THE SUMERIANS　　　　Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, the first real moves towards civilisation emerged from southern Mesopotamia, around the lower reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Because the land was between two rivers-Sumer-the people there were called Sumerians.　　Their ethnic origins have never been explained.　　This race of people made three important contributions towards our advancement-four if you count the establishment of firmly governed munities.　　The first two were these: The measurement of time in hours, days and months; and astrology, the study of the sta　

　I found what follows lying on my desk one morning.　As you will see, it appears to be the first-person story of a young woman, evidently beautiful and not unskilled in the arts of love.　According to her story, she appears to have been involved, both perilously and romantically, with the same James Bond whose secret-service exploits I myself have written from time to time.　With the manuscript was a note signed "Vivienne Michel," assuring me that what she had written was purest truth and from the depths of her heart.　I was much interested in this view of James Bond, through the wrong end of the　

THE LIBRARY1THE LIBRARYBy Andrew Lang1- Page 2-THE LIBRARY2PREFATORY NOTEThe pages in this volume on illuminated and other MSS. (with theexception of some anecdotes about Bussy Rabutin and Julie deRambouillet) have been contributed by the Rev. W. J. Loftie, who has alsowritten on early printed books (pp. 94-95). The pages on the Biblioklept...　

　　　　I HAD BEEN making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me.　　　　At the north end of the island, near the tumbled remains of the slip where the handle of the rusty winch still creaks in an easterly wind, I had two Poles on the far face of the last dune. One of the Poles held a rat head with two dragonflies, the other a seagull and two mice. I was just sticking one of the mouse heads back on when the birds went up into the evening air, kaw-calling and screaming, wheeling over the path through 　

The Circus Boys In Dixie Land (Or Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South)The Circus Boys In DixieLand(Or Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South)Edgar B. P. Darlington1- Page 2-The Circus Boys In Dixie Land (Or Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South)CHAPTER IUNDER CANVAS AGAIN"I reckon the fellows will turn out to see us tomorrow night, Teddy."...　

Animal HeroesAnimal Heroesby Ernest Thompson Seton1- Page 2-Animal HeroesNote to ReaderA hero is an individual of unusual gifts and achievements. Whether itbe man or animal, this definition applies; and it is the histories of such thatappeal to the imagination and to the hearts of those who hear them.In this volume every one of the stories, though more or less composite,is founded on the actual life of a veritable animal hero. The most...　

LIN McLEANLIN McLEANByOWEN WISTER1- Page 2-LIN McLEANDEDICATIONMY DEAR HARRY MERCER: When Lin McLean was only a hero inmanuscript, he received his first welcome and chastening beneath yourpatient roof. By none so much as by you has he in private been helped andaffectionately disciplined, an now you must stand godfather to him upon...　

　　William Blake　　　　"Nature does not premeditate; she does not use mathematics; she does not deliberately produce whole patterns, she lets whole patterns produce themselves. Nature does what nature demands; she is beyond blame and responsibility."　　Peter S. StevensPatterns in NatureOne　　Sunday, November 23　　Paradise, Pennsylvania　　3:00 a.m.　　　　The thing Boonie loved most about dumping off Black Bridge was how altogether goddam convenient it was. Take, for example, the traveling time. Even with miniature minefields of ice booby-trapping the backroads of Hellam, he figured ten minutes tops in th　

The Path Of Empire, A Chronicle Of The United States As A World Powerby Carl Russell FishCONTENTSI. THE MONROE DOCTRINEII. CONTROVERSIES WITH GREAT BRITAINIII. ALASKA AND ITS PROBLEMSIV. BLAINE AND PAN-AMERICANISMV. THE UNITED STATES AND THE PACIFICVI. VENEZUELAVII. THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR WITH SPAINVIII. DEWEY AND MANILA BAYIX. THE BLOCKADE OF CUBAX. THE PREPARATION OF THE ARMYXI. THE CAMPAIGN OF SANTIAGO DE CUBAXII. THE CLOSE OF THE WARXIII. A PEACE WHICH MEANT WARXIV. THE OPEN DOORXV. THE PANAMA CANALXVI. PROBLEMS OF THE CARIBBEAN...　

IN THE town there were two mutes, and they were alwaystogether. Early every morning they would come out fromthe house where they lived and walk arm in arm down thestreet to work. The two friends were very different. Theone who always steered the way was an obese anddreamy Greek. In the summer he would come outwearing a yellow or green polo shirt stuffed sloppily intohis trousers in front and hanging loose behind. When itwas colder he wore over this a shapeless gray sweater.His face was round and oily, with half-closed eyelids andlips that curved in a gentle, stupid smile. The other mute...　

End NotesNOTE TO CHAPTER I.Note A.-The Ranger or the Forest, that cuts theforeclaws off our dogs.A most sensible grievance of those aggrieved times were theForest Laws. These oppressive enactments were the produce ofthe Norman Conquest, for the Saxon laws of the chase weremild and humane; while those of William, enthusiastically attachedto the exercise and its rights, were to the last degreetyrannical. The formation of the New Forest, bears evidenceto his passion for hunting, where he reduced many a happy villageto the condition of that one commemorated by my friend,...　

Maid MarianMaid Marianby Thomas Love Peacock1- Page 2-Maid MarianCHAPTER INow come ye for peace here, or come ye for war? SCOTT."The abbot, in his alb arrayed," stood at the altar in the abbey-chapelof Rubygill, with all his plump, sleek, rosy friars, in goodly lines disposed,to solemnise the nuptials of the beautiful Matilda Fitzwater, daughter of...　

SAMUEL BROHL & COMPANYSAMUEL BROHL &COMPANYVICTOR CHERBULIEZ1- Page 2-SAMUEL BROHL & COMPANYCHAPTER IWere the events of this nether sphere governed by the calculus ofprobabilities, Count Abel Larinski and Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz wouldalmost unquestionably have arrived at the end of their respective careerswithout ever having met. Count Larinski lived in Vienna, Austria; Mlle....　

Lecture 2The Ancient Irish LawThe great peculiarity of the ancient laws of Ireland, so faras they are accessible to us, is discussed, with much instructiveillustration, in the General Preface to the Third Volume of theofficial translations. They are not a legislative structure, butthe creation of a class of professional lawyers, the Brehons,whose occupation became hereditary, and who on that ground havebeen designated, though not with strict accuracy, a caste. This...　

An Inland Voyageby Robert Louis StevensonPREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITIONTo equip so small a book with a preface is, I am half afraid, to sin against proportion. But a preface is more than an author can resist, for it is the reward of his labours. When the foundation stone is laid, the architect appears with his plans, and struts for an hour before the public eye. So with the writer in his preface: he may have never a word to say, but he must show himself for a moment in the portico, hat in hand, and with an urbane demeanour.It is best, in such circumstances, to represent a delicate sha　

THE LIGHT OF EGYPTTHE LIGHT OF EGYPT(OR THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL AND THESTARS)VOLUME IITHOMAS H. BURGOYNE1- Page 2-THE LIGHT OF EGYPTZANONI"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, andthe things which shall be hereafter; THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVENSTARS, which thou sawest in my right hand." Revelations, Chap. I, 19...