The Story of a Bad Boyby Thomas Bailey AldrichChapter OneIn Which I Introduce MyselfThis is the story of a bad boy. Well, not such a very bad, but a pretty bad boy; and I ought to know, for I am, or rather I was, that boy myself.Lest the title should mislead the reader, I hasten to assure him here that I have no dark confessions to make. I call my story the story of a bad boy, partly to distinguish myself from those faultless young gentlemen who generally figure in narratives of this kind, and partly because I really was not a cherub. I may truthfully say I was an amiable, impulsive lad, bles　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BANDby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleOn glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I haveduring the last eight years studied the methods of my friendSherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number merelystrange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did rather for thelove of his art than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused toassociate himself with any investigation which did not tend towardsthe unusual, and even the fantastic. Of all these varied cases,...　

THE WITCH IN THE STONE BOAT[31][31] From the Icelandic.There were once a King and a Queen, and they had a son calledSigurd, who was very strong and active, and good-looking. Whenthe King came to be bowed down with the weight of years he spoketo his son, and said that now it was time for him to look out fora fitting match for himself, for he did not know how long hemight last now, and he would like to see him married before hedied.Sigurd was not averse to this, and asked his father where hethought it best to look for a wife. The King answered that in a...　

The Twins of Table Mountainby Bret HarteCONTENTSI. THE TWINS OF TABLE MOUNTAINII. AN HEIRESS OF RED DOGIII. THE GREAT DEADWOOD MYSTERYIV. A LEGEND OF SAMMTSTADTV. VIEWS FROM A GERMAN SPIONTHE TWINS OF TABLE MOUNTAIN.CHAPTER I.A CLOUD ON THE MOUNTAIN.They lived on the verge of a vast stony level, upheaved so farabove the surrounding country that its vague outlines, viewed fromthe nearest valley, seemed a mere cloud-streak resting upon thelesser hills. The rush and roar of the turbulent river that washed...　

THE BLUE MOUNTAINSThere were once a Scotsman and an Englishman and an Irishmanserving in the army together, who took it into their heads to runaway on the first opportunity they could get. The chance cameand they took it. They went on travelling for two days through agreat forest, without food or drink, and without coming across asingle house, and every night they had to climb up into the treesthrough fear of the wild beasts that were in the wood. On thesecond morning the Scotsman saw from the top of his tree a greatcastle far away. He said to himself that he would certainly die...　

In the Cageby Henry JamesCHAPTER IIt had occurred to her early that in her positionthat of a youngperson spending, in framed and wired confinement, the life of aguinea-pig or a magpieshe should know a great many personswithout their recognising the acquaintance. That made it anemotion the more livelythough singularly rare and always, eventhen, with opportunity still very much smotheredto see any onecome in whom she knew outside, as she called it, any one who couldadd anything to the meanness of her function. Her function was to...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENGRANDMOTHERby Hans Christian AndersenGRANDMOTHERGRANDMOTHER is very old, her face is wrinkled, and her hair isquite white; but her eyes are like two stars, and they have a mild,gentle expression in them when they look at you, which does yougood. She wears a dress of heavy, rich silk, with large flowers workedon it; and it rustles when she moves. And then she can tell the mostwonderful stories. Grandmother knows a great deal, for she was alive...　

THE BOY AND THE WOLVES, OR THE BROKEN PROMISE[18][18] A North American Indian story.Once upon a time an Indian hunter built himself a house in themiddle of a great forest, far away from all his tribe; for hisheart was gentle and kind, and he was weary of the treachery andcruel deeds of those who had been his friends. So he left them,and took his wife and three children, and they journeyed on untilthey found a spot near to a clear stream, where they began to cutdown trees, and to make ready their wigwam. For many years theylived peacefully and happily in this sheltered place, never...　

The Army of the CumberlandBy Henry M. Cist, Brevet Brigadier-General U.S.V.; A. A. G. on the staff of Major-General Rosecrans, and the staff of Major-General Thomas; Secretary of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland.PrefaceThe scope of this work precluded the entering into details as to the minor operations of the troops in the commands named. It has even been impossible to give the movements of troops on the battlefields in lesser organizations than brigades. The rosters of the several armies given in full in the appendices will enable those interested to trace the movements of the mi　

The Ballad of the White Horseby G.K. ChestertonDEDICATIONOf great limbs gone to chaos,A great face turned to nightWhy bend above a shapeless shroudSeeking in such archaic cloudSight of strong lords and light?Where seven sunken EnglandsLie buried one by one,Why should one idle spade, I wonder,Shake up the dust of thanes like thunderTo smoke and choke the sun?In cloud of clay so cast to heavenWhat shape shall man discern?These lords may light the mysteryOf mastery or victory,And these ride high in history,But these shall not return....　

The Black Tulipby Alexandre Dumas, PereChapter 1A Grateful PeopleOn the 20th of August, 1672, the city of the Hague, alwaysso lively, so neat, and so trim that one might believe everyday to be Sunday, with its shady park, with its tall trees,spreading over its Gothic houses, with its canals like largemirrors, in which its steeples and its almost Easterncupolas are reflected, the city of the Hague, the capitalof the Seven United Provinces, was swelling in all itsarteries with a black and red stream of hurried, panting,...　

A DREAM OF ARMAGEDDONThe man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. Hemoved slowly in spite of the urgency of his porter, and even whilehe was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He droppedinto the corner over against me with a sigh, made an incompleteattempt to arrange his travelling shawl, and became motionless,with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a senseof my observation, looked up at me, and put out a spiritless handfor his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction.I feigned to read. I feared I had unwittingly embarrassed...　

On the Frontierby Bret HarteCONTENTSAT THE MISSION OF SAN CARMELA BLUE GRASS PENELOPELEFT OUT ON LONE STAR MOUNTAINAT THE MISSION OF SAN CARMELPROLOGUEIt was noon of the 10th of August, 1838. The monotonous coast linebetween Monterey and San Diego had set its hard outlines againstthe steady glare of the Californian sky and the metallic glitter ofthe Pacific Ocean. The weary succession of rounded, dome-likehills obliterated all sense of distance; the rare whaling vessel or...　

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNERTHE STAR-SPANGLEDBANNERby John A. Carpenter1- Page 2-THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNEROn August 18, 1814, Admiral Cockburn, having returned with his fleetfrom the West Indies, sent to Secretary Monroe at Washington, thefollowing threat:SIR: Having been called upon by the Governor-General of theCanadas to aid him in carrying into effect measures of retaliation against...　

Brother Jacobby George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans]CHAPTER IAmong the many fatalities attending the bloom of young desire, thatof blindly taking to the confectionery line has not, perhaps, beensufficiently considered. How is the son of a British yeoman, whohas been fed principally on salt pork and yeast dumplings, to knowthat there is satiety for the human stomach even in a paradise ofglass jars full of sugared almonds and pink lozenges, and that thetedium of life can reach a pitch where plum-buns at discretion cease...　

MOBY DICKOR THE WHALEby Herman MelvilleETYMOLOGY(Supplied by a Late Consumptive Usher to a Grammar School)The pale Usher- threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I seehim now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars, with aqueer handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags ofall the known nations of the world. He loved to dust his old grammars;it somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality."While you take in hand to school others, and to teach them by...