The Trees of Prideby G.K. ChestertonTHE TREES OF PRIDE:I. THE TALE OF THE PEACOCK TREESII. THE WAGER OF SQUIRE VANEIII. THE MYSTERY OF THE WELLIV. THE CHASE AFTER THE TRUTHTHE TREES OF PRIDEI. THE TALE OF THE PEACOCK TREESSquire Vane was an elderly schoolboy of English education and Irish extraction. His English education, at one of the great public schools, had preserved his intellect perfectly and permanently at the stage of boyhood. But his Irish extraction subconsciously upset in him the proper solemnity of an old boy, and sometimes gave him back the brighter outlook of a naughty boy. H　

THE BLACK DWARFTHE BLACK DWARFWalter Scott, Bart.1- Page 2-THE BLACK DWARFI. TALES OF MY LANDLORDCOLLECTED AND REPORTED BY JEDEDIAH CLEISHBOTHAM,SCHOOLMASTER AND PARISH-CLERK OF GANDERCLEUGH.INTRODUCTION.As I may, without vanity, presume that the name and officialdescription prefixed to this Proem will secure it, from the sedate and...　

MY ANTONIAby Willa Sibert CatherTO CARRIE AND IRENE MINERIn memory of affections old and trueOptima dies ... prima fugitVIRGILINTRODUCTIONLAST summer I happened to be crossing the plains of Iowa in a seasonof intense heat, and it was my good fortune to have for a travelingcompanion James Quayle BurdenJim Burden, as we still call himin the West. He and I are old friendswe grew up togetherin the same Nebraska townand we had much to say to each other.While the train flashed through never-ending miles of ripe wheat,...　

THE WITCH [28][28] From the Russian.Once upon a time there was a peasant whose wife died, leaving himwith two childrentwinsa boy and a girl. For some years thepoor man lived on alone with the children, caring for them asbest he could; but everything in the house seemed to go wrongwithout a woman to look after it, and at last he made up his mindto marry again, feeling that a wife would bring peace and orderto his household and take care of his motherless children. So hemarried, and in the following years several children were born tohim; but peace and order did not come to the household. Fo　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE GARRIDEBSby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleIt may have been a comedy, or it may have been a tragedy. It costone man his reason, it cost me a blood-letting, and it cost yetanother man the penalties of the law. Yet there was certainly anelement of comedy. Well, you shall judge for yourselves.I remember the date very well, for it was in the same month thatHolmes refused a knighthood for services which may perhaps some day bedescribed. I only refer to the matter in passing, for in my position...　

Ponkapog Papersby Thomas Bailey AldrichTO FRANCIS BARTLETTTHESE miscellaneous notes andessays are called Ponkapog Papersnot simply because they chanced, forthe most part, to be written within thelimits of the old Indian Reservation,but, rather, because there is somethingtypical of their unpretentiousness in themodesty with which Ponkapog assumesto being even a village. The littleMassachusetts settlement, nestled underthe wing of the Blue Hills, has no illu-sions concerning itself, never mistakesthe cackle of the bourg for the soundthat echoes round the world, and no...　

A Footnote to Historyby Robert Louis StevensonPREFACEAN affair which might be deemed worthy of a note of a few lines inany general history has been here expanded to the size of a volumeor large pamphlet. The smallness of the scale, and the singularityof the manners and events and many of the characters, considered,it is hoped that, in spite of its outlandish subject, the sketchmay find readers. It has been a task of difficulty. Speed wasessential, or it might come too late to be of any service to adistracted country. Truth, in the midst of conflicting rumours and...　

Albert Savarusby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo Madame Emile Girardin.ALBERT SAVARUSOne of the few drawing-rooms where, under the Restoration, theArchbishop of Besancon was sometimes to be seen, was that of theBaronne de Watteville, to whom he was particularly attached on accountof her religious sentiments.A word as to this lady, the most important lady of Besancon.Monsieur de Watteville, a descendant of the famous Watteville, themost successful and illustrious of murderers and renegadeshisextraordinary adventures are too much a part of history to be related...　

