THE RATCATCHERA VERY long time ago the town of Hamel in Germany wasinvaded by bands of rats, the like of which had never been seenbefore nor will ever be again.They were great black creatures that ran boldly in broaddaylight through the streets, and swarmed so, all over the houses, thatpeople at last could not put their hand or foot down anywhere withouttouching one. When dressing in the morning they found themin their breeches and petticoats, in their pockets and in their boots;and when they wanted a morsel to eat, the voracious horde had...
The Mahatma and the HareA Dream Storyby H. Rider Haggard"Ultimately a good hare was found which took the field at . . .There the hounds pressed her, and on the hunt arriving at the edgeof the cliff the hare could be seen crossing the beach and goingright out to sea. A boat was procured, and the master and someothers rowed out to her just as she drowned, and, bringing thebody in, gave it to the hounds. A hare swimming out to sea is asight not often witnessed."/Local paper, January/ 1911.". . . A long check occurred in the latter part of this hunt, the...
The Divine Comedytranslated by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowPARADISOParadiso: Canto IThe glory of Him who moveth everythingDoth penetrate the universe, and shineIn one part more and in another less.Within that heaven which most his light receivesWas I, and things beheld which to repeatNor knows, nor can, who from above descends;Because in drawing near to its desireOur intellect ingulphs itself so far,That after it the memory cannot go.Truly whatever of the holy realmI had the power to treasure in my mindShall now become the subject of my song....
Hero Tales From American Historyby Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore RooseveltHence it is that the fathers of these men and ours also, and they themselves likewise, being nurtured in all freedom and well born, have shown before all men many and glorious deeds in public and private, deeming it their duty to fight for the cause of liberty and the Greeks, even against Greeks, and against Barbarians for all the Greeks." PLATO: "Menexenus."TO E. Y. R.To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose, as you know better than any one else, is to tell in simple fashion the story of some Am
Marieby H. Rider HaggardAN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE ALLAN QUATERMAINDEDICATIONDitchingham, 1912.My dear Sir Henry,Nearly thirty-seven years have gone by, more than a generation, sincefirst we saw the shores of Southern Africa rising from the sea. Sincethen how much has happened: the Annexation of the Transvaal, the ZuluWar, the first Boer War, the discovery of the Rand, the taking ofRhodesia, the second Boer War, and many other matters which in thesequick-moving times are now reckoned as ancient history....
The Red One, and Othersby Jack LondonContents:The Red OneThe HussyLike Argus of the Ancient TimesThe PrincessSTORY: THE RED ONETHERE it was! The abrupt liberation of sound! As he timed it withhis watch, Bassett likened it to the trump of an archangel. Wallsof cities, he meditated, might well fall down before so vast andcompelling a summons. For the thousandth time vainly he tried toanalyse the tone-quality of that enormous peal that dominated theland far into the strong-holds of the surrounding tribes. The...
The Dustby David Graham PhillipsThe Grain of DustA NOVELBYDAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPSTHE GRAIN OF DUSTIINTO the offices of Lockyer, Sanders, Benchley, Lockyer & Norman, corporation lawyers, there drifted on a December afternoon a girl in search of work at stenography and typewriting. The firm was about the most important and most famousradical orators often said infamousin New York. The girl seemed, at a glance, about as unimportant and obscure an atom as the city hid in its vast ferment. She was blondetawny hair, fair skin, blue eyes. Aside from this hardly conclusive mark of identity there wa
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners In a faithful account of the life and death of John Bunyan Or A brief relation of the exceeding mercy of God in Christ to him Namely In His taking him out of the dunghill, and converting him to the faith of His blessed son Jesus Christ. Here is also particularly shewed, what sight of, and what troubles he had for sin; and also, what various temptations he hath met with, and how God hath carried him through them.A PREFACEOR, BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PUBLISHING THIS WORK. WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR THEREOF, AND DEDICATED TO THOSE WHOM GOD HATH COUNTED HIM
The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Booneby John FilsonFrom The Discovery and Settlement of Kentuckeby John FilsonThe ADVENTURES of Col. DANIEL BOON;containing a NARRATIVE of the WARS of Kentucke.Curiosity is natural to the soul of man, and interesting objectshave a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencingpowers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, fromselfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heavenis unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatsoever motivesexcited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven. Thus...
The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retzby Cardinal de RetzHISTORIC COURT MEMOIRS.THE ENTIRE MEMOIRS OF JEAN FRANCOIS PAUL de GONDI, CARDINAL DE RETZWritten by HimselfBeing Historic Court Memoirs of the Great Events during the Minority ofLouis XIV. and the Administration of Cardinal Mazarin.ORIGINAL PREFACE.Our Author, John Francis Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, Sovereign of Commercy, Prince of Euville, second Archbishop of Paris, Abbot of Saint Denis in France, was born at Montmirail, in Brie, in October, 1614.His father was Philippe Emanuel de Gondi, Comte, de Joigni, General of the Galleys of Fra
Two Poetsby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo Monsieur Victor Hugo,It was your birthright to be, like a Rafael or a Pitt, a great poet at an age when other men are children; it was your fate, the fate of Chateaubriand and of every man of genius, to struggle against jealousy skulking behind the columns of a newspaper, or crouching in the subterranean places of journalism. For this reason I desired that your victorious name should help to win a victory for this work that I inscribe to you, a work which, if some persons are to be believed, is an act of courag
The Firm of Nucingenby Honore de BalzacTranslated by James WaringTO MADAME ZULMA CARRAUDTo whom, madame, but to you should I inscribe this work; to you whose lofty and candid intellect is a treasury to your friends; to you that are to me not only a whole public, but the most indulgent of sisters as well? Will you deign to accept a token of the friendship of which I am proud? You, and some few souls as noble, will grasp the whole of the thought underlying The Firm of Nucingen, appended to Cesar Birotteau. Is there not a whole social lesson in the contrast between the two stories?
THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE"She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,"cried the young Student; "but in all my garden there is no redrose."From her nest in the holm-oak tree the Nightingale heard him, andshe looked out through the leaves, and wondered."No red rose in all my garden!" he cried, and his beautiful eyesfilled with tears. "Ah, on what little things does happinessdepend! I have read all that the wise men have written, and allthe secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is...
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennesby Robert Louis Stevenson.My Dear Sidney Colvin,The journey which this little book is to describe was veryagreeable and fortunate for me. After an uncouth beginning, I hadthe best of luck to the end. But we are all travellers in whatJohn Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world - all, too,travellers with a donkey: and the best that we find in our travelsis an honest friend. He is a fortunate voyager who finds many. Wetravel, indeed, to find them. They are the end and the reward of...