Classics Books

A Peep at the Wonder Club. Towards the close of the last century there stood in one of the Midland counties of England, in the centre of two cross-roads, a venerable hostelry, built in the reign of Elizabeth, and known by the sign of "Ye Headless Lady." Its ancient gables were shaded by luxuriant elms and beech trees. The woodwork of the building and its weather-stained walls of brick were... more...

PREFACE. These sketches are placed before the public without other apology for their appearance than may be found in that demand for information on the subject treated which renders a work of the character a positive necessity of the times. The secret political movement here introduced to the reader has contributed more to the sensational character of American politics, and, at the same time, proven a... more...

Although the Masquerade itself, as a necessary protection against non-telepaths, was not fully formulated until the late years of the Seventeenth Century, groups of telepaths-in-hiding existed long before that date. Whether such groups were the results of natural mutations, or whether they came into being due to some other cause, has not yet been fully determined, but that a group did exist in the... more...

The opening of the nineteenth century found England in the midst of a great foreign war, which for almost a generation absorbed the thought and energy of the nation, and postponed for the time the vital questions of economic and political reform which clamored for settlement. THE STRUGGLE WITH NAPOLEON The war began in 1793, when the French nation, having overturned its ancient throne, and... more...

In the course of my taxonomic study of the genus Cratogeomys, a high degree of variation was found between several populations of these gophers in central Jalisco. Two species, C. gymnurus and C. zinseri, occur in this part of the state. Previously C. gymnurus was known only from southern Jalisco and C. zinseri only from extreme eastern Jalisco, but through the efforts of J. R. Alcorn specimens were... more...

CHAPTER I. NOT ALONE. It had been a close and sultry day—one of the hottest of the dog-days—even out in the open country, where the dusky green leaves had never stirred upon their stems since the sunrise, and where the birds had found themselves too languid for any songs beyond a faint chirp now and then. All day long the sun had shone down steadily upon the streets of London, with a fierce glare... more...

"What's your name, little one?" I began, in as soft a voice as I could manage. And, by the way, why is it we always begin by asking little children their names? Is it because we fancy a name will help to make them a little bigger? You never thought of as king a real large man his name, now, did you? But, however that may be, I felt it quite necessary to know his name; so, as he didn't... more...

Dale V. Lawrence needed a lawyer urgently. Not that he hadn't a score of legal minds at his disposal; a corporation president must maintain a sizable legal staff. You can't build an industrial empire without treading on people's toes. And you need lawyers when you tread. He sat behind his massive mahogany desk, a stocky, slightly-balding, stern-looking man of middle age who was... more...

THE BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG.   LETTER I. My dear Friend: Your request to give you a succinct and, as far as may be, detailed account of the terrible calamity with which our town was visited on the 30th day of July, is received. You are pleased to say, that not only my long residence in the place, but the fact that I had, as on former occasions, so also during the present one, remained at home, gives... more...

“Ladies of the graduating class,—Ladies and Gentlemen: It seems as if words were hardly in place to-night, because of the interesting programme which is before you. I suppose we have no conception of the exercises prepared for us this evening. I never knew of this Institution until Mr. Moore told me of it, and I am particularly glad to be here. “I have often remarked that our New York life is... more...