IS SHAKESPEARE DEAD?(from My Autobiography)Scattered here and there through the stacks of unpublishedmanuscript which constitute this formidable Autobiography andDiary of mine, certain chapters will in some distant future befound which deal with "Claimants"claimants historicallynotorious: Satan, Claimant; the Golden Calf, Claimant; theVeiled Prophet of Khorassan, Claimant; Louis XVII., Claimant;William Shakespeare, Claimant; Arthur Orton, Claimant; Mary BakerG. Eddy, Claimantand the rest of them. Eminent Claimants,successful Claimants, defeated Claimants, royal Claimants, pleb...　

Essays on Life, Art and Scienceby Samuel ButlerContents:IntroductionQuis Desiderio?Ramblings in CheapsideThe Aunt, The Nieces, and the DogHow to make the best of lifeThe Sanctuary of MontrigoneA Medieval Girl SchoolArt in the Valley of SaasThought and LanguageThe Deadlock in DarwinismINTRODUCTIONIt is hardly necessary to apologise for the miscellaneous characterof the following collection of essays. Samuel Butler was a man ofsuch unusual versatility, and his interests were so many and sovarious that his literary remains were bound to cover a wide field.Nevertheless it will be found that several of the subjects to which...　

The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 3by Charles Dudley WarnerCONTENTS:IN THE WILDERNESSHOW SPRING CAME IN NEW ENGLANDCAPTAIN JOHN SMITHPOCOHANTASIN THE WILDERNESSHOW I KILLED A BEARSo many conflicting accounts have appeared about my casual encounter with an Adirondack bear last summer that in justice to the public, to myself, and to the bear, it is necessary to make a plain statement of the facts. Besides, it is so seldom I have occasion to kill a bear, that the celebration of the exploit may be excused.The encounter was unpremeditated on both sides. I was not hunting for a bear, and I have no reason to suppose that a bea　

A Charmed Lifeby Richard Harding DavisShe loved him so, that when he went away to a little war in whichhis country was interested she could not understand, nor quiteforgive.As the correspondent of a newspaper, Chesterton had looked on atother wars; when the yellow races met, when the infidel Turkspanked the Christian Greek; and one he had watched from inside aBritish square, where he was greatly alarmed lest he should betrampled upon by terrified camels. This had happened before he andshe had met. After they met, she told him that what chances he hadchosen to take before he came into her life fell outside of her...　

Adventure VIIIThe Resident PatientGlancing over the somewhat incoherent series ofMemoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate afew of the mental peculiarities of my friend Mr.Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficultywhich I have experienced in picking out examples whichshall in every way answer my purpose. For in thosecases in which Holmes has performed some tour de forceof analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated thevalue of his peculiar methods of investigation, thefacts themselves have often been so slight or socommonplace that I could not feel justified in laying...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE SHIRT-COLLARby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was once a fine gentleman who possessed among other things aboot-jack and a hair-brush; but he had also the finest shirt-collar inthe world, and of this collar we are about to hear a story. The collarhad become so old that he began to think about getting married; andone day he happened to find himself in the same washing-tub as agarter. "Upon my word," said the shirt-collar, "I have never seenanything so slim and delicate, so neat and soft before. May I...　

The Lion and the Unicornby Richard Harding DavisIN MEMORY OF MANY HOT DAYS AND SOME HOT CORNERSTHIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TOLT.-COL. ARTHUR H. LEE, R.A.British Military Attache with the United States ArmyContentsTHE LION AND THE UNICORNON THE FEVER SHIPTHE MAN WITH ONE TALENTTHE VAGRANTTHE LAST RIDE TOGETHERTHE LION AND THE UNICORNPrentiss had a long lease on the house, and because it stood inJermyn Street the upper floors were, as a matter of course,turned into lodgings for single gentlemen; and because Prentisswas a Florist to the Queen, he placed a lion and unicorn over his...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BELLby Hans Christian AndersenIN the narrow streets of a large town people often heard in theevening, when the sun was setting, and his last rays gave a goldentint to the chimney-pots, a strange noise which resembled the sound ofa church bell; it only lasted an instant, for it was lost in thecontinual roar of traffic and hum of voices which rose from thetown. "The evening bell is ringing," people used to say; "the sun issetting!" Those who walked outside the town, where the houses were...　

