Fantastic Fablesby Ambrose BierceContents:The Moral Principle and the Material InterestThe Crimson CandleThe Blotted Escutcheon and the Soiled ErmineThe Ingenious PatriotTwo KingsAn Officer and a ThugThe Conscientious OfficialHow Leisure CameThe Moral SentimentThe PoliticiansThe Thoughtful WardenThe Treasury and the ArmsThe Christian SerpentThe Broom of the TempleThe CriticsThe Foolish WomanFather and SonThe Discontented MalefactorA Call to QuitThe Man and the LightningThe Lassoed BearThe Ineffective Rooter...　

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 SEVENTH LETTERby Platotranslated by J. HarwardPLATO TO THE RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF DION. WELFARE.You write to me that I must consider your views the same as those ofDion, and you urge me to aid your cause so far as I can in word anddeed. My answer is that, if you have the same opinion and desire as hehad, I consent to aid your cause; but if not, I shall think morethan once about it. Now what his purpose and desire was, I caninform you from no mere conjecture but from positive knowledge. Forwhen I made my first visit to Sicily, being then about forty years...　

1593VENUS AND ADONISby William ShakespeareVilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus ApolloPocula Castalia plena ministret aquaTO THERIGHT HONOURABLEHENRY WRIOTHESLEY,EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND BARONOF TITCHFIELDRight Honourable,I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished lines toyour lordship, nor how the world will censure me for choosing sostrong a prop to support so weak a burden: only, if your honour seem...　

The Dustby David Graham PhillipsThe Grain of DustA NOVELBYDAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPSTHE GRAIN OF DUSTIINTO the offices of Lockyer, Sanders, Benchley, Lockyer & Norman, corporation lawyers, there drifted on a December afternoon a girl in search of work at stenography and typewriting. The firm was about the most important and most famousradical orators often said infamousin New York. The girl seemed, at a glance, about as unimportant and obscure an atom as the city hid in its vast ferment. She was blondetawny hair, fair skin, blue eyes. Aside from this hardly conclusive mark of identity there was nothing positive, nothing definite, about her. She was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor th　

AndersonvilleBy John McElroyANDERSONVILLEA STORY OF REBEL MILITARY PRISONSFIFTEEN MONTHS A GUEST OF THE SO-CALLEDSOUTHERN CONFEDERACYA PRIVATE SOLDIERS EXPERIENCEINRICHMOND, ANDERSONVILLE, SAVANNAH, MILLENBLACKSHEAR AND FLORENCEBY JOHN McELROYLate of Co. L. 16th Ill Cav.1879TO THE HONORABLENOAH H. SWAYNE.JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES,...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BUTTERFLYby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was once a butterfly who wished for a bride, and, as maybe supposed, he wanted to choose a very pretty one from among theflowers. He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds,and found that the flowers were seated quietly and demurely on theirstalks, just as maidens should sit before they are engaged; butthere was a great number of them, and it appeared as if his searchwould become very wearisome. The butterfly did not like to take toomuch trouble, so he flew off on a visit to the daisies. The French...　

The High Price of Bullionby David Ricardo1810The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of BankNotes.by David RicardoLondon: Printed for John Murray, 32, Fleet-Street; And Sold byEvery Other Bookseller in Town and Country1810IntroductionThe writer of the following pages has already submitted somereflections to the attention of the public, on the subject ofpaper-currency, through the medium of the Morning Chronicle. Hehas thought proper to republish his sentiments on this questionin a form more calculated to bring it to fair discussion; and his...　

An Unsocial Socialistby George Bernard ShawCHAPTER IIn the dusk of an October evening, a sensible looking woman offorty came out through an oaken door to a broad landing on thefirst floor of an old English country-house. A braid of her hairhad fallen forward as if she had been stooping over book or pen;and she stood for a moment to smooth it, and to gazecontemplativelynot in the least sentimentallythrough thetall,narrow window. The sun was setting, but its glories were at theother side of the house; for this window looked eastward, wherethe landscape of sheepwalks and pasture land was sobering at theapproach of darkness.The lady, like one to whom silence and quiet were luxuries,...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELORby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, havelong ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles inwhich the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have eclipsedit, and their more piquant details have drawn the gossips away fromthis four-year-old drama. As I have reason to believe, however, thatthe full facts have never been revealed to the general public, andas my friend Sherlock Holmes had a considerable share in clearingthe matter up, I feel that no memoir of him would be complete...　

A Theologico-Political Treatise [Part III]by Benedict de SpinozaAlso known as Baruch SpinozaTranslated by R. H. M. ElwesPart III - Chapters XI to XVTABLE OF CONTENTS:CHAPTER XI - An Inquiry whether the Apostles wrote theirEpistles as Apostles and Prophets, or merely as Teachers,and an Explanation of what is meant by Apostle.The epistles not in the prophetic style.The Apostles not commanded to write or preach in particular places.Different methods of teaching adopted by the Apostles.CHAPTER XII - Of the true Original of the Divine Law,...　

The Secret Sharerby Joseph ConradIOn my right hand there were lines of fishing stakes resemblinga mysterious system of half-submerged bamboo fences,incomprehensible in its division of the domain of tropical fishes,and crazy of aspect as if abandoned forever by some nomadtribe of fishermen now gone to the other end of the ocean;for there was no sign of human habitation as far as the eyecould reach. To the left a group of barren islets,suggesting ruins of stone walls, towers, and blockhouses,had its foundations set in a blue sea that itself looked solid,so still and stable did it lie below my feet; even the trackof light from the westering sun shone smoothly, without that...