Fiction Books

CHAPTER I Now this is an episode in a young man's life, and has no real beginning or ending. And you who are old and have forgotten the passions of youth may condemn it. But there are others who are neither old nor young who, perhaps, will understand and find some interest in the study of a strange woman who made the illumination of a brief space. Paul Verdayne was young and fresh and foolish when... more...

CHAPTER I No. 1. Mr. Rondeau to Horace Walpole. "Petersburg, 17th August, 1736. " ... I heartily wish ... that the Turks could be brought to condescend to make the first step, for this Court seems resolved to hearken to nothing till that is done, to mortify the Porte, that has on all occasions spoken of the Russians with the greatest contempt, which the Czarina and her present Ministers cannot... more...

GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN. A fiery, vehement, daring spirit was this Joseph Warren, who was a doctor thirteen years, a major-general three days, and a soldier three hours. In that part of Boston which is called Roxbury, there is a modern house of stone, on the front of which a passer-by may read the following inscription: "On this spot stood the house erected in 1720 by Joseph Warren, of Boston,... more...

CHAPTER I A Verbal Invitation Because Edith had not been feeling very well, that seemed no reason why she should be the centre of interest; and Bruce, with that jealousy of the privileges of the invalid and in that curious spirit of rivalry which his wife had so often observed, had started, with enterprise, an indisposition of his own, as if to divert public attention. While he was at Carlsbad he heard... more...

THE SONG OF THE STONE WALL Come walk with me, and I will tellWhat I have read in this scroll of stone;I will spell out this writing on hill and meadow.It is a chronicle wrought by praying workmen,The forefathers of our nation—Leagues upon leagues of sealed history awaiting an interpreter.This is New England's tapestry of stoneAlive with memories that throb and quiverAt the core of the agesAs the... more...

I Was very glad when I heard that one Monsieur de Cros had published an Answer to a late Book, Entituled, Memoirs of what pass’d in Christendom, &c. And could not but expect some considerable Discoveries in those Affairs and Intriegues, from a person who thought himself a Match for Sir W. T. Besides, I hoped it might have had this good Effect, to move that Author in his own defence to oblige us... more...

WHENCE AND WHY The chapters of this book were originally articles in Everybody’s Magazine. I have not embellished them with footnotes nor given them any other part of the panoply of critical apparatus. It could be done. I have preferred to leave them in the dress I first gave them,—a fighting dress. They owe much of their structure, it is true, to facts and ideas out of the dust of libraries. But... more...

SOME INFORMAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS The noted Brazilian critic, José Verissimo, in a short but important essay on the deficiencies of his country's letters, has expressed serious doubt as to whether there exists a genuinely Brazilian literature. "I do not know," he writes, "whether the existence of an entirely independent literature is possible without an entirely independent... more...

COMANCHE Coming to Comanche, you stopped, for Comanche was the end of the world. Unless, of course, you were one of those who wished to push the boundary-line of the world farther, to make homes in the wilderness where there had been no homes, to plant green fields in the desert where none had been before. In that case you merely paused at Comanche, like the railroad, to wait the turn of events. Beyond... more...

CHAPTER I. THE SAVING OF GRAY MOOSE. I have long had in mind to set down the story of my early life, and now, as I draw pen and paper to me for the commencement of the task, I feel the inspiration of those who wrote straight from the heart. It is unlikely that this narrative will ever appear in print, but if it does the reader may rely on its truthfulness and accuracy from beginning to end, strange and... more...