MY RED CAP by Louisa M. Alcott “He who serves well need not fear to ask his wages.” I It was under a blue cap that I first saw the honest face of Joe Collins. In the third year of the late war a Maine regiment was passing through Boston, on its way to Washington….
Classic Short Story
Difficult People by Anton Chekhov
YEVGRAF IVANOVITCH SHIRYAEV, a small farmer, whose father, a parish priest, now deceased, had received a gift of three hundred acres
THE GHOST OF ART by Charles Dickens
THE GHOST OF ART by Charles Dickens I AM a bachelor, residing in rather a dreary set of chambers in the Temple. They are situated in a square court of high houses, which would be a complete well, but for the want of water and the absence of a bucket. I live at the top…
A STORY OF RAVENNA By Boccaccio
A STORY OF RAVENNA By Boccaccio Ravenna being a very ancient city in Romagna, there dwelt sometime a great number of worthy gentlemen, among whom I am to speak of one more especially, named Anastasio, descended from the family of Onesti, who by the death of his father, and an uncle of his, was left…
THE HAUNTED MIND by Nathaniel Hawthorne
THE HAUNTED MIND by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) What a singular moment is the first one, when you have hardly begun to recollect yourself, after starting from midnight slumber! By unclosing your eyes so suddenly you seem to have surprised the personages of your dream in full convocation round your bed, and catch one broad glance…
MONTEZUMA’S CASTLE.By C. B. CORY
MONTEZUMA’S CASTLE By C. B. CORY “No,” said the curiosity dealer, “that mummy is not for sale. I had too big a job to get it.” “Tell me about it,” I asked. The curiosity dealer carefully closed and locked the case, and then meditatively rolled a cigarette. “Well, it was this way: you see I…
THE POET AND THE PEASANT by O.Henry
THE POET AND THE PEASANT by O.Henry The other day a poet friend of mine, who has lived in close communion with nature all his life, wrote a poem and took it to an editor. It was a living pastoral, full of the genuine breath of the fields, the song of birds, and the pleasant…
THE BOARDING HOUSE by James Joyce
THE BOARDING HOUSE by James Joyce MRS. MOONEY was a butcher’s daughter. She was a woman who was quite able to keep things to herself: a determined woman. She had married her father’s foreman and opened a butcher’s shop near Spring Gardens. But as soon as his father-in-law was dead Mr. Mooney began to go…
The Inconsiderate Waiter by James Matthew Barrie
The Inconsiderate Waiter By James Matthew Barrie Frequently I have to ask myself in the street for the name of the man I bowed to just now, and then, before I can answer, the wind of the first corner blows him from my memory. I have a theory, however, that those puzzling faces, which pass…
After A Shadow by T. S. Arthur
After A Shadow by T. S. Arthur “ARTY! Arty!” called Mrs. Mayflower, from the window, one bright June morning. “Arty, darling! What is the child after Just look at him, Mr. Mayflower!” I leaned from the window, in pleasant excitement, to see what new and wonderful performance had been attempted by my little prodigy my…
NELLY’S HOSPITAL by Louisa May Alcott
NELLY’S HOSPITAL by Louisa May Alcott Nelly sat beside her mother picking lint; but while her fingers flew, her eyes often looked wistfully out into the meadow, golden with buttercups, and bright with sunshine. Presently she said, rather bashfully, but very earnestly, “Mamma, I want to tell you a little plan I’ve made, if you’ll…
THREE QUESTIONS by Leo Tolstoy
THREE QUESTIONS by Leo Tolstoy It once occurred to a certain king, that if he always knew the right time to begin everything; if he knew who were the right people to listen to, and whom to avoid; and, above all, if he always knew what was the most important thing to do, he would…
THE APPARITION OF MRS. VEAL by Daniel Defoe
THE APPARITION OF MRS. VEAL Daniel Defoe (1661-1731) This thing is so rare in all its circumstances, and on so good authority, that my reading and conversation have not given me anything like it. It is fit to gratify the most ingenious and serious inquirer. Mrs. Bargrave is the person to whom Mrs. Veal appeared…
A LONELY RIDE by Bret Harte
A LONELY RIDE by Bret Harte As I stepped into the Slumgullion stage I saw that it was a dark night, a lonely road, and that I was the only passenger. Let me assure the reader that I have no ulterior design in making this assertion. A long course of light reading has forewarned me…
ANARCHY ALLEY by Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar Nelson
ANARCHY ALLEY Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar Nelson To the casual observer, the quaint, narrow, little alley that lies in the heart of the city is no more than any other of the numerous divisions of streets in which New Orleans delights. But to the idle wanderer, or he whose mission down its four squares of…