MINNIKINTHERE was once upon a time a couple of needy folk who livedin a wretched hut, in which there was nothing but black want;so they had neither food to eat nor wood to burn. But if they hadnext to nothing of all else they had the blessing of God so far aschildren were concerned, and every year brought them one more.The man was not overpleased at this. He was always going aboutgrumbling and growling, and saying that it seemed to him thatthere might be such a thing as having too many of these goodgifts; so shortly before another baby was born he went away intothe wood for some firewood, saying that he did not want to see thenew child; he would hear him quite soon enough when he began to..
The Yellow Wallpaperby Charlotte Perkins GilmanIt is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John andmyself secure ancestral halls for the summer.A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say ahaunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicitybutthat would be asking too much of fate!Still I will proudly declare that there is something queerabout it.Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stoodso long untenanted?John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that inmarriage.John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience withfaith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly atany talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in...
The Double-Dealerby William CongreveInterdum tamen et vocem Comoedia tollit.HOR. Ar. Po.Huic equidem consilio palmam do: hic me magnificeeffero, qui vim tantam in me et potestatem habeamtantae astutiae, vera dicendo ut eos ambos fallam.SYR. in TERENT. Heaut.TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES MONTAGUE,ONE OF THE LORDS OF THE TREASURY.Sir,I heartily wish this play were as perfect as I intended it,that it might be more worthy your acceptance, and that my dedicationof it to you might be more becoming that honour and esteem which I,with everybody who is so fortunate as to know you, have for you. It...
TWICE-TOLD TALESTHE AMBITIOUS GUESTby Nathaniel HawthorneONE SEPTEMBER NIGHT a family had gathered round their hearth, andpiled it high with the driftwood of mountain streams, the dry cones ofthe pine, and the splintered ruins of great trees that had comecrashing down the precipice. Up the chimney roared the fire, andbrightened the room with its broad blaze. The faces of the fatherand mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed; the eldestdaughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen; and the agedgrandmother, who sat knitting in the warmest place, was the image of...
On Public Creditby David HumeIt appears to have been the common practice of antiquity,make provision, during peace, for the necessities of war, and tohoard up treasures before-hand, as the instruments either ofconquest or defence; without trusting to extraordinaryimpositions, much less to borrowing, in times of disorder andconfusion. Besides the immense sums above mentioned, which wereamassed by ATHENS, and by the PTOLEMIES, and other successors ofALEXANDER; we learn from PLATO, that the frugal LACEDEMONIANS hadalso collected a great treasure; and ARRIAN and PLUTARCH takenotice of the riches which ALEXANDER got possession of on theconquest of SUSA and ECBATANA, and which were reserved, some
A Girl of The LimberlostBy Gene Stratton PorterTO ALL GIRLS OF THE LIMBERLOST IN GENERALAND ONE JEANETTE HELEN PORTER IN PARTICULARCHARACTERSELNORA, who collects moths to pay for her education,and lives the Golden Rule.PHILIP AMMON, who assists in moth hunting,and gains a new conception of love.MRS. COMSTOCK, who lost a delusion and found a treasure.WESLEY SINTON, who always did his best.MARGARET SINTON, who "mothers" Elnora.BILLY, a boy from real life....
Mr. Gladstone and Genesisby Thomas Henry HuxleyIn controversy, as in courtship, the good old rule to be offwith the old before one is on with the new, greatly commendsitself to my sense of expediency. And, therefore, it appears tome desirable that I should preface such observations as I mayhave to offer upon the cloud of arguments (the relevancy ofwhich to the issue which I had ventured to raise is not alwaysobvious) put forth by Mr. Gladstone in the January number ofthis review, by an endeavour to make clear to such of ourreaders as have not had the advantage of a forensic educationthe present net result of the discussion....
ADVERTISEMENTThe first idea of this Romance was suggested by the story of theSanton Barsisa, related in The Guardian.The Bleeding Nun is atradition still credited in many parts of Germany; and I havebeen told that the ruins of the Castle of Lauenstein, which Sheis supposed to haunt, may yet be seen upon the borders ofThuringia.The Water-King, from the third to the twelfth stanza,is the fragment of an original Danish BalladAnd Belerma andDurandarte is translated from some stanzas to be found in acollection of old Spanish poetry, which contains also the popularsong of Gayferos and Melesindra, mentioned in Don Quixote.Ihave now made a full avowal of all the plagiarisms of which I am...
Betty Zaneby Zane GreyTO THE BETTY ZANE CHAPTER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHORNOTEIn a quiet corner of the stately little city of Wheeling, West Va., stands a monument on which is inscribed:"By authority of the State of West Virginia to commemorate the siege of Fort Henry, Sept 11, 1782, the last battle of the American Revolution, this tablet is here placed."Had it not been for the heroism of a girl the foregoing inscription would never have been written, and the city of Wheeling would never have existed. From time to time I have read short stories and magazine articles which have been published about Elizabeth Zane and her famous exploi
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hoodby Howard PylePREFACEFROM THE AUTHOR TO THE READERYou who so plod amid serious things that you feel it shame to give yourself up even for a few short moments to mirth and joyousness in the land of Fancy; you who think that life hath nought to do with innocent laughter that can harm no one; these pages are not for you. Clap to the leaves and go no farther than this, for I tell you plainly that if you go farther you will be scandalized by seeing good, sober folks of real history so frisk and caper in gay colors and motley that you would not know them but for the names tagged to them. Here is a stout, lusty fellow with a quick temper, yet none so ill for all t
A Book of Scoundrelsby Charles WhibleyTo the Greeks FOOLISHNESSCONTENTSINTRODUCTIONCAPTAIN HINDMOLL CUTPURSE AND JONATHAN WILDI. MOLL CUTPURSEII. JONATHAN WILDIII. A PARALLELRALPH BRISCOEGILDEROY AND SIXTEEN-STRING JACKI. GILDEROYII. SIXTEEN-STRING JACKIII. A PARALLELTHOMAS PURENEYSHEPPARD AND CARTOUCHEI. JACK SHEPPARDII. LOUIS-DOMINIQUE CARTOUCHEIII. A PARALLELVAUXGEORGE BARRINGTONTHE SWITCHER AND GENTLEMAN HARRYI. THE SWITCHERII. GENTLEMAN HARRYIII. A PARALLELDEACON BRODIE AND CHARLES PEACEI. DEACON BRODIEII. CHARLES PEACE...
At the Back of the North Windby George MacDonaldCHAPTER ITHE HAY-LOFTI HAVE been asked to tell you about the back of the north wind.An old Greek writer mentions a people who lived there,and were so comfortable that they could not bear it any longer,and drowned themselves. My story is not the same as his.I do not think Herodotus had got the right account of the place.I am going to tell you how it fared with a boy who went there.He lived in a low room over a coach-house; and that was not by anymeans at the back of the north wind, as his mother very well knew.For one side of the room was built only of boards, and the boards were...