The Bean-FieldMeanwhile my beans, the length of whose rows, added together,was seven miles already planted, were impatient to be hoed, for theearliest had grown considerably before the latest were in theground; indeed they were not easily to be put off. What was themeaning of this so steady and self-respecting, this small Herculeanlabor, I knew not. I came to love my rows, my beans, though so manymore than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so I gotstrength like Antaeus. But why should I raise them? Only Heaven...　

My Discovery of Englandby Leacock, StephenIntroduction of Mr. Stephen Leacock Given by Sir Owen Seaman on the Occasion of His First Lecture in LondonLADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It is usual on these occasions for the chairman to begin something like this: "The lecturer, I am sure, needs no introduction from me." And indeed, when I have been the lecturer and somebody else has been the chairman, I have more than once suspected myself of being the better man of the two. Of course I hope I should always have the good mannersI am sure Mr. Leacock hasto disguise that suspicion. However, one has to go thr　

THE MAIDEN WITH THE WOODEN HELMETIn a little village in the country of Japan there lived long,long ago a man and his wife. For many years they were happy andprosperous, but bad times came, and at last nothing was left thembut their daughter, who was as beautiful as the morning. Theneighbours were very kind, and would have done anything theycould to help their poor friends, but the old couple felt thatsince everything had changed they would rather go elsewhere, soone day they set off to bury themselves in the country, takingtheir daughter with them.Now the mother and daughter had plenty to d　

Caesar and Cleopatraby George Bernard ShawACT IAn October night on the Syrian border of Egypt towards the end ofthe XXXIII Dynasty, in the year 706 by Roman computation,afterwards reckoned by Christian computation as 48 B.C. A greatradiance of silver fire, the dawn of a moonlit night, is risingin the east. The stars and the cloudless sky are our owncontemporaries, nineteen and a half centuries younger than weknow them; but you would not guess that from their appearance.Below them are two notable drawbacks of civilization: a palace,and soldiers. The palace, an old, low, Syrian building of...　

DAVID COPPERFIELDby CHARLES DICKENSAFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TOTHE HON. Mr. AND Mrs. RICHARD WATSON,OF ROCKINGHAM, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.PREFACE TO 1850 EDITIONI do not find it easy to get sufficiently far away from this Book,in the first sensations of having finished it, to refer to it withthe composure which this formal heading would seem to require. Myinterest in it, is so recent and strong; and my mind is so dividedbetween pleasure and regret - pleasure in the achievement of a longdesign, regret in the separation from many companions - that I am...　

daughters, one ugly and wicked, and this one she loved because shewas her own daughter, and one beautiful and good, and this one shehated, because she was her step-daughter. The step-daughter once hada pretty apron, which the other fancied so much that she becameenvious, and told her mother that she must and would have that apron.Be quiet, my child, said the old woman, and you shall have it. Yourstep-sister has long deserved death, to-night when she is asleep Iwill come and cut her head off. Only be careful that you are at thefar-side of the bed, and push her well to the front. It would ha　

War and the Futureby H. G. WellsItaly, France and Britain at WarContentsThe Passing of the EffigyThe War in Italy (August, 1916)I. The Isonzo FrontII. The Mountain WarIII. Behind the FrontThe Western War (September, 1916)I. RuinsII. The Grades of WarIII. The War LandscapeIV. New Arms for Old OnesV. TanksHow People Think About the WarI. Do they Really Think at all?II. The Yielding Pacifist and the Conscientious ObjectorIII. The Religious RevivalIV. The Riddle of the BritishV. The Social Changes in ProgressVI. The Ending of the War...　

STAGE-LANDby Jerome K. JeromeTOTHAT HIGHLY RESPECTABLE BUT UNNECESSARILYRETIRING INDIVIDUAL,OF WHOMWE HEAR SO MUCHBUTSEE SO LITTLE,"THE EARNEST STUDENT OF THE DRAMA,"THIS(COMPARATIVELY) TRUTHFUL LITTLE BOOKIS LOVINGLY DEDICATED.CONTENTS.THE HEROTHE VILLAINTHE HEROINETHE COMIC MANTHE LAWYERTHE ADVENTURESSTHE SERVANT GIRLTHE CHILDTHE COMIC LOVERSTHE PEASANTSTHE GOOD OLD MANTHE IRISHMANTHE DETECTIVETHE SAILORSTAGE-LAND.THE HERO.His name is George, generally speaking. "Call me George!" he says to...　

