A Succession of Sundays

A Succession of Sundays “You hard-hearted, dunder-headed, obstinate, rusty, crusty, musty, fusty old savage!” said I, in fancy, one afternoon, to my grand uncle Rumgudgeon — shaking my fist at him […]

Silence — A Fable

Silence. — A Fable. ‘Ενδονσιν δ’ορεων κορνφαι τε και φαραγγες Πρωνες τε και χαραδραι -ALCMAN The mountain pinnacles slumber; valleys, crags and caves are silent. “Listen to me,” said the Demon, as he […]

Shadow. A Fable

Shadow. A Fable Ye who read are still among the living, but I who write shall have long since gone my way into the region of shadows. For indeed strange […]

The Purloined Letter

The Purloined Letter At Paris, just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18—, I was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and a meerschaum, in company with my […]

How to write a Blackwood Article

How to write a Blackwood Article “In the name of the Prophet — figs!!” Cry of the Turkish fig-pedler I presume every body has heard of me. My name is the Signora […]

Morning on the Wissahiccon

Morning on the Wissahiccon The natural scenery of America has often been contrasted, in its general features as well as in detail, with the landscape of the Old World — more […]

The Power of Words

The Power of Words Oinos. — Pardon, Agathos, the weakness of a spirit new-fledged with immortality! Agathos. — You have spoken nothing, my Oinos, for which pardon is to be demanded. Not even here […]

Peter Pendulum, The Business Man

Peter Pendulum The Businessman My name is Pendulum — Peter Pendulum. I am a business man. I am a methodical man. Method is the thing, after all. But there are no people I […]

The Oblong Box

The Oblong Box Some years ago, I engaged passage from Charleston, S. C., to the city of New York, in the fine packet-ship “Independence,” Captain Hardy. We were to sail on […]

The Sphinx

The Sphinx During the dread reign of the Cholera in New York, I had accepted the invitation of a relative to spend a fortnight with him in the retirement of his cottage […]

The Premature Burial

The Premature Burial There are certain themes of which the interest is all-absorbing, but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction. These the mere romanticist must […]