THE DEVOTED FRIENDOne morning the old Water-rat put his head out of his hole. He hadbright beady eyes and stiff grey whiskers and his tail was like along bit of black india-rubber. The little ducks were swimmingabout in the pond, looking just like a lot of yellow canaries, andtheir mother, who was pure white with real red legs, was trying toteach them how to stand on their heads in the water."You will never be in the best society unless you can stand on yourheads," she kept saying to them; and every now and then she showedthem how it was done. But the little ducks paid no attention to...　

ADVERTISEMENT TO EDITION 1829It has been the occasional occupation of the Author of Waverley forseveral years past to revise and correct the voluminous series ofNovels which pass under that name, in order that, if they shouldever appear as his avowed productions, he might render them insome degree deserving of a continuance of the public favour withwhich they have been honoured ever since their first appearance. Fora long period, however, it seemed likely that the improved and illustratededition which he meditated would be a posthumous publication.But the course of the events which occasioned　

1872FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENUNDER THE WILLOW-TREEby Hans Christian AndersenTHE region round the little town of Kjoge is very bleak andcold. The town lies on the sea shore, which is always beautiful; buthere it might be more beautiful than it is, for on every side thefields are flat, and it is a long way to the forest. But whenpersons reside in a place and get used to it, they can always findsomething beautiful in it,- something for which they long, even in themost charming spot in the world which is not home. It must be owned that there are in the outskirts of the town some humb　

1872FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTWO MAIDENSby Hans Christian AndersenHAVE you ever seen a maiden? I mean what our pavers call a maiden, a thing with which they ram down the paving-stones in the roads. A maiden of this kind is made altogether of wood, broad below, and girt round with iron rings. At the top she is narrow, and has a stick passed across through her waist, and this stick forms the arms of the maiden.In the shed stood two Maidens of this kind. They had their placeamong shovels, hand-carts, wheelbarrows, and measuring-tapes; and to all this company the news had come that t　

The Original Peter Rabbit BooksThe Original PeterRabbit BooksBEATRIX POTTER1- Page 2-The Original Peter Rabbit BooksTHE TALE OF PETER RABBITBY BEATRIX POTTERONCE upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their nameswere Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of avery big fir tree."NOW, my dears," said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go...　

A Waif of the Plainsby Bret HarteCHAPTER IA long level of dull gray that further away became a faint blue,with here and there darker patches that looked like water. Attimes an open space, blackened and burnt in an irregular circle,with a shred of newspaper, an old rag, or broken tin can lying inthe ashes. Beyond these always a low dark line that seemed to sinkinto the ground at night, and rose again in the morning with thefirst light, but never otherwise changed its height and distance.A sense of always moving with some indefinite purpose, but ofalways returning at night to the same placewi　

The Agony Columnby Earl Derr BiggersCHAPTER ILondon that historic summer was almost unbearably hot. It seems, looking back, as though the big baking city in those days was meant to serve as an anteroom of torture - an inadequate bit of preparation for the hell that was soon to break in the guise of the Great War. About the soda-water bar in the drug store near the Hotel Cecil many American tourists found solace in the sirups and creams of home. Through the open windows of the Piccadilly tea shops you might catch glimpses of the English consuming quarts of hot tea in order to become cool. 　

Augustus Does His Bitby George Bernard ShawI wish to express my gratitude for certain good offices whichAugustus secured for me in January,1917. I had been invited tovisit the theatre of war in Flanders by the Commander-in-Chief:an invitation which was, under the circumstances, a summons toduty. Thus I had occasion to spend some days in procuringthe necessary passport and other official facilities formy journey. It happened just then that the Stage Society gave aperformance of this little play. It opened the heart of everyofficial to me. I have always been treated with distinguished...