I don’t know how it is with you, but during February my wife generally says to me: ‘Have you thought at all about what we are going to do for August?’ And, of course, I say, ‘No,’ and then she begins looking through the advertisements of bungalows to let.…

Of the Demon who standeth or walketh always with me at my left hand, I asked: "Hast thou seen Beauty? Her that meseemeth was the mistress of my soul in Eternity? Her that is now beyond question set over me in Time; even though I behold her not, and, it may…

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.…

Introductory Note: This story, as evidenced by the title, is a didactic tale about the motivations a particular young woman has in choosing her spouse: love or money. It tells the tale of two sisters, one who is more beautiful and the other more sensible.…

I’ve raised a statue to myself that’s some! To shameful century’s its back to run. To its lost love that’s turned with stony face. Like cycle wheel is bent its stony chest. And buttocks is to sea of half-truth faced. And if I would with nice landscape well…

Introductory Note: "The Neapolitan Bandit" was published in 1823, prior to Queen Victoria's reign. However, it provides a strong example of Victorian fascination with Italian culture and history. "The Neapolitan Bandit" is a curious military narrative, and…

Introductory Note: In this humorous short story, an elderly, deaf aunt accompanies her beloved nieces and nephews to the country fair. To her dismay, she finds that fairs have changed drastically since she was young. At the prompting of her nephew, Aunt Letty…

Chi dice mal d’amore Dice una falsità! Italian Song. The time of the occurrence of the little legend about to be narrated, was that of the commencement of the reign of Henry IV. of France, whose accession and conversion, while they brought peace to the kingdom…

Introductory Note: “The Emu and the Inkstand” provides an interesting allegorical lesson on judging others and making reparations for misjudgments. True to the Christian nature of its journal, The Christian Keepsake and Missionary Annual, this short story…

   IT was a chilly November afternoon.  I had just consummated an unusually hearty dinner, of which the dyspeptic truffe formed not the least important item, and was sitting alone in the dining-room, with my feet upon the fender, and at my elbow a small table…

Farmer Brookes was a free-spoken man of the old school. He wore a red waistcoat, always rose with the lark, worked as hard as any labourer on the farm, and never was absent from his pew on the sabbath day. One day he had been engaged along with his men at…

Introductory Note: In this brief story, an anonymous narrator recounts an event attributed to John Newton (1725-1807), a former slave ship captain who experienced a spiritual conversion and eventually became a clergyman and an outspoken advocate for ending…

Introductory Note: “A Good Young Prince” is a didactic tale found in the “Tales and Adventures” category of the index of Beeton’s Fact, Fiction, History, and Adventure. This short text is likely an allusion to the Christian “Parable of the Talents” (found…

Introductory Note: The editor of The Children’s Treasury, Dr. Thomas John Barnardo, wrote the tale “A Great Savior; Or, Gustave the Dutch Boy.” The story is an adaptation of a popular legend about a Dutch boy who saved Holland by sticking his finger in the…

Introductory Note: “A Journey To The End of The World” is a clever and heartwarming story about a boy who runs away to travel to the end of the world. Through his journey he runs into a couple of problems that cause him to learn lessons in charity and kindness.…

Introductory Note: “Killing the Watch-Dog,” written by Spurgeon (perhaps Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon), was written for children and adolescents. Its form and purpose are similar to those of Christ’s parables in the Bible, a short narrative using…

Introductory Note: In “The King-fisher’s Egg,” young Hal and his sister, Ethel, navigate the days leading up to the judging of a bird egg collection contest. Hal must balance his desire to use whatever means necessary to win the contest with the dictates…

Introductory Note: In “The Old Dragon’s Story,” Edilswag, the boy hero of the story, experiences adventures that take him far away from the “upper-earth” life of England into the underground domain of the Dwarf King. Yet it is impossible for Edilswag to escape…

Introductory Note: In “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” the two Heckmondwyke brothers battle over an unconventional inheritance in an adaptation of the biblical Judgment of Solomon. Taking place in industrialized Victorian-era Yorkshire, the brothers’ quarrel regards…

Introductory Note: Dr. Thomas John Barnardo, a medical doctor whose mission was to "rescue" street children, began the children’s periodical The Children’s Treasury in 1866. The periodical featured illustrations, short stories, and religious allegories written…