Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (1856-1925) was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations. After failing his army entrance exam he was sent to a private 'crammer' in London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office, for which he never sat. Haggard's father sent him to Africa in an unpaid position as assistant to the secretary to Lieutenant-Governor of Natal Sir Henry Bulwer. Heavily influenced by the larger-than-life adventurers he met in Colonial Africa, the great mineral wealth discovered in Africa, and the ruins of ancient lost civilizations in Africa such as Great Zimbabwe, Haggard created his Allan Quatermain adventures. Haggard also wrote about agricultural and social issues reform, in part inspired by his experiences in Africa, but also based on what he saw in Europe. Haggard is most famous as the author of the best-selling novel King Solomon's Mines (1885). Amongst his other works are She (1887), Allan Quatermain (1888), Eric Brighteyes (1891) and Ayesha (1895).

At the Foot of the Mountain Range. Towards the close of a bright and warm day, between fifty and sixty years ago, a solitary man might have been seen, mounted on a mule, wending his way slowly up the western slopes of the Andes. Although decidedly inelegant and unhandsome, this specimen of the human family was by no means uninteresting. He was so large, and his legs were so long, that the contrast between him and the little mule which he bestrode was ridiculous. He was what is sometimes styled “loosely put together;” nevertheless, the various parts of him were so massive and muscular that, however loosely he might have been built up, most men would have found it rather difficult to take him down. Although wanting in grace, he was by no means repulsive, for his face, which was ornamented with a soft flaxen beard and moustache of juvenile texture, expressed wonderful depths of the milk of human kindness. He wore boots with the trousers tucked into them, a grey tunic, or hunting coat, belted at the waist, and a broad-brimmed straw hat, or sombrero. Evidently the times in which he travelled were troublous, for, besides having a brace of large pistols in his belt, he wore a cavalry sabre at his side. As if to increase the eccentricity of his appearance, he carried a heavy cudgel, by way of riding-whip; but it might have been observed that, however much he flourished this whip about, he never actually applied it to his steed. On reaching a turn of the road at the brow of an eminence the mule stopped, and, letting its head droop till almost as pendent as its tail, silently expressed a desire for repose. The cavalier stepped off. It would convey a false impression to say that he dismounted. The mule heaved a sigh. “Poor little thing!” murmured the traveller in a soft, low voice, and in a language which even a mule might have recognised as English; “you may well sigh. I really feel ashamed of myself for asking you to carry such a mass of flesh and bone. But it’s your own fault—you know it is—for you won’t be led. I’m quite willing to walk if you will only follow. Come—let us try!” Gently, insinuatingly, persuasively, the traveller touched the reins, and sought to lead the way. He might as well have tried to lead one of the snow-clad peaks of the mighty Cordillera which towered into the sky before him. With ears inclining to the neck, a resolute expression in the eyes, his fore-legs thrown forward and a lean slightly backward, the mule refused to move. “Come now, do be amiable; there’s a good little thing! Come on,” said the strong youth, applying more force. Peruvian mules are not open to flattery. The advance of the fore-legs became more decided, the lean backward more pronounced, the ears went flat down, and incipient passion gleamed in the eyes. “Well, well, have it your own way,” exclaimed the youth, with a laugh, “but don’t blame me for riding you so much.” He once more re-m–; no, we forgot—he once more lifted his right leg over the saddle and sat down....

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“Hurrah! that’s the way to do it!” “Now, then, Tom, see if you can’t bring Dick home!” “Give him a swift one, Frank! Don’t let him hit it!” cried Sam Rover, merrily. “I’ll knock it down into the river!” retorted Tom Rover, as he caught up a bat and walked to the home plate. “I’m waiting for you, Tom!” sang out Dick Rover, who had just reached second base on a beautiful drive to right field. “Come now, it’s time we tied the score.” “Everybody in the game!” yelled Stanley Browne, who was in the coacher’s box. “Here is where we do ’em up!”

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“At my age, too,” began Miss Helen Campbell, leaning back in her seat and folding her hands with an expression of resignation. “At your age, what, dear cousin?” demanded Wilhelmina Campbell, superintending the strapping on at the back of the car of five extra large suit cases and other paraphernalia for a long trip. “Why should not things happen at your age as well as at ours? But at your age, what?” “At my age to turn emigrant,” exclaimed the little lady. “At my age to become a gypsy vagabond. Oh, dear, oh, dear! What would grandpapa have said?” “He would have been delighted, I am certain, Cousin Helen,” answered her young relative, “since he was a soldier and a jolly old gentleman, too, papa has always said.” “But such an up to date gypsy-vagabond-emigrant, Miss Campbell,” pursued Elinor Butler, “one who rides in a motor car and wears a silk traveling coat and a sky-blue chiffon veil.”

