The Fall of the House of UsherThe Fall of the House ofUsherEdgar Allen Poe1- Page 2-The Fall of the House of UsherDuring the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn ofthe year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I hadbeen passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract ofcountry; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on,within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was...　

Remember the Alamoby Amelia E. BarrCHAPTER I.THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS."What, are you stepping westward?" "Yea."* * * * *Yet who would stop or fear to advance,Though home or shelter there was none,With such a sky to lead him on!"WORDSWORTH."Ah! cool night wind, tremulous stars,Ah! glimmering water,Fitful earth murmur,Dreaming woods!"ARNOLD.In A. D. sixteen hundred and ninety-two, a few Franciscanmonks began to build a city. The site chosen was a lovelywilderness hundreds of miles away from civilization on every...　

LEGENDS AND LYRICSFIRST SERIESLEGENDS ANDLYRICSFIRST SERIESby Adelaide Ann Proctor1- Page 2-LEGENDS AND LYRICSFIRST SERIESDEDICATIONTO MATILDA M. HAYS."Our tokens of love are for the most part barbarous. Cold and lifeless,because they do not represent our life. The only gift is a portion ofthyself. Therefore let the farmer give his corn; the miner, a gem; the...　

The Blue Flowerby Henry van DykeThe desire of the moth for the star,Of the night for the morrow,The devotion for something afarFrom the sphere of our sorrow.SHELLEY.ToTHE DEAR MEMORY OFBERNARD VAN DYKE1887-1897AND THE LOVE THAT LIVESBEYOND THE YEARSPREFACESometimes short stories are brought together like parcels ina basket. Sometimes they grow together like blossoms on abush. Then, of course, they really belong to one another,because they have the same life in them.The stories in this book have been growing together for along time. It is at least ten years since the first of them,the story of The Other Wise Man, came to me; and all the...　

A Woman of Thirtyby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo Louis Boulanger, Painter.A WOMAN OF THIRTYI.EARLY MISTAKESIt was a Sunday morning in the beginning of April 1813, a morning which gave promise of one of those bright days when Parisians, for the first time in the year, behold dry pavements underfoot and a cloudless sky overhead. It was not yet noon when a luxurious cabriolet, drawn by two spirited horses, turned out of the Rue de Castiglione into the Rue de Rivoli, and drew up behind a row of carriages standing before the newly opened barrier half-way down the Terrasse de Feuillants. The owner of the carriage looked anxious and out of health; the thin hair on his s　

A LaodiceanA STORY OF TO-DAYby Thomas HardyCONTENTS.PREFACE CHAPTERSBOOK THE FIRST. GEORGE SOMERSET. I - XV.BOOK THE SECOND. DARE AND HAVILL. I - VII.BOOK THE THIRD. DE STANCY. I - XI.BOOK THE FOURTH. SOMERSET, DARE, AND DE STANCY. I - V.BOOK THE FIFTH. DE STANCY AND PAULA. I - XIV.BOOK THE SIXTH. PAULA. I - V.PREFACEThe changing of the old order in country manors and mansionsmay be slow or sudden, may have many issues romantic orotherwise, its romantic issues being not necessarilyrestricted to a change back to the original order; though this...　

THE IDLE THOUGHTSOFAN IDLE FELLOW.by JEROME K. JEROME.NEW YORK:A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.TOTHE VERY DEAR AND WELL-BELOVEDFRIENDOF MY PROSPEROUS AND EVIL DAYSTO THE FRIENDWHO, THOUGH IN THE EARLY STAGES OF OUR ACQUAINTANCESHIPDID OFTTIMES DISAGREE WITH ME, HAS SINCEBECOME TO BE MY VERY WARMEST COMRADETO THE FRIENDWHO, HOWEVER OFTEN I MAY PUT HIM OUT, NEVER (NOW)UPSETS ME IN REVENGETO THE FRIENDWHO, TREATED WITH MARKED COOLNESS BY ALL THE FEMALEMEMBERS OF MY HOUSEHOLD, AND REGARDED WITH SUSPICIONBY MY VERY DOG, NEVERTHELESS SEEMS DAY BYDAY TO BE MORE DRAWN BY ME, AND IN RETURNTO MORE AND MORE IMPREGNATE ME WITHTHE ODOR OF HIS FRIENDSHIP...　

Curious Republic of Gondourby Mark TwainTHE CURIOUS REPUBLIC OF GONDOUR AND OTHER WHIMSICAL SKETCHESNOTE:Most of the sketches in this volume were taken from a series the authorwrote for The Galaxy from May, 1870, to April, 1871. The rest appearedin The Buffalo Express.TABLE OF CONTENTSTHE CURIOUS REPUBLIC OF GONDOURA MEMORYINTRODUCTORY TO "MEMORANDA".ABOUT SMELTA COUPLE OF SAD EXPERIENCESDAN MURPHYTHE "TOURNAMENT" IN A.D. 1870CURIOUS RELIC FOR SALEA REMINISCENCE OF THE BACK SETTLEMENTSA ROYAL COMPLIMENTTHE APPROACHING EPIDEMICTHE TONE-IMPARTING COMMITTEEOUR PRECIOUS LUNATICTHE EUROPEAN WARTHE WILD MAN INTERVIEWED...　

THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF LORD MACAULAYTHEMISCELLANEOUSWRITINGS ANDSPEECHESVOLUME I.LORD MACAULAY1- Page 2-THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF LORD MACAULAYPREFACE.Lord Macaulay always looked forward to a publication of hismiscellaneous works, either by himself or by those who should representhim after his death. And latterly he expressly reserved, whenever the...　

by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenHAVING mentioned the most memorable actions of these great men, ifwe now compare the whole life of the one with that of the other, itwill not be easy to discern the difference between them, lost as it isamongst such a number of circumstances in which they resemble eachother. If, however, we examine them in detail, as we might somepiece of poetry, or some picture, we shall find this common to themboth, that they advanced themselves to great honour and dignity in thecommonwealth by no other means than their own virtue and industry. Butit seems when Aristides appeared, Athens was not at its height of...　

The Conditions of Existenceby Thomas H. HuxleyIN the last Lecture I endeavoured to prove to you that, while, as ageneral rule, organic beings tend to reproduce their kind, there is inthem, also, a constantly recurring tendency to varyto vary to agreater or to a less extent. Such a variety, I pointed out to you,might arise from causes which we do not understand; we therefore calledit spontaneous; and it might come into existence as a definite andmarked thing, without any gradations between itself and the form whichpreceded it. I further pointed out, that such a variety having oncearisen, might be perpetuated to some extent, and indeed to a verymarked extent, without any direct interference　

a rich man who had a beautiful and pious wife, and they lovedeach other dearly. They had, however, no children, though theywished for them very much, and the woman prayed for them dayand night, but still they had none. Now there was a court-yardin front of their house in which was a juniper tree, and one dayin winter the woman was standing beneath it, paring herself anapple, and while she was paring herself the apple she cut herfinger, and the blood fell on the snow. Ah, said the woman,and sighed right heavily, and looked at the blood before her, andwas most unhappy, ah, if I had but a child as red as blood andas white as snow. And while she thus spoke, she became quitehappy in her mind