Augustus Does His Bitby George Bernard ShawI wish to express my gratitude for certain good offices whichAugustus secured for me in January,1917. I had been invited tovisit the theatre of war in Flanders by the Commander-in-Chief:an invitation which was, under the circumstances, a summons toduty. Thus I had occasion to spend some days in procuringthe necessary passport and other official facilities formy journey. It happened just then that the Stage Society gave aperformance of this little play. It opened the heart of everyofficial to me. I have always been treated with distinguishedconsideration in my contracts with bureaucracy during the war;but on this occasion I found myself persona grat　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE FIR TREEby Hans Christian AndersenFAR down in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh airmade a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little fir-tree; and yetit was not happy, it wished so much to be tall like its companions-the pines and firs which grew around it. The sun shone, and the softair fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant children passed by,prattling merrily, but the fir-tree heeded them not. Sometimes thechildren would bring a large basket of raspberries or strawberries,wreathed on a straw, and seat themselves near the fir-tree, and say,...　

Nada the Lilyby H. Rider HaggardDEDICATIONSompseu:For I will call you by the name that for fifty years has been honouredby every tribe between Zambesi and Cape Agulbas,I greet you!Sompseu, my father, I have written a book that tells of men andmatters of which you know the most of any who still look upon thelight; therefore, I set your name within that book and, such as it is,I offer it to you.If you knew not Chaka, you and he have seen the same suns shine, youknew his brother Panda and his captains, and perhaps even that veryMopo who tells this tale, his servant, who slew him with the Princes.You have seen the circle of the witch-doctors and the unconquerable...　

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 White Mr. Longfellowby William Dean HowellsWe had expected to stay in Boston only until we could find a house in OldCambridge. This was not so simple a matter as it might seem; for theancient town had not yet quickened its scholarly pace to the modern step.Indeed, in the spring of 1866 the impulse of expansion was not yetvisibly felt anywhere; the enormous material growth that followed thecivil war had not yet begun. In Cambridge the houses to be let were few,and such as there were fell either below our pride or rose above ourpurse. I wish I might tell how at last we bought a house; we had nomoney, but we were rich in friends, who are still alive to shrink from...　

Fourth BookThe PoliticsChapter 33The Insular Supremacy and the Continental Powers North Americaand FranceIn all ages there have been cities or countries which have beenpre-eminent above all others in industry, commerce, and navigation;but a supremacy such as that which exists in our days, the worldhas never before witnessed. In all ages, nations and powers havestriven to attain to the dominion of the world, but hitherto notone of them has erected its power on so broad a foundation. Howvain do the efforts of those appear to us who have striven to found...　

THE WITCH AND OTHER STORIESTHE WITCH ANDOTHER STORIESANTON CHEKHOV1- Page 2-THE WITCH AND OTHER STORIESTHE WITCHIT was approaching nightfall. The sexton, Savely Gykin, was lying inhis huge bed in the hut adjoining the church. He was not asleep, though itwas his habit to go to sleep at the same time as the hens. His coarse redhair peeped from under one end of the greasy patchwork quilt, made up ofcoloured rags, while his big unwashed feet stuck out from the other. Hewas listening. His hut adjoined the wall that encircled the church and the...　

Eugenie Grandetby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Maria.May your name, that of one whose portrait is the noblest ornamentof this work, lie on its opening pages like a branch of sacredbox, taken from an unknown tree, but sanctified by religion, andkept ever fresh and green by pious hands to bless the house.De Balzac.EUGENIE GRANDETIThere are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspiresmelancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, drearymoorlands, or the desolation of ruins. Within these houses there is,perhaps, the silence of the cloister, the barrenness of moors, theskeleton of ruins; life and movement are so stagnant there that　

Hard Cashby Charles ReadePREFACE"HARD CASH," like "The Cloister and the Hearth," is a matter-of-fact Romancethat is, a fiction built on truths; and these truths have been gathered by long, severe, systematic labour, from a multitude of volumes, pamphlets, journals, reports, blue-books, manuscript narratives, letters, and living people, whom I have sought out, examined, and cross-examined, to get at the truth on each main topic I have striven to handle.The madhouse scenes have been picked out by certain disinterested gentlemen, who keep private asylums, and periodicals to puff them; and have been met with bold denials of public facts, and with timid personalities, and a little easy cant abou　

A Summer in a Canyon: A California Storyby Kate Douglas WigginSCENE: A Camping Ground in the Canyon Las Flores.PEOPLE IN THE TENTS.DR. PAUL WINSHIP Mine HostMRS. TRUTH WINSHIP The Guardian AngelDICKY WINSHIP A Small Scamp of Six YearsBELL WINSHIP The Camp PoetessPOLLY OLIVER A Sweet but Saucy LassMARGERY NOBLE A Nut-Brown MaydePHILIP NOBLE The Useful MemberGEOFFREY STRONG A Harvard BoyJACK HOWARD Prince of MischiefHOP YET A Heathen Chinee.PANCHO GUTIERREZ A Mexican man-of-all-work.CHAPTER I: PREPARATION AND DEPARTURE...　

PersuasionJane Austen- Page 2-ELECBOOK CLASSICSebc0046. Jane Austen: PersuasionThis file is free for individual use only. It must not be altered or resold.Organisations wishing to use it must first obtain a licence.Low cost licenses are available. Contact us through our web site(C) The Electric Book Co 1998The Electric Book Company Ltd20 Cambridge Drive, London SE12 8AJ, UK+44 (0)181 488 3872 www.elecbook- Page 3-Jane Austen: Persuasion 3...　

She Stoops to Conquerby Oliver GoldsmithSHE STOOPS TO CONQUER;OR,THE MISTAKES OF A NIGHT.A COMEDY.To SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.Dear Sir,By inscribing this slight performance to you, I do not mean so much to compliment you as myself. It may do me some honour to inform the public, that I have lived many years in intimacy with you. It may serve the interests of mankind also to inform them, that the greatest wit may be found in a character, without impairing the most unaffected piety.I have, particularly, reason to thank you for your partiality to this performance. The undertaking a comedy not merely sentimental was very dangerous; and Mr. Colman, who saw this piece in its various stages, always