THE MYSTERIOUS PORTRAITPART INowhere did so many people pause as before the little picture-shop inthe Shtchukinui Dvor. This little shop contained, indeed, the mostvaried collection of curiosities. The pictures were chieflyoil-paintings covered with dark varnish, in frames of dingy yellow.Winter scenes with white trees; very red sunsets, like ragingconflagrations, a Flemish boor, more like a turkey-cock in cuffs thana human being, were the prevailing subjects. To these must be added afew engravings, such as a portrait of Khozreff-Mirza in a sheepskincap, and some generals with three-cornered hats and hooked noses.Moreover, the doors of such shops are usually festooned with bundles...　

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.Alas! I fear that were we to re-visit that country we should find butfew faces which we knew. Yet of one thing we may be glad. Those...　

by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenHAVING mentioned the most memorable actions of these great men, ifwe now compare the whole life of the one with that of the other, itwill not be easy to discern the difference between them, lost as it isamongst such a number of circumstances in which they resemble eachother. If, however, we examine them in detail, as we might somepiece of poetry, or some picture, we shall find this common to themboth, that they advanced themselves to great honour and dignity in thecommonwealth by no other means than their own virtue and industry. Butit seems when Aristides appeared, Athens was not at its height of...　

The Girl with the Golden Eyesby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo Eugene Delacroix, Painter.NoteThe Girl with the Golden Eyes is the third part of a trilogy. Partone is entitled Ferragus and part two is The Duchesse de Langeais.The three stories are frequently combined under the title TheThirteen.THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN EYESOne of those sights in which most horror is to be encountered is,surely, the general aspect of the Parisian populacea people fearfulto behold, gaunt, yellow, tawny. Is not Paris a vast field inperpetual turmoil from a storm of interests beneath which are whirledalong a crop of human beings, who are, more often than not, reaped by...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LITTLE MERMAIDby Hans Christian AndersenFAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as theprettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, verydeep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many churchsteeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the groundbeneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea Kingand his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at thebottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the mostsingular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENA CHEERFUL TEMPERby Hans Christian AndersenFROM my father I received the best inheritance, namely a "goodtemper." "And who was my father?" That has nothing to do with the goodtemper; but I will say he was lively, good-looking round, and fat;he was both in appearance and character a complete contradiction tohis profession. "And pray what was his profession and his standingin respectable society?" Well, perhaps, if in the beginning of abook these were written and printed, many, when they read it, wouldlay the book down and say, "It seems to me a very miserable title, I...　

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVEI cannot feel that I have done my duty as humble historian of the March family, without devoting at least one chapter to the two most precious and important members of it. Daisy and Demi had now arrived at years of discretion, for in this fast age babies of three or four assert their rights, and get them, too, which is more than many of their elders do. If there ever were a pair of twins in danger of being utterly spoiled by adoration, it was these prattling Brookes. Of course they were the most remarkable children ever born, as will be shown when I mention that they walked at eight months, talked fluently at twelve months, and at two years they took their places at table,　

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 onthe other side of the convent door, smoking my cigar, like them,...　

　　It was the same old rigmarole. Sometimes I found it amusing; sometimes it only bored me; sometimes it gave me a pronounced pain, especially when I had had more of Wolfe than was good for either of us.　　This time it was fairly funny at first, but it developed along regrettable lines. Mr. Jasper Pine, president of Naylor-Kerr, Inc., 914 William Street, down where a thirty-story building is a shanty, wanted Nero Wolfe to e to see him about something. I explained patiently, all about Wolfe being too lazy, too big and fat, and too much of a genius, to let himself be evoked. When Mr. Pine phoned again, in the afternoon, he insisted on speaking to Wolfe himself, and Wolfe made it short, sour, an　

THE IDLE THOUGHTS OF AN IDLE FELLOW.THE IDLE THOUGHTSOF AN IDLE FELLOW.by JEROME K. JEROME.1- Page 2-THE IDLE THOUGHTS OF AN IDLE FELLOW.PREFACEOne or two friends to whom I showed these papers in MS. havingobserved that they were not half bad, and some of my relations havingpromised to buy the book if it ever came out, I feel I have no right tolonger delay its issue. But for this, as one may say, public demand, I...　

The Red Acornby John McElroyPrefaceThe name given this story is that made glorious by the valor and achievements of the splendid First Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps, the cognizance of which was a crimson acorn, worn on the breasts of its gallant soldiers, and borne upon their battle flags. There are few gatherings of men into which one can go to-day without finding some one wearing, as his most cherished ornament, a red acorn, frequently wrought in gold and studded with precious stones, and which tells that its wearer is a veteran of Mill Springs, Perryville, Shiloh, Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Atlanta, Jonesville, March to the Sea, and Bentonville....　

Modern Custom and Ancient Laws of Russiaby Maxime Kovalevsky1891Lecture IIIThe Past and Present of the Russian Village CommunityFew questions of history are debated in our days as that ofthe origin of village communities. French, English, and Germanscholars, to say nothing of Russians and Americans, havepublished whole volumes in order to prove either the existence ornon-existence of village communities in that period of evolutionwhich is generally known as patriarchal.The acute German observer, Baron Haxthausen, who was thefirst to describe to European readers the social and economiccharacter of the Russian mir, was probably quite unconscious of...