Fiction Books

o give some Satisfaction to the just Expectations of very many Persons, as well of this Realm as of foreign Countries, who fearing the dismal Effects of the Contagion, have done us the Honour to request of us some Account of the Nature of the Distemper that has depopulated Marseilles, and of the Success of such Remedies as we have employed against it; we have thought fit to draw up the following... more...

CHAPTER I WILD GEESE Slow Dog, Medicine Man, looked out of his lodge. Wild geese were honking overhead. To the Indian it meant the return of spring. "I must be the first to kill one," muttered Slow Dog. Entering his lodge, he presently came out with bow and arrows. Hastening toward a bend in the river which formed a sheltered cove, he hid among a clump of willow bushes and waited in the hope... more...

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. Long, long ago, in ancient times, there lived a King and Queen,And for the blessing of a child their longing sore had been:At last, a little daughter fair, to their great joy, was given,And to the christening feast they made, they bade the Fairies seven— The Fairies seven, who loved the land—that they the child might bless,Yet one old Fairy they left out, in pure... more...

CHAPTER I "The whole of this modern fabric of existence is a living lie!" cried Marzio Pandolfi, striking his little hammer upon the heavy table with an impatient rap. Then he dropped it and turning on his stool rested one elbow upon the board while he clasped his long, nervous fingers together and stared hard at his handsome apprentice. Gianbattista Bordogni looked up from his work without... more...

CHAPTER IAN OLD HOUSE There are certain old houses in New York City built of rose-colored brick and white stone which face Washington Square. On this morning in early winter a light snow covered the ground and clung to the bare branches of the shrubs and trees. In a drawing-room of one of the old houses a young girl was moving quietly about at work. She was alone and the room was almost entirely... more...

INTRODUCTION A CRITICAL SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY In the Manner of William Lyon Phelps On a memorable evening in the year 1904 I witnessed the opening performance of Maude Adams in "Peter Pan". Nothing in the world can describe the tremendous enthusiasm of that night! I shall never forget the moment when Peter came to the front of the stage and asked the audience if we believed in fairies. I... more...

SALLY ANN'S EXPERIENCE ome right in and set down. I was jest wishin' I had somebody to talk to. Take that chair right by the door so's you can get the breeze." And Aunt Jane beamed at me over her silver-rimmed spectacles and hitched her own chair a little to one side, in order to give me the full benefit of the wind that was blowing softly through the white-curtained window, and... more...

The fact that newspaper reporters commonly call their articles "stories" points to a certain analogy between the novel and the newspaper. Even when prose fiction aims to be a fine art, it readily takes on a journalistic character; it is usually designed for immediate effect--at the concomitant risk of producing no other--and it easily passes from hand to hand or from country to country. In our... more...

CHAPTER I. NEW-YEAR'S GIFTS January 1st The day of the month came into my mind as soon as I awoke. Another year is separated from the chain of ages, and drops into the gulf of the past! The crowd hasten to welcome her young sister. But while all looks are turned toward the future, mine revert to the past. Everyone smiles upon the new queen; but, in spite of myself, I think of her whom time has... more...

The habits of the Gulmore household were in some respects primitive. Though it was not yet seven o'clock two negro girls were clearing away the breakfast things under the minute supervision of their mistress, an angular, sharp-faced woman with a reedy voice, and nervously abrupt movements. Near the table sat a girl of nineteen absorbed in a book. In an easy-chair by the open bay-window a man with... more...