Up at the unpeopled borderland of cloudy heaven, where unending wind drove eternal snow between and over high gray rocks, the gods and goddesses were gathering.　In the grayness just before dawn, their tall forms came like smoke out of the gray and smoking wind, to take on solidity and detail. Unperturbed by wind or weather, their garments flapping in the shrieking howl of air, they stood upon the rooftop of the world and waited as their numbers grew. Steadily more powers streaked across the sky, bringing reinforcement.　The shortest of the standing figures was taller than humanity, but from t　

　　Chapter One Who I am　1　These are the things I know:　Outerbridge Island has briny water running beneath its rocks, a subterranean series of narrow channels between the Sound and the Atlantic.　You can see the entrances to these channels on the northern side of the island at low tide. These channels feed into the Great Salt Pond on the westerly side of the island before it empties into the sea. It was said that once-upon-a-time, a Dutch trading ship smashed up against the rocks, and local pirates fed upon the treasures found within the hold of the ship. The treasure, it is said, was buried in 　

　　The light of stars is so damn stark.　　When I look up, I fill with fear.　　If all we have is what lies here,　　this lonely world, this troubled place,　　then cold dead stars and empty space.　　Well, I see no reason to persevere,　　no reason to laugh or shed a tear,　　no reason to sleep or ever to wake,　　no promises to keep, and none to make.　　And so at night I still raise my eyes　　to study the clear but mysterious skies　　that arch above us, as cold as stone.　　Are you there, God? Are we alone?　　-The Book of Counted Sorrows　　ONELOST FOREVER...　

　Doyne Farmer and Alletta Belin, 1992　　There are many people, including myself, who are quite queasy about the consequences of this technology for the future.　K. Eric Drexler, 1992　　Introduction　Artificial Evolution in the Twenty-first Century　　The notion that the world around us is continuously evolving is a platitude; we rarely grasp its full implications. We do not ordinarily think, for example, of an epidemic disease changing its character as the epidemic spreads. Nor do we think of evolution in plants and animals as occurring in a matter of days or weeks, though it does. And we do not or　

TWICE-TOLD TALESTHE GREAT STONE FACEby Nathaniel HawthorneONE AFTERNOON, When the sun was going down, a mother and her littleboy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great StoneFace. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly tobe seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all itsfeatures.And what was the Great Stone Face?Embosomed amongst a family of lofty mountains, there was a valleyso spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants. Some of these...　

Robert Falconerby George MacDonaldTOTHE MEMORYOF THE MAN WHOSTANDS HIGHEST IN THE ORATORYOF MY MEMORY,ALEXANDER JOHN SCOTT,I, DARING, PRESUME TO DEDICATE THIS BOOK.PART I.HIS BOYHOOD.CHAPTER I.A RECOLLECTION.Robert Falconer, school-boy, aged fourteen, thought he had neverseen his father; that is, thought he had no recollection of havingever seen him. But the moment when my story begins, he had begun todoubt whether his belief in the matter was correct. And, as he went...　

SEQUELCONTAINING THE STORY OF TOBYNOTE- The Author of "Typee" was more than two years in the SouthSeas, after escaping from the valley, as recounted in the lastchapter. Some time after returning home the foregoing narrative waspublished, though it was little thought at the time that this would bethe means of revealing the existence of Toby, who had long beengiven up for lost. But so it proved. The story of his escapesupplies a natural sequel to the adventure, and as such it is nowadded to the volume. It was related to the Author by Toby himself....　

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOODTHERE were formerly a king and a queen, who were sosorry that they had no children; so sorry that it cannotbe expressed. They went to all the waters in the world;vows, pilgrimages, all ways were tried, and all to nopurpose.At last, however, the Queen had a daughter. There wasa very fine christening; and the Princess had for her god-mothers all the fairies they could find in the whole kingdom(they found seven), that every one of them mightgive her a gift, as was the custom of fairies in those days.By this means the Princess had all the perfections imaginable....　

Adventure XIThe Final ProblemIt is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen towrite these the last words in which I shall everrecord the singular gifts by which my friend Mr.Sherlock Holmes was distinguished. In an incoherentand, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion,I have endeavored to give some account of my strangeexperiences in his company from the chance which firstbrought us together at the period of the "Study inScarlet," up to the time of his interference in thematter of the "Naval Treaty"and interference which...　

