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Bâtard is a short story by Jack London, first published in 1902 under the title Diable - a Dog in The Cosmopolitan. The narrative follows Black Leclère, a hunter, trapper, and adventurer in the Northwest at the time of the Alaskan gold rush. They were both devils - one in human and one in canine form. For five years, the two of them roamed the north, from St. Michael's and the Yukon delta to the head-reaches of the Pelly and even as far as the Peace River and the Great Slave Lake.

James Matthew Barrie (1860 – 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. Barrie’s short story The Inconsiderate Waiter is a humorous take on the British class system of 1898. At the Victorian Club, it is improper for an upper-class gentleman to be seen to take an interest in any concerns of a member of the working class. So when William, the narrator's waiter, begins to display signs of having a personality and feelings, the respectable gentleman experienced much discomfort.

Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828 - 1910), was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. Tolstoy’s short story The Candle is about peasants who want to kill their superintendent because he insists they plough a field on Easter Monday. The theme examines the biblical concept of turning the other cheek, and trusting God to sort out injustice, or taking things into one’s own hands.

A ghost story about a non-existent room 13 in an inn. The occupant of room 12 and the inn-keep hear noises next door, but it’s not coming from room 14. When they do discover the door to number 13, strange things start happening....

"Ligeia" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. An unnamed narrator’s beautiful and gifted wife Ligeia, falls ill and dies. After her death, the narrator marries Lady Rowena Trevanion, to whom the same thing happens. As the grief-stricken narrator keeps vigil overnight, he sees Rowena showing signs of life, in a sequence of violent revivals and relapses. When the shrouded Rowena gets up, he recognizes Ligeia, his strange and brilliant first wife. There is, however, a possibility that the narrator experienced a hallucination induced by opium.

Lysistrata is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, which was originally performed in Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary quest to terminate the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states, by advocating that the women deny all the men of the land any sex. At a meeting, Lysistrata persuades the women of the warring cities to withhold sexual privileges from their men. She has also persuaded the older women of Athens to seize the Acropolis.

A man rants and raves about people’s gullibility when he encounters the Angel of the Odd who claims to cause weird events. Unconvinced, the cynic drives the angel away and falls asleep. Then, a series of bizarre incidents follows.

"The Middle Toe of the Right Foot", a ghost story by the writer and Civil War soldier Ambrose Bierce, was first published in The San Francisco Examiner in 1890. A man named Manton had murdered his children, and his wife who lacked the middle toe of her right foot. A decade later, he returns to the area; and having been recognized, is provoked to a duel in the dark, to be held at the scene of the crime. When the time of the duel comes, no antagonist appears, and Manton stands alone in the haunted darkness. The next day, they found his corpse, throttled by terror, crouching in a corner.

Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 - March 8, 1887) was a Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery and his emphasis on God's love. In one of a series of lectures to honor his father, Lyman Beecher, he waxes rhapsodic about the pipe organ: “I look upon the history and development of the organ for Christian use as a sublime instance of the guiding hand of God’s providence”. Beecher describes the sound of the organ as a flood that brings power to the people, encircles and fills them and helps them to sing.

Charles John Huffam Dickens is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. The short story "Boots at the Holly-Tree Inn" was first published by in 1855. The tale is told with much affection by a servant, about the eight-year-old Harry and the seven-year-old Norah who tried to elope to Gretna Green, but were stopped and waited at the Holly-Tree Inn for their parents to arrive.

Turgenev wrote Fathers and Sons as a response to the growing cultural schism between liberals of the 1830s-1840s and the growing nihilist movement. Both the nihilists (the "sons") and the 1830s liberals (the "fathers") sought Western-based social change in Russia. These two modes of thought were contrasted with the Slavophiles, who believed that Russia's path lay in its traditional spirituality. Fathers and Sons, which might be considered as the first really modern novel in Russian literature, enraged everyone when it was published.

This short story is a series of letters from Mary Jane to her friend Irene, whom she excitedly informs of the handsome and charming man she has met. A childhood friend, Raynor, has also appeared and is causing trouble. Mary Anne explains that she and Raynor were part of a trio of childhood friends and that the third had died a while ago...or so she thought.

Melinda was depressed, having just received a rejection note for the manuscript of her historical novel from a publisher. Then, she got the idea of writing a satirical piece about the town where she lived, as a way of escaping the blues. To her dismay, it was accepted by a magazine, and she dreaded the reception from her friends and family. However, when it was published, everyone loved it, including her Uncle Joe, Aunt Lucy, and John Graham whom she referred to as “the preacher” in the story.

A delightful short story full of old fashioned puns. The author visits an institution for aged punsters. Much fun ensues in the punning conversations that follow.

"The Glass Dog" is about a wizard who lived on the top floor of a tenement building, always studying and pondering. He had all the books and formulas of all the wizards who had lived before him. Many folks came to him for help about their troubles, and these interruptions irritated him, so he thought of getting a dog to chase them. The glass blower next door makes him a glass dog, he enchants it to life and at first it serves its purpose well, but many complications arise.

The short story "Colonel Sterett's Panther Hunt" is a rumination by a cattleman on his experiences with mountain lions, which he calls “panthers.” The spelling of words deviates from the conventional, and is based on the pronunciation of the narrator.

"Mother Sauvage" by Guy de Maupassant is a short horror story of the Franco-Prussian War. The four young Prussian soldiers quartered in the house of Mother Sauvage do chores around the house as if it were their own. Mother Savage continually asks them about the French 23rd Regiment of the Line in which her son is serving, but they know nothing. When she hears of her son’s death, Mother Sauvage exacts revenge on the young soldiers. The story subtly explores the theme of revenge from the perspective of the narrator, and from the perspective of his friend Serval, who tells him the Mother Savage story.

Wouter van Twiller appears in A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty by Diedrich Knickerbocker, a satirical history by Washington Irving published in 1809. The putative narrator offers a history of New Netherlands, often ignoring or altering facts. Descriptions of the founding and landmarks of early New Amsterdam, and the “golden reign” of Governor Wouter van Twiller are included in the history. Van Twiller is described as a very wise Dutchman who never said a foolish thing.

This story is about the king of the polar bears who lives in the far North, where all the animals fear him. One day, some men arrive in a boat, shoot him, and take his pelt. But by his own magic, he rises again, and the seagulls bring him feathers for a new coat. The polar bears, however, were not impressed with their king’s new coat, and one of them challenged him.

The devil, who lived on the hill across the bay, owned all the rich lands which produced fine crops. One day, St. Michael offered the devil a deal: He would work the land, and they would both share the crops equally. The devil agreed, and Satan declared that he would get everything that grew above the ground, while St. Michael would get the crops that grew underground. So the lands produced nothing but carrots, turnips, onions, and parsnips. Satan was furious, but St. Michael offered to give him everything that grew underground the next year. The following year, all of Satan’s lands were covered with wheat, oats, peas, and cabbage that thrives above ground.