The Flying U Ranchby B. M. BowerCONTENTSCHAPTERI. The Coming of a Native SonII. "When Greek Meets Greek"III. Bad NewsIV. Some HopesV. SheepVI. What Happened to AndyVII. Truth Crushed to Earth, etc.VIII. The Dot OutfitIX. More SheepX. The Happy Family Herd SheepXI. Weary UnburdensXII. Two of a KindXIII. The Happy Family Learn SomethingXIV. Happy JackXV. OlesonXVI. The End of the DotsXVII. Good NewsFLYING U RANCHCHAPTER I. The Coming of a Native SonThe Happy Family, waiting for the Sunday supper call, weregrouped around the open door of the bunk-house, gossiping idly of...　

THE SCARLET LETTERby Nathaniel HawthorneINTRODUCTORYTHE CUSTOM-HOUSE.INTRODUCTORY TO "THE SCARLET LETTER".IT is a little remarkable, that- though disinclined to talk overmuchof myself and my affairs at the fireside, and to my personalfriends- an autobiographical impulse should twice in my life havetaken possession of me, in addressing the public. The first time wasthree or four years since, when I favoured the reader- inexcusably,and for no earthly reason, that either the indulgent reader or theintrusive author could imagine- with a description of my way of life...　

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeareby E. Nesbit"It may be said of Shakespeare, that from his works may be collected a system of civil and economical prudence. He has been imitated by all succeeding writers; and it may be doubted whether from all his successors more maxims of theoretical knowledge, or more rules of practical prudence can be collected than he alone has given to his country."Dr. SAMUEL JOHNSON.PREFACEThe writings of Shakespeare have been justly termed "the richest, the purest, the fairest, that genius uninspired ever penned."Shakespeare instructed by delighting. His plays alone (leaving mere science out of the question), contain more actual wisdom than the whole body of Engli　

The Autobiography of a QuackS. Weir Mitchell, MD, LLDTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A QUACKANDTHE CASE OF GEORGE DEDLOWBYS. WEIR MITCHELL, M.D.,LL.D. HARVARD AND EDINBURGHCONTENTSTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A QUACKTHE CASE OF GEORGE DEDLOWINTRODUCTIONBoth of the tales in this little volume appeared originally in the ``Atlantic Monthly' as anonymous contributions. I owe to the present owners of that journal permission to use them. ``The Autobiography of a Quack ' has been recast with large additions.``The Case of George Dedlow' was not written with any intention that it should appear in print. I lent the manuscript to the Rev. Dr. Furness and forgot it. This gentleman sent it to the Rev. Edward Everett Ha　

Sketches New and Oldby Mark TwainSKETCHES NEW AND OLDCONTENTS:PREFACEMY WATCHPOLITICAL ECONOMYTHE JUMPING FROGJOURNALISM IN TENNESSEETHE STORY OF THE BAD LITTLE BOYTHE STORY OF THE GOOD LITTLE BOYA COUPLE OF POEMS BY TWAIN AND MOORENIAGARAANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTSTO RAISE POULTRYEXPERIENCE OF THE MCWILLIAMSES WITH MEMBRANOUS CROUPMY FIRST LITERARY VENTUREHOW THE AUTHOR WAS SOLD IN NEWARKTHE OFFICE BOREJOHNNY GREERTHE FACTS IN THE CASE OF THE GREAT BEEF CONTRACTTHE CASE OF GEORGE FISHERDISGRACEFUL PERSECUTION OF A BOYTHE JUDGES "SPIRITED WOMAN"INFORMATION WANTEDSOME LEARNED FABLES, FOR GOOD OLD BOYS AND GIRLSMY LATE SENATORIAL SECRETARYSHIP...　

　On a ridge above Texas Flat upon a rock shaped like flame, a hand moved upon the lava. The hand moved and then was still. In all that vast beige-gray silence there was no other movement and no sound.　A buzzard swinging in lazy circles above the serrated ridge had glimpsed that moving hand. Swinging lower, he saw a man who lay among the rocks atop the ridge. He was a long-bodied man in worn boots and jeans, a man with wide shoulders and a lean tough face.　It was the face of a hunter but now of a man hunted. A man who lay with his rifle beside him and who wore a belted gun; but the man still lived and the buzzard could wait.　Below and stretching away from the very foot of the ridge to lose i　

Chapter 1The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail. The mouth was open just enough to permit a rush of water over the gills. There was little other motion: an occasional correction of the apparently aimless course by the slight raising or lowering of a pectoral fin - as a bird changes direction by dipping one wing and lifting the other. The eyes were sightless in the black, and the other senses transmitted nothing extraordinary to the small, primitive brain. The fish might have been asleep, save for the movement dictated by countless millions of years of instinctive continuity: lacking the flotation bladder mon to other fish and th　

　Douglas Preston dedicates this book to Stuart Woods.　　Acknowledgments　Lincoln Child wishes to thank Bruce Swanson, Bry Benjamin, M.D., Lee Suckno, M.D., Irene Soderlund, Mary Ellen Mix, Bob Wincott, Sergio and Mila Nepomuceno, Jim Cush, Chris Yango, Jim Jenkins, Mark Mendel, Juliette Kvernland, Hartley Clark, and Denis Kelly, for their friendship and their assistance, both technical and otherwise. Thanks also to my wife, Luchie, for her love and unstinting support. And I would especially like to acknowledge as an inspiration my grandmother Nora Kubie. Artist, novelist, archaeologist, independent spirit, biographer of Nineveh excavator Austen Henry Layard, she instilled in me from a very ea　

The Silverado Squattersby Robert Louis StevensonTHE scene of this little book is on a high mountain. Thereare, indeed, many higher; there are many of a nobler outline.It is no place of pilgrimage for the summary globe-trotter;but to one who lives upon its sides, Mount Saint Helena soonbecomes a centre of interest. It is the Mont Blanc of onesection of the Californian Coast Range, none of its nearneighbours rising to one-half its altitude. It looks down onmuch green, intricate country. It feeds in the spring-timemany splashing brooks. From its summit you must have anexcellent lesson of geography: seeing, to the south, San...　

THE TWIN HELLSTHE TWIN HELLSBY JOHN N. REYNOLDS ATCHISON, KANSAS.1- Page 2-THE TWIN HELLSTO MY DEAR OLD MOTHER AND TO THE MEMORY OF MYSAINTED WIFE THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BYTHE AUTHOR.2- Page 3-THE TWIN HELLSPREFACEThe following pages treat of hellA Kansas hell and a Missouri hell.Those who desire to peruse works that tell about Heaven only, are urged to...　

Love-Songs of Childhoodby Eugene FieldTo Mrs. Belle AnglerDearest Aunt:Many years ago you used to rock me to sleep, cradling me in yourarms and singing me petty songs. Surely you have not forgottenthat time, and I recall it with tenderness. You were verybeautiful then. But you are more beautiful now; for, in the yearsthat have come and gone since then, the joys and the sorrows ofmaternity have impressed their saintly grace upon the dear face Iused to kiss, and have made your gentle heart gentler still.Beloved lady, in memory of years to be recalled only in thought,and in token of my gratitude and affection, I bring you these...　

IN THE CARQUINEZ WOODSIN THE CARQUINEZWOODSby Bret Harte1- Page 2-IN THE CARQUINEZ WOODSCHAPTER I.The sun was going down on the Carquinez Woods. The few shaftsof sunlight that had pierced their pillared gloom were lost in unfathomabledepths, or splintered their ineffectual lances on the enormous trunks of theredwoods. For a time the dull red of their vast columns, and the dull redof their cast-off bark which matted the echoless aisles, still seemed to hold...