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The trouble with Harrowby Hall was that it was haunted, and, what
was worse, the ghost did not content itself with merely appearing
at the bedside of the afflicted person who saw it, but persisted in
remaining there for one mortal hour before it would disappear. It
never appeared except on Christmas Eve, and then as the clock was
striking twelve, in which respect alone was it lacking in that
originality which in these days is a sine qua non of success in
spectral life. The owners of Harrowby Hall had done their utmost to
rid themselves of the damp and dewy lady who rose up out of the
best bedroom floor at midnight, but without avail. They had tried
stopping the clock, so that the ghost would not know when it was
midnight; but she made her appearance just the same, with that
fearful miasmatic personality of hers, and there she would stand
until everything about her was thoroughly saturated.
If we could only get used to the idea that ghosts are perfectly
harmless creatures, who are powerless to affect our well-being
unless we assist them by giving way to our fears, we should enjoy
the supernatural exceedingly, it seems to me. Coleridge, I think it
was, was once asked by a lady if he believed in ghosts, and he
replied, "No, madame; I have seen too many of them." Which is my
case exactly. I have seen so many horrid visitants from other
worlds that they hardly affect me at all, so far as the mere
inspiration of terror is concerned. On the other hand, they
interest me hugely; and while I must admit that I do experience all
the purely physical sensations that come from horrific encounters
of this nature, I can truly add in my own behalf that mentally I
can rise above the physical impulse to run away, and, invariably
standing my ground, I have gained much useful information
concerning them.
I, METHUSELAH
George W. Methuselah, that is.
I, the oldest man of all time, am setting down my story here.
Not in hieroglyphics, mind you, for I am no draftsman and these
chisels and rocks are an awkward medium. (And Dear Reader, I assure
you my tale is not as heavy at its manuscript!) No, I have chosen
English, because French, Spanish, and German haven't come into
being yet. The reason why I didn't choose Esperanto is contained
herein.
Here, for your edification, are my memories of my great, great,
great grandfather and grandmother Adam and his Madam. (Eve, that
is!) The true story of Cain and Abel? Look no further!
And you'll want to hear the story of how my father, Enoch, named
me. As Granpa Adam might have said, it's a rib-tickler!
You'll be treated to my poetry, the genuine tale of my son Noah
and that damp business with the Ark and . . .
But enough! You're not getting any younger! Read! Enjoy.
already!
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support
our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online
at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - The House-boat of the Associated
Shades, formerly located upon the River Styx, as the reader may
possibly remember, had been torn from its moorings and navigated
out into unknown seas by that vengeful pirate Captain Kidd, aided
and abetted by some of the most ruffianly inhabitants of Hades.
Like a thief in the night had they come, and for no better reason
than that the Captain had been unanimously voted a shade too shady
to associate with self-respecting spirits had they made off with
the happy floating club-house of their betters; and worst of all,
with them, by force of circumstances over which they had no
control, had sailed also the fair Queen Elizabeth, the spirited
Xanthippe, and every other strong-minded and beautiful woman of
Erebean society, whereby the men thereof were rendered desolate.
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support
our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online
at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - It is a strange fact, for which I do
not expect ever satisfactorily to account, and which will receive
little credence even among those who know that I am not given to
romancing - it is a strange fact, I say, that the substance of the
following pages has evolved itself during a period of six months,
more or less, between the hours of midnight and four o'clock in the
morning, proceeding directly from a type-writing machine standing
in the corner of my library, manipulated by unseen hands.
Napoleon's father, Charles Bonaparte, was the honored progenitor of
thirteen children, of whom the man who subsequently became the
Emperor of the French, by some curious provision of fate, was the
second. That the infant Napoleon should have followed rather than
led the procession is so foreign to the nature of the man that many
worthy persons unfamiliar with the true facts of history have
believed that Joseph was a purely apocryphal infant, or, as some
have suggested, merely an adopted child; but that Napoleon did upon
this occasion content himself with second place is an
incontrovertible fact. Nor is it entirely unaccountable. It is
hardly to be supposed that a true military genius, such as Napoleon
is universally conceded to have been, would plunge into the midst
of a great battle without first having acquainted himself with the
possibilities of the future.
While travelling through the classic realms of Greece some years
ago, sincerely desirous of discovering the lurking-place of a
certain war which the newspapers of my own country were describing
with some vividness, I chanced upon the base of the far-famed Mount
Olympus. Night was coming on apace and I was tired, having been led
during the day upon a wild-goose chase by my guide, who had assured
me that he had definitely located the scene of hostilities between
the Greeks and the Turks. He had promised that for a consideration
I should witness a conflict between the contending armies which in
its sanguinary aspects should surpass anything the world had yet
known. Whether or not it so happened that the armies had been
booked for a public exhibition elsewhere, unknown to the talented
bandit who was acting as my courier, I am not aware, but, as the
event transpired, the search was futile, and another day was
wasted.
Charon, the Ferryman of renown, was cruising slowly along the Styx
one pleasant Friday morning not long ago, and as he paddled idly on
he chuckled mildly to himself as he thought of the monopoly in
ferriage which in the course of years he had managed to build up.