A dozen astonishing mysteries from the case files of scientific detective Craig Kennedy Whenever the New York City police department encounters a mystery so strange it seems impossible to solve, they head to Columbia University in search of Professor Craig Kennedy. When he’s not lecturing students on the science of chemistry, Kennedy uses his superlative intellect and his facility with the latest technological advancements to capture the city’s most diabolical villains. In “The Confidence King,” he matches wits with a thief whose counterfeiting skills extend from paper currency to fingerprints. In “The Firebug,” Kennedy stops an arson epidemic by means of sophisticated handwriting analysis. And in the title story, the surprise antidote to a case of cyanide poisoning turns out to be as dangerous as it is effective.   First appearing in the pages of Cosmpolitan magazine, scientific detective Craig Kennedy was so popular during the early twentieth century that he became known as the “American Sherlock Holmes.”   This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

A sprained ankle, anemia and conflicted feelings in 21st Century San Francisco.Carlos Robertson asks his long-time friend, Fredrick, for help with a problem of the heart. There are two women, one a lover, one a friend, but accidents of time, space and the flesh are obscuring the distinction in his feelings. Fredrick’s advice is on target, but not what Carlos wants to hear.

The love of adventure that characterises the youth of the present day, and the growing tendency of the surplus European population to seek abroad the comforts that are often denied at home, gives absorbing interest to the narratives of old colonists and settlers in the wonderful regions of the New World. Accordingly, the work known as the Swiss Family Robinson has long enjoyed a well-merited popularity, and has been perused by a multitude of readers, young and old, with profit as well as pleasure. A Swiss clergyman resolved to better his fortune by emigration. In furtherance of this resolution, he embarked with his wife and four sons--the latter ranging from eight to fifteen years of age--for one of the newly-discovered islands in the Pacific Ocean. As far as the coast of New Guinea the voyage had been favorable, but here a violent storm arose, which drove the ill-fated vessel out of its course, and finally cast it a wreck upon an unknown coast. The family succeeded in extricating themselves from the stranded ship, and landed safely on shore; but the remaining passengers and crew all perished. For many years these six individuals struggled alone against a variety of trials and privations, till at length another storm brought the English despatch-boat Nelson within reach of their signals. Such is a brief outline of the events recorded in the Swiss Family Robinson. The present volume is virtually a continuation of this narrative. The careers of the four sons--Frank, Ernest, Fritz, and Jack--are taken up where the preceding chronicler left them off. The subsequent adventures of these four young men, by flood and field, are faithfully detailed. With these particulars are mingled the experiences of another interesting family that afterwards became dwellers in the same territory; as are also the sayings and doings of a weather-beaten sailor--Willis the Pilot.

A short story from the pages of Snapdragon.A friendly neighbor. One cat. One weekend. What could possibly go wrong?Written for fans of Alfred Hitchcock, Richard Matheson and The Twilight Zone, Snapdragon features seven original short stories you can sink your teeth into.A short story from the pages of Snapdragon.A friendly neighbor. One cat. One weekend. What could possibly go wrong?

A Story of New Mexico Today A Daughter of the Dons, A Story of New Mexico Today is a classic Western thriller filled with romance and adventure, comprising a vivacious and stirring tale. A hunted man accused of murder witnesses a cattle stampede which results in the death of a herder, and seizes the opportunity to assume the dead man's identity. (cover image courtesy of Sue Byford)

A small slice of everyday life for a girl living in a silent city.A small slice of everyday life for a girl living in a silent city.I had the idea for this story kicking around in my head for about a year or so. After the NYC Midnight competition I felt like writing another short piece, so I went ahead and finally wrote it. No prompts or anything.

Lacy Kit Carson breaks the law, and learns about justice, while trying to save her best buddy Creed from a fate worse than death.I couldn't seem to contain the inferno burning inside me, being that close to him. Even knowing the danger he posed and the gruesome scenes that must have been caused by him, I still felt a burning inside me every time I heard his voice or felt his hot gaze on me. But I was the Warden. He was one of the damned. We were destined to be at odds. Enemies. Sarah Wood, having just lost her father to cancer, is stunned to discover that the mother she thought was dead is actually still alive. She also finds out that the legacy her father left her is a lot more than just an Inn on the outskirts of Nashville, Indiana. She has a frightening new responsibility.This is part one of a series. It is 30,420 words long.

