Classics Books

Preface. No one ever reads prefaces now-a-days; why, therefore, should I write one? may be fairly asked. Simply, I reply, to tell the reader that the tale imperfectly related in these volumes is not a mere work of fiction. It is based on a document sent to me by my brother, to whom I have dedicated this work, and who has for many years been a resident of the frontiers of Zulu Land. The paper alluded to... more...

Lady Channice was waiting for her son to come in from the garden. The afternoon was growing late, but she had not sat down to the table, though tea was ready and the kettle sent out a narrow banner of steam. Walking up and down the long room she paused now and then to look at the bowls and vases of roses placed about it, now and then to look out of the windows, and finally at the last window she... more...

CHAPTER I “AFTER HIGH FLOODS COME LOW EBBS” Every one knows of my connection with the ill-starred Rebellion of Prince Charles, and for this it was that I found myself, a few months after the disaster of Culloden, lying close in an obscure lodging in Greek Street, Soho, London. Surely a rash proceeding, you may say, this adventuring into the lion's den! But such has not been my experience: in... more...

John Deere in 1837 invented a plow that could be used successfully in the sticky, root-filled soil of the prairie. It was called a steel plow. Actually, it appears that only the cutting edge, the share, on the first Deere plows was steel. The moldboard was smoothly ground wrought iron. Deere's invention succeeded because, as the durable steel share of the plow cut through the heavy earth, the... more...

CHAPTER I. THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES IS NOT A NEW PEOPLE. Many americans, and a few foreigners, think that America is yet too young a country for possessing a National Literature. If they intend to say, that the number of classical writers of America, cannot yet compete with the number of classical writers of any old country, of course, it cannot be otherwise. But, that the living present... more...

CHAPTER I Howrah City bows the kneeMore or less to masters three,King, and Prince, and Siva.Howrah City pays in painTaxes which the royal twainGive to priests, to give again(More or less) to Siva. THAT was no time or place for any girl of twenty to be wandering unprotected. Rosemary McClean knew it; the old woman, of the sweeper caste, that is no caste at all,—the hag with the flat breasts and... more...

CHAPTER I. THE LETTER FROM BEYOND THE SEA. On the morning of July 21, 1840, the Daily News announced the arrival of the ship Rival at Sydney, New South Wales. As ocean steam navigation had not yet extended so far, the advent of this ship with the English mail created the usual excitement. An eager crowd beset the post-office, waiting for the delivery of the mail; and little knots at the street corners... more...

While one of us (Dalquest) was in a dugout canoe that was being paddled up a small unnamed tributary of the Rio Coatzacoalcos, through dense jungle, he grasped a decayed and termite damaged tree-trunk projecting approximately three feet above the surface of the water to steady the canoe. At that instant two bats were detected in one of the many small holes in the trunk, which was eight to nine inches... more...

CHAPTER I. LANDLORD'S DAUGHTER AND TENANT'S SON. In a kitchen of moderate size, flagged with slate, humble in its appointments, yet looking scarcely that of a farmhouse—for there were utensils about it indicating necessities more artificial than usually grow upon a farm—with the corner of a white deal table between them, sat two young people evidently different in rank, and meeting upon... more...

NAN "Hello, Nan!" "Heyo, Ruthie!" "Where are you going?" "Over to Reid's lot." "Take me?" "No, Ruthie, can't." The little child's lip began to tremble. "I think you're real mean, Nan Cutler," she complained. Nan shook her head. "Can't help it if you do," she returned, stoutly, and took a step on. "Nannie,"... more...