Walkingby Henry David ThoreauI wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom andwildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merelycivilto regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel ofNature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make anextreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for thereare enough champions of civilization: the minister and the schoolcommittee and every one of you will take care of that.I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my lifewho understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walkswhohad a genius, so to speak, for SAUNTERING, which word is...　

TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT or The Speediest Car on the RoadTOM SWIFT AND HISELECTRIC RUNABOUTor The Speediest Car onthe RoadVICTOR APPLETON1- Page 2-TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT or The Speediest Car on the RoadCHAPTER ITOM HOPES FOR A PRIZE"Father," exclaimed Tom Swift, looking up from a paper he wasreading, "I think I can win that prize!""What prize is that?" inquired the aged inventor, gazing away from a...　

THE TAPESTRIED CHAMBERTHE TAPESTRIEDCHAMBERby Sir Walter Scott1- Page 2-THE TAPESTRIED CHAMBERINTRODUCTION.This is another little story from The Keepsake of 1828. It was told tome many years ago by the late Miss Anna Seward, who, among otheraccomplishments that rendered her an amusing inmate in a country house,had that of recounting narratives of this sort with very considerable effect--much greater, indeed, than any one would be apt to guess from the style...　

1690CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT, SECOND ESSAYAN ESSAY CONCERNING THE TRUE ORIGINAL EXTENT ANDEND OF CIVIL GOVERNMENTby John LockeChapter IOf Political Power1. It having been shown in the foregoing discourse:** An Essay Concerning Certain False Principles.Firstly. That Adam had not, either by natural right of fatherhood orby positive donation from God, any such authority over his children,nor dominion over the world, as is pretended....　

THE SEVEN POOR TRAVELLERSTHE SEVEN POORTRAVELLERSby Charles Dickens1- Page 2-THE SEVEN POOR TRAVELLERSCHAPTER IIN THE OLD CITYOF ROCHESTERStrictly speaking, there were only six Poor Travellers; but, being aTraveller myself, though an idle one, and being withal as poor as I hope tobe, I brought the number up to seven. This word of explanation is due atonce, for what says the inscription over the quaint old door?RICHARD WATTS, Esq. by his Will, dated 22 Aug. 1579, founded...　

Animal HeroesAnimal Heroesby Ernest Thompson Seton1- Page 2-Animal HeroesNote to ReaderA hero is an individual of unusual gifts and achievements. Whether itbe man or animal, this definition applies; and it is the histories of such thatappeal to the imagination and to the hearts of those who hear them.In this volume every one of the stories, though more or less composite,is founded on the actual life of a veritable animal hero. The mostcomposite is the White Reindeer. This story I wrote by Utrovand in...　

The Lily of the Valleyby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Monsieur J. B. Nacquart,Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine.Dear DoctorHere is one of the most carefully hewn stones in thesecond course of the foundation of a literary edifice which I haveslowly and laboriously constructed. I wish to inscribe your nameupon it, as much to thank the man whose science once saved me asto honor the friend of my daily life.De Balzac.THE LILY OF THE VALLEYENVOIFelix de Vandenesse to Madame la Comtesse Natalie de Manerville:I yield to your wishes. It is the privilege of the women whom we...　

Dudley DementedThe hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing -for the use of hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a nonexistent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flowerbed outside number four.He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacl　

The Paths of Inland Commerce, A Chronicle of Trail, Road, and WaterwayBy Archer B. HulbertPREFACEIf the great American novel is ever written, I hazard the guess that its plot will be woven around the theme of American transportation, for that has been the vital factor in the national development of the United States. Every problem in the building of the Republic has been, in the last analysis, a problem in transportation. The author of such a novel will find a rich fund of material in the perpetual rivalries of pack-horseman and wagoner, of riverman and canal boatman, of steamboat promoter and railway capitalist. He will find at every point the old jostling and challenging the new pack-hors　

CHAPTER IWHICH TREATS OF THE CHARACTER AND PURSUITS OF THE FAMOUS GENTLEMANDON QUIXOTE OF LA MANCHAIN a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire tocall to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen thatkeep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and agreyhound for coursing. An olla of rather more beef than mutton, asalad on most nights, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and apigeon or so extra on Sundays, made away with three-quarters of hisincome. The rest of it went in a doublet of fine cloth and velvetbreeches and shoes to match for holidays, while on week-days he made abrave figure in his best homespun. He had in his house a houseke　

RECALLED TO LIFECHAPTER IThe PeriodIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other wayin short, the period was so. far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a　

Vanity Fairby William Makepeace ThackerayBEFORE THE CURTAINAs the manager of the Performance sits before the curtainon the boards and looks into the Fair, a feeling of profoundmelancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place.There is a great quantity of eating and drinking, making loveand jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating,fighting, dancing and fiddling; there are bullies pushing about,bucks ogling the women, knaves picking pockets, policemenon the look-out, quacks (OTHER quacks, plague take them!)bawling in front of their booths, and yokels looking up atthe tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while thelight-fingered folk are operating upon their