First Across the Continentby Noah BrooksThe Story ofThe Exploring Expedition of Lewisand Clark in 1804-5-6Chapter IA Great Transaction in LandThe people of the young Republic of the United States were greatly astonished, in the summer of 1803, to learn that Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, had sold to us the vast tract of land known as the country of Louisiana. The details of this purchase were arranged in Paris (on the part of the United States) by Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe. The French government was represented by Barbe-Marbois, Minister of the Public Treasury.The price to be paid for this vast domain was fifteen million dollars. The area of the country ceded　

　A sea of mist drifted through the cloud forest: soft, grey, luminescent. On the high ridges the fog showed brighter as the morning sun began to warm and lift the moisture, although in the ravine a cool, soundless dimness still counterfeited a pre-dawn twilight.　mander Cordelia Naismith glanced at her team botanist and adjusted the straps of her biological collecting equipment a bit more fortably before continuing her breathless climb. She pushed a long tendril of fog-dampened copper hair out of her eyes, clawing it impatiently toward the clasp at the nape of her neck. Their next survey area would definitely be at a lower altitude. The gravity of this planet was slightly lower than their ho　

　　His mind absorbed the scene before him, so quiet and calm and . . . normal. It was the life he had always wanted, a gathering of family and friends-he knew that they were just that, though the only one he recognized was his dear mother.　　This was the way it was supposed to be. The warmth and the love, the laughter and the quiet times. This was how he had always dreamed it would be, how he had always prayed it would be. The warm, inviting smiles. The pleasant conversation. The gentle pats on shoulders.　　But most of all there was the smile of his beloved mother, so happy now, no more a slave. When she looked at him, he saw all of that and more, saw how proud she was of him, how joyful her l　

Lavender and Old Laceby Myrtle ReedI. THE LIGHT IN THE WINDOWII. THE ATTIC.III. MISS AINSLIEIV. A GUESTV. THE RUMOURS OF THE VALLEYVI. THE GARDENVII. THE MAN WHO HESITATESVIII. SUMMER DAYSIX. BY HUMBLE MEANSX. LOVE LETTERSXI. THE ROSE OF ALL THE WORLDXII. BRIDE AND GROOMXIII. PLANSXIV. "FOR REMEMBRANCE"XV. THE SECRET AND THE DREAMXVI. SOME ONE WHO LOVED HERXVII. DAWNI. The Light in the WindowA rickety carriage was slowly ascending the hill, and from the place of honour on the back seat, the single passenger surveyed the country with interest and admiration. The driver of that ancient chariot was an awkward young fellow, possibly twenty-five years of age, with sharp　

The Darrow EnigmaThe Darrow Enigmaby Melvin L. Severy1- Page 2-The Darrow EnigmaTHE EPISODE OF THEDARKENED ROOMCHAPTER IWhat shall we say when Dream-Pictures leave their frames of nightand push us from the waking world?As the part I played in the events I am about to narrate was rather thatof a passive observer than of an active participant, I need say little of...　

Eugenie Grandetby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Maria.May your name, that of one whose portrait is the noblest ornamentof this work, lie on its opening pages like a branch of sacredbox, taken from an unknown tree, but sanctified by religion, andkept ever fresh and green by pious hands to bless the house.De Balzac.EUGENIE GRANDETIThere are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspiresmelancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, drearymoorlands, or the desolation of ruins. Within these houses there is,perhaps, the silence of the cloister, the barrenness of moors, theskeleton of ruins; life and movement are so stagnant there that　

The Golden AgeThe Golden AgeBy Kenneth Grahame1- Page 2-The Golden AgePROLOGUE: THE OLYMPIANSLooking back to those days of old, ere the gate shut behind me, I cansee now that to children with a proper equipment of parents these thingswould have worn a different aspect. But to those whose nearest wereaunts and uncles, a special attitude of mind may be allowed. Theytreated us, indeed, with kindness enough as to the needs of the flesh, but...　

LIN McLEANLIN McLEANByOWEN WISTER1- Page 2-LIN McLEANDEDICATIONMY DEAR HARRY MERCER: When Lin McLean was only a hero inmanuscript, he received his first welcome and chastening beneath yourpatient roof. By none so much as by you has he in private been helped andaffectionately disciplined, an now you must stand godfather to him uponthis public page.Always yours,OWEN WISTERPhiladelphia, 1897...　

AN ODYSSEY OF THE NORTH.ITHE SLEDS WERE SINGING their eternal lament to the creaking of theharness and the tinkling bells of the leaders; but the men and dogswere tired and made no sound. The trail was heavy with new-fallensnow, and they had come far, and the runners, burdened with flint-likequarters of frozen moose, clung tenaciously to the unpacked surfaceand held back with a stubbornness almost human. Darkness was comingon, but there was no camp to pitch that night. The snow fell gentlythrough the pulseless air, not in flakes, but in tiny frost crystalsof delicate design. It was very warm- barely ten below zero- and the...　

TITUS ANDRONICUSTITUS ANDRONICUSWilliam Shakespeare1- Page 2-TITUS ANDRONICUSACT I.2- Page 3-TITUS ANDRONICUSSCENE I. Rome. Before the CapitolFlourish. Enter the TRIBUNES and SENATORS aloft; and then enterbelow SATURNINUS and his followers at one door, and BASSIANUSand his followers at the other, with drums and trumpetsSATURNINUS. Noble patricians, patrons of my right, Defend the...　

EARLY KINGS OF NORWAY.EARLY KINGS OFNORWAY.by Thomas Carlyle1- Page 2-EARLY KINGS OF NORWAY.The Icelanders, in their long winter, had a great habit of writing; andwere, and still are, excellent in penmanship, says Dahlmann. It is to thisfact, that any little history there is of the Norse Kings and their oldtragedies, crimes and heroisms, is almost all due. The Icelanders, it seems,not only made beautiful letters on their paper or parchment, but were...　

The Cavalry GeneralThe Cavalry GeneralBy XenophonTranslation by H. G. Dakyns1- Page 2-The Cavalry GeneralXenophon the Athenian was born 431 B.C. He was a pupil of Socrates.He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. Sparta gavehim land and property in Scillus, where he lived for many years beforehaving to move once more, to settle in Corinth. He died in 354 B.C.The Cavalry General is a discourse on the merits a cavalry general, or...