Lecture XIXOTHER CHARACTERISTICSWe have wound our way back, after our excursion through mysticismand philosophy, to where we were before: the uses of religion,its uses to the individual who has it, and the uses of theindividual himself to the world, are the best arguments thattruth is in it. We return to the empirical philosophy: the trueis what works well, even though the qualification "on the whole"may always have to be added. In this lecture we must revert todescription again, and finish our picture of the religious...　

An Open-Eyed ConspiracyAn Idyl of Saratogaby William Dean HowellsCHAPTER IThe day had been very hot under the tall trees which everywhereembower and stifle Saratoga, for they shut out the air as well asthe sun; and after tea (they still have an early dinner at all thehotels in Saratoga, and tea is the last meal of the day) I strolledover to the pretty Congress Park, in the hope of getting a breath ofcoolness there. Mrs. March preferred to take the chances on theverandah of our pleasant little hotel, where I left her with theother ladies, forty fanning like one, as they rocked to and fro...　

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granadaby Washington IrvingCONTENTS.I..........Of the Kingdom of Granada, and the Tribute which it Paidto the Castilian Crown.II.........Of the Embassy of Don Juan de Vera to Demand Arrears ofTribute from the Moorish Monarch.III........Domestic Feuds in the AlhambraRival SultanasPredictionsconcerning Boabdil, the Heir to the ThroneHowFerdinand Meditates War against Granada, and how heis Anticipated.IV.........Expedition of the Muley Abul Hassan against the Fortress...　

Pioneers of the Old South, A Chronicle of English Colonial Beginningsby Mary JohnstonCONTENTSI. THE THREE SHIPS SAILII. THE ADVENTURERSIII. JAMESTOWNIV. JOHN SMITHV. THE SEA ADVENTUREVI. SIR THOMAS DALEVII. YOUNG VIRGINIAVIII. ROYAL GOVERNMENTIX. MARYLANDX. CHURCH AND KINGDOMXI. COMMONWEALTH AND RESTORATIONXII. NATHANIEL BACONXIII. REBELLION AND CHANGEXIV. THE CAROLINASXV. ALEXANDER SPOTSWOODXVI. GEORGIATHE NAVIGATION LAWSBIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTEPIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTHCHAPTER I. THE THREE SHIPS SAILElizabeth of England died in 1603. There came to the English throne James...　

The Gathering of Brother Hilariusby Michael Fairless Alias of Margaret Fairless BarberPART I - THE SEEDCHAPTER I - BLIND EYES IN THE FORESTHILARIUS stood at the Monastery gate, looking away down the smooth, well-kept road to the highway beyond. It lay quiet and serene in the June sunshine, the white way to the outer world, and not even a dust cloud on the horizon promised the approach of the train of sumpter mules laden with meats for the bellies and cloth for the backs of the good Brethren within. The Cellarer lacked wine, the drug stores in the farmery were running low; last, but not leas　

Philosophy of Natureby HegelTable of ContentsPreliminary§ 192 Nature has presented itself as the idea in the form of otherness.§ 193 Hence nature exhibits no freedom in its existence, but only necessity and contingency.§ 194 Nature is to be viewed as a system of stages, in which one stage necessarily arises fromthe other.§ 195 Nature is, in itself a living whole.§ 196 The idea as nature can be named mathematics, physics, and physiology.PART I: Mathematics§ 197 The immediate determination of nature is the abstract generality of its...　

Burlesquesby William Makepeace ThackerayCONTENTSNOTES BY EMINENT HANDS.George de Barnwell. By Sir E. L. B. L., Bart.Codlingsby. By D. Shrewsberry, Esq.Phil Fogarty. A Tale of the Fighting Onety-Oneth. By HarryRollickerBarbazure. By G. P. R. Jeames, Esq., etc.Lords and Liveries. By the Authoress of "Dukes and Dejeuners,""Hearts and Diamonds," "Marchionesses and Milliners," etc., etc.Crinoline. By Je-mes Pl-sh, Esq.The Stars and Stripes. By the Author of "The Last of the...