The Death of the Lionby Henry JamesCHAPTER I.I HAD simply, I suppose, a change of heart, and it must have begunwhen I received my manuscript back from Mr. Pinhorn. Mr. Pinhornwas my "chief," as he was called in the office: he had the highmission of bringing the paper up. This was a weekly periodical,which had been supposed to be almost past redemption when he tookhold of it. It was Mr. Deedy who had let the thing down sodreadfully: he was never mentioned in the office now save inconnexion with that misdemeanour. Young as I was I had been in amanner taken over from Mr. Deedy, who had been owner as well aseditor; forming part of a promiscuous lot, mainly plant and office-...
The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. StevensonWilliam Ernest Henley and Robert Louis StevensonHenley is best known for this quote from Invictus:"I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul."INVICTUSOut of the night that covers me,Black as the pit from pole to pole,I think whatever gods may befor my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the yearsFinds and shall find me unafraid.It matters not how strait the gate,...
THE IRON HEELby Jack LondonFOREWORD.IT CANNOT BE SAID THAT THE Everhard Manuscript is an importanthistorical document. To the historian it bristles with errors- noterrors of fact, but errors of interpretation. Looking back acrossthe seven centuries that have lapsed since Avis Everhard completed hermanuscript, events, and the bearings of events, that were confused andveiled to her, are clear to us. She lacked perspective. She was tooclose to the events she writes about. Nay, she was merged in theevents she has described.Nevertheless, as a personal document, the Everhard Manuscript is...
The Man of the Forestby Zane GreyCHAPTER IAt sunset hour the forest was still, lonely, sweet with tangof fir and spruce, blazing in gold and red and green; andthe man who glided on under the great trees seemed to blendwith the colors and, disappearing, to have become a part ofthe wild woodland.Old Baldy, highest of the White Mountains, stood up roundand bare, rimmed bright gold in the last glow of the settingsun. Then, as the fire dropped behind the domed peak, achange, a cold and darkening blight, passed down the blackspear-pointed slopes over all that mountain world.It was a wild, richly timbered, and abundantly wateredregion of dark forests and grassy parks, ten thousand feet...
THE LUTE PLAYEROnce upon a time there was a king and queen who lived happily andcomfortably together. They were very fond of each other and hadnothing to worry them, but at last the king grew restless. Helonged to go out into the world, to try his strength in battleagainst some enemy and to win all kinds of honour and glory.So he called his army together and gave orders to start for adistant country where a heathen king ruled who ill-treated ortormented everyone he could lay his hands on. The king then gavehis parting orders and wise advice to his ministers, took atender leave of his wife, and set off with his army across theseas.I cannot say whether the voyage was short or long; but at
An Accursed Raceby Elizabeth GaskellWe have our prejudices in England. Or, if that assertion offends anyof my readers, I will modify it: we have had our prejudices inEngland. We have tortured Jews; we have burnt Catholics andProtestants, to say nothing of a few witches and wizards. We havesatirized Puritans, and we have dressed-up Guys. But, after all, Ido not think we have been so bad as our Continental friends. To besure, our insular position has kept us free, to a certain degree,from the inroads of alien races; who, driven from one land of refuge,steal into another equally unwilling to receive them; and where, for...
MY ANTONIAby Willa Sibert CatherTO CARRIE AND IRENE MINERIn memory of affections old and trueOptima dies ... prima fugitVIRGILINTRODUCTIONLAST summer I happened to be crossing the plains of Iowa in a seasonof intense heat, and it was my good fortune to have for a travelingcompanion James Quayle BurdenJim Burden, as we still call himin the West. He and I are old friendswe grew up togetherin the same Nebraska townand we had much to say to each other.While the train flashed through never-ending miles of ripe wheat,by country towns and bright-flowered pastures and oak groves wilting...
Part 3When the buriers came up to him they soon found he was neither aperson infected and desperate, as I have observed above, or a persondistempered -in mind, but one oppressed with a dreadful weight ofgrief indeed, having his wife and several of his children all in the cartthat was just come in with him, and he followed in an agony andexcess of sorrow. He mourned heartily, as it was easy to see, but witha kind of masculine grief that could not give itself vent by tears; andcalmly defying the buriers to let him alone, said he would only see thebodies thrown in and go away, so they left importuning him. But nosooner was the cart turned round and the bodies shot into the pit...
THE RIGHT EYE OF THE COMMANDERThe year of grace 1797 passed away on the coast of California in asouthwesterly gale. The little bay of San Carlos, albeit shelteredby the headlands of the blessed Trinity, was rough and turbulent;its foam clung quivering to the seaward wall of the Mission garden;the air was filled with flying sand and spume, and as the SenorCommandante, Hermenegildo Salvatierra, looked from the deepembrasured window of the Presidio guardroom, he felt the saltbreath of the distant sea buffet a color into his smoke-driedcheeks.The Commander, I have said, was gazing thoughtfully from the windowof the guardroom. He may have been reviewing the events of the...
The Writings of Abraham Lincolnby Abraham LincolnVOLUME II.1843-1858FIRST CHILDTO JOSHUA F. SPEED.SPRINGFIELD, May 18, 1843.DEAR SPEED:Yours of the 9th instant is duly received, which Ido not meet as a "bore," but as a most welcome visitor. I willanswer the business part of it first.In relation to our Congress matter here, you were right insupposing I would support the nominee. Neither Baker nor I,however, is the man, but Hardin, so far as I can judge frompresent appearances. We shall have no split or trouble about thematter; all will be harmony. In relation to the "coming events"...
THE SKETCH BOOKCHRISTMAS EVEby Washington IrvingSaint Francis and Saint BenedightBlesse this house from wicked wight;From the night-mare and the goblin,That is hight good fellow Robin;Keep it from all evil spirits,Fairies, weezels, rats, and ferrets:From curfew timeTo the next prime.CARTWRIGHT.IT WAS a brilliant moonlight night, but extremely cold; our chaisewhirled rapidly over the frozen ground; the postboy smacked his whip...
The Path of the Lawby O. W. Holmes, Jr.10 Harvard Law Review 457 (1897)When we study law we are not studying a mystery but a well-knownprofession. We are studying what we shall want in order to appearbefore judges, or to advise people in such a way as to keep them out ofcourt. The reason why it is a profession, why people will pay lawyersto argue for them or to advise them, is that in societies like ours thecommand of the public force is intrusted to the judges in certain cases,and the whole power of the state will be put forth, if necessary, tocarry out their judgments and decrees. People want to know under whatcircumstances and how far they will run the risk of coming against what...