Chapter IX of Volume II (Chap. 32)ELIZABETH was sitting by herself the next morning, and writing to Jane, while Mrs. Collins and Maria were gone on business into the village, when she was startled by a ring at the door, the certain signal of a visitor. As she had heard no carriage, she thought it not unlikely to be Lady Catherine, and under that apprehension was putting away her half-finished letter that she might escape all impertinent questions, when the door opened, and to her very great surprise, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy only, entered the room.He seemed astonished too on finding her alone, and apologised for his intrusion by letting her know that he had understood all the ladies to be w　

ADVENTUREADVENTUREby Jack London1- Page 2-ADVENTURECHAPTER ISOMETHING TOBE DONEHe was a very sick white man. He rode pick-a-back on a woolly-headed, black-skinned savage, the lobes of whose ears had been piercedand stretched until one had torn out, while the other carried a circularblock of carved wood three inches in diameter. The torn ear had beenpierced again, but this time not so ambitiously, for the hole accommodated...　

Poor Miss Finchby Wilkie CollinsTO MRS. ELLIOT,(OF THE DEANERY, BRISTOL).WILL YOU honor me by accepting the Dedication of this book, inremembrance of an uninterrupted friendship of many years?More than one charming blind girl, in fiction and in the drama, haspreceded "Poor Miss Finch." But, so far as I know, blindness in thesecases has been always exhibited, more or less exclusively, from the idealand the sentimental point of view. The attempt here made is to appeal toan interest of another kind, by exhibiting blindness as it really is. Ihave carefully gathered the information necessary to the execution ofthis purpose from competent authorities of all sorts. Whenever "Lucilla"...　

The Lady, or the Tiger?by Frank R. StocktonIn the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whoseideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by theprogressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large,florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which wasbarbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of anauthority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his variedfancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and,when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.When every member of his domestic and political systems movedsmoothly in its appointed course, his nature was bland and genial;...　

The Bravo of Venice - A Romanceby M. G. LewisINTRODUCTION.Matthew Gregory Lewis, who professed to have translated this romanceout of the German, very much, I believe, as Horace Walpole professedto have taken The Castle of Otranto from an old Italian manuscript,was born in 1775 of a wealthy family. His father had an estate inIndia and a post in a Government office. His mother was daughter toSir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls in the reign of George III.She was a young mother; her son Matthew was devoted to her from thefirst. As a child he called her "Fanny," and as a man held firmlyby her when she was deserted by her husband. From Westminster...　

ContentsIntroduction1. The Cyclone2. The Council with the Munchkins3. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow4. The Road Through the Forest5. The Rescue of the Tin Woodman6. The Cowardly Lion7. The Journey to the Great Oz8. The Deadly Poppy Field9. The Queen of the Field Mice10. The Guardian of the Gates11. The Emerald City of Oz...　

MRS. BULLFROGIt makes me melancholy to see how like fools some very sensiblepeople act in the matter of choosing wives. They perplex theirjudgments by a most undue attention to little niceties ofpersonal appearance, habits, disposition, and other trifles whichconcern nobody but the lady herself. An unhappy gentleman,resolving to wed nothing short of perfection, keeps his heart andhand till both get so old and withered that no tolerable womanwill accept them. Now this is the very height of absurdity. Akind Providence has so skilfully adapted sex to sex and the massof individuals to each other, that, with certain obviousexceptions, any male and female may be moderately happy in the...　

Lecture XThe Primitive Forms of Legal RemediesIII pass from the early law of procedure in the roman andTeutonic societies to the corresponding branch of another.ancient legal system which has been only just revealed to us, andwhich, so far as its existence was suspected, was supposed untillately to be separated by peculiarly sharp distinctions from allGermanic bodies of usage.Rather more than half of the Senchus Mor is taken up with theLaw of Distress. The Senchus Mor, as I told you, pretends to be aCode of Irish law, and indeed to be that very Code which wasprepared under the influence of St. Patrick upon the introduction...　

THE SKETCH BOOKRIP VAN WINKLEA POSTHUMOUS WRITING OF DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKERby Washington IrvingBy Woden, God of Saxons,From whence comes Wensday, that is Wodensday.Truth is a thing that ever I will keepUnto thylke day in which I creep intoMy sepulchre-CARTWRIGHT.[The following Tale was found among the papers of the lateDiedrich Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of New York, who was verycurious in the Dutch history of the province, and the manners of the...　

BOOK II: OF THE TRAVELLING OF THE UTOPIANSIF any man has a mind to visit his friends that live in some othertown, or desires to travel and see the rest of the country, heobtains leave very easily from the syphogrant and tranibors whenthere is no particular occasion for him at home: such as travel,carry with them a passport from the Prince, which both certifiesthe license that is granted for travelling, and limits the time oftheir return. They are furnished with a wagon, and a slave whodrives the oxen and looks after them; but unless there are womenin the company, the wagon is sent back at the end of the journey...　

THE HISTORY OF WHITTINGTONDICK WHITTINGTON was a very little boy when hisfather and mother died; so little, indeed, that he neverknew them, nor the place where he was born. Hestrolled about the country as ragged as a colt, till he metwith a wagoner who was going to London, and who gavehim leave to walk all the way by the side of his wagonwithout paying anything for his passage. This pleasedlittle Whittington very much, as he wanted to see Londonsadly, for he had heard that the streets were paved withgold, and he was willing to get a bushel of it; but howgreat was his disappointment, poor boy! when he sawthe streets covered with dirt instead of gold, and found...　

THE MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTSTHERE was a miller who left no more estate to the threesons he had than his mill, his ass, and his cat. Thepartition was soon made. Neither scrivener nor attorneywas sent for. They would soon have eaten up all the poorpatrimony. The eldest had the mill, the second the ass,and the youngest nothing but the cat. The poor youngfellow was quite comfortless at having so poor a lot."My brothers," said he, "may get their livinghandsomely enough by joining their stocks together; but formy part, when I have eaten up my cat, and made me amuff of his skin, I must die of hunger."The Cat, who heard all this, but made as if he did not,...