Fiction Books

THE LAUGHING PRINCE There was once a farmer who had three sons and one little daughter. The eldest son was a studious boy who learned so much out of books that the farmer said: "We must send Mihailo to school and make a priest of him." The second boy was a trader. Whatever you had he would get it from you by offering you something else for it. And always what he gave you was worth less than... more...

CHAPTER I. THE BRIDE'S MISTAKE. "FOR after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands; even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." Concluding the Marriage Service of the Church of England in those well-known words,... more...

CHAPTER I The officer whose collar ornaments were the winged staff and serpents of the medical branch, held what was left of the deck in his right hand and moistened the tip of his thumb against the tip of his tongue. “Reënforcements, major?” he inquired with a glance to the man at his left, and the poker face of the gentleman so addressed remained impervious to expression as the answer was given... more...

CHAPTER I MISS LADY Ah, but it was a sweet and wonderful thing to see Miss Lady dance, a strange and wondrous thing! She was so sweet, so strong, so full of grace, so like a bird in all her motions! Now here, now there, and back again, her feet scarce touching the floor, her loose skirt, held out between her dainty fingers, resembling wings, she swam through the air, up and down the room of the old... more...

THE LAW-BREAKERS I George Colfax was in an outraged frame of mind, and properly so. Politically speaking, George was what might be called, for lack of a better term, a passive reformer. That is, he read religiously the New York Nation, was totally opposed to the spoils system of party rewards, and was ostensibly as right-minded a citizen as one would expect to find in a Sabbath day's journey. He... more...

ACT I. A plain Tradesman's Room, with old fashioned Furniture. Master Clarenbach. (Busied with a design.) Clar. So!--there is my design, and I think it is a pretty good one. It will make a substantial building.--When I am gone, people will say, when they look at the pile, "Master Clarenbach was a man that knew what he was about." SCENE II. Enter Lewis. Lew. Deputy Clarenbach presents his... more...

THE LAY OF MARIE. CANTO FIRST.     The guests are met, the feast is near,    But Marie does not yet appear!    And to her vacant seat on high    Is lifted many an anxious eye.    The splendid show, the sumptuous board,    The long details which feuds afford,    And discontent is prone to hold,    Absorb the factious and the cold;—    Absorb dull minds, who, in... more...

Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen, University of Brunn, to the Herr General Johann von Steppberg, retired. My dear General von Steppberg: It is with reluctance that I intrude upon your retirement, but at the request of the Government I have undertaken a scientific examination of the causes which brought about The Leader's rise to power, the extraordinary popularity of his regime, the... more...

SIR PERCY EXPLAINS It was not, Heaven help us all! a very uncommon occurrence these days: a woman almost unsexed by misery, starvation, and the abnormal excitement engendered by daily spectacles of revenge and of cruelty. They were to be met with every day, round every street corner, these harridans, more terrible far than were the men. This one was still comparatively young, thirty at most; would have... more...

ACT I. SCENE I.—ARMANDE, HENRIETTE. ARM. What! Sister, you will give up the sweet and enchanting title of maiden? You can entertain thoughts of marrying! This vulgar wish can enter your head! HEN. Yes, sister. ARM. Ah! Who can bear that "yes"? Can anyone hear it without feelings of disgust? HEN. What is there in marriage which can oblige you, sister, to…. ARM. Ah! Fie! HEN. What? ARM. Fie!... more...