EPOCH THE FIRST, 1703, JONATHAN WILD CHAPTER I. THE WIDOW AND HER CHILD. On the night of Friday, the 26th of November, 1703, and at the hour of eleven, the door of a miserable habitation, situated in an obscure quarter of the Borough of Southwark, known as the Old Mint, was opened; and a man, with a lantern in his hand, appeared at the threshold. This person, whose age might be about forty, was attired in a brown double-breasted frieze coat, with very wide skirts, and a very narrow collar; a light drugget waistcoat, with pockets reaching to the knees; black plush breeches; grey worsted hose;...

Extract: CHAPTER XIII. THE MAGDALENE. The household of the worthy carpenter, it may be conceived, was thrown into the utmost confusion and distress by the unaccountable disappearance of the two boys. As time wore on, and they did not return, Mr. Wood's anxiety grew so insupportable, that he seized his hat with the intention of sallying forth in search of them, though he did not know whither to bend his steps, when his departure was arrested by a gentle knock at the door. "There he is " cried Winifred, starting up, joyfully, and proving by the exclamation that her thoughts were dwelling upon...

Extract: CHAPTER XI. DOLLIS HILL REVISITED. About an hour after the occurrences at Newgate, the door of the small back-parlour already described at Dollis Hill was opened by Winifred, who, gliding noiselessly across the room, approached a couch, on which was extended a sleeping female, and, gazing anxiously at her pale careworn countenance, murmured, -"Heaven be praised she still slumbers-slumbers peacefully. The opiate has done its duty. Poor thing how beautiful she looks but how like death " Deathlike, indeed, was the repose of the sleeper, -deathlike and deep. Its very calmness was...

John Barleycorn, paru en France sous le titre Le Cabaret de la derniere chance, est une autobiographie romancee. Ces souvenirs alcooliques etaient destines a appuyer les partisans de la prohibition. A la parution en feuilleton dans le Saturday Evening Post, tous les antialcooliques s'en servent comme d'un etendard. Ni autobiographie, ni memoires, ni recit, mais tout a la fois, le narrateur nous conte comment, tout au long de sa vie, une sorte de double l'accompagna en permanence: John Barleycorn, qui, en Amerique, est la personnification de l'alcool. Pourquoi boit-on, comment, dans quelles...

The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and...

Before Adam is a historical novel by Jack London, serialized in 1906 and 1907 in Everybody's Magazine. It is the story of a man who dreams he lives the life of an early hominid Australopithecine. The story offers an early view of human evolution. The majority of the story is told through the eyes of the man's hominid alter ego, one of the Cave People. In addition to the Cave People, there are the more advanced Fire People, and the more animal-like Tree People. Other characters include the hominid's father, a love interest, and Red-Eye, a fierce "atavism" that perpetually terrorizes the Cave...