Deep Space, 2568 CE For the first time in his century-long career, Fleet-Captain Arjen of Clan D'gameh disapproved of a mission he had been given. That his orders came straight from the Supreme made no difference to his feelings, nor did the First Speaker's assurance that the Circle of Lords deemed it vital to the survival of the Traiti race. It wasn't the goal of the mission that... more...

THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY I THE UNKNOWN GIRL In a Boston and Albany parlor-car, east bound through the Berkshires, sat a young man respectfully, but intently studying a young woman. Now and then, from the newspapers heaped in mannish confusion about his chair, he selected another sheet. Always, he took advantage of this opportunity to face the chair across the aisle and to sweep a glance over a piquant... more...

NOTES ON GRAMMONT. Agreeing with Mr. Peter Cunningham (vide History of Nell Gwyn), that a new edition of Grammont is much wanted, I beg to avail myself of your pages, and to offer a few remarks and notes which I have made in reference to that very entertaining work for the consideration of a future annotator. Of the several maids of honour mentioned therein I will begin with those of the queen. They... more...

PREFACE Maui is a demi god whose name should probably be pronounced Ma-u-i, i. e., Ma-oo-e. The meaning of the word is by no means clear. It may mean "to live," "to subsist." It may refer to beauty and strength, or it may have the idea of "the left hand" or "turning aside." The word is recognized as belonging to remote Polynesian antiquity. MacDonald, a writer of the New... more...

SIMPLE COUNTERPOINT LESSON I Counterpoint is the art of combining two or more melodies of equal melodic individuality. In simple counterpoint all parts must remain in the same relative position to one another. The Cantus Firmus is a given melodic phrase that is to receive contrapuntal treatment, that is, one or more parts are to be added above or below it. The Counterpoint is any part other than the... more...

THE PLAY HOUSE Amelia Maxwell sat by the front-chamber window of the great house overlooking the road, and her own "story-an'-a-half" farther toward the west. Every day she was alone under her own roof, save at the times when old lady Knowles of the great house summoned her for work at fine sewing or braiding rags. All Amelia's kin were dead. Now she was used to their solemn absence,... more...

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning created the heavens and the earth. 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 1:3 God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 1:4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 1:5 God called the light Day, and the... more...

In the waiting windless dark, Lewis Stillman pressed into the building-front shadows along Wilshire Boulevard. Breathing softly, the automatic poised and ready in his hand, he advanced with animal stealth toward Western, gliding over the night-cool concrete, past ravaged clothing shops, drug and ten-cent stores, their windows shattered, their doors ajar and swinging. The city of Los Angeles, painted in... more...

DEAR SIR,—I have received your letter of the 27th instant, and beg to reply that there cannot be the least objection to your sending a copy of your work, with the autograph addition; and that if you will send it to me, I will present it to His Majesty. I do not presume you wish to apply for permission to dedicate the work to His Majesty, which is not usually given for work of fiction. I remain, Dear... more...

PART ONE. CHAPTER I. A PRELIMINARY RETROSPECT. To properly understand the condition of things preceding the great war of the Rebellion, and the causes underlying that condition and the war itself, we must glance backward through the history of the Country to, and even beyond, that memorable 30th of November, 1782, when the Independence of the United States of America was at last conceded by Great... more...