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"Luck" was published in 1891 in Harper's Magazine and received little attention at the time. The English military hero, Lord Arthur Scoresby, is an idiot who blunders through life on pure good luck. In the Crimean War, he gets confused between his right and left hand to lead a charge in the wrong direction, which surprises a Russian force and ensures an Allied victory.

Henry van Dyke shares a wonderful morality tale in his 1895 The Other Wise Man, as a metaphor for the life of a true Christian. Telling the story of a fourth king who saw the signs but never reached the Christ child in time, van Dyke introduces us to the values of good deeds and charity while searching for the path to Jesus. Because as Jesus keeps eluding the fourth king, he unknowingly gets closer to him with every righteous act he performs.

As a rather sinister twist on the literary and social tradition of sense and sensibility first introduced a century before, Nesbit tells the story of two cousins representing two very different character traits. With Jane focusing on the practical sides of love and Mattie losing herself in sentiment, Nesbit very ably combines these traits with a moral code befitting each woman.

This delightful short story was the first work of Jules Verne to be translated into English by Anne T. Wilbur in 1852. Just as the balloon starts rising, a stranger jumps in with the intention of taking it as high as possible without regard to his own safety or that of the pilot. During the long journey, this mysterious passenger relates the historical background of the quest for lighter-than-air travel.

American writer William Dean Howells delights us with his cautiously cynical yet endearing telling of the night before Christmas at the Fountain household. Published in The Daughter of the Storage and Other Things in Prose and Verse in 1916, Howells’ sense of realism and social criticism hides behind the humorous banter between Mr. and Mrs. Fountain, as well as relatives passing by. Raging consumerism, New Year’s resolutions, lovingly marital insults, reflections and memories, and a whole bunch of bathrobes!

American author Washington Irving is known for his legendary tales like Sleepy Hollow, but also as the great architect behind how Americans now perceive Christmas. In his 1819 collection, The Sketch Book, he devotes one story to a reflection on the meaning of Christmas and its celebration. The story’s protagonist reflects on how its ancient rituals may have vanished almost completely, but that the warmth of togetherness will still prevail for those who welcome it.

While visiting a friend in San Francisco our narrator hears a knock on the wall during dinner. He and his friend examine the wall to find it is an outside wall and no one could have knocked on it. Our narrator's friend described how he had met a young woman whom he lived next to and they would knock on the walls to each other....

O. Henry’s gift for dark humor and plot twists reaches new levels in this simple yet very moving story. Miss Martha’s corner bakery receives a mysterious visitor buying two loaves of stale bread every day. When her sympathetic heart finally pushes her to an act of kindness, her romantic daydreams are brutally crushed by a rather uninspired reality.

Ralph Merriam and his friend Wade have quite the evening together that results in a man being killed. Wade tells his friend that he has to skip town and start anew. When he arrives in his new city, he hears about a beautiful woman in town, and tries to court her.

Business can cause you to forget the most special times in your life. This rule is no exception to Harvey Maxwell. Harvey has feelings for his secretary and professes his love...but her response is of surprise and sadness.

A classic Christmas story with a special moral, Della Dillingham Young has very little money to buy her husband a present. She sells her beautiful brown hair; a treasure to the couple, to buy her husband a gift. But when he returns home with her gift, she's in for a very heartfelt surprise.

Check out one of the lesser-known but brilliant tales by the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Writing under his pseudym of Geoffery Crayon, Irving conjures an entertaining tale of conspiracy and headwear. Will our character Roloff Van Ripper be successful in his takedown, or will his efforts go awry?