A Wagner MatineeI received one morning a letter, written in pale ink onglassy, blue-lined notepaper, and bearing the postmark of alittle Nebraska village. This communication, worn and rubbed,looking as though it had been carried for some days in a coatpocket that was none too clean, was from my Uncle Howard andinformed me that his wife had been left a small legacy by abachelor relative who had recently died, and that it would benecessary for her to go to Boston to attend to the settling ofthe estate. He requested me to meet her at the station and...　

The Witch and other Storiesby Anton ChekhovTHE WITCHPEASANT WIVESTHE POSTTHE NEW VILLADREAMSTHE PIPEAGAFYAAT CHRISTMAS TIMEGUSEVTHE STUDENTIN THE RAVINETHE HUNTSMANHAPPINESSA MALEFACTORPEASANTSTHE WITCHIT was approaching nightfall. The sexton, Savely Gykin, was lyingin his huge bed in the hut adjoining the church. He was notasleep, though it was his habit to go to sleep at the same timeas the hens. His coarse red hair peeped from under one end of thegreasy patchwork quilt, made up of coloured rags, while his bigunwashed feet stuck out from the other. He was listening. His hut...　

The Professor at the Breakfast Tableby Oliver Wendell HolmesPREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.The reader of to-day will not forget, I trust, that it is nearly aquarter of a century since these papers were written. Statementswhich were true then are not necessarily true now. Thus, the speedof the trotting horse has been so much developed that the record ofthe year when the fastest time to that date was given must be veryconsiderably altered, as may be seen by referring to a note on page49 of the "Autocrat." No doubt many other statements and opinionsmight be more or less modified if I were writing today instead of...　

The Fortunes of Oliver Hornby F. Hopkinson SmithI DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE MEMORY OF"THE MAN OF ALL OTHERS ABOUT KENNEDYSQUARE MOST BELOVED, AND THE MAN OF ALLOTHERS LEAST UNDERSTOODRICHARD HORN,THE DISTINGUISHED INVENTOR."F.H.S.CHAPTER ITHE OLD HOUSE IN KENNEDY SQUAREKennedy Square, in the late fifties, was a place of birds and trees and flowers; of rude stone benches, sagging arbors smothered in vines, and cool dirt-paths bordered by sweet-smelling box. Giant magnolias filled the air with their fragrance, and climbing roses played hide and seek among the railings of the rotting fence. Along the shaded walks laughing boys and girls romped 　

APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION (1829), p. 　

A Ramble Among the Hills.I USED frequently to amuse myself towards the close of the day, whenthe heat had subsided, with taking long rambles about theneighboring hills and the deep umbrageous valleys, accompanied by myhistoriographic squire, Mateo, to whose passion for gossiping I onsuch occasions gave the most unbounded license; and there was scarce arock, or ruin, or broken fountain, or lonely glen, about which hehad not some marvellous story; or, above all, some golden legend;for never was poor devil so munificent in dispensing hidden treasures.In the course of one of these strolls Mateo was more than usually...　

A Waif of the Plainsby Bret HarteCHAPTER IA long level of dull gray that further away became a faint blue,with here and there darker patches that looked like water. Attimes an open space, blackened and burnt in an irregular circle,with a shred of newspaper, an old rag, or broken tin can lying inthe ashes. Beyond these always a low dark line that seemed to sinkinto the ground at night, and rose again in the morning with thefirst light, but never otherwise changed its height and distance.A sense of always moving with some indefinite purpose, but ofalways returning at night to the same placewith the same...　

G. K. CHESTERTONTHE WISDOMOF FATHER BROWNToLUCIAN OLDERSHAWCONTENTS1. The Absence of Mr Glass2. The Paradise of Thieves3. The Duel of Dr Hirsch4. The Man in the Passage5. The Mistake of the Machine6. The Head of Caesar7. The Purple Wig8. The Perishing of the Pendragons9. The God of the Gongs10. The Salad of Colonel Cray11. The Strange Crime of John Boulnois12. The Fairy Tale of Father BrownONE...