Fiction Books

CHAPTER I. All the efforts of several hundred thousand people, crowded in a small space, to disfigure the land on which they lived; all the stone they covered it with to keep it barren; how so diligently every sprouting blade of grass was removed; all the smoke of coal and naphtha; all the cutting down of trees and driving off of cattle could not shut out the spring, even from the city. The sun was... more...

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. 1:2 I will utterly sweep away everything off of the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. 1:3 I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble... more...

Esther 1:1 Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred twenty-seven provinces), 1:2 that in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 1:3 in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and... more...

1: THESCHOOL Sitting on his assigned portion of the backless wooden school bench, fourteen-year-old Franz Halle tried earnestly to concentrate on the Latin text before him. He read, "Deinde rex perterritus Herculi hunc laborem, graviorem, imposuit. Augeas—" Very interesting, he thought, and doubtless very important. Professor Luttman, who taught the school at Dornblatt, said so, and... more...

THE LETTER Through the stillness of a drowsy June day broke the intoning of the library bell, chiming the hour. Three heads lifted quickly to listen. Three pairs of eyes met, the same thought flashed through three minds. "Won't we miss that bell, though? I've seen grads when they've come back stand perfectly still and listen to it with their eyes all weepy looking. That's the... more...

CHAPTER I "Her Excellency,—will she have the politeness," said Daphne slowly, reading from a tiny Italian-English phrase-book, "the politeness to"—She stopped helpless. Old Giacomo gazed at her with questioning eyes. The girl turned the pages swiftly and chose another phrase. "I go," she announced, "I go to make a walk." Light flashed into Giacomo's face.... more...

I "I WILL BE HAPPY! I WILL! I WILL!" Today we were married. I have said these words over and over to myself, and now I have written them, and the written characters seem as strange to me as the uttered words did. I cannot believe that I, Margaret Spencer, 27 years old, I who laughed and sneered at marriage, justifying myself by the tragedies and unhappiness of scores of my friends, I who have... more...

Foreword "And who is the grandfather of these silent people? Is it not the Great Mystery? For they know the laws of their life so well! They must have for their Maker our Maker. Then they are our brothers!" Thus spoke one of the philosophers and orators of the Red men. It is no wonder that the Indian held the animals to be his brothers. In his simple mind he regards the killing of certain of... more...

"Just suppose," said Morgan, "that I did believe you. Just for argument." He glanced up at the man across the restaurant table. "Where would we go from here?" The man shifted uneasily in his seat. He was silent, staring down at his plate. Not a strange-looking man, Morgan thought. Rather ordinary, in fact. A plain face, nose a little too long, fingers a little too dainty, a suit... more...

The Dangerous Age My Dear Lillie, Obviously it would have been the right thing to give you my news in person—apart from the fact that I should then have enjoyed the amusing spectacle of your horror! But I could not make up my mind to this course. All the same, upon my word of honour, you, dear innocent soul, are the only person to whom I have made any direct communication on the subject. It is at... more...