"It's a great thing," he said, with a smirk of satisfaction - "it's
a great thing to be the go-between between two states of being; to
have the exclusive franchise to export and import shades from one
state to the other, and withal to have had as clean a record as
mine has been. Valuable as is my franchise, I never corrupted a
public official in my life, and -"
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support
our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online
at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - Stuart Harley, despite his
authorship of many novels, still considered himself a realist. He
affected to say that he did not write his books; that he merely
transcribed them from life as he saw it, and he insisted always
that he saw life as it was. "The mission of the novelist, my dear
Professor," he had once been heard to say at his club, "is not to
amuse merely; his work is that of an historian, and he should be
quite as careful to write truthfully as is the historian. How is
the future to know what manner of lives we nineteenth century
people have lived unless our novelists tell the truth?"
The final volume in this three volume Kendrick Bangs collection
American author John Kendrick Bangs was a well known writer and
editor whose work appeared in Life, Harper's Bazaar and Harper's
Magazine. His speciality was making his readers laugh and he was
delightfully termed the editor in charge of the Department of
Humour for all three publications. This job profile no doubt gave
him enormous satisfaction and he went on to edit both The
Metropolitan Magazine and Puck which was the foremost American
humour magazine at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth
century. It is by no means unusual for those with a taste for the
weird and ghostly to also enjoy humour, for often is the sharp
intake of a breath of fright followed by a burst of laughter-if
only in relief? However, John Kendrick Bangs could combine both the
other worldly and genuine satire in his stories to create truly
humorous supernatural tales. The 'Associated Shades' novellas that
appear in volume two of this Leonaur three volume collection are a
good example; in them we follow real (but deceased) historical
personalities as they 'live again' and join forces with famous
fictional characters in incredible adventures on the banks of the
River Styx. Although Bangs always looked for the opportunity to
raise a smile in his stories readers may be assured that they can
also be genuinely chilling. John Kendrick Bangs is a true
'original' of supernatural fiction and this special Leonaur
collection, available in softcover and hardback with dust jacket,
will enable collectors and aficionados alike to read and own this
unique talent in an attractive matched set.
In volume three you will two novellas 'Olympian Nights' and 'The
Autobiography of Methuselah, ' one novelette 'Roger Camerden: a
Strange Story, ' and ten short stories of the strange and unusual.
The second volume of three Kendrick Bangs in the land beyond the
Styx
A House-Boat on the Styx
The Pursuit of the House-Boat
The Enchanted Typewriter
Mr. Munchausen
American author John Kendrick Bangs was a well known writer and
editor whose work appeared in Life, Harper's Bazaar and Harper's
Magazine. His speciality was making his readers laugh and he was
delightfully termed the editor in charge of the Department of
Humour for all three publications. This job profile no doubt gave
him enormous satisfaction and he went on to edit both The
Metropolitan Magazine and Puck which was the foremost American
humour magazine at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth
century. It is by no means unusual for those with a taste for the
weird and ghostly to also enjoy humour, for often is the sharp
intake of a breath of fright followed by a burst of laughter-if
only in relief? However, John Kendrick Bangs could combine both the
other worldly and genuine satire in his stories to create truly
humorous supernatural tales. The 'Associated Shades' novellas that
appear in volume two of this Leonaur three volume collection are a
good example; in them we follow real (but deceased) historical
personalities as they 'live again' and join forces with famous
fictional characters in incredible adventures on the banks of the
River Styx. Although Bangs always looked for the opportunity to
raise a smile in his stories readers may be assured that they can
also be genuinely chilling. John Kendrick Bangs is a true
'original' of supernatural fiction and this special Leonaur
collection, available in softcover and hardback with dust jacket,
will enable collectors and aficionados alike to read and own this
unique talent in an attractive matched set.
Volume two contains four novellas of the strange and unusual-'A
House-Boat on the Styx, ' 'The Pursuit of the House-Boat, ' 'The
Enchanted Typewriter' and 'Mr. Munchausen.'
The first of three volumes by the master of satirical ghost stories
American author John Kendrick Bangs was a well known writer and
editor whose work appeared in Life, Harper's Bazaar and Harper's
Magazine. His speciality was making his readers laugh and he was
delightfully termed the editor in charge of the Department of
Humour for all three publications. This job profile no doubt gave
him enormous satisfaction and he went on to edit both The
Metropolitan Magazine and Puck which was the foremost American
humour magazine at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth
century. It is by no means unusual for those with a taste for the
weird and ghostly to also enjoy humour, for often is the sharp
intake of a breath of fright followed by a burst of laughter-if
only in relief? However, John Kendrick Bangs could combine both the
other worldly and genuine satire in his stories to create truly
humorous supernatural tales. The 'Associated Shades' novellas that
appear in volume two of this Leonaur three volume collection are a
good example; in them we follow real (but deceased) historical
personalities as they 'live again' and join forces with famous
fictional characters in incredible adventures on the banks of the
River Styx. Although Bangs always looked for the opportunity to
raise a smile in his stories readers may be assured that they can
also be genuinely chilling. John Kendrick Bangs is a true
'original' of supernatural fiction and this special Leonaur
collection, available in softcover and hardback with dust jacket,
will enable collectors and aficionados alike to read and own this
unique talent in an attractive matched set.
Volume one contains the novel Toppleton's Client or A Spirit in
Exile and ten short stories of the strange and unusual.
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