AMENDED OBITUARIESTO THE EDITOR:Sir,I am approaching seventy; it is in sight; it is only threeyears away. Necessarily, I must go soon. It is but matter-of-coursewisdom, then, that I should begin to set my worldly house inorder now, so that it may be done calmly and with thoroughness,in place of waiting until the last day, when, as we have often seen,the attempt to set both houses in order at the same time has beenmarred by the necessity for haste and by the confusion and wasteof time arising from the inability of the notary and the ecclesiastic...　

Merton of the Moviesby Harry Leon WilsonTo George AdeCONTENTSI. DIRTY WORK AT THE BORDERII. THAT NIGHTTHE APARTMENTS OF CLIFFORD ARMYTAGEIII. WESTERN STUFFIV. THE WATCHER AT THE GATEV. A BREACH IN THE CITY WALLSVI. UNDER THE GLASS TOPSVII. "NOTHING TO-DAY, DEAR!"VIII. CLIFFORD ARMYTAGE, THE OUTLAWIX. MORE WAYS THAN ONEX. OF SHATTERED ILLUSIONSXI. THE MONTAGUE GIRL INTERVENESXII. ALIAS HAROLD PARMALEEXIII. GENIUS COMES INTO ITS OWNXIV. OUT THERE WHERE MEN ARE MENXV. A NEW TRAIL...　

Frances Waldeaux by Rebecca Harding DavisA REMEMBRANCER OF BRITTANY FOR THE BEST FELLOW-TRAVELLER IN THE WORLDFRANCES WALDEAUX CHAPTER IIn another minute the Kaiser Wilhelm would push off from her pier in Hoboken. The last bell had rung, the last uniformed officer and white-jacketed steward had scurried up the gangway. The pier was massed with people who had come to bid their friends good-by. They were all Germans, and there had been unlimited embracing and kissing and sobs of "Ach! mein lieber Sckatz!" and "Gott bewahre Dick!"Now they stood looking up to the crowded decks, shouting out l　

A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soulby George MacDonaldDEDICATIONSweet friends, receive my offering. You will findAgainst each worded page a white page set:This is the mirror of each friendly mindReflecting that. In this book we are met.Make it, dear hearts, of worth to you indeed:Let your white page be ground, my print be seed,Growing to golden ears, that faith and hope shall feed.YOUR OLD SOULThe Diary of an Old Soul.JANUARY.1.LORD, what I once had done with youthful might,Had I been from the first true to the truth,...　

Adventure XThe Naval TreatyThe July which immediately succeeded my marriage wasmade memorable by three cases of interest, in which Ihad the privilege of being associated with SherlockHolmes and of studying his methods. I find themrecorded in my notes under the headings of "TheAdventure of the Second Stain," "The Adventure of theNaval Treaty," and "The Adventure of the TiredCaptain." The first of these, however, deals withinterest of such importance and implicates so many ofthe first families in the kingdom that for many years...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE OLD HOUSEby Hans Christian AndersenA VERY old house stood once in a street with several that werequite new and clean. The date of its erection had been carved on oneof the beams, and surrounded by scrolls formed of tulips andhop-tendrils; by this date it could be seen that the old house wasnearly three hundred years old. Verses too were written over thewindows in old-fashioned letters, and grotesque faces, curiouslycarved, grinned at you from under the cornices. One story projected...　

The Darrow Enigmaby Melvin L. SeveryCONTENTSTHE EPISODE OF THE DARKENED ROOMCHAPTER ICHAPTER IICHAPTER IIICHAPTER IVTHE EPISODE OF THE SEALED DOCUMENTCHAPTER ITHE EPISODE OF RAMA RAGOBAHCHAPTER ICHAPTER IITHE EPISODE OF THE PARALLEL READERSCHAPTER ICHAPTER IICHAPTER IIITHE EPISODE OF THE TALETALE THUMBCHAPTER ICHAPTER IICHAPTER IIICHAPTER IVCHAPTER VTHE EPISODE OF THE DARKENED ROOMCHAPTER IWhat shall we say when Dream-Pictures leave their frames...　

The White Mollby Frank L. PackardCONTENTSCHAPTERI. NIGHT IN THE UNDERWORLDII. SEVEN-THREE-NINEIII. ALIAS GYPSY NANIV. THE ADVENTURERV. A SECOND VISITORVI. THE RENDEZVOUSVII. FELLOW THIEVESVIII. THE CODE MESSAGEIX. ROOM NUMBER ELEVENX. ON THE BRINKXI. SOME OF THE LESSER BREEDXII. CROOKS vs. CROOKSXIII. THE DOOR ACROSS THE HALLXIV. THE LAME MANXV. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERXVI. THE SECRET PANEL...