John Fox Jr.

Clayton was attending a German university because his father had recognized his scientific aspirations and encouraged his curiosity of the arts. But as Clayton groomed his talents his family encountered an unexpected financial disturbance that compelled him to return to New York. Even in this calamity there was still a resource available after the family's economic collapse--ownership of mineral land in the South. After Clayton spent some unendurable days of insolvent conditions and tolerating the suspected antipathy of former friends, he directed himself eagerly to hard work in the Kentucky mountains. As he traveled to the Cumberland Range his newly found independent zeal left no time for despondency. He settled in at the mining camp and became inspired by the changing magnificence of the mountains. His acquaintance with a young woman, Easter Hicks, changed the way he responded to his new circumstances. He saw that she summoned his sense of responsibility, per example, to improve her reading and writing skills. But he also discovered what she already knew--how to plow the fields to plant corn, how to chop wood for the stove, how to ride a bull as other mountaineers rode horses and donkeys. She lived with her mother on Wolf Mountain, but her father (Bill Hicks) had left after he was suspected of killing a moonshine raider and was thought to still be in the mountains. Sherd Raines, a mountaineer studying for the ministry, was also attracted to Easter. He told Clayton her father had seen Easter and Clayton walking together in the hills. Clayton said that if his presence was causing a growing animosity, he would leave and told Sherd to take care of Easter. But she followed him as he walked away and told him of her love, and their fate was sealed. Clayton returned to New York to see his mother and sister as his father had gone to England to reassess his fiscal duties. When he arrived back in America he told Clayton that he could resume his studies in Germany. Suddenly his idyllic Cumberland life now seemed dispirited and uncomfortable. Memories of his studies and scholarship and the cultural attributes available to him rushed over him, and he was determined to explain this to Easter. But on his Cumberland arrival he realized that he must be sensitive to his promises as one human being to another. The wedding was quickly arranged, and Easter's father was the director of the whole event. What happens in the final paragraphs of the last chapter are as searing an argument for a philosophical definition of selfishness and unselfishness as even existed.

It was the writing guy who drew this story out of Captain Shreve. He talked so much I think the Old Man spun the yarn just to shut him up. He had talked ever since his arrival on board, early that morning, with a letter from the owners' agent, and the announcement he intended making the voyage with us. He had weak lungs, he said, and was in search of mild, tropical breezes. Also, he was seeking local color, and whatever information he could pick up about "King" Waldon.He had heard of the death of "King" Waldon, down in Samoa—Waldon, the trader, of the vanishing race of island adventurers—and he expected to travel about the south seas investigating the "king's" past, so he could write a book about the old viking. He had heard that Captain Shreve had known Waldon. Hence, he was honoring a cargo carrier with his presence instead of taking his ease upon a mail-boat.Captain Shreve must tell him all he knew about the "king." He was intensely interested in the subject. Splendid material, you know. That romantic legend of Waldon's arrival in the islands—too good to be true, and certainly too good not to put into a book. Was Captain Shreve familiar with the tale? How this fellow, Waldon, sailed into a Samoan harbor in an open boat, his only companion his beautiful young wife? Imagine—this man and woman coming from nowhere, sailing in from the open sea in a small boat, never telling whence they came!He said this was the stuff to go into his book. Romance, mystery! It was quite as important as the later and better known incidents in the "king's" life. That was why Captain Shreve must tell him all he knew about the fellow. If he could only get at the beginning of the "king's" career in the islands. Where did the fellow come from? Why should a man bring his bride into an uncivilized and lawless section of the world, and settle down for life? There must be a story in that. Ah, yes, and he was the man who could properly do it.

"The Talisman" is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It was published in 1825 as the second of his "Tales of the Crusaders", the first being "The Betrothed". "The Talisman" takes place at the end of the Third Crusade, mostly in the camp of the Crusaders in Palestine. Scheming and partisan politics, as well as the illness of King Richard the Lionheart, are placing the Crusade in danger. The main characters are the Scottish knight Kenneth, who is a fictional character version of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, who did in fact return from the third Crusade in 1190, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, and Edith

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Guy Holland had gone to South Africa to make his fortune, so that he could marry his sweetheart. He didn't make a fortune, but he came back home because he has had a vision that his uncle was dead, and when Guy arrived home he found out that the uncle was in fact dead. The will said that Guy would inherit everything if he could recover a certain ruby ring that had been obtained from his uncle by trickery of a certain actress, within three months of his uncle's death. However, since it passed several weeks after his uncle's death, now Guy has only a few days left, and it seems that few others are trying to get their hands on the jewel too.

One Way Out by William Carleton

The Store Boy by Jr. Horatio Alger

Every normal boy loves a motor-boat, but words fail to express his enthusiasm when that boat is also a racer. Behind the events recorded in this story are certain facts, so that the tale is largely true. The author will be glad if the account of life in the open, the adventures and fortunes, good or ill, the contests and exciting experiences interest his readers even partly as much as they did the boys who shared in the actual occurrences.

Sandra Belloni -- Volume 3 by George Meredith

Sturdy and Strong by G. A. Henty

A Sea Queen's Sailing by Charles W. Whistler

The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott