FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE PEA BLOSSOMby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE were once five peas in one shell, they were green, the shellwas green, and so they believed that the whole world must be greenalso, which was a very natural conclusion. The shell grew, and thepeas grew, they accommodated themselves to their position, and sat allin a row. The sun shone without and warmed the shell, and the rainmade it clear and transparent; it was mild and agreeable in broaddaylight, and dark at night, as it generally is; and the peas as...　

ROMULUSLegendary, 8th Century B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenFrom whom, and for what reason, the city of Rome, a name so great inglory, and famous in the mouths of all men, was so first called,authors do not agree. Some are of opinion that the Pelasgians,wandering over the greater part of the habitable world, and subduingnumerous nations, fixed themselves here, and, from their own greatstrength in war, called the city Rome. Others, that at the taking of...　

The Chaperonby Henry JamesCHAPTER I.An old lady, in a high drawing-room, had had her chair moved close tothe fire, where she sat knitting and warming her knees. She wasdressed in deep mourning; her face had a faded nobleness, tempered,however, by the somewhat illiberal compression assumed by her lips inobedience to something that was passing in her mind. She was farfrom the lamp, but though her eyes were fixed upon her active needlesshe was not looking at them. What she really saw was quite anothertrain of affairs. The room was spacious and dim; the thick London...　

POPLICOLA500 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenSUCH was Solon. To him we compare Poplicola, who received this latertitle from the Roman people for his merit, as a noble accession to hisformer name, Publius Valerius. He descended from Valerius, a manamongst the early citizens, reputed the principal reconciler of thedifferences betwixt the Romans and Sabines, and one that was mostinstrumental in persuading their kings to assent to peace and union....　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE SHIRT-COLLARby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was once a fine gentleman who possessed among other things aboot-jack and a hair-brush; but he had also the finest shirt-collar inthe world, and of this collar we are about to hear a story. The collarhad become so old that he began to think about getting married; andone day he happened to find himself in the same washing-tub as agarter. "Upon my word," said the shirt-collar, "I have never seenanything so slim and delicate, so neat and soft before. May I...　

THE INDISCRETION OF ELSBETHThe American paused. He had evidently lost his way. For the lasthalf hour he had been wandering in a medieval town, in a profoundmedieval dream. Only a few days had elapsed since he had left thesteamship that carried him hither; and the accents of his owntongue, the idioms of his own people, and the sympathetic communityof New World tastes and expressions still filled his mind until hewoke up, or rather, as it seemed to him, was falling asleep in thepast of this Old World town which had once held his ancestors....　

The Wars of the Jewsor History of the Destruction of JerusalemBy Flavius JosephusTranslated by William WhistonPREFACE1. (1) Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard of; both of those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against nations; while some men who were not concerned in the affairs themselves have gotten together vain and contradictory stories by hearsay, and have written them down after a sophistical manner; and while those that were th　

Before AdamBefore AdamJack London19061- Page 2-Before Adam"These are our ancestors, and their history is our history. Rememberthat as surely as we one day swung down out of the trees and walkedupright, just as surely, on a far earlier day, did we crawl up out of the seaand achieve our first adventure on land."2...　

A Cumberland Vendettaby John Fox Jr.TO MINERVA AND ELIZABETHA Cumberland VendettaITHE cave had been their hiding-place as children; it was a secret refuge now against hunger or darkness when they were hunting in the woods. The primitive meal was finished; ashes were raked over the red coals; the slice of bacon and the little bag of meal were hung high against the rock wall; and the two stepped from the cavern into a thicket of rhododendrons.Parting the bushes toward the dim light, they stood on a massive shoulder of the mountain, the river girding it far below, and the afternoon shadows at th　

1861REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENTby John Stuart MillPREFACE.THOSE who have done me the honour of reading my previous writings will probably receive no strong impression of novelty from the present volume; for the principles are those to which I have been working up during the greater part of my life, and most of the practical suggestions have been anticipated by others or by myself. There is novelty, however, in the fact of bringing them together, and exhibiting them in their connection; and also, I believe, in much that is brought forward in their support. Several of the opinions at all events, 　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BRAVE TIN SOLDIERby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were allbrothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon. Theyshouldered arms and looked straight before them, and wore a splendiduniform, red and blue. The first thing in the world they ever heardwere the words, "Tin soldiers!" uttered by a little boy, who clappedhis hands with delight when the lid of the box, in which they lay, wastaken off. They were given him for a birthday present, and he stood at...　

ADVENTUREADVENTUREby Jack London1- Page 2-ADVENTURECHAPTER ISOMETHING TOBE 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 piercedand stretched until one had torn out, while the other carried a circularblock of carved wood three inches in diameter. The torn ear had been...　

To be Read at Duskby Charles DickensOne, two, three, four, five. There were five of them.Five couriers, sitting on a bench outside the convent on the summitof the Great St. Bernard in Switzerland, looking at the remoteheights, stained by the setting sun as if a mighty quantity of redwine had been broached upon the mountain top, and had not yet hadtime to sink into the snow.This is not my simile. It was made for the occasion by thestoutest courier, who was a German. None of the others took anymore notice of it than they took of me, sitting on another bench on...　

The American Claimantby Mark TwainEXPLANATORYThe Colonel Mulberry Sellers here re-introduced to the public is the sameperson who appeared as Eschol Sellers in the first edition of the taleentitled "The Gilded Age," years ago, and as Beriah Sellers in thesubsequent editions of the same book, and finally as Mulberry Sellers inthe drama played afterward by John T. Raymond.The name was changed from Eschol to Beriah to accommodate an EscholSellers who rose up out of the vasty deeps of uncharted space andpreferred his requestbacked by threat of a libel suitthen went his...　

Stories by Modern American AuthorsEdited by Julian HawthorneCONTENTS:F. MARION CRAWFORD (1854-)By the Waters of ParadiseMARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN (1862-)The Shadows on the WallMELVILLE D. POST (1871-)The Corpus DelictiAMBROSE BIERCE (1842-)An Heiress from RedhorseThe Man and the SnakeEDGAR ALLAN POE (1809-49)The Oblong BoxThe Gold-BugWASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859)Wolfert Webber, or Golden DreamsAdventure of the Black FishermanCHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN (1771-1810)...　

PERICLES490?-429 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenCAESAR once, seeing some wealthy strangers at Rome, carrying upand down with them in their arms and bosoms young puppy-dogs andmonkeys, embracing and making much of them, took occasion notunnaturally to ask whether the women in their country were not used tobear children; by that prince-like reprimand gravely reflecting uponpersons who spend and lavish upon brute beasts that affection and...