Fiction Books

ABOUT RAINDROPS The river of Tavy is a great mountain-carver. From its mud-holes of Cranmere to the walls of Tavistock it is a hewer of rocks. Thenceforth it becomes a gardener, raising flowers and herbs; it becomes idyllic. It goes into Arcadia. And at last it floats ships of war. There is a story in Hebrew literature of a king called Solomon, a man reputed wise, although a fool with women, who... more...

CHAPTER I PRINCE OR BANDIT Now Nevada, though robed in gray and white—the gray of sagebrush and the white of snowy summits—had never yet been accounted a nun when once again the early summer aroused the passions of her being and the wild peach burst into bloom. It was out in Nauwish valley, at the desert-edge, where gold has been stored in the hungry-looking rock to lure man away from fairer... more...

YOUTH IN THE CITY'Val più aver amici in piazzaChe denari nella cassa.' Proverb. Royalty was arriving in the harbour in a steam-yacht. It had, that is, already arrived in the harbour; it was now disembarking on the pier. It was an interesting event. An edified crowd watched it; representatives of the Press jotted down their impressions; some took photographs. A few drew pictures instead. The... more...

In a note prepared in 1915 for the English edition, Professor Oppenheim stated the circumstances under which his tractate on The Future of International Law was undertaken and published. 'This little work,' he said, 'originally written in German, was first published in 1911, under the title Die Zukunft des Völkerrechts (Leipzig: W. Engelmann), as a contribution to the Festschrift... more...

CHAPTER I THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH When the applause had subsided, Governor Sawyer began to speak. "My Friends and Fellow Citizens: When I stood before the representatives chosen by the people, and an audience composed of the most eminent men and women in the State, and took the oath to support the constitution of my native State and that of my country, my heart was filled with what I deemed an... more...

CHAPTER I. A SOIRÉE AT FORT RELIANCE. On the evening of the 17th March 1859, Captain Craventy gave a fête at Fort Reliance. Our readers must not at once imagine a grand entertainment, such as a court ball, or a musical soirée with a fine orchestra. Captain Craventy’s reception was a very simple affair, yet he had spared no pains to give it éclat. In fact, under the auspices of Corporal Joliffe,... more...

FIRST EVENING. How it did rain, to be sure! Up the long street, and down the long street nothing was to be seen but large mud puddles, while the gutter ran like a little river, and gushed with a loud sound into the sewer mouth. That was a rain indeed! but in the warm rooms it was comfortable enough. Books and pretty pictures lined the walls on all sides but one, where the large window was, the recess... more...

THE LINGUISTER The mental image of the world is of individual and varying compass. It may be likened to one of those curious Chinese balls of quaintly carved ivory, containing other balls, one within another, the proportions ever dwindling with each successive inclosure, yet each a more minute duplicate of the external sphere. This might seem the least world of all,—the restricted limits of the... more...

FULTON’S“STEAM BATTERY”:BLOCKSHIP and CATAMARAN Robert Fulton’s “Steam Battery,” a catamaran-type blockship, was built during the War of 1812. Until recently, not enough material has been available to permit a reasonably accurate reconstruction of what is generally acknowledged to be the first steam man-of-war. With the discovery, in the Danish Royal Archives at Copenhagen, of plans of this... more...

THE SHUNAMITE.It was a sultry day of summer time.The sun pour'd down upon the ripen'd grainWith quivering heat, and the suspended leavesHung motionless. The cattle on the hillsStood still, and the divided flock were allLaying their nostrils to the cooling roots,And the sky look'd like silver, and it seem'dAs if the air had fainted, and the pulseOf nature had run down, and... more...