The grim defender Soloymn Kane encounters the rogue swordswoman La Loup while saving a boy. Then again in darkest Africa, where witchcraft, giant women and monstrous apes await.How hard do you have to shake the family tree to find the truth about the past?Fifteen year-old Rae Kerrigan never really knew her family's history. Her mother and father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England that a mysterious family secret is revealed.Will the sins of the father be the sins of the daughter?As Rae struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness. It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of hope for her future.

How much would you gamble for love? When a tipsy party joke becomes a wager on Rufus’ marriage, he knows he should said no. But Juliana, the unwitting and unknowing focus of the gamble, has more to her than meets the eye. Will it be possible for Rufus to charm the winning Juliana? Does he owe her the truth about his initial interest in her? And who will eventually win the Michaelmas wager?How much would you gamble for love? Rufus Lovell has been thrust unexpectedly into riches, and gained a new set of friends who delight in wagers and bets, with nothing too small or too big to gamble on – even marriage. So when a tipsy party joke becomes a wager on Rufus’ marriage, he knows he should said no.But Juliana Honeyfield, the unwitting and unknowing focus of the gamble, is not the simple and malleable young woman that Rufus’ friends take her for.She demands a lot more from her acquaintances, and the challenge of understanding this intriguing woman and keeping the truth of the wager from her starts to wear thin on Rufus.Especially when his belief in marriage has already been so greatly rocked, and his family history is sunk in crime, alcoholism, and prison.Will it be possible for Rufus to charm the winning Juliana?Does he owe her the truth about his initial interest in her?And who will eventually win the Michaelmas wager?A Michaelmas Wager is a charming Regency romance novella about the unlikely consequences of spur of the moment decisions.

Space mining is big business and corporations compete fiercely to exploit our solar system’s rich minerals. Spacial Alloy, a dominant firm on world markets, ruthlessly leads the pack on all fronts: exploration, exploitation, and production. Unfortunately, in space, incriminating evidence can drift around for a long, long time.Space mining is big business and corporations compete fiercely to exploit our solar system’s rich minerals. Spacial Alloy, a dominant firm on world markets, ruthlessly leads the pack on all fronts: exploration, exploitation, and production. Unfortunately, in space, incriminating evidence can drift around for a long, long time.A free novella of roughly 17 000 words, offered as a marketing freebie to convince readers that Steve S. Grant can spin an interesting yarn.

When two teenagers are granted new physical abilities from an accident, they are sought out by two opposing groups of people. The teenagers must decide how to use their powers and what to use them for as they're dragged into the fray.Lydia and Mark are left with incredible new physical abilities after an accident with experimental chemicals during a high school field trip to a pharmaceutical company. With the limitations of these abilities, they discover that they’re not beyond human reach, but their lives are changed—perhaps forever.The two become separated; Lydia is whisked away by a government official, while Mark is offered a job with the wealthy owner of the pharmaceutical company. The two men thrust the pair into a world they never knew existed, full of gifted people with powers like their own. The opposing ideals of the two sides drive Lydia and Mark into a swirling confrontation with one other and with their respective groups, one that will force the two to question the consequences, motivations, and nature of their actions and abilities.

Forget the fairies and unicorns, most people return from fairy world with lost memories and mental problems. Olive Kennedy knows. She's the therapist who treats patients suffering from Faythander's side effects.Forget the fairies and unicorns, most people return from fairy world with lost memories and mental problems. Olive Kennedy knows. She's the therapist who treats patients suffering from Faythander's side effects.Traveling back to the fairy realm wasn't on Olive's to-do list. But she has no choice. The fate of both Earth and Fairy depends on her ability to stop an ancient being called the Dreamthief. To complicate matters, she may be losing her heart to someone who can't love her in return. Saving the world, she can handle. Falling in love—not so much.Dreamthief is the Amazon #1 bestseller in both Mythology and Fairy Tales. With over 100 five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, Dreamthief is an imaginative, romantic fantasy for fans of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Morgan Stamm of InD'tale magazine says, "[Dreamthief] springs to life from the very first sentence." This imaginative read has been nominated for both the Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB book of the year award, as well as InD'tale's prestigious RONE award. If you love fantasy, don't miss this thrilling read!