[Armando Palacio Valdés (October 4, 1853 – January 29, 1938) was one of the most popular 19th-century Spanish novelists, distinguished by his optimism, his charming heroines, his realism, and his qualities of moderation and simplicity.] THE LOVE OF CLOTILDE In the dressing-room of Clotilde, leading actress of one of the most important theaters in the …
[O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), a well-acclaimed American short story writer. There is always an element of surprise at the end of his stories.] THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF It looked like a good thing: but wait till I tell you. We were …
[GRACE MACGOWAN COOKE (1863-1944) was an American author. She and her sister Alice MacGowan, usually worked collaboratively and the pair published about thirty novels, a hundred short stories and some poetry.] A CALL ABOY IN an unnaturally clean, country-laundered collar walked down a long white road. He scuffed the dust-up wantonly, for he wished to …
[Samuel Langhorne Clemens, pen name Mark Twain(1835-1910) was an American writer. Considered one of the greatest humorist, Mark Twain by another great writer William Faulkner was awarded the title “Father of American Literature.”] THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY IN COMPLIANCE WITH the request of a friend of mine, who wrote me from the …
[Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman.] MY DOUBLE; AND HOW HE UNDID ME It is not often that I trouble the readers of The Atlantic Monthly. I should not trouble them now, but for the importunities of my wife, who “feels to insist” that a duty to society is …
[Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet and writer. He is known as the inventor of detective fiction and contributed in the science fiction also.] THE ANGEL OF THE ODD It was a chilly November afternoon. I had just consummated an unusually hearty dinner, of which the dyspeptic …
[Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American writer and poet. He is known for his talents in various literary fields- stories, poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches.] COLONEL STARBOTTLE FOR THE PLAINTIFF IT HAD BEEN a day of triumph for Colonel Starbottle. First, for his personality, as …
Short Story What You Want By O. Henry Night had fallen on that great and beautiful city known as Bagdad-on-the-Subway. And with the night came the enchanted glamour that belongs not to Arabia alone. In different masquerades, the streets, bazaars, and walled houses of the occidental city of romance were filled with the same kind …
By O. Henry One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times …
