ODESSA, RUSSIA, 1918　　THE DENSE FOG rolled into the harbor late in the afternoon, nudged by a sudden change in wind direction. The damp gray billows washed over the stone quays, swirled up the Odessa Steps and brought an early nightfall to the busy Black Sea port. Passenger ferries and freighters canceled their runs, idling dozens of sailors. As Captain Anatoly Tovrov groped his way through the bone-chilling mists that enveloped the waterfront, he could hear bursts of drunken laughter from the crowded dives and brothels. He walked past the main concentration of bars, turned down an alley an　

The Financierby Theodore DreiserChapter IThe Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born was a city of two hundred and fifty thousand and more. It was set with handsome parks, notable buildings, and crowded with historic memories. Many of the things that we and he knew later were not then in existencethe telegraph, telephone, express company, ocean steamer, city delivery of mails. There were no postage-stamps or registered letters. The street car had not arrived. In its place were hosts of omnibuses, and for longer travel the slowly developing railroad system still largely　

THE TWO FROGSOnce upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs,one of whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, onthe sea coast, while the other dwelt in a clear little streamwhich ran through the city of Kioto. At such a great distanceapart, they had never even heard of each other; but, funnilyenough, the idea came into both their heads at once that theyshould like to see a little of the world, and the frog who livedat Kioto wanted to visit Osaka, and the frog who lived at Osakawished to go to Kioto, where the great Mikado had his palace....　

From the Memoirs of a Minister of Franceby Stanley WeymanCONTENTS.I.THE CLOCKMAKER OF POISSYII.THE TENNIS BALLSIII.TWO MAYORS OF BOTTITORTIV.LA TOUSSAINTV.THE LOST CIPHERVI.THE MAN OF MONCEAUXVII.THE GOVERNOR OF GUERETVIII.THE OPEN SHUTTERIX.THE MAID OF HONOURX.FARMING THE TAXESXI.THE CAT AND THE KINGXII.AT FONTAINEBLEAUI. THE CLOCKMAKER OF POISSY.Foreseeing that some who do not love me will be swift to allege that in the preparation of these memoirs I have set down only such things as redound to my credit, and have suppressed the many experiences not so propitious which fall to the lot of th　

The French Revolution, Volume 2The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 3by Hippolyte A. TaineTHE REVOLUTION. Volume II. THE JACOBIN CONQUEST.THE FRENCH REVOLUTION VOLUME II.THE JACOBIN CONQUEST.THE FRENCH REVOLUTION VOLUME II.BOOK FIRST. THE JACOBINS.CHAPTER I. The Establishment of the new political organ.I. The Revolutionary Party.II. The Jacobins.III. Jacobin Mentality.IV. What the Theory Promises.CHAPTER II. The Party....　

The Path of the Lawby O. W. Holmes, Jr.10 Harvard Law Review 457 (1897)When we study law we are not studying a mystery but a well-knownprofession. We are studying what we shall want in order to appearbefore judges, or to advise people in such a way as to keep them out ofcourt. The reason why it is a profession, why people will pay lawyersto argue for them or to advise them, is that in societies like ours thecommand of the public force is intrusted to the judges in certain cases,and the whole power of the state will be put forth, if necessary, tocarry out their judgments and decrees. People　

The Sorrows of Young Wertherby J.W. von GoetheTranslated by Thomas Carlyle and R.D. BoylanPREFACEI have carefully collected whatever I have been able to learn of the story of poor Werther, and here present it to you, knowing that you will thank me for it. To his spirit and character you cannot refuse your admiration and love: to his fate you will not deny your tears.And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he endured once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be thy friend, if, owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou canst not find a dearer compani　

The Seven Poor Travellersby Charles DickensCHAPTER IIN THE OLD CITY OF ROCHESTERStrictly speaking, there were only six Poor Travellers; but, being aTraveller myself, though an idle one, and being withal as poor as Ihope to be, I brought the number up to seven. This word ofexplanation is due at once, for what says the inscription over thequaint old door?RICHARD WATTS, Esq.by his Will, dated 22 Aug. 1579,founded this Charityfor Six poor Travellers,who not being ROGUES, or PROCTORS,May receive gratis for one Night,...　

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　

The Coming RaceThe Coming Raceby Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton1- Page 2-The Coming RaceCHAPTER I.I am a native of _____, in the United States of America. Myancestors migrated from England in the reign of Charles II.; and mygrandfather was not undistinguished in the War of Independence. Myfamily, therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth;...　

The Illustrious Gaudissartby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Madame la Duchesse de Castries.THE ILLUSTRIOUS GAUDISSARTCHAPTER IThe commercial traveller, a personage unknown to antiquity, is one ofthe striking figures created by the manners and customs of our presentepoch. May he not, in some conceivable order of things, be destined tomark for coming philosophers the great transition which welds a periodof material enterprise to the period of intellectual strength? Our...　

Last Days in a Dutch Hotelby William Dean HowellsWhen we said that we were going to Scheveningen, in the middle ofSeptember, the portier of the hotel at The Hague was sure we should bevery cold, perhaps because we had suffered so much in his house already;and he was right, for the wind blew with a Dutch tenacity of purpose fora whole week, so that the guests thinly peopling the vast hostelry seemedto rustle through its chilly halls and corridors like so many autumnleaves. We were but a poor hundred at most where five hundred would nothave been a crowd; and, when we sat down at the long table　

MY ANTONIAby Willa Sibert CatherTO CARRIE AND IRENE MINERIn memory of affections old and trueOptima dies ... prima fugitVIRGILINTRODUCTIONLAST summer I happened to be crossing the plains of Iowa in a seasonof intense heat, and it was my good fortune to have for a travelingcompanion James Quayle BurdenJim Burden, as we still call himin the West. He and I are old friendswe grew up togetherin the same Nebraska townand we had much to say to each other.While the train flashed through never-ending miles of ripe wheat,...　

THESEUSLegendaryby Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenAs geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps partsof the world which they do not know about, adding notes in themargin to the effect, that beyond this lies nothing but the sandydeserts full of wild beasts, unapproachable bogs, Scythian ice, or afrozen sea, so in this work of mine, in which I have compared thelives of the greatest men with one another, after passing through...　

A Book of Scoundrelsby Charles WhibleyTo the Greeks FOOLISHNESSCONTENTSINTRODUCTIONCAPTAIN HINDMOLL CUTPURSE AND JONATHAN WILDI. MOLL CUTPURSEII. JONATHAN WILDIII. A PARALLELRALPH BRISCOEGILDEROY AND SIXTEEN-STRING JACKI. GILDEROYII. SIXTEEN-STRING JACKIII. A PARALLELTHOMAS PURENEYSHEPPARD AND CARTOUCHEI. JACK SHEPPARDII. LOUIS-DOMINIQUE CARTOUCHEIII. A PARALLELVAUXGEORGE BARRINGTONTHE SWITCHER AND GENTLEMAN HARRYI. THE SWITCHERII. GENTLEMAN HARRY...　

Dr. Shannon Kelsey: A respected archaeologist, a woman of fierce independence and beauty, her passion for the great ancient mysteries has brought her to the mountains of Peru, where she stands on the threshold of an astounding discovery and on the verge of death. . .Joseph Zolar: Within a labyrinth of legitimate business enterprises, he has created a vast international empire built on illegal trade in antiquities. Now he has set his sights on the ultimate prize-golden antiquities worth almost a billion dollars and from his lavish headquarters he coolly signs the death warrant of anyone who da