At the Back of the North Windby George MacDonaldCHAPTER ITHE HAY-LOFTI HAVE been asked to tell you about the back of the north wind.An old Greek writer mentions a people who lived there,and were so comfortable that they could not bear it any longer,and drowned themselves. My story is not the same as his.I do not think Herodotus had got the right account of the place.I am going to tell you how it fared with a boy who went there.He lived in a low room over a coach-house; and that was not by anymeans at the back of the north wind, as his mother very well knew.For one side of the room was built only of boards, and the boards were...　

El Doradoby Baroness OrczyFOREWORDThere has of late years crept so much confusion into the mind ofthe student as well as of the general reader as to the identity ofthe Scarlet Pimpernel with that of the Gascon Royalist plotterknown to history as the Baron de Batz, that the time seemsopportune for setting all doubts on that subject at rest.The identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel is in no way whateverconnected with that of the Baron de Batz, and even superficialreflection will soon bring the mind to the conclusion that greatfundamental differences existed in these two men, in theirpersonality, in their character, and, above all, in their aims.According to one or two enthusiastic historians, the　

Classic Mystery and Detective Stories - Old Time EnglishEdited by Julian HawthorneTable of ContentsCHARLES DICKENS (1812-70)The Haunted HouseNo. I Branch Line: The Signal ManBULWER-LYTTON (1803-73)The Haunted and the Haunters; or, The House and the BrainThe IncantationTHOMAS DE QUINCEY (1785-1859)The AvengerCHARLES ROBERT MATURIN (1782-1824)Melmoth the WandererLAURENCE STERNE (1713-68)A Mystery with a MoralWILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (1811-63)On Being Found OutThe Notch on the AxANONYMOUSBourgonefThe Closed Cabinet...　

The Coming RaceThe Coming Raceby Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton1- Page 2-The Coming RaceCHAPTER I.I am a native of _____, in the United States of America. Myancestors migrated from England in the reign of Charles II.; and mygrandfather was not undistinguished in the War of Independence. Myfamily, therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth;and being also opulent, they were considered disqualified for the public...　

The Witch and other Storiesby Anton ChekhovTHE WITCHPEASANT WIVESTHE POSTTHE NEW VILLADREAMSTHE PIPEAGAFYAAT CHRISTMAS TIMEGUSEVTHE STUDENTIN THE RAVINETHE HUNTSMANHAPPINESSA MALEFACTORPEASANTSTHE WITCHIT was approaching nightfall. The sexton, Savely Gykin, was lyingin his huge bed in the hut adjoining the church. He was notasleep, though it was his habit to go to sleep at the same timeas the hens. His coarse red hair peeped from under one end of thegreasy patchwork quilt, made up of coloured rags, while his bigunwashed feet stuck out from the other. He was listening. His hutadjoined the wall that encircled the church and the solitary...　

Glinda of Ozby L. Frank BaumIn which are related the Exciting Experiences of PrincessOzma of Oz, and Dorothy, in their hazardous journeyto the home of the Flatheads, and to the MagicIsle of the Skeezers, and how they wererescued from dire peril by thesorcery of Glinda theGoodby L. FRANK BAUM"Royal Historian of Oz"This Bookis Dedicated toMy SonRobert Stanton BaumLIST OF CHAPTERS1 The Call of Duty2 Ozma and Dorothy3 The Mist Maidens4 The Magic Tent5 The Magic Stairway...　

A Mortal Antipathyby Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.PREFACE."A MORTAL ANTIPATHY" was a truly hazardous experiment. A very wiseand very distinguished physician who is as much at home in literatureas he is in science and the practice of medicine, wrote to me inreferring to this story: "I should have been afraid of my subject."He did not explain himself, but I can easily understand that he feltthe improbability of the, physiological or pathological occurrence onwhich the story is founded to be so great that the narrative couldhardly be rendered plausible. I felt the difficulty for myself aswell as for my readers, and it was only by recalling for our...　

THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRETONE afternoon I was sitting outside the Cafe de la Paix, watchingthe splendour and shabbiness of Parisian life, and wondering overmy vermouth at the strange panorama of pride and poverty that waspassing before me, when I heard some one call my name. I turnedround, and saw Lord Murchison. We had not met since we had been atcollege together, nearly ten years before, so I was delighted tocome across him again, and we shook hands warmly. At Oxford we hadbeen great friends. I had liked him immensely, he was so handsome,so high-spirited, and so honourable. We used to say of him that hewould be the best of fellows, if he did not always speak the truth,...　

The Mysterious Strangerby Mark TwainCONTENTS:THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGERA FABLEHUNTING THE DECEITFUL TURKEYTHE McWILLIAMSES AND THE BURGLAR ALARMTHE MYSTERIOUS STRANGERChapter 1It was in 1590winter. Austria was far away from the world, and asleep;it was still the Middle Ages in Austria, and promised to remain soforever. Some even set it away back centuries upon centuries and saidthat by the mental and spiritual clock it was still the Age of Belief inAustria. But they meant it as a compliment, not a slur, and it was sotaken, and we were all proud of it. I remember it well, although I wasonly a boy; and I remember, too, the pleasure it gave me....　

Songs of Travel and Other Versesby Robert Louis StevensonCONTENTSI. THE VAGABOND - Give to me the life I loveII. YOUTH AND LOVE: I. - Once only by the garden gateIII. YOUTH AND LOVE: II. - To the heart of youth the world isa highwaysideIV. In dreams, unhappy, I behold you standV. She rested by the Broken BrookVI. The infinite shining heavensVII. Plain as the glistering planets shineVIII. To you, let snows and rosesIX. Let Beauty awake in the morn from beautiful dreamsX. I know not how it is with youXI. I will make you brooches and toys for your delight...　

The Choir Invisibleby James Lane Allen"O may I join the choir invisible Of those immortal dead who live again In minds made better by their presence. . . . . . feed pure love, Beget the smiles that have no cruelty, Be the sweet presence of a good diffused And in diffusion evermore intense. So shall I join the choir invisible Whose music is the gladness of the world."GEORGE ELIOTTHE middle of a fragrant afternoon of May in the green wilderness of Kentucky: the year 1795.High overhead ridges of many-peaked cloudthe gleaming, wandering Alps of the blue ether; outstretched far below, the warming bosom of the earth, throbbing with the hope of maternity. Two spirits abroad in the air, encounterin　

Bureaucracyby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo the Comtesse Seraphina San Severino, with the respectfulhomage of sincere and deep admiration.De Balzac.BUREAUCRACYCHAPTER ITHE RABOURDIN HOUSEHOLDIn Paris, where men of thought and study bear a certain likeness toone another, living as they do in a common centre, you must have metwith several resembling Monsieur Rabourdin, whose acquaintance we areabout to make at a moment when he is head of a bureau in one of ourmost important ministries. At this period he was forty years old, with...