay, it is even more, for it is laying it out to immense interest, which, in a very few years, will amount to a prodigious capital　

ELECBOOK CLASSICSSilas MarnerGeorge Eliot- Page 2-ELECBOOK CLASSICSebc0024. George Eliot: Silas MarnerThis 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 Ltd20 Cambridge Drive, London SE12 8AJ, UK...　

　　CHAPTER I　　SECRET PAPER-WORK　　THE TWO thirty-eights roared simultaneously.　The walls of the underground room took the crash of sound and batted it to and fro between them until there was silence. James Bond watched the smoke being sucked from each end of the room towards the central Ventaxia fan. The memory in his right hand of how he had drawn and fired with one sweep from the left made him confident. He broke the chamber sideways out of the Colt Detective Special and waited, his gun pointing at the floor, while the Instructor walked the twenty yards towards him through the half-light of t　

　TO　STAN, CHRISTOPHER AND MICHELE RICE　TO　SUZANNE SCOTT QUIROZ AND　VICTORIA WILSON　TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN PRESTON　TO　THE IRISH OF NEW ORLEANS　WHO, IN THE 1850S,　BUILT ON CONSTANCE STREET　THE GREAT CHURCH OF ST. ALPHONSUS,　WHILE PASSING ON TO US　THROUGH FAITH, ARCHITECTURE AND ART　A SPLENDID MONUMENT　TO　"THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE　AND　THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME"　　　Of Mrs. Moore and the echo in the Marabar Caves:　...but the echo began in some indescribable way to undermine her hold on life. ing at a moment when she chanced to be fatigued, it had managed to murmur "Pathos, piety, courage - they ex