A LONELY RIDEAs I stepped into the Slumgullion stage I saw that it was a darknight, a lonely road, and that I was the only passenger. Let meassure the reader that I have no ulterior design in making thisassertion. A long course of light reading has forewarned me whatevery experienced intelligence must confidently look for from sucha statement. The storyteller who willfully tempts Fate by suchobvious beginnings; who is to the expectant reader in danger ofbeing robbed or half-murdered, or frightened by an escaped lunatic,or introduced to his ladylove for the first time, deserves to bedetected. I am relieved to say that none of these things occurred...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BRAVE TIN SOLDIERby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were allbrothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon. Theyshouldered arms and looked straight before them, and wore a splendiduniform, red and blue. The first thing in the world they ever heardwere the words, "Tin soldiers!" uttered by a little boy, who clappedhis hands with delight when the lid of the box, in which they lay, wastaken off. They were given him for a birthday present, and he stood atthe table to set them up. The soldiers were all exactly alike,...　

Lay Moralsby Robert Louis StevensonCHAPTER 1THE problem of education is twofold: first to know, and then to utter. Every one who lives any semblance of an inner life thinks more nobly and profoundly than he speaks; and the best of teachers can impart only broken images of the truth which they perceive. Speech which goes from one to another between two natures, and, what is worse, between two experiences, is doubly relative. The speaker buries his meaning; it is for the hearer to dig it up again; and all speech, written or spoken, is in a dead language until it finds a willing and prepared hearer. Such, moreover, is the complexity of life, that when we condescend upon details i　

Letters on LiteratureLetters on LiteratureBy Andrew Lang1- Page 2-Letters on LiteratureDEDICATIONDear Mr. Way,After so many letters to people who never existed, may I venture ashort one, to a person very real to me, though I have never seen him, andonly know him by his many kindnesses? Perhaps you will add another tothese by accepting the Dedication of a little work, of a sort experimental inEnglish, and in prose, though Horacein Latin and in versewas...　

The Golden Fleeceby Julian HawthorneA RomanceCHAPTER I.The professor crossed one long, lean leg over the other, and punched down the ashes in his pipe-bowl with the square tip of his middle finger. The thermometer on the shady veranda marked eighty-seven degrees of heat, and nature wooed the soul to languor and revery; but nothing could abate the energy of this bony sage."They talk about their Atlantises,their submerged continents!" he exclaimed, with a sniff through his wide, hairy nostrils. "Why, Trednoke, do you realize that we are living literally at the bottom of a Mesozoicat any rate, Cenozoicsea?"The gentleman thus indignantly addressed contemplated his questioner with the serenity　

VOLUME IICHAPTER IAvaunt! and quit my sight! Let the Earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold! Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which Thou dost glare with! Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery hence! Macbeth.Continuation of the History of Don Raymond.My journey was uncommonly agreeable: I found the Baron a Man of some sense, but little knowledge of the world. He had past a great part of his life without stirring beyond the precincts of his own domains, and consequently his manners were far from being the most polished: But He was hearty, good-humoured, and friendly. His attention to me was all that I 　

THE COMPARISON OF NUMA WITH LYCURGUSby Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenHAVING thus finished the lives of Lycurgus and Numa, we shall now,though the work be difficult, put together their points ofdifference as they lie here before our view. Their points oflikeness are obvious; their moderation, their religion, their capacityof government and discipline, their both deriving their laws andconstitutions from the gods. Yet in their common glories there arecircumstances of diversity; for first Numa accepted and Lycurgusresigned a kingdom; Numa received without desiring it, Lycurgus had it...　

THE FORTY THIEVESIN a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one namedCassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to arich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintainhis wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboringforest and selling it in the town. One day, when AliBaba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback,coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He wasafraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree forsafety. When they came up to him and dismounted, hecounted forty of them. They unbridled their horses andtied them to trees. The finest man among them, whomAli Baba took to be their captain, went a little way among...　

Of Commerceby David HumeThe greater part of mankind may be divided into two classes;that of shallow thinkers, who fall short of the truth; and thatof abstruse thinkers, who go beyond it. The latter class are byfar the most rare: and I may add, by far the most useful andvaluable. They suggest hints, at least, and start difficulties,which they want, perhaps, skill to pursue; but which may producefine discoveries, when handled by men who have a more just way ofthinking. At worst, what they say is uncommon; and if it shouldcost some pains to comprehend it, one has, however, the pleasureof hearing something that is new. An author is little to bevalued, who tells us nothing but what we can learn 　

The Enchanted Island of Yewby L. Frank BaumContents1. Once On a Time2. The Enchanted Isle3. The Fairy Bower4. Prince Marvel5. The King of Thieves6. The Troubles of Nerle7. The Gray Men8. The Fool-Killer9. The Royal Dragon of Spor10. Prince Marvel Wins His Fight11. The Cunning of King Terribus12. The Gift of Beauty13. The Hidden Kingdom of Twi14. The Ki and The Ki-Ki15. The High Ki of Twi16. The Rebellion of The High Ki17. The Separation of The High Ki18. The Rescue of The High Ki19. The Reunion of The High Ki20. Kwytoffle, the Tyrant21. The Wonderful Book of Magic22. The Queen of Plenta23. The Red Rogue of Dawna...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE MAZARIN STONEby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleIt was pleasant to Dr. Watson to find himself once more in theuntidy room of the first floor in Baker Street which had been thestarting-point of so many remarkable adventures. He looked round himat the scientific charts upon the wall, the acid-charred bench ofchemicals, the violin-case leaning in the corner, the coal-scuttle,which contained of old the pipes and tobacco. Finally, his eyes cameround to the fresh and smiling face of Billy, the young but verywise and tactful page, who had helped a little to fill up the gap of...　

Abraham Lincoln and the UnionA Chronicle of the Embattled Northby Nathaniel W. StephensonPREFACEIn spite of a lapse of sixty years, the historian who attempts to portray the era of Lincoln is still faced with almost impossible demands and still confronted with arbitrary points of view. It is out of the question, in a book so brief as this must necessarily be, to meet all these demands or to alter these points of view. Interests that are purely local, events that did not with certainty contribute to the final outcome, gossip, as well as the mere caprice of the scholarthese must obviously be set aside.The task imposed upon the volume resolves itself, at bottom, into just two questions: Why w