THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN Before the railroad's thin lines of steel bit their way up through the wilderness, Athabasca Landing was the picturesque threshold over which one must step who would enter into the mystery and adventure of the great white North. It is still Iskwatam—the "door" which opens to the lower reaches of the Athabasca, the Slave, and the Mackenzie. It is somewhat... more...

An Address, &c.    Believe me, Sir; I do these lines impartWith every pang that can corrode the heart;Bring to your mind a dismal scene late past,And let that guilty Amour be your last.Think of my friend that was of late so gay,By your vile arts dishonour’d and away;From every joy that animates this life,The tender mother and the happy wife.A husband’s frowns, a father’s burning tears,For... more...

I. THE EXHUMED CITY. The Antique Landscape—The History of Pompeii Before and After its Destruction.—How it was Buried and Exhumed.—Winkelmann as a Prophet.—The Excavations in the Reign of Charles III., of Murat, and of Ferdinand.—The Excavations as they now are.—Signor Fiorelli.—Appearance of the Ruins.—What is and What is not Found There. A railroad runs from Naples to Pompeii. Are you... more...

CHAPTER I The remotest fact in the history of England is written in her rocks. Geology tells us of a time when no sea flowed between Dover and Calais, while an unbroken continent extended from the Mediterranean to the Orkneys. Huge mounds of rough stones called Cromlechs, have yielded up still another secret. Before the coming of the Keltic-Aryans, there dwelt there two successive races, whose story is... more...

AM I NOT A MAN AND BROTHER? AIR—Bride's Farewell. Am I not a man and brother?  Ought I not, then, to be free?Sell me not one to another,  Take not thus my liberty.Christ our Saviour, Christ our Saviour,  Died for me as well as thee. Am I not a man and brother?  Have I not a soul to save?Oh, do not my spirit smother,  Making me a wretched slave;God of mercy, God of... more...

THE STORY OF THE LITTLE HUNCH-BACK. There was in former times at Casgar, on the extreme boundaries of Tartary, a tailor who had a pretty wife, whom he affectionately loved, and by whom he was beloved with reciprocal tenderness. One day while he was at work, a little hunch-back seated himself at the shop door and began to sing, and play upon a tabor. The tailor was pleased with his performance, and... more...

THE STORY OF THE UNKNOWN CHURCH I was the master-mason of a church that was built more than six hundred years ago; it is now two hundred years since that church vanished from the face of the earth; it was destroyed utterly,—no fragment of it was left; not even the great pillars that bore up the tower at the cross, where the choir used to join the nave.  No one knows now even where it stood, only in... more...

Bravo ! : You speak to one and speak to allOur minds ye have gracefully touchedIn joy we leap and misery we crawlBut in Belief and Faith we have much8>) The '99 Blues (composed in 1999) : Then garrisons marched out to conquer half the world ruled from the center with mastery of steel and agility discipline ensured victory in the reign of conquerors just a few millenniums ago The sea a vast... more...

CHAPTER I. OF GOOD USE Why is it that for the purposes of English composition one word is not so good as another? To this question we shall get a general answer if we examine the effect of certain classes of expressions. —Let us examine first the effect produced by three passages in the authorized version of the English Bible—a version made by order of King James in 1611:— "For these two... more...

CHAPTER I MAKING THE BEST OF THINGS "Marjorie." The clear call rang out, breaking the afternoon stillness of the ranch, but there was no response, and after waiting a moment Miss Graham gave her wheeled chair a gentle push, which sent it rolling smoothly across the porch of the ranch house, down the inclined plane, which served the purpose of steps, to the lawn. It was very hot, the